Adding it Up– What does it cost to shoot?

It all comes down to money.

Unless you have so much that you don’t ever have to worry about how much something costs and even then it all comes down to money. Everything we need, everything we consume, every tangible object we mere mortals desire has to be purchased in some way. That formula looks something like unto this: Time (rate of pay/skill or responsibility). There’s really no way to escape it that in this modern western society, one exchanges time and skill for the filthy lucre we need to make life happen.

We can affect to a degree how much we earn for a given span of time with how much skill we possess in a crucial area, or how much risk we can take in a dangerous environment. Once the essential bills are paid, what is left used to be called “discretionary” funds. For many of us, there’s a whole lot less discretionary money in 2024 than there was in 2019, but that’s outside the point of this blog.

We airgunners, or even just gunners in general, pluck money from the discretionary budget to satisfy our hobby. Yes, hobby. Unless you are making your living from shooting, (I know some folks who do this!) it is a hobby. You may be very passionate about hunting, competitive shooting, or even recreational shooting– shooting is still very much a hobby.

Some of us have other hobbies, too. I need look no further than myself for an example of how hobbies can make you poor. I like 4X4s. I have an old Jeep Wrangler and an older Ford pickup. I also enjoy working on cars. And then there’s dirt bikes. Oh, and I like to shoot. Yes, I have to pick and choose which beast I feed and it’s not easy. They are all ugly and hungry!

So what does it really cost to shoot? Years ago I started doing the math on ammo purchases to make sure I was getting a good deal, or at least as good of a deal as possible. This idea was birthed during one of the mid-2000’s era ammo droughts. But ammo prices are one factor in the math of shooting. What are some other factors?

(above) The Author’s Marlin 1895G chambered in .45-70 Govt. .45-70 is selling for around $2.50 per cartridge in the Summer of 2024. But do you figure in the cost of the rifle and optic in your “cost of shooting calculus?"

Let’s Accessorize!

What kind of neanderthal goes out and shoots a plain rifle?  No optic, no bipod, no bean bags, no shooting table, no targets? Even minimalists will splurge on something from the accessory category from time to time. Glass is good, but good glass is not cheap. Rifle support can range from a free-ish backpack you already have to premium bipods and rest systems. The same thing goes to targets and target systems.  If you have ventured into the PCP world, the manner in which you fill it up will have a cost associated with it. 

But before we get carried away with accessorizing and ammo, there is the actual rifle or rifles to consider. Break barrel rifles can be had for a small investment, but there are some really nice ones out there that will set you back some serious Benjamins. Likewise, we have made some great headway in making PCP airgunning affordable, but there are many options out there that push the price tag deep into four digits left of the decimal. 

So What are You Saying?

Got Ammo? How about Magazines?

Calculating how much your hobby costs you by simply figuring out how much you spend per shot does not tell the story of what it costs to shoot. For example, a Gauntlet SL30 at full MSRP is $529.99. Let’s say you spend $299.99 for a scope and $64.99 for rings, $799.99 for a carbon fiber tank, $19.99 to fill the tank, and $14.99 for a tin of 150 pellets. So far we have spent $1,729.94. In this case, shooting those 150 pellets works out at a cost of $11.53 each. Now we all know you aren’t just going to shoot 150 pellets. Let’s add 9 more tins so that we have 1,500 pellets. Now the total comes in somewhere around $1,900 when a few more fills of the carbon tank are added in. The cost per shot falls dramatically but it is still substantial– $1.27 per shot. It’s only when you approach 4,500 shots when the “price per shot” for this rifle gets in the $0.50 per shot range.

The pellets might cost only a dime each, but once you figure in everything else that goes into it, saying that it only costs $0.10 per shot might be a bit disingenuous.

To put this into a firearms perspective, common 5.56 ammo sells for around $0.55 per round– extrapolated to include the rifle and optic- it is much higher than that, depending on how much you actually shoot. Non-exotic centerfire rounds like .308 Winchester that sell for $1.25 or more– well you know how to figure this now. Shooting isn’t always as affordable as we would like to think it is.

Kompletely Honest

There’s been some internet math whizzes who have typed furiously away about one of our new products, the Umarex Komplete. The Komplete uses a pre-charged nitrogen cartridge (NitroAir). This bottle contains 32 grams of nitrogen that is pressurized at 3,600 PSI. While the cartridges do have an MSRP of about $12 each (but are being found at some stores for $10 each), the math on how much it costs to shoot the Komplete is, on the surface, shocking but as alluded to above, doesn’t tell the whole story.

The Komplete is sold with an optic and one NitroAir Cartridge. As a unique product that bridges the gap between Pre-Charged Pneumatic and spring powered airguns, the Komplete offers consumers a way to enjoy all the benefits of PCP shooting without the sticker shock of having to budget for a substantial compressor or tank purchase just to shoot the gun. Add a tin of pellets and you are good to go right out of the box and additional NitroAir cartridges can be purchased as needed. To extrapolate this rifle, the NitroAir Cartridges, and ammo out to 1000 rounds, the cost per shot works out to $0.48 per shot all in. If you don’t figure in the rifle, the cost per shot goses down to $0.28 per shot. For the occasional shooter, this is not all that bad.

A shooter can decide to keep on keeping on with their Komplete, put it in the gun cabinet and keep it handy for an impromptu and forget about it, or, if they really get hooked on PCP shooting, they might look into acquiring something like a Gauntlet or a Zelos and the appropriate fill method.

Anyway you slice it and with whatever platform you shoot, using a simplistic “cost per shot” metric is an excellent way of camouflaging the truth almost in a “I told my wife it only cost $300 (wink wink)!” when you really have $1,000 in it sort of way.

(Pro tip: Whether you shoot air or powder, buy ammo even when you don’t need it, then you won’t have to buy it when prices spike or supplies disappear. Or both.)