Thread: First Rifle...seeking advice

Originally Posted by Dougie

Just my 2c regarding ammo cost..

Sure, go for something "common" and easy to source. However - one of the big things I have learned is that not shooting ammo on paper because of the cha-ching factor is plain stupid. You're cheating yourself. (I did this when I first got Black Beauty - I would only do sessions of 5 rounds at the range and then purely hunt and not practice any more shooting)

I don't think anyone's advocating not practicing due to the cost of some rounds. Purely talking about factory here by the way as I don't reload. I buy the good stuff for my 308 and the factory ammo it likes costs about $50-$60 per pack of 20. I don't mind paying this and don't think about the cost when shooting. And that is cheap as chips compared to some more unusual calibers.

I imagine a lot of people don't have a spare few hundred to go and blow on a few packs of ammo. And why would you when you can buy another stick that goes boom and will kill anything yet the ammo is half the price with far more selection? When you start talking about $4-$5 a round for some of these more uncommon (wankier ) calibers that aren't long range magnums well....I think you're silly if you pay that for negligible gain. If you reload then all fine...but looking at the prices shops charge for the less mainstream calibers is ridiculous. I know i've had jobs in the past where having a spare $50 laying around was a luxury and it would probably go to beer before ammo.

So I stand by if you're not going to reload then go with the obvious 308, 270, etc .