How do YOU afford this...

[CUTTER1]

Older than I will admit
Gigilo
Lucky to have One Daughter who has made $$$ and loves guns and cars
Ex-wives (if it's got wheels, teets, or propellers it will be expensive....guns and accessories included)
More than I would ever admit too on the above items to ex-wives, girl friends or anybody

 

[Aoudad shooter1975]

Older than I will admit
Gigilo
Lucky to have One Daughter who has made $$$ and loves guns and cars
Ex-wives (if it's got wheels, teets, or propellers it will be expensive....guns and accessories included)
More than I would ever admit too on the above items to ex-wives, girl friends or anybody

Private aircraft is at another level...don't get me started!

 

[CUTTER1]

Oh aircraft are a financial drain as are boats (happiest day of a boat owners life is the day he buys it only exceeded it by the day he sells it)

 

[laker]

29 years old
Oilfield specialist
One 5 year old daughter and another will be born in the next day or two
No idea what I have invested into my guns but it **** sure won't be as much as what's into my wife's barrel racing (daughter is getting into it too). I use my fur checks every spring to buy components and I'm always looking for a deal. When I find a deal say on an action or stock I buy it and put it away for the day I'm going to use it. I've build some customs pretty cheap. Helps having a gunsmith for a friend too


Gotta watch the classifieds for deals. Black Friday, Christmas, 4th of July, and midway even does a sale on your birthday for you. That's how I do things inexpensive.

 

[Don A Parsons]

Be wize and try to save some of your funds,,, only shop with in your means,,, """If you can,,,""" add 20 % to the quality of value,,, that way you don't end up with junk...

So what do I have for optics,,, Two chunks of glass in the 20 to 24 power... $2000 now that there used... Ha

3 optics in the 9 to 15 power zoom,,, = $800...

Three Rifles + a spare Fourth = $5200 to $6500 on a good day... 2 have been shelved for now...

Reloading equipment $1000 to $1500...

Reloading supplies, $7 to $8.000 becuase I buy bulk... LOL

Extra hunting and shooting crap,,, $2 to $2.200 since this is my passion and only 1 of 7 outdoor sport activities...

So my shooting sports and hunting activities are paid for... $15 to 16.000 TOTAL...

So divided by 5 years = $3100 ish at this point per-year,,, $1500 is at the 10 year mark,,,

I'll switch to 1 rifle with glass in the next few years,,, better to own 1 mid quality unit to get me by...

94 to 98% target shooting,,, 2% predator control and 2% hunting...

A plan with no plan... LOL

 

[swe123]

Old, retired, kids are grown. I have been fortunate and been able to do what I wanted.
I am a big believer that quality glass is important. I would rather have a top tier scope that is a few years old and may not have all the bells and whistles of the latest and greatest, than cheap glass with good marketing. When the new scopes come out the prices on the old scopes drop pretty fast.

Guns tend to follow this same trend. Once the gun of the month(or year) get bumped by the next the prices on the abandoned guns fall. Last years greatest caliber ever made is now somehow sub par. Lets not forget that most of these great new miracle calibers are not doing anything new.

Hunters like to hunt, reloaders like to reload, rifle builders like to build rifles and wildcaters are looking for the perfect cartridge. Figure out what works for you and use it. It is my experience the time spent shooting you guns for outways the latest fad. When the brass gets about knee deep your going to be pretty good with whatever you have.

 

[jebel]

Don't bemoan the time, energy, and treasure you put into your hobbies. Along with the other serious things that demand and get those same resources, our hobbies give us joy.

I define "hobby" as a pastime that receives far more attention then most around us can understand.

 

[csrcharlie]

once it changes from a "hobby", to a "way of life", you will find a way to make it happen, regardless of income, lol.

 

[gusd]

40, married, two kids 4, and 5,
I own a tree service. Which means contrary to popular belief I don't have all kinds of time to do whatever I want whenever I want. "Because you can set your own schedule"
And I'll be honest I don't make a gobs of money because I "own My own business" And it **** sure isn't "free because I can write it off"
I have two full customs I choose not to know what I have stuck into them dollar wise.
And thats for a couple reasons one when someone asks I can honestly say I don't know.It makes me feel better about all that money sitting in the safe not getting shot enough.
As for funding those guns I sold almost all the guns I had accumulated over the years.
I came to the conclusion I would rather have a couple really nice guns that are my go to guns and use them,than thousands of dollars worth of guns that had been sitting in the safe for many many years unfired.

 

[762x51]

i'm in the same boat as you OP. my wife and i have 2 good jobs but we have 2 kids in daycare ($2k a month right now) and one more on the way. so my gun buying days are kind of temporarily on hold right now. i say kind of because i do buy AR parts here and there when i find a really good sale. eventually i'll have a nice AR to assemble.

i only have one bolt gun i would consider "custom". a rem 700P that i have slowly done and added stuff to over the years as i could afford it. i probably have $20k in guns/optics if i were to guess but alot of that was bought before kids. i also have 2 really nice AR's that i put about $3k into including optics.

i also was able to purchase 10 acres of land 45 mins from my house, so i get to shoot often. i kind of like the temporary hiatus on buying guns because i've actually been shooting what i have. i can afford a few boxes of ammo and 3-4 hours to go shooting 1-2 times a month.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

24 years old
Married, 2 children ages 11 months and 3 years soon to be 4 in September.


I save my money. I wheel and deal and upgrade where I can. I wait until components go on sale then by in bulk. This is basically my only hobbie so I dont have others chewing up my time and money. I'm a very avid hunter so a good bit actually goes there for my archery addiction. I used to be in dirtbikes but I don't have the time for it anymore. Got a 13 kx450fthat I've owned since 2015 that just sits there and hasnt really been ridden in 2 years.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

Under 30
Crop Scientist

I sold my fast car and all my snap on crap and bought gearwrench/craftsman tools and gun stuff. That helped a lot, now I trade around to get the stuffs I want, I like trading around in optics a lot because I get to experience different stuff and test things for little to negative money. Always looking for a deal.

 

[joseph singleton]

Wow awesome insight...53 yrs old ,work 7 days a week,sold my coin collection just couldn't do both ripped my heart out seeing that go(collected since I was 7-8).ENJOY HUNTING 24-7 in my head,leaning on going west a few times if I can get all the stars to line up...Blessed and I don't cry over spilt MILK...LOL

 

[PredatorSlayer]

We all have various levels of engagement in this sport, and we are all from different walks of life with different expendable incomes.

My Wife and I have "good" jobs, 2 young children that have a lot of interests/activities (cha-ch$ng). We manage our money well and have an eye for the future.

I was reading a thread recently about various mountain scopes, and some of you fellers listed off 6-8 scopes that you currently have in circulation that I would absolutely drool over.

I've lusted over the "kit" required to do long-range hunting any justice for years and years. In addition to a small safe filled with hand-me-downs and affordable factory guns, I have 1 custom rifle that was given to me as a thank you for coaching their sons lacrosse team for 3 years (fortunately it came with a nice scope too - VX6 6-24x52). I shoot as often as I can, I but in reality I wish I could shoot 3-4 times more than I do .... it's the cost of ammo/components that prevents me from going hog wild. I also would like to get a light caliber semi custom to get my kids in on the fun (but we will make do with our ruger American predator just fine.

I stand no chance of "keeping up with the Jones'" but I'd sure be curious to know....

Age
Occupation
Kids / no kids
Dollars invested in custom rifles and attached scopes

This should be interesting!

Under 40
Feds
2 kids
No customs - some high end factory and semi custom stuff - maybe 12k