Seven ways shooters can save money this spring

March 23, 2023. For many Americans, real incomes are flat over recent years. However, inflation has significantly increased the cost to live in the last three years. It is important to save money wherever possible. While prices are rising, wages are not. Here are seven ways that shooters can save money on their gear purchases and other shooting-related expenses. Keep an eye out for our Deals of Week. AccurateShooter.com publishes the best deals every Monday in its Daily Bulletin. We search the internet to find great deals on ammo and reloading components as well as optics, tools, firearms and gun safes. Our Deals of the week can often offer savings of 20-35%. AccurateShooter.com subscribers can also get special deals from many vendors. The Forum Classifieds are available. Every day, there are great deals in the AccurateShooter shooters’ Forum. The right column of each Forum page displays the latest deals. You can browse the Forum MarketPlace section to view all listings. It has four main categories: Guns, Actions and Stocks.
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3. Take a ride to matchmaking. Fuel prices are rising — Regular-grade gasoline costs more than $5.00 per gallon in California and $3.50/gallon nationally. Fuel is a significant part of shooters’ hobby budgets, as many live between 30 and 100 miles from their nearest range. 90% of shooters travel alone to matches in large, gas-guzzling trucks. You’ll use more than $35.00 to drive 200 miles round trip in a 20-mpg car to attend a match. This adds up. You can cut down on fuel costs by sharing the ride with one other shooter. You can also save money on vehicle wear and tear by sharing a vehicle with a friend from one match to another. Consider the savings at $0.55/mile (overall operational costs). Use Discount Codes to Save. It is always smart to verify for discount codes before purchasing. Every Monday, the Daily Bulletin features “Deals of the Week”, and offers discount coupon codes when they are available. These codes can significantly reduce the cost of shipping or make it more affordable. Search codes for Brownells and Creedmoor Sports. You should also check your email because some discount codes can only be found in email newsletters. Visit Gun.deals or RetailMeNot.com if you are unable to find a coupon code for your preferred vendor. Both sites provide current coupon codes. RetailMeNot.com provides thousands of vendors. Find “Demo Optics” on Amazon. Modern, high-quality optics can easily run up to $1500.00 or more. They often exceed the value of the rifle they are mounted on. Demo optics can often be purchased at a 20-30% savings. These are usually used at trade shows as display units. These may have some ringmarks but they are otherwise “as new” and have never been used on live ammunition or carried in the field. Before purchasing demo scopes, it is important to verify the warranty. Most demo scopes made by name-brand manufacturers come with factory warranties. EuroOptic.com or SWFA.com offer a wide selection of demo optics.6 Rimfire Rifles are available for training. A good match-grade centerfire, handloaded ammo, counting premium bullets and powder, as well as brass (figuring 10X loads), can now cost more than $1.50 per shot. If your competition barrel, which costs $600, chambered and fitted, is no longer usable after 1500 rounds add $0.40 to barrel deprecation per shot. This is almost two dollars per round! You can, however, get very good.22LR target ammo for less than $0.18 per round. You don’t need to worry about your rimfire barrel getting worn out quickly. A rimfire barrel of high quality can hold its accuracy for up to 7,000 rounds. If you use ballistics, a.22 LR cartridge at 100 yards can replicate wind drift experienced at long range by a centerfire cartridge. This allows cross-training with cheaper ammo.7 Factory Rebates are available. Quality manufacturers like Hornady and Smith & Wesson offer attractive rebates. Be aware that rebates are often used to move less-popular products. Some rebates are available for a wide range of merchandise so it’s difficult to go wrong. Smith & Wesson currently offers a $100 rebate on rifles and semi-auto pistols. It is important to keep the original packaging and sales slip when you purchase a product. You can also print out online orders. You may need to mail in the product identification code from the box to be eligible for the rebate.