How to Get Into Shooting with No Money

We have run into a few fans that are very interested in getting into shooting sports and for some reason accidentally turned to us for guidance. While we admit that we are terrible role models and you should generally disregard our opinions, we do feel obligated to let you know a few ways you can get into shooting when you’re on a budget.

Military?

The first method will definitely get a rifle in your hands, and maybe even something with a little more horsepower for absolutely no monetary cost to yourself. However this method should not be taken lightly as it’s the equivalent of purchasing a Boeing 747 so you can get unlimited free peanuts. Joining the military will get you a decent amount of trigger time behind some great guns with world class optics and accessories. You will, however, be required to do a lot of other things that we don’t necessarily condone you do on a regular basis such as waking up early, exercising regularly, showing up to work on time, doing what you’re told, and sitting through safety briefs on why strangling your dog is frowned upon and may have legal ramifications. Plus there’s always the possibility of going to war which can be a major inconvenience when you’re trying to level up on Fortnite. Is that what you do on Fortnite? I don’t really know to be honest, but it sounds like something you would do there.

Now for more realistic methods.

No More Screwing Around

At this point we are going to assume you are looking at getting your first AR pattern rifle, or maybe another sporting style long gun, and/or an automatic pistol.

If you grew up around guns you probably have access to some at your parents’ house and maybe you were even gifted some guns as you were growing up. If that’s the case, you likely hunt. It can be really tough to consider parting with gifted guns due to sentimental reasons, but if you can bring yourself to do it you technically have money in the bank for a tactical style/sporting rifle. Guns usually hold their resale value very well and that Savage Axis or Remington 700 you have could go a long ways towards getting you into an AR15. Some people may be willing to trade with you straight out, or you can sell your gun to a gun shop and pay the difference. One thing to think about if you do hunt is what caliber you get your AR chambered in; the most common and cost effective caliber will be a 5.56/.223, but if you’re will to spend more you can get other calibers. Since you’re broke, we’ll assume you’re looking for 5.56, .223, or .223 wylde. Depending on the game you hunt, these may or may not be acceptable chamberings for you. Most places, to the best of our knowledge, will allow .223 for deer hunting which is probably on the smaller side of acceptable but choosing the right bullet weight for the application might make it appropriate. What we are trying to say is, trading away your hunting rifle has the possibility of digging into your ability to hunt so just consider that, or it might not.

Get a Real AR!

With all that said, we do recommend you start with .233 or 5.56 as your first AR rifle caliber. If you haven’t been baptized in the name of Eugene Stoner yet and are confused about the .223/5.56/.223 Wylde differences, it’s not as confusing as it seems. If your rifle is chambered in any of the above, they all shoot the same projectiles, but there are minor differences in the casings, and we are talking very minor, between a 5.56 round and a .223 round that change the pressure created in the chamber. We aren’t going to get technical here, but if you want more information check out a link I’ll annotate on screen to somebody who goes in depth on the subject, unless I forget. Short version, if your rifle is chambered in .223, only shoot ammo that says .223 on the box, if it’s chambered in 5.56 or .223 Wylde you can shoot either .223 or 5.56 ammunition safely.

The reason we recommend one of these chamberings is because they are extremely versatile and relatively inexpensive to shoot. You will have to come to the realization that shooting will cost money, and every time you pull the trigger is basically like throwing a quarter down range. If decide to go with 300 blackout, 6.5 creedmore, .224 Valkyrie, or something more exotic you are looking at a minimum of double that cost and potentially 4 or 5 dollars per trigger pull. Most calibers have great applications, but .223/5.56 are the least expensive and most versatile that you will find in an AR pattern rifle, and it’s probably the best place to start.

Is Your Man Card Up to Date?

Build or buy is another tough decision for a lot of new shooters. Buying a budget AR is definitely a good way to get started because you will have something guaranteed to work, and if it doesn’t, you should have a warranty on it. At the time of filming this, you can find budget AR’s for as low as $400 on sale. This can be a great option as it will get you into a gun and allow you to modify it as you save more money and learn what accessories or components you find most important to add or upgrade. This will probably be a more expensive option in the long run if you consider that you will essentially be buying handguards, buttstocks, sights, etc twice at a minimum as you upgrade and you will have a box of old stock parts that you will never use laying around. The alternative is building. This can be nice, especially if you don’t have a trade or a wad of cash to buy a rifle all at once. Buying a part at a time for a rifle is nice because it stings less spending 50 bucks at a time on parts than 500 all at once, and you get to put on the parts you want the first time. This will usually take longer, and you won’t have a warranty though, so if something

doesn’t work you will be on your own to figure it out. It’s not as hard to build an AR as many people think, but there certainly are cons to consider.

How Tacticool Are You?

If you plan on shooting any sort of matches, or going to any tactical courses it will almost be mandatory to have an optic other than iron sights on your rifle. You could probably get buy without an optic, but you’re going to want one. Red dots are probably the way to go; they are the most budget friendly and you can move them to other guns easily if you decide to swap it for a scope down the line. Plus they are easy to sell or trade in the future if you want to get some of your money back. Choosing a red dot can be tough because there are so many budget friendly options out there, just be very careful because it can be easy to get sucked into buying a $20 toy that doesn’t work. It is usually recommended that you start looking at red dots in the $200 and up point for any serious use, but I would say that if you don’t have that kind of money laying around, buy the Bushnell TRS25 and use it until you can afford to upgrade. It has proven to be a high value red dot sight and will not break under normal use conditions. Anybody who disagrees is either an elitist and is wrong, or is just wrong. If you feel that you need magnification, consider spending at least $100 and I’d look at brands like Vortex or Primary Arms, or possibly Bushnell again as they will allow you to at least use your AR like an AR without breaking right off the bat. Just make sure you avoid ACOG clones and and do some research before you buy because buying a cheap scope without a good warranty 2 or 3 times will probably be more expensive than what I just recommended.

Did Somebody Say Lasers?

Handguards, rails, lasers, vertical grips… I would say that if you are building, find a decent keymod or mlok rail to start with, if you are buying than use whatever handguard your rifle comes with until you decide to upgrade. All of the stuff you can add to your handguard is absolutely unnecessary for what you will probably be using your rifle for. Add these things as your budget allows and don’t let anybody tell you that you need any of them unless you are talking about a very specific application. You might be surprised how little the military actually uses the lasers it spends all that money on. They are great tools when you need them, but you don’t need them as often as you might think by watching too much YouTube. #nosuchthingastoomuchyoutube

Like I said earlier, it will cost you more money everytime you go shooting. There are a couple of different ways I like to buy my ammo. In my experience, buying enough ammo for a trip to the range the day of your trip is usually the worst way to go about things. After range fees and ammo, it’s really easy to end up dropping over $100 for a couple of hours of enjoyment of your rifle on range day. The two ways I usually buy are either in bulk, or a little at a time all the time. Buying in bulk is pretty self explanatory, buying a case or a half case at a time will get you good pricing and many places will ship for free when you spend over $100 at a time which I think is a hell of a deal when you consider how much ammo weighs. The second method might sound like gobbletygook, but hear me out. Everytime I’m a place that sells ammo, I see what they have on sale and buy one or two boxes. This way I am almost constantly growing my supply of ammo and when range day comes, if I don’t have a chunk of cash for ammo that day I can just get high on my own supply. This allows me to know I’m buying my ammo at good prices, because if 5.56 isn’t on sale I’ll buy 9mm or something else, or nothing, and I don’t get that sticker shock that comes with a brick of ammo at the range or buying that full case from Midway.

I Thought I Was Going to Save Money?

I mentioned range fees. Most ranges have either fees to use a lane, or memberships, or both. If you can find a guy with some land that doesn’t mind you shooting on, that’s ideal. Since you’re broke, I assume you don’t own 40 acres that you can go blasting tannerite on whenever you feel like it. If you bum around the gun range or gun shop long enough, you might run into somebody that would be willing to take you under their wing. Going to a match might be a good way to run across somebody as well. If you talk to somebody at one of these venues that does have private land to shoot on, don’t be a dickhead and invite yourself over. One thing about gun guys with lots of land is that they tend to be wary of trusting people they don’t know onto their property, especially if it for shooting things. Ask questions about the sport and possibly if they know of any good places to shoot, and after a few conversations they might invite you, then you need to show up. Common courtesy dictates that you bring your own paper targets or at least a couple pizza boxes, and if they have steel targets it would be a nice gesture to bring some white or red spray paint to touch up the targets when you’re done. Also, clean up your brass and ask them if they want it for reloading. These things will go a long way towards getting yourself invited back.

This blog is already twice as long as usual and we haven’t even talked about pistols yet. Fortunately for you, this is actually a lot easier.

There’s More?

There are a couple of methods, but the quickest and most cost effective way to get into a pistol for tactical/sporting use is only 2 steps long. Step 1: buy a used Glock. Step 2: make sure it’s chambered in 9mm.

Before you attack me in the comments section below, hear me out. I do not think that Glocks are the best gun to buy. I’m not even willing to argue that 9mm is the best caliber to buy….ahem it is ahem… but if you buy a Glock 17, or 19, or even a 34 you will have something that you have something that will be reliable, cost effective to shoot, has a ton of aftermarket, and will be acceptable for most matches, tactical courses, or just training with your friends in a gravel pit.

Yes, you can find cheaper guns that are just as reliable as Glock, Canik comes to mind, but they do not have the aftermarket that Glock does. Finding affordable holsters, sights, replacement parts, etc for a Glock will be easier and potentially cheaper than probably any other hand gun, period. Plus, it’s incredibly easy to sell your Glock if you decide that Sig or CZ, or FN is more your jam. But you will be able to have something that you can learn on and you can teach yourself what you find most important in your handgun before you spend all that money on a Sig Legion series, or maybe you’ll just turn into a Glocktard and gucci out your 19 because of reasons. Starting off though, buying a used Glock from a reputable gun dealer would be where I recommend you start.

9mm is possibly the cheapest centerfire pistol cartridge to shoot, now that I say that somebody in the comments will bring up an obscure milsurp round from Honduras that’s cheaper, and it’s also a great round for CCW, plinking, training, or match shooting. Someday you might want to change it up to 45 ACP, or maybe even 10mm, but remember that our context here is for somebody looking to get into shooting on a budget. Also, plenty of guys will stick with 9mm their entire lives and be totally satisfied with that choice.

You Sure Sound Smart, Eric

Now, we tried to give you some ideas on the most cost effective ways to get some tactical hardware in your life, but these things still cost money. How are we going to raise the money you might ask? I recommend you beg for it. Maybe take out a loan against your IRA. Refinance your car. Start bootlegging cigarettes into Canada (this is a felony, don’t actually do this). Join a class action lawsuit. Collect your step dad’s beer cans and take them to the recycling center. Start flipping electronics you find at the Goodwill. Dig through the cushions on your friends’ couches. Steal underpants….profit.

Was This a Waste of Time? Probably

Now here is something that I want to make sure I drop in here before we wrap this up. It can be tempting to think you are going to save money by building both your own AR and Pistol from 80 percent lowers. 80 percent lowers are cool, and there is definitely a place for them, but don’t make these your first guns please. You will either wreck them and be discouraged, or you will get them barely working and be both discouraged and think that all guns are supposed to feel like you are dragging your nuts through broken glass to get them running right. Also, don’t get a polymer AR lower as your first lower. There are people who have them and swear they are just as good, but I don’t believe them. I know you will have a product that lasts if you buy an aluminum lower, but I can’t promise the same for polymer. Save that for your second or third AR if you have to try one.