Budgeting for Training 101

Introduction and Background:

One of the more common refrains we hear in the Prep-Patriot oriented shooting space is the lack of means to purchase training ammo on a consistent basis. I’m here to argue that not only is it possible to budget ammo out on the strictest of budgets, but it might be easier than you think.

This past weekend I hit the range with several folks. Good times were had. After every trip, be is solo or as a crew, I run an After Action Review through my head at minimum and often write them down. One thing I’ve learned over time is that the way my brain works, probably due to my introverted nature, I need a day or two to decompress and study on the class I just took or the big range day or what have you, to fully develop the AAR.

Having recently gained access to a 700 yard rifle range, I’ve been trying my hand at longer precision type shooting more frequently. It is definitely more money intensive than the typical 100 yard and in pistol and carbine work I generally focus on. This coupled with the common refrain among both friends and acquaintances in real life (as well as the commentariat in the blogosphere and on social media as well various ramblings we see online) got me motivated to put my thoughts out.

Having tight money constraints is a thing. I get it. I have them and probably so do you. They are also different for each person. A guy making 200k a year has different constraints than one making 30k a year. But we can make it work either way.

I don’t want to turn this into a Dave Ramsey tutorial but most financial issues folks have are with money management and priorities. Most folks into shooting who might not be banking big bucks but who can afford a 800-1000$ carbine or a Glock or two, can also afford regular training ammo, if they budget for it.

On the range trip, I was riding with a guy who I used to shoot with fairly frequently but who has dropped off the last few years with the HoloCough and frankly, he has other interests. He related he couldn’t afford better rifles, gear, glass or pistol optics. When the need comes to buy ammo, its always been a big lift for him. We work in the same blue collar industry doing basically the same thing, and I’m sure make similar salaries.

He likes what I call “modern pop culture” things. He’s up on the new movies and shows, going to concerts, going out to eat, trips, new vehicles, and buying the newest fads. He rides a Harley. They like debt.

I haven’t watched a movie in probably 6 or 7 years. If I watch anything, its something of educational value, probably about shooting or lifting better or something pertaining to my historical interests.

Its all about priorities. Do you want a Glock with a Red dot or do you want a Blackstone? He chose a Blackstone.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. It’s merely personal preference. However, you can’t choose modern trendy life, (which I personally believe is a total waste of time) and then complain you don’t have better doomsday gear or more importantly training ammo.

I have many friends and acquaintances that have safes full of guns. They buy a new gun like its nothing. They talk the talk about training, but they rarely take a class. Can’t afford it. Then 3 days later here comes a picture of a new pistol. They even more rarely come to the myriad of invites I send out to come shoot on Saturdays. No money for ammo they say, yet they have 12 budget AR’s of dubious quality and keep getting more, then wonder why they don’t run whenever they do get to the range. I’ve always been a fan of less stuff, but higher quality.

The Plan:

I’ve bounced this off of several knowledgeable and respectable people and coupled with what the top performers are saying, I think it’s possible to gain considerable skill from the newb to intermediate levels with about 300 rounds of live fire pistol a month. In fact I’d argue with dedication and drive, tremendous gains will be had. For the intermediate to higher levels, 300 rounds with maintain the skill levels one is currently at but will also still slowly build skill in my experience. But to be clear you aren’t going to become a GM, most likely, unless you are extremely naturally gifted.

The caveat to all the above is that the training is directed and structured in the proper way to yield results, not just blast. And caveat number two, is that both groups are regularly dry firing 3-5x a week and hitting proper reps.

Given that we need approximately 300 rounds per month as a minimum base line and given current case price of 9mm, this comes out to about 80$ a month. So the question then becomes one of, “how do we come up with 80$ a month to train?”

If you have the means, 80$ a month is relatively trivial. If money is tighter, lets look at it. Some people drink energy drinks daily. 3$ x 7 days, equals 21$ a week. There is your ammo money when you quit that nonsense. 80$ is one family meal out you skip that month. Throw away the dip, cigarettes, over priced frozen pizza’s, Netflix, Hulu, satellite tv subscriptions, ditch the truck, motorcycle and jet ski payments, beer, Starbucks, and designer clothes with the holes already torn in them.

“But, I don’t have any of that!” you say. If one stops eating out for dinner every day at 12 noon, even if it’s at McDonalds, you are spending 10$ any way you cut it, minimum. Just for lunches. If one goes to Sam’s Club and gets 8 pounds of meat, chicken breast, ground beef or the like, and a 50lb bag of rice, throw in some fruit or vegetables, you can meal prep all your dinner and supper meals for about 30-40$ a week. Put the savings into ammo.

I’ve thought about this quite a bit and this is what I think is a solid entry level training plan.

Assume one’s live fire and dry fire training regimen will start on the first of the month. On Monday the dryfire begins for approximately 10-15 min. 3-5x times a week. If you are not physically tired from gripping the gun properly and mentally fatigued from the concentration you have to put in, you aren’t doing it right.

If we break the 300 rounds of suggested minimum practice ammo per month into 2 sessions, approximately every 2 weeks, we’ll probably get more bang for the buck. Live fire should always be a validation or testing of what you are doing dry. There are however several aspects of shooting that cannot be replicated dry and must be worked live. Hence, the need for a consistent stream of training ammo. Handling the gun daily for shorter periods of time like 10 minutes vs. one big session on Friday night for an hour and a half is the way. Its also the way, in my experience with live fire. I’d rather shoot every week or two than 1x month if possible.

Come up with 300 rounds before your first live fire session, which will probably be the 2nd weekend of starting the program. Save the money up. Slash it from somewhere else that is extraneous and direct that money to the ammo. If you have a massive stock pile, and no cash, borrow it from that. Be sure to replenish.

The Preparedness minded person is the hardest person to deal with on ammo expenditures. They want their cake and they want to eat it too. They want the stock pile because the UN Blue Helmets or the Illegal Immigrant Sleeper Cells of Death might activate tomorrow, but they want to be able to shoot it for practice too. The ammo stock pile usually never gets touched.

Years back in the early 2000’s I started my deep dive into the rabbit hole of the liberty mission, self reliance, preparedness and the shooting sports came right with it. Boston T Party was one of the biggest ideologues that shaped my mind for the years since. He has sadly turned into a more run of the mill, milquetoast Trump type conservative, but his veracity in those early years made me into an Action Libertarian vs. an Egg Head Libertarian, as he eloquently wrote about in a foreward to one of Claire Wolfe’s great books.

Boston eloquently argued given one had 1000 rounds, he would rather have 900 of those rounds in quality training and 100 left to use, versus, 900 rounds in the stock pile and only 100 rounds in training.

To this day the same thing basically holds true. So how do we disconnect the stock pile mentality with the training ammo needed to actually get better with Liberty’s Teeth?

You put your stock pile in your savings or retirement account and your training ammo in your checking account, so to speak. You don’t touch the stock pile if you can help it. But the checking account, you use regularly to withdraw and deposit. This system flipped the script for me completely.

Simultaneously, starting the first week, our goal to save 30$ a week. Put it in an envelope in cash. Figure it out. Make the sacrifices and cuts. Work extra hours. Pick up an extra shift. Start a side hustle. Sell some of the useless piles of clutter in the garage. Manage your money better. Rearrange the finances.

30$ a week, by the end of the second month of training, and when its time for that months live fire validation at the range, you’ll have enough to buy a case of 9mm. You might have to toss in a few dollars extra, depending on market fluctuation at time of order, but you’ll then have 1000 rounds, which will give you 3 solid months of training ammo and a little extra.

It is my strong suggestion to keep up the 30$ a week. Once you get the case, you could then theoretically re-budget the weekly savings rate to expand over say the course of 3 months instead of two and if you absolutely had to, in order to get another case. However if you keep up with the 30$ a week and a case is coming in every 2 months and it takes you 3 months to shoot it, you’ll be increasing your supply over time. Win-win.

Hopefully this will help folks.

Lastly, folks need to understand their “why.” Mine hasn’t really changed. It’s been the same. I think however, I realized that my deep interest in shooting isn’t necessarily as rooted in self defense, defense of liberty or self reliance as I previously thought. I genuinely like it. Its my thing. I don’t take trips or bass fish. I don’t golf. I shoot. That’s the reality first and foremost. The self defense aspect is a high priority but its an extension of the genuine passion for it in the first place. I want to be good at it in general, on the range, maybe at a competition not just if I need to defend myself. I want to perform at a higher level constantly.

If your sole motivation is defense of self, liberty and property, is that goal not worth sacrificing and coming up with 30$ a week? If that is your goal, why are you still making excuses of being tired or sore after work and not hitting the gym. Why are you choosing fat assery instead of bad assery?

Why in the hell are you buying more guns before you have your training ammo budget in place and functioning and your regular training plan enacted?

I hung out with a group of dedicated folks a few weeks back on the range in some inclement weather and its always a huge motivator for me to see folks getting after it, showing up, doing the deed even in inclement weather. Not long after I caught a YouTube of a couple of the guys there and they were having a long discussion about predictions for 2024 and the state of these united States. The problems were laid out. All the problems. Peoples threat matrix’s differ as to the level of concern they have with different problems.

We spends lots of time talking about the problems. Getting upset and fired up. I read the Death of the West in the early 2000’s. I’ve always been more concerned with the defense of Liberty than the Culture War. I’ve always believed Liberty is the Mother of Order, not the daughter. I’ve heard the same problems for 20 plus years. The same scenario’s. The same end of the world predictions.

For much of this stuff, I’ve chosen the course of proactive apathy. Not my people, not my problem. And to be clear most of this country is not my people. The US is a sinking ship and its time people got off. There will not be another 1776. The South will not Rise again. Its all talk. There surely will not be a Great Man to save the day, and surely no answers will be found in electoral politics. There will not be a final liberty solution.

During the video, I could sense a little frustration with the host after hearing about all the problems on the horizon. He asked “Ok, so what do we do?”

The Special Operations veteran calmly said something along the lines of “you need to learn how to shoot and learn to fight because there is a good chance you may wind up in prison.”

That right there.

The answer.

No matter what the threats are on your matrix, the work is always the way. I can only control myself, I don’t control you. I can get better. I can’t control who is in the White House or if they took Aunt Jemima off the pancake mix box. I don’t even eat pancakes.

I’m on the training circuit daily. I’m at the range generally every weekend. I’m in the gym 3x a week. I routinely reach out to folks to regularly to practice, rarely do folks show up. My level of interest matches your level of commitment. I have given up on many. As of late there are a handful of folks who I know show up regularly in my larger AO, but we are a couple hours away and it doesn’t happen as often as it should, so we are generally doing our own thing.

The answer is always in the work. Do it.

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