What Is Your Life Worth?
Shooting is expensive, and with inflation and scarcity, the prices are only going up. It is harder to go to the range because if your local gun stores are like mine, you might have noticed a price increase there as well.
While some of this I think is from general inflation, I think there might be a bit of gouging as well, but with many things, I think that it is important to put money in things that are reliable, that are good quality, and something that I can trust my life and my family’s life on. Here are a few of the things that I refuse to compromise on.
Ammo:
I try to practice a lot with my firearms, but like most, I have the same excuses. From moving cross country again, having kids getting ready to and going to school, and cost going up.
On a recent trip to the range, I was wondering why my grouping was a bit off, and part of that was ammo selection. I bought a bunch of ammo when the prices were on sale, and I thought I was doing well. However, it appears that my firearm hated it, giving me consistent fliers, and being generally dirtier than it normally would be.
While this was mainly practice ammo, I try and get stuff as close as I can to gain weight, and bullet type so it functions like my defensive stuff. However, yet again I am reminded that you should invest in quality ammo. This goes especially true for hunting or defensive ammo, as you need those bullets to perform consistently and have the best terminal effects.
Holsters:
I know I harp on holsters in a lot of my blogs, but I can’t tell you how a great holster like the Original is worth about a dozen crappy ones from a big box store. I carry everywhere, and it is insane when I try my old holsters how uncomfortable they feel in comparison to the leather holster from JM4.
Also, I do notice my older KYDEX holsters tend to print a lot more than the Original holster, by a lot. With my KYDEX one I look like I am carrying a really funky-shaped phone in a belt hard case, versus the Original makes it disappear completely on either my appendix carry, hip, or small of back, despite it being recommended for the hip.
On the same range outing, I took out several guns to re-confirm their zero since the move. Most traveled in cases (hard) or in a safe on the 1000+ mile journey, but I don’t trust that they will be just fine. All of them, everyone was off, some by a few minutes of angle (MOA) others by FEET!
I have an optic on my carry gun, and it had been a minute since I confirmed zero and it was a bit off. Whether it was my shooting, the ammo (I said it was not the best), or the change in the area. Either way, the more expensive optics I had, the least number of issues I had.
High-end Vortex, dead on. Cheap Burris? Yeah, had to get two sheets of paper to see where it was at.
It sucks buying expensive stuff, especially as the cost of gas, electricity, food, rent and damn near everything else is going up, but there are a few things that will protect your family or provide for them. Invest in great holsters, good ammo, and great glass, and you will eliminate 99% of your potential problems.
Author: Ian Bolser
