Thread: Has the cost of this shooting as a hobby gone up or down?

Greetings all,
In the late 1960's, a little after I contracted this hunting and shooting disease, a new Parker Hale rifle in .308W could be had for a little under $100.00 plus a 4x40 Nikko Stirling scope could be added for another $25.00. Cartridges for the .308 were about $4.00 a packet of 20.
For the handloader a pound of AR2201 could be had for a little over $10.00 with 100 Speer projectiles about $6.00 per hundred and primers a little over $1.00 per tray of 100. Nirvana you say but wait. As an Architectural Draughtman with about 3 years experience I was paid around $1,500.00 a year before tax so you do the maths, was it cheaper in 1968 or now and how much of the current cost is due to the flasher kit that most of us now demand.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings all,
In the late 1960's, a little after I contracted this hunting and shooting disease, a new Parker Hale rifle in .308W could be had for a little under $100.00 plus a 4x40 Nikko Stirling scope could be added for another $25.00. Cartridges for the .308 were about $4.00 a packet of 20.
For the handloader a pound of AR2201 could be had for a little over $10.00 with 100 Speer projectiles about $6.00 per hundred and primers a little over $1.00 per tray of 100. Nirvana you say but wait. As an Architectural Draughtman with about 3 years experience I was paid around $1,500.00 a year before tax so you do the maths, was it cheaper in 1968 or now and how much of the current cost is due to the flasher kit that most of us now demand.
Regards Grandpamac.

Here is a bit more info. The cumulative inflation from 1968 to 2023 is 2,170% so that Parker Hale would cost $2,170.00 today. A Parker Hale was about the cheapest new rifle you could buy at the time.
GPM.

https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary-po...ion-calculator
Try this it is probably what GPM used.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings all,
In the late 1960's, a little after I contracted this hunting and shooting disease, a new Parker Hale rifle in .308W could be had for a little under $100.00 plus a 4x40 Nikko Stirling scope could be added for another $25.00. Cartridges for the .308 were about $4.00 a packet of 20.
For the handloader a pound of AR2201 could be had for a little over $10.00 with 100 Speer projectiles about $6.00 per hundred and primers a little over $1.00 per tray of 100. Nirvana you say but wait. As an Architectural Draughtman with about 3 years experience I was paid around $1,500.00 a year before tax so you do the maths, was it cheaper in 1968 or now and how much of the current cost is due to the flasher kit that most of us now demand.
Regards Grandpamac.

multiply every price by 15 is what you pay today, more or less, draughtsman with 3 years experience would be around 75k, 50 times more than you did back then. so price had gone down relative to income.

My Marlin .22LR BA was $350 in the early 90's If I was a tradesman then that would of been about a weeks pay. Now more like a day & a bit, but not sure what they're worth new now.