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spoil9

· Guns prevent pollution
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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I'm taking a friend and his kid shooting since they've never been. What is etiquette for paying for range fees and ammo? 50/50 even split? Price per round they shoot? Eat the cost myself?

I know if the situation was reversed, I'd offer to pay my range fee and ammo costs but he's not the type to offer unless he has to.
 
If you put out a nice gesture to help them out and they can't even have the decency to cover there fee's and hell even offer to pay for you since your doing this then why bother? People will only keep being mooches if you keep letting them.
 
Well, if you don't know how it should work, then you shouldn't expect him to know either. So don't be upset if he doesn't follow how you think he should act, and in the end it isn't worth losing a friend over a few bucks and a misunderstanding.

IMHO, proper etiquette depends on how the invitation was made. If there was no mention of money at the time you invited him, then my assumption is that you should be prepared as the "host" to pay for your "guest" (and he may or may not offer something). Remember he may not know what it costs, and you don't want to put him in an awkward situation where at the end you ask him to pay half and he doesn't have enough money to cover it. And you certainly don't want to be upset because he didn't know you expected him to pay.

If you have the expectation that he should pay something, then talk to him and let him know ahead of time how much it usually costs, and ask if he wants to split the cost or maybe tell him you can pick up the cost this time and he can get it next time. Allow him to make an attendance decision based on his cost.

Be clear up front and you'll avoid problems down the road.

Good Luck.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
I agree with JCC. Not worth losing a friend over. I personally expect my guests to atleast pay their range fees, and although not expected, its nice when they offer to help pay for ammo.
I asked this question to see how others handle this situation to judge if I was way out of social norms (which I usually am anyways)
 
Well if your gonna pay for all your friends fun I think we could be friends lol
 
New shooters: Co-workers, friends, relatives that I invite out to shoot for their first time. I pick up the range fees and ammo. Most people will not want to go do something they're really not sure they want to do if on top of that..... it's going to cost them $50.

Irregular shooters / Invite themselves: You know the people, they used to shoot a lot or don't have a gun anymore. They like shooting, but don't know any of the local clubs or spots and don't have a gun to shoot skeet / trap / target, whatever. And they hear you're going to go shooting and ask to come along. For that, I'm upfront with the range fees and that they need to pay them. If they borrow someone else's gun, they buy the ammo. If they borrow my gun..... I supply ammo. I don't want to put my reloads in someone else's gun....and I don't want someone else's reloads in my gun. Or the person buys off the shelf ammo.
 
If I invite a new shooter then I usually supply the ammo but with the intent that I also will explain to them the costs and guide them through the whole process so I shield them a bit from the intimidating guns nuts behind the counter.

IMO nothing can turn off a newbie faster than the people working in the industry. New folks are already self conscious enough about the whole thing, thinking they are doing something anti-social and dangerous.

Anyway, I usually don't pick up the range fee. They have to have some skin in the game being that I'm supplying the know how and the hardware. Of course there's always exceptions. If I have to do more convincing to get them to come then I might pay for it all.

Sometimes, it's as simple as agreeing to pay for the range and they pick up lunch.

If it's someone more experienced but they don't have the equipment then they pay their own range fee, I supply the ammo, they buy the food and drinks after. I might do this once or twice but unless they are a good friend who enjoys the sport but their family situation won't tolerate guns I don't pay for everything all the time.

Generally, if I take someone to the range it's to get them interested. I'm about 50/50 then converting them into owners.

Though, IMO the range is like blowing up fireworks. It's cool for a while but at the end of the day it costs $$. My preference is hunting not target. So my range time is more limited than my field time.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
Interesting.
I had more to say but got sidetracked between reading the email and posting hefe oh, look look @t the rabbit.
 
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