This is an expensive Sport/Hobbie, get over it. It isn't the 1980's anymore, when shooting was cheap. I talk to shooters of that era and they were shooting three, four shoots a week. a couple of registereds on a sunday, and loads of practice in the summer weekday evenings. Brilliant!
Those days are gone I'm affraid. Unless like a lot of the top shots in this Country, you have a few quid or rich parents.
The "Let's Boycot Manufacturers" Brigade are, in my opinion, as bad as the "Let's ban Guns" Bellends. They can never tell you how much a Cartridge Manufacturer makes on a thousand shells. Yes, they make Profit. Greed isn't another word for Profit. They don't make nearly as much as you think. I know.
Now, for every Cartridge I pull out of my Skeet vest, there is a Clay I'm going to shoot, or in most cases, miss. Now when I look at that Cartridge, a mid price, mid range shell, and I work out the price of that single shell, let's say 15, 20 pence, and I think about what goes into making them shells. The Case, the Brass head, Primer, Powder, Wad, lead, Ink, The inner Box, the outer box, Labelling, the Machine operator and energy to run the machines. Transport, Logistics, Admin staff, Rates, Taxes, Insurance, (Waste disposal, which has to be paid for) Staff wages, Vehicles, Retailers, the list goes on.
Does that amount of cost/work go into a Clay? I doubt it. I never give the cost of them a second thought when they fly off into the distance.
There is a hell of alot of cost that goes into making a Cartridge. That is a fact.
Let's Boycott Manufacturers, If these firms were to disappear, I believe with all the red tape, they would not be replaced. That's great. what the f*** do I do on a Sunday then?. Read the Bible and go for a walk? f*** that. Do you think the firms on foreign soil will send us free Cartridges? Nope.
There are to many People in this Country who would like to stop me from Owning a Gun and Making lots of noise on a Sunday morning with it.. Why don't you worry about them than the price of the Sport?
I dislike paying £150, £200 for anything, especially something I'm going to throw in the bin. But when I work out the positive things about Shooting clay targets, the friendships, the excitment, the getting out and about all over the country, and, in this Sport, being able to stand behind and compete against some of the Greatest shots in the World, then in my opinion it is a price worth paying.
I wish it was cheaper as I would do more of it. As I'm sure every other shooter in this Country would.