Compensation for a friend to the range

Tell him the first couple boxes of ammo are you treat, but he has to pay for the third. If you make the third .22lr he'll be sucked in deeper.:D
 
Typically I'll look at my ammo stores and see how much I'm comfortable bringing to shoot. If I have a feeling it's not a lot, I'll tell them how much we can shoot each gun. If they want to shoot more of each gun than we're able to, they'll either need to bring their own ammo or help with the cost of me buying more. I'm a college student and I don't get a lot of money for ammo
 
Getting them to vote the right way is compensation enough, especially if they were soccer moms/dads sitting on the fence
 
I've never asked any friends I brought shooting to pay anything but
their $6 range fee. I own the guns, I supply the ammo and I paid for the club membership. I don't think $6 is too much to ask. The only people I do
pay for is mom, wife and kid. If I was ever take a young person or a newbie, I'd pay for them also.
 
If I'm helping someone new to shooting I'll cover everything on the first trip but we won't be shooting 300-400 rounds. If they take a liking to it and want to continue I'll offer suggestions on where to get the best price on ammo. If I can bring another shooter to our sport, I've been paid.
 
If you invite someone else to go anywhere, do anything with you, it's a "date." When you ask someone out on a "date" you don't expect them to pay half. Not if you ever expect to see them again. You wouldn't invite your new neighbors over for dinner, then hand them a bill when it's over would you?

Now, later on, such things can be worked out, but not the first time.
 
People seem to take things more serious if they have an investment in it.
Bringing all the gear and paying for everything probably doesn't help promote all that much further interest in your guest.
I'm guessing most folks who get a free day of shooting, without much effort, would look upon it as just an enjoyable way to do something new, without any further commitment at all.
 
If you invite them to your house for dinner do you expect them to pay for the food? If it's their first time out, I'd pay. After that I'd let them know what the costs are and see if they still wanted to go. Remember, if you ask them, it's an invitation.
 
I've never asked for compensation when taking friends to the range. And when offered, I refuse. I'm not so hard-up for money and ammo that taking a friend or newbie to the range is going to really put a dent in my supplies. Then again, I enjoy teaching people new to shooting and find it satisfying to see the "ah-HA" light go on in others. To me that's easily worth the cost of a few dozen rounds of ammo. ;)

Also, when shooting with my experienced friends, there's a lot of sharing. Lots of people have gotten to try out DA revolvers at my offering, and I've gotten to try things like an Armalite AR-180B.
 
Well, as a host of a dinner, I don't expect my guests to bring steaks...etc. A bottle of wine, maybe. That's up to the guest, right?

If your friend doesn't offer ammo or gas money or lunch, then he's a bad guest, but don't you be a bad host by asking for cash. It's just tacky.
 
You invited the friend. Just like a date;. If you invited them, you pay unless it is discussed beforehand. If it is bothering you, I would discuss it prior to the next time out shooting.
 
Safety is paramount. Glad you mentioned that OP. Good on you for taking a newbie.

Here's a few options on how to proceed, especially with the rising costs of ammo. Keep in mind a good friend will offer.

You can either just make up your mind that this is a gift 100%. Good friends will always offer to treat you to dinner, or return the favor otherwise.

For work associates or acquaintances, ...

You might only bring a small amount of ammo, to keep your friend from shooting it all up. If he enjoys it, you might direct him to buy the additional ammo. He'll also see the price of it and appreciate more the fact you let him use yours.

Or the day before you might suggest politely that you're happy to let him shoot some of your ammo, but also tell him to pick up ammo at Walmart. Tell him exactly what to get. I've had friends give me their unshot ammo as a thank you for taking them to the range.

Having taught a lot of friends how to shoot, they are more conservative with the ammo (and actually try harder) when they pay for it. Folks tend to shoot "free" ammo much faster than ammo they paid for.
 
Not really a "friend" but a lady I met through a volunteer organization, 60+ yr-old assault/mugging victim, lives alone on 10 acres 15 miles out, NEVER fired a gun in her life. Wife and I went to outdoor range with her last week, took a single shot 22 and a bolt action to get her over the noise/recoil fear (5-10 shots each) then on to a Bearcat, Taurus 94, Buckmark, and showed her some other .22 handguns that she didn't shoot (but she did shoot wifey's NAA Mini!) I also had a few centerfire handguns that didn't even come out cause she was doing so well with the .22s.

Anyway, no mention of paying for anything until on the way home and she asked if $50 would be enough. Shoot (bad pun), that's my yearly membership fee!! I was thinking of "zero", we shot less than 100 rounds of 22, she was very attentive, obviously got the sight alignment/picture idea down, overcame her "fear", enjoyed herself ..... I was about to say that if she insisted, ten would be plenty, but she'd already written the check. We've got to go again or I'll feel she's way ahead of the game.

It was a good day at the range, and you know the saying about a BAD day at the range.... She drilled a 6" shoot-n-see at 50 yards with a scoped 77/22, the rest of our shooting (handgun) was at 5 yards on the back of a large target - no bullseye - and she moved her groups around on the same target --- "These were with that gun, these down here were with this gun, those over there were ......!" I just love it, and she was so tickled to take her targets home with her....
 
Firstly, well done for introducing a newcomer.

Me personally, I would provide ammo, or, if I was unlicensed, I would pay for a box or so at the shop, and tell them who it was for, ring them & tell them to go n collect it. But that's just me personally. I always like to pay my way/cover any expense I cause. Plus I am always grateful if someone takes me to an event like that.

An example of late: A mate invited me to go shooting, (I just had received my license) and didn't yet possess a firearm. I asked them what Cal's we were shooting, the reply was, .22, 12 ga shotgun & 30-06, so I took 100 rounds of .22, 50 shotshells & a box of 30-06 (20 rounds). I explained that I was so grateful for their hospitality plus them allowing me to use their firearms, it was the least I could do.
 
Had a young lady(friend of my DIL) at the cabin last weekend, that had never shot a handgun before. All I had along was my Colt 5'' Government. Let her shoot 10 mags worth of ammo. Asking her to pay for it never entered my mind. The smile on her face was payment enough.
 
First time is always free. No range fee as I'm a member at a club. First time out we never go through too much ammo anyway. Most of the time is spent in basic instruction in safety and fundamentals. Subsequent trips..... it depends. I buy components in bulk and reload so my ammo costs are considerably less than "store-bought" prices. Depends on how much we shoot and how often. I've never felt like anyone was trying to take advantage of me. They usually offer to buy ammo in any event.

In my work I deal with visitors from all over the world. I've become somewhat known as a gun guy so often get a lot of interested questions. If there's time I'll offer to take them to the range. Most of the time visitors from Asia and Europe have never touched a firearm and are flabbergasted by the freedom. "And anyone can do this? You can keep in your house?" But they're almost always eager to give it a try and have a great time.

I love introducing new shooters. I enjoy it and the more allies we have the better!
 
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