Hey, I just bought an AR15. What should I get for it next?
Ammo… Buy Ammo… And USE IT.
I saw the meme above a couple of days ago circulating social media from the SHOT SHOW 16’ remnants. Let’s make this picture worth the thousand word discussion and tackle the vast underinvestment in training.
That’s the most accurate way I can state the concern, an under-investment in training not an over investment in the firearm.
What we’re discussing is where your value per dollar can be best put to use. This is even more true for newer shooters but has validity at all experience levels. You cannot over invest in proper training. You can underutilize a firearm.
So right up front, I’m not telling you to skip out purchasing that SCAR17s, the premium Daniel Defense, Bravo Company, or LWRCi AR15, or any other top tier firearm. Having purchased a few of those rifles myself, I can confidently say they perform to their price level.
I can also attest that shooting and training with a more basic and less expensive rifle is worth far more to you and me than purchasing a premium firearm but having it remain an idle safe queen.
There is nothing wrong with safe queen firearms but the question is WHY did you pick up that rifle, to collect it just because or to put to a more serious and active purpose?
On the AR15, I got to ‘cheat’ a little. As a basic trained US Marine in 2007, I was handed an old M16A2 (About an $800 configured AR today brand new) and for about 3 months spent time and effort daily on the rifle. A full month of that time and about one thousand rounds were dedicated to nothing but the basic manual of arms practice with the AR15. The ‘cheat’ was money didn’t come out of my pocket to train.
Enlisting is one way to get some training for less. That comes with serious obligations and isn’t for everyone, not to mention the fact that it’s a job encompassing far more duties than just tactical training.
So that leaves investing our personal capital and time on training, which in my opinion and experience is a far higher quality training endeavor. This comes from my time in the USMC. The best training I had and the best training I later passed on was that which I took individual initiative to complete or that which we completed as small units. Anyone with a veteran background can attest to the mountain of other administrative tasks that must be completed day to day because it’s still a job, and that makes tactical training focus more difficult. Those facts make individual training exponentially more valuable.
So let’s take a look at these paths for training that are high value for the individual.
Back to the title… buy ammo.
Buy a case of ammo… not box, case.
Shoot through the case of ammo and buy another case.
Repeat.
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