I think I'd have to count myself as someone who'll take ammo price into consideration for future rifle purchases. I recently picked up my first rifle, a Browning A-Bolt 270WSM, and wished I'd looked around at the ammo situation a bit more before buying. I did quite a bit of lurking on this and other boards, checked out a number of articles, and kind of got "swept up" in the short magnum idea after settling on the 270.

A friend was in the same boat, looking at the same time, and I recall that on the way to look at some rifles I suggested we stop by Wal-Mart and check out the ammo price and availability. He kind of dismissed the idea, I dropped it, and off we went. Our rational was, as far as a hunt went, the cost of a box of ammo was almost insignificant. At the gun store I fell in love with the Browning Classic Hunter, and took the plunge. My friend ended up getting the same rifle and caliber.

Now that I've picked up the rifle, mounted the scope, and made a trip to the range to sight in, I've grown more and more frustrated with the ammo price and lack of availabiltiy. I end up seeing four or five types of 270 ammo and can only find the WSM ammo sporadically, and never at a local store. In reality, the apples to apples on the ammo, 130 grain BST in 270 vs 270WSM, the price delta was only a couple dollars a box, if I could find it. But there were a lot of other types of 270 ammo that weren't even available for the WSM. What I failed to take into account is the amount of practice I'd want to/need to do to become proficient. I've been taking my pistol to the range for years and know that without some practice the chances of putting a slug in the boiler room at 200 yards is close to zero.

I finally gave up and ordered 200 rounds of 130 grain BST on the Internet from MiWall (www.miwallcorp.com). The price ended up being around $22 a box after tax and shipping, saved around $90. I also picked up four or five of the popular books on reloading and have been studying up. I plan on starting to handload soon. Availability of some of the WSM reloading components is starting to seem as frustrating as ammo availability, so I'm glad I have a case to tide me over.

All that being said, by the time I make my next purchase I'll probably already be handloading. If not, and maybe even if I have started, I'm certainly going to take a good look at ammo price and availability before taking out the credit card.