And I guess I was wondering exactly the same... what could you shoot that might range into the $3 per shot category unless you factored in everything that you might do including cost of equipment with shipping costs including the HazMat fee.

Would shooting pellets even move it up that much?

I never did do a break down on the per shot cost. But I do know this. I can shoot about as cheaply as anyone can.

And I also know that a heavy conical is deadly on deer(elk or anything else) at close range, medium range, and long range. I don't have to worry about bullet performance with a 525 grain 50 caliber conical. And they don't cost me a single dime. I pour them myself. And I paid for the mold many years ago.

Shooting those $3 shots is no longer something I care to do. Just get me some 3F BP and primers for my Knight rifle, and some Null-B for my FL's. That is about as cheap as anyone can shoot. And I would bet that there is not a single high dollar bullet that will outperform my heavy conicals on animals. Tom.

I am paying $1.93 for bullet and sabot (Barnes T-EZ, 15 for $28.88). 777 pellets run 53 cents a piece from the same store.

That is every bit of three dollars for a 100 grain load, not counting primer, cleaning patches per shot, caps fired between shots, etc.

Last 500 count lint free patches I bought were 5.3 cents a patch.

Time to start cutting up my undies.

36 cent bullet
10 cent sabot
4 cent primer
And maybe 40 cents of "the other" powder
90 cents.

Any deer within 150 yards is dead if i do my part. Add in a premium bullet and the same load would kill nearly any NA big game and im still under $2

BTW save some cash and get the Barnes 458 300gr SOCOM if you want to shoot a pointy Barnes. They are about $44/50 and shoot great with heavy doses of BH209. Sabot and bullet combos are usually WAY over priced. Some you can buy separate for about 1/3 the cost and Wideners still has Partitions on sale for $24/50.

Gosh that is expensive...

You can cut your costs if you choose to do so, by switching to loose powder and by shooting a much less expensive bullet for practice/recreation and then your hunting bullet for those special times.

You really do not need to shot primers between shots if you reduce the amount of moisture that you might be putting in the bore.

I use a homemade Windex patch that is slightly damp.

And still, $1.93 for bullet and sabot seems really high.

You might consider doing some shopping

So back to the original question...

To that i would answer yes! I think there is or are alternative to your $3 per shot that would significantly reduce your costs...

Getting a bullet sold in bulk for reloding might be the first place to start. I would suggest a .452-250 grain or even the 300 grain Speer Deep Curl ( approximately 34 cents per bullet). Loose T7 powder ( 100 grains approximately 24 cents per shot). Bulk sabots (50 sabots per pack - approximately 14 cents per shot) and someone has already posted 5 cents per primer...

Think that works out to about 77 cents per shot... but my math could be faulty also...

The Speer Deep Curl is a proven quality bullet. I would still say that in most instances the Barnes bullet might provide an additional amount of security in a marginal shot - but the Speer is awful good also.

Here are some pics of Deep Curls that I tried to torture and destroy... I stll call them a 'poor mans' Nosler Partition.

Palehorse, may i ask where you live?if your shots are not over 150 yds, the .250-.300gr deep curls are the way to go. or as Sabotloader mentioned practice with the .250 gold dots and hunt with the .250 barnes TEZ bullets. that is exactly what i do lol.if i lived in country where 0-150 yds were the norm, the Gold dot is all i would use.a major reason your costs are so high is you use pellets instead of loose powder. if you really want to have fun and shoot cheap, loose powder and conicals are the way to go.Even centerfire is expensive,core locks are 24.00 a box here a federal premiums are 35.00. do the math.. Ray

Two 777 pellets really isnt even enough to bring the 290gr T-EZ into the fps range that will get you the most benefit from its BC or construction. Pellets are actually the most expensive per shot and fps gained. Two of them isnt exactly impressive in the fps department and three usually don't shoot very well.

If you want to spend top dollar on powder and get performance, use BH209 if your gun supports it. You can save a bunch more with other subs too and just use a tube for the powder. You would keep your extra pellets in a tube or speed loader anyway so they have nearly no advantage.