And missed this line from my original post: "4. Assume I am not sacrificing in other areas of my preps. This money is more or less separate from food/land/tools budgets."
Well, I didn't get as much from the distribution as I had hoped, so my total is closer to $1260. On the upside, I'm buying a Mossberg 500 (18.5" barrel, comes with both pistol grip and full stock, sling & buttstock shell holder) as well as 250 rounds of 00 buckshot and ~40 assorted other rounds, mostly slugs. All for $350, no paperwork. So, let me total that up: $400 - M&P 9mm $105 - pistol lesson, box of ammo and cleaning kit $26 - 2 boxes of practice ammo $182 - 8 boxes of practice ammo, plus 3 boxes of 147gr Hydrashok $350 - Moss500, plus ~290 assorted rounds For a total of $1063. Throw in $100 more for some ammo cans I'm picking up tomorrow (got a line on a bunch for $6-8 each) and I'm just $100 off my limit. I went shooting with some family 2 weeks ago, and was informed that I could anticipate a shiny new Ruger MK II or III come December...
