Buying Ammo for Your First Range Trip (San Diego Edition)

For a first range trip you want plain full metal jacket range ammunition in your gun's exact caliber, and about 100 to 250 rounds for a pistol. Before you buy any of it, call the range — indoor ranges restrict which ammunition types are allowed on their lanes, and a few do not permit outside ammunition at all. Two minutes on the phone is the difference between a good first day and a drive home. The rest of this is the detail behind those three sentences.

First, confirm your caliber by reading it off the gun

Not from memory, and not from what the person who sold you the gun said. The caliber is stamped on the firearm itself, and it is the one thing you have to get right today.

• Semi-auto pistol: on the side of the barrel, visible through the ejection port when the slide is locked back, and often on the slide itself.
• Revolver: along the barrel, on one side or the other.
• Rifle: on the barrel just forward of the receiver, or on the receiver.
• Shotgun: on the barrel, and it will give you two numbers — the gauge and the chamber length, such as 12 gauge, 2-3/4 inch. You need both.

The manual has it too. If the stamping is worn or you are not sure what you are looking at, photograph it and show us at the counter. That happens most days and nobody thinks anything of it.

Caliber names are similar on purpose and the near-misses matter. 9mm Luger is not 9mm Makarov. .380 Auto is sometimes called 9mm Short and it is not 9mm Luger. A .357 Magnum revolver will safely shoot .38 Special, but a .38 Special revolver must never be fed .357 Magnum. A rifle chambered in 5.56 NATO will shoot .223 Remington; a rifle marked .223 should not be fed 5.56. When in doubt, ask before you buy.

Call the range before you buy anything

This is the step first-timers skip and the one that most often ruins the trip. Ranges, especially indoor ones, set their own ammunition rules to protect their backstops and their ventilation. Common restrictions: no steel-core and no steel-cased ammunition, no bi-metal jackets — a magnet will stick to both — and no tracer or incendiary rounds of any kind. Some ranges cap which rifle calibers can be fired indoors. And some do not allow outside ammunition at all: you shoot what they sell.

Five questions worth asking on that call:

• Can I bring my own ammunition, or do I have to buy yours?
• Are there ammunition types you do not allow — steel case, bi-metal, steel core?
• Do you allow the caliber I am shooting on your lanes?
• If I am renting a firearm, does renting require me to use your ammunition?
• Do I need to bring eye and ear protection, or can I rent it there?

Write the answers down and buy to them. Brass-cased only is a real constraint, and we will steer you accordingly.

What to actually buy

Boring on purpose. A first range trip is about the sights, the trigger and the safety rules, and the ammunition's only job is to go bang the same way every time.

• Pistol: plain full metal jacket range ammunition in a standard bullet weight — 115 or 124 grain in 9mm, 230 grain in .45 ACP, 180 grain in .40 S&W. See the pistol calibers we stock for what that looks like on our shelf.
• Rifle: basic full metal jacket, most commonly 55 grain in .223 or 5.56 — once you have confirmed your range allows both the caliber and the ammunition type.
• Rimfire: standard or high-velocity .22 LR. If you have the option, a first trip with a .22 is the best one there is — almost no recoil, almost no noise, and the cheapest rounds you will ever shoot.
• Shotgun: light to medium target loads for clays — the low-recoil target shells, not buckshot and not slugs. Bringing buckshot to a trap field is a wasted box and an awkward conversation.

Leave the hollow points at home for now. Defensive ammunition costs more and, on paper at seven yards, teaches you nothing a cheap box of FMJ will not. There is a real reason to shoot some of it eventually, and range ammo versus self-defense ammo explains when that day comes.

How much to bring

More than you think, and less than a case. Running dry twenty minutes into a lane you paid an hour for is the most common regret we hear; second is a closet full of a caliber somebody decided they did not like.

• Pistol: 100 to 250 rounds. Start at 100 if you are going alone, closer to 250 if somebody is shooting with you — and somebody always is.
• Rifle: 60 to 120 rounds. Rifle shooting is slower and you will spend more time looking at the target than shooting at it.
• Shotgun: 25 to 100 shells. One round of trap or skeet is 25.

Buy one box more than your plan, not five. If it turns out you love it, the bulk ammo buying guide covers when a case starts making sense.

What else to put in the bag

• Eye protection. Wraparound shooting glasses. Not optional, not negotiable, and cheap.
• Ear protection. Muffs over plugs for a first trip; electronic ones if you can, because they let you hear the range officer while still cutting the blast.
• Targets, plus whatever holds them up — staplers, tape and stands vary by range, so ask on the same phone call.
• A bag. Ammunition is heavier than it looks and boxes split.
• ID, and your range membership or waiver if you have one.
• Water, a brimmed hat, closed-toe shoes and a high-collared shirt. Hot brass finds the gap in a v-neck with uncanny accuracy.

We stock the eye and ear protection, the targets and the range bags alongside the ammunition, so one stop covers it. One thing to be clear about before you plan the route: we sell ammunition and accessories only. No firearms, and no shooting range at this location — we are the stop on the way.

What California asks for at the counter

Buying ammunition in California means an eligibility check run through the state Department of Justice at the counter, plus a state-set fee charged per attempt. Bring your California driver's license or ID card; if it reads FEDERAL LIMITS APPLY in the corner it is not a REAL ID, so bring a passport or certified birth certificate too. The address you give has to match the record the DOJ holds for you, which is not the same as being correct in real life. That mismatch is the most common reason a first purchase is denied, and fixing your AFS record beforehand is free. Age rules: 18 and over for rifle and shotgun ammunition, 21 and over for handgun ammunition.

The full walkthrough — which check you will get, what to bring, and how to fix your DOJ record at no cost before you drive out — is on our California ammo law page. One note if you saw the news: a Ninth Circuit panel ruled against the check in July 2025, but that ruling never took effect and was vacated when the court granted rehearing before a larger eleven-judge panel, which has not yet decided. The check is in force today. None of this is legal advice, and the state sets its fees by regulation, not us.

Four mistakes we see on first trips

• The wrong caliber. Usually .380 Auto bought for a 9mm, or .38 Special bought for a .380. Reading the stamping on the gun prevents all of it.
• Ammunition the range will not allow. Steel-cased or bi-metal rounds turned away at an indoor lane, receipt already in your pocket. This is what the phone call is for.
• Running out. One box of 50 sounds like a lot until you and a friend are twenty minutes in.
• Buying defensive ammunition to practice with. It costs several times what range ammunition does and will not make you a better shooter on day one.

What happens when you walk in here

Tell us the gun and where you are going. That is the whole conversation we need. We will pull the right box, show you what the numbers on the label mean, tell you whether the cheaper remanufactured option is fine for what you are doing — often it is — and make sure you leave with eyes, ears and enough rounds for the time you booked.

Nobody here is going to make you feel stupid for asking a basic question. Everyone standing behind this counter had a first range trip, and most of us got something wrong on it. Se habla español — ask in whichever language you would rather use.

The short checklist

• Caliber read directly off the gun, or photographed on your phone.
• Range called: outside ammunition allowed, and which types.
• Plain FMJ range ammunition, standard bullet weight.
• Pistol 100 to 250 rounds, rifle 60 to 120, shotgun 25 to 100 shells.
• Eye and ear protection, targets, a bag, water.
• ID that matches your DOJ record, plus a second document if it says FEDERAL LIMITS APPLY.

Come in before you go

Call 858-987-0509 or text 310-499-3499 with the make, model and caliber of what you are shooting and we will tell you what to buy before you drive over. Or come by the counter in Kearny Mesa and we will sort it out in person, which is the better version because you can hold the boxes.

Questions about hours, payment or what we keep in stock are answered in the store FAQ, and this week's deals are worth a look first — they are published with current prices, in-store only, and a first-trip quantity of range ammunition is often on the board.