Reloading/reloaders?

[beemerboy]

We have a few gun related threads going with mixed replies and sentiment.

 

In spite of the terrible shootings that have occurred I believe most gun owning citizens are very safety conscious and responsible yet we get a bad rap.

 

To those of you out there who either don't own a firearm and/or know nothing about them there's one aspect of shooting that has given millions of gun owners a lot of enjoyment; reloading ammunition.

 

I was introduced to the art of reloading by some coworkers after I started squawking about the cost of ammunition. After reading some magazines and books they loaned me I went out and invested in a Lee Loader - the least expensive (at the time) apparatus for reloading center fire ammunition. I now use a RCBS Rock Crusher.

 

Not long afterwards I was at the range or on national forest land testing the various loads I put together in order to hone my accuracy and for the pure enjoyment of target shooting.

 

One thing I've noticed is how reloading supplies are flying off the shelves of sporting good stores as well as on-line sites. I'm fortunate in that I'd stocked up on all the ingredients required but wish I'd bought more when prices were reasonable.

 

Anyway, who else here reloads?

 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

What's the typical price per round for a reload vs. for a store-bought round?

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

Mitch

Depends significantly on caliber for reloads/new. Anywhere from 10cents/40 cents to 50 cents/$2 per round. Right now, there is hardly any ammo for purchase so, prices are up.

 

Just started reloading .308 for military steel silhouette shoots. Prices on components skyrocketed as well. I like Powdervalley for components. A buddy and I just went in on an in stock and backorder orders of bulk material from them to save on shipping.

Evergladesammo has decent brass for mil rifles as well.

 

The way prices are right now, it is highly beneficial to roll your own. Especially if they license/tax bullets like is being discussed out this way.

[beemerboy]

What's the typical price per round for a reload vs. for a store-bought round?

 

Depending on the caliber being reloaded, the type of bullet used (jacketed hollow point, full metal jacket, or lead), primer and power, one can save up to 60%, maybe more.

 

I reload many calibers among them the 45ACP round with a current average retail price of $24/box of 50 rounds or 48 cents/round. This is full metal jacket (FMJ) ammunition. If I use lead bullets I can drop the cost per round to about 14 cents, using FMJ the cost can rise to around 20 to 25 cents/round and much more if using jacketed hollow point.

 

Serious reloaders buy lead ingots and melt it down then pour the molten lead into molds. The lead bullets then have to be swaged and lubed prior to inserting it into a brass casing. Brass casings can last upwards of fifteen reloads before having to be discarded but some reloaders wouldn't think of going past ten iterations on the same casing. In general, the hotter the load the lower the brass casing's lifespan due to higher pressures. Pressure is rated in Copper Units of Pressure (CUP).

 

By "hotter" I mean using more potent powders to achieve a great foot per second metric. I find that my most accurate rounds have been on the lighter side of potency but then again it often comes down to other mitigating factors like bullet choice. firearm quality, and, of course, the shooter.

 

In the case of using lead bullets some shooter use what's called a "wadcutter" style bullet that's flat and almost flush with the edge of the casing. If I were going to shoot wadcutter style rounds I'd buy a Smith & Wesson in .38 Super, available for both semi-auto and revolver style pistols. The .38 Super is a naturally accurate round with a myriad of possibilies when it comes to loading custom combinations.

 

My comments above and my experiences are solely mine. I do not profess to be a highly experienced reloader nor am I an authority on the topic. What I'm saying is that this could develop into a "which oil is best" thread if you know what I mean.

[brennaman]

I keep saying that I want to start reloading, I will probably continue putting it off till my son is a little older. I just don't have time with his schedule. I still look on craigs list for any good deals. If ammo prices continue rising, I could see myself finding the time to get started reloading.

[sebjones906]

BTW reloaders mostly want to just shoot cheaply. Handloaders are trying to tailor the perfect round for the each firearm. Every firearm wants a round to be tailored exactly for it. The right bullet with the right amount of powder, the right powder, the right primer etc. Change the projectile/powder/primer/brass anything and you get to start over as a new project. There are hundreds of recepies for every caliber. One might shoot very well and have a tiny group in one gun and shoot terrible in another. In search for the perfect round is hard work. Some people find it tedius and others find it enjoyable and a way of getting tunnel vision and turning off the problems of the world.

 

The whole thing is similar to racing on a track. The right tire, the right preload on the front end the right compression on the shocks etc. and you change tracks and you start again.

Or.... you can just ride your bike on a nice day with a pretty girl on the back.

 

From a cost outlook, if you want to be a reloader and shoot 200 round every month or so, you can pay for your starter kit very fast.

 

If you are a handloader and are in search of perfection ... well that's another question all together.

[smiller]

The cost savings can be anywhere from small to non-existent for common military rounds (9mm, etc.) that are available in bulk surplus (although even that may be in temporary short supply these days due to the current frenzy) to huge for less-common rounds. In the latter case it's hard to afford to shoot much at all if you don't reload. Plus it's fun, especially for engineer-types... you get to choose bullet and power type, set up and maintain equipment to fine mechanical tolerances, etc. What's not to like?

[Matts_12GS]

The cost savings can be anywhere from small to non-existent for common military rounds (9mm, etc.) that are available in bulk surplus (although even that may be in temporary short supply these days due to the current frenzy) to huge for less-common rounds. In the latter case it's hard to afford to shoot much at all if you don't reload. Plus it's fun, especially for engineer-types... you get to choose bullet and power type, set up and maintain equipment to fine mechanical tolerances, etc. What's not to like?

 

I just reloaded 1200 9mm for a little over $130, vs paying $325 for that much at a show. Down here in FL, every time the ammo truck pulls in to a local walmart the common calibers, 9mm, 45ACP, 38/357 disappear about as soon as they are stocked.

 

 

[Smoky]

Ive been reloading for a long time, the cost savings are enormous.

 

For many years I also cast my bullets, that really added to the savings, if you don't count your time as any value.

 

I have an RCBS single stage press, I haven't used in years. And two Dillon progressive loaders that are a joy to use.

 

There is great satisfaction to rolling your own loads, tailored to your guns. It's not just the savings.

 

 

 

[beemerboy]

BTW reloaders mostly want to just shoot cheaply. Handloaders are trying to tailor the perfect round for the each firearm.......... From a cost outlook, if you want to be a reloader and shoot 200 round every month or so, you can pay for your starter kit very fast. If you are a handloader and are in search of perfection ... well that's another question all together.

 

I think I fall under both categories. I did it for cost saving purposes at first then found the pure joy of spending a few hours turning out a 50 round box of precise, bullseye cutting ammunition.

 

 

......For many years I also cast my bullets, that really added to the savings, if you don't count your time as any value. There is great satisfaction to rolling your own loads, tailored to your guns. It's not just the savings.

 

Your point about not counting the time you spend is so true. It didn't take me long to discover how much I enjoyed sitting at my bench and taking my time with each round. It was somewhat theraputic and gave me much satisfaction.

 

I know a few guys who use progressive loaders for cost & time savings AND single stage units for their target shooting rounds. If you're into shotguns and doing the skeet & trap thing or competitive shooting a progressive reloader is the only way to go. They're also fun to watch in action!

[russell_bynum]

I've been handloading .308 for quite a while now. It's a huge cost savings since you can re-use the brass quite a few times (and I've had good luck picking up other people's brass from the range...so I haven't had to buy .308 brass in a long time.) It's particularly economical if you're comparing with buying good match-grade stuff. It's more accurate, too. A typical 3-shot group at 100 yards from my Rem700 is about .75" Typical with my reloads is 1/2".

 

I've been using a single-stage press and just doing .308 but with the ongoing ammo shortage (It's not just from the frenzy...the military has been buying craploads of ammo since we started the "war on terror" and that had supply stretched thin even before the frenzy of the last 4 years) I'm very seriously considering going with a progressive press for reloading the higher volume stuff. Historically, I buy ammo online and in bulk. I'll find a good deal on a batch of something and buy it. That way, I'm always sitting on a bunch and I don't have to worry about shortages or cost spikes. But this has been going on long enough that my supply is getting low.

 

Of course, reloading supplies are in short supply right now as well, but I figure the more options I have, the more likely that I'll actually be able to get what I need.

 

Mitch, you would like handloading. You get to sit and fondle each individual case, trimming to a precise length, then hand-selecting individual grains of powder until you get the perfect charge. Seating the bullets, then measuring each round painstakingly to ensure the exact same OAL on every cartridge. It's an anal retentive's dream. And the payoff is a huge bang, a sharp push against your shoulder, and a very precisely-placed hole in a piece of paper a long, long way away. It's good fun.

[Bud]

I've just listed my lead pot on eBay.

 

I used to shoot flintlock 50 cal.

 

Sold 63 lbs of lead last week.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321064854303?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649

[tallman]

Gun show here this weekend.

 

Opens at 9.

 

Email special come hour early.

350 in line at 7:30 temps below freezing.

 

Heard vendor say more people in first 3 hours than in MIami.

 

Reloading supplies and ammunition flew out the door despite pricing.

 

Friend sold 191 guns at last weeks show, only got 30 into inventory.

 

I found 1000 rounds of military spec for same price as reloads

and a bunch of 00buckshot which has been unfindable except

boutique Zombie killer at 2-3x price.

 

Many talking price, some humph no way, others buying everything in stock including dealers who bought out each other

and marked up the inventory.

 

I found a babysitter who was table sitting and made an offer for sealed mil spec which was at a nondescript vendor and avoided the 50 people in line at main retail site.

 

It may change for the better, not anytime soon, and reloading

is becoming more and more cost efficient.

[smiller]

Most of us have been around long enough to remember the Great Primer Shortage (that time the government was going to ban primer sales or something, or so people believed.) This stuff is all self-induced and the current frenzy will pass with all the others.

 

[tallman]

Pass?

Yes.

 

Prices return to before hysteria?

Not so sure...

[smiller]

Prices return to before hysteria?

Not so sure...

Then I just got richer...

[Jake]

 

Heard vendor say more people in first 3 hours than in MIami.

 

 

That's cuz we have everything we need down here.

[aterry1067]

I've been handloading .308 for quite a while now. It's a huge cost savings since you can re-use the brass quite a few times (and I've had good luck picking up other people's brass from the range...so I haven't had to buy .308 brass in a long time.)

 

Russ, I've been looking at .308 for a while. I currently have a .303 British. Can you compare the two? Not reloading, but the rifle in general? PM if required.

 

[beemerboy]

Pass? Yes. Prices return to before hysteria?

Not so sure...

 

I have my doubts as well.

[russell_bynum]

Most of us have been around long enough to remember the Great Primer Shortage (that time the government was going to ban primer sales or something, or so people believed.) This stuff is all self-induced and the current frenzy will pass with all the others.

 

Given the talk in various levels of the govt about taxing and/or registering ammo, I don't think it's fair to say this is entirely self-induced. Remember...it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

 

Also, I've heard from several sources who seem reputable that a big part of our problem right now is that with us involved in two active wars, the military is buying ammo like crazy...and has been since we started this "war on terror" 10 years ago. So...the ammo makers are already stretched thing. Then you throw politically-induced buying frenzies on top of that and you get our current situation. If we can wind down the wars and if the govt stops babbling about ammo taxes and registration, I suspect we'll see prices and availability come back down where they should be.