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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - How many reload? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 6/25/2006 11:05:15 AM EDT
| With the current lack of available ammo and the price of it, how many have taken up reloading? Do you reload almost exclusively? Or just to suppliment? |
| I have taken up reloading after WWB went way up, loaded around 200ish rounds so far and love it. However I will tell you it doesn't save money, just gives you a excuse as to why you need to go shooting "Well I am using IMR powder insted of Win, and well need test these 8 different loads I got..." |
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I've been reloading almost since I was big enough to work a single stage press. Started learning from my dad on 12ga. & graduated up to pistol ammo, then rifle. Right now, I just reload rifle for the accuracy you get from tailoring a round to a specific rifle. Most pistol ammo is cheap enough it isn't worth the time to reload, but I do on occaision. |
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I used to reload for 45ACP and 44mag but I got away from it when my income increased and my free time decreased . Now that I find myself with free time again I'd like to get back into it , if for no other reason then just to feed my .50 Beowulf . Which is a PITA to find ammo for sometimes  |
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10 years back I reloaded alot of pistol ammo 9mm,38 super, 40 and 45 cal . But I stopped for some reason. I sold my Dillion press and kept the Lee press. Now that Im starting to shoot 223 & 308 Ill get another Dillion and slowly get back into it, mostly to try to build some accurate rounds later down the road in case I can not buy them. Dave |
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I reload for my .45. Matter of fact, have a NIB 550 sitting there and waiting for me as a replacement for the Square Deal that I ran into the ground. I shoot a 12 gauge and a 556/223 - I don't reload for either of those. Been shooting Black Hills Blue Box for the AR - shoot Remington in the shotgun. |
| I've just gone through a thousand rounds of Golden West that I loaded. My practice load that I've been using is their 62 grain bullet that chronoed at 2839 fps. That is a solid combat load if necessary.and I could lighten it a bit. But, I don't want to get into different boxes of bullets for the same weight. This was using 24 grains of TAC with an OAL of 2.250. I may reduce this to 23 grains of TAC. However this bullet shoots within an inch of M-193 at 100 meters. It is 2 inches from my preferred combat load of 75 Hornady which is a doozy of a load in my HBAR. |
| just load up a bunch during the winter. i load .45, .223, .308, and .50 beo. only buy 12ga. if you shoot real rifle bullets, youll save $. tailoring loads to a barrel will improve your groups. my technique improved after reloading as well. took my time, made every shot count. |
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I just started reloading. First for .223 and .308 and then for pistol. I do have about 2K of Wolf I still need to run through but then it will all be reloads. If you buy surplus components (for plinking)you can reload .223 for ~$100/1000. Hard to beat that price anymore. Seydou ETA: As for start up costs, that can vary widely. Best to browse through the reloading forum. |
That's about my cost: $90-$100 per K of .223 relaods. One of my peeves is people compare brass cased reloaded .223 ammo to Wolf. If you compare brass cased reloaded .223 to factory brass cased .223, you save $150 or so per K that you reload, assuming 1K of Q3131 is about $250/K. |
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223/5.56 I've purchased 2 cases of WWB and about 500 rounds of wolf. I've reloaded over 6,000 rounds. 9mm I've purchased a case plus several boxes of WWB and Ultramax, maybe 1,500 total. I've loaded about 12,600. FWIW the reload totals are not guesses. I keep accurate records but I don't have the spreadsheet in from of me. I looked at the totals yesterday after loading some 9mm w/ Gold Dots, but I can't recall the exact numbers. The only ammo that I don't reload at all is shotgun. I've been fighting off the temptation to get into that for years. Since a changing point of impact isn't and issue I just use the 100 round packs from Wal-Mart for practice. |
I cant remember ever buying any centerfire ammunition! reloads are all I shoot..... and the guy that leaves his once fired lake city brass is my buddy!! and the guy that leaves his 45ACP brass is my buddy too!! I have probably close to 2000 of both 223, 45acp, and 1000+ of 38 special..... 99% once fired range brass and free Jim |
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I shoot new (mostly Winchester white box, Federal American Eagle or Remington UMC) ammo in my AR-15, then reload it and shoot the reloads in my Mini-14. Why? I lose enough brass (usually 1/3 to 1/2 each session) at the range I need to constantly replenish. The Mini-14 performs waaaay better with my reloads than it does with factory ammo (like 1/2 the group size). The AR performs well with factory ammo and the reloads that shoot so accurately in my Mini-14 (slightly below manual starting levels with Hodgdon BL-C(2) powder) won't reliably cycle and/or hold the bolt open on the last shot in my AR. I have loaded some hotter reloads using Hodgdon Varget powder which reliably cycle and hold the bolt open after the last shot in the AR... but they use enough more powder that they aren't as cost effective as to load for the Mini-14... |
| I have been reloading for around 25 years now. Most of my guns have never seen a factory load. I load 223 for ~$75/K using surplus powder and bullets. I load from 1 to 2 thousand at a time when loading for the calibers that I shoot a lot, 223, 308, 9mm, 40 and 45ACP. Others like the 300 Win Mag, 25/06 and a few others, a couple of hundred will tide me over for a year. |
Boy, that's the truth! I started reloading back around 1985, 38spl, 9mm, 44mag, and 45acp. I was younger then and I was heavy into IPSC. I went through many many thousands of rounds of 9mm and 45acp on a Dillion 550. THOUSANDS of rounds. Never had a problem once. Today I just don't have the time and I can afford to buy the 40S&W and .223 for IPSC. Accuracy is fine with the factory stuff for the game. I buy Black Hills .223 by the case for DCM/CMP, VERY accurate out of my Compass Lake Service Rifle. I still reload .308 for bench work. That makes a difference and still saves some money. Factory .308 is pretty big money. Bill |
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Reload some, buy some. When I started reloading I reloaded for all my calibers. Then after I started shooting more and more carbines and pistols in very informal plinking/blasting, I started shooting for cheap factory and surplus ammo. I know pretty much just load for target/varmint rounds where I need the real accuracy. I may start reloading 5.56 & 9mm blasting ammo again since I still have alot of components...can't afford not to with the cheap stuff not being so cheap anymore. |
| I reload about every thing I shoot, especially for my pistols. I like shooting minimum loads in pistols. I have been reloading for over 30 years now. My load for .223 is 22.1gns of N133, 69gn Sierra HPBT, and Guatemalan cases. This load works well in my new flattop AR15 but doesn’t cycle in my 25 year old AR15. For the older AR, I use 24.2 gns of Varget. The Guatemalan cases have a .060 primer hole which really tightened up my groups. Wideners have the Guatemalan cases for $89.00 per 1000. And they show less wear and tear than Winchester or Remington cases. |
The way I did it was to buy in bulk. I ordered bullets from a place in St. Louis called Hi-Tech bullets (maybe Hy-tech). They have a web site. When I purchased the bullets last year, they were $25/K in bulk. I purchase primers for 15.50K (in 5K lots) from Powder valley. I also purchased the powder there, I use Accurate Data Powder 73 which I think was $56/8 lbs. I bought 32 pounds of this. Buying 32lbs of powder and 15K primers breaks the Haz-Mat charge down to ~.40/lb of powder or K of primers. Breaking that down, 1 pound of powder will load 280 rounds at 25 grains per load. Powder at $60/8 lbs (rounded up for shipping and hazmat) breaks down to 7.50 per pound. 7.50/280 = 2.7 cents per load for powder, 2.5 cents per bulet and 1.6 cents per primer. Total 6.7 cents * 1000 = $67/K. Throw in a little to make sure I have shipping added (I don't remember if those prices were shipped) and I can safely call it about $75 per thousand. Part of the key is buying in bulk, part is catching the components at the right price. It seems like I looked at hi-tech's web site a month or so ago and bullets have gone up to about $88/3k now. Buying in bulk was part of the savings. It seems like when I ordered my bullets last year, I bought 5K at one time. Hope this helps. |
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I had the full Dillon RL 550B setup. We produced very good .223/.308/45/9mm but it was vvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeery tedious. I really doubt I saved very much $$$ in the long run because I didn't shoot a large volume and I really just lost interest in the whole thing. Someone on the internet got a really good deal on a reloader, though. I now put my money into factory stuff--they have specialty bullets available now that just werent there when I first satrted reloading. I just do a little ammo order every month and it adds up quickly. I should purchase a little stock in Black Hills.  So. . .if you are planning on shooting a lot definately reload. For the more recreational types--factory is probably a better option. |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - How many reload? (Page 1 of 2)
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