Posted: 4/7/2009 3:25:48 PM EDT
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Ammunition costs are going up, so how many GTers have recently started reloading?
Have you started casting bullets? How about swaging bullets? 
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I have been handloading for some time, its is just cost efficent, I dont realyy save much when I make Match for the >308 or the .223, but it relaxes me, and I save slightly.
Where I save BIG is plinking ammo, Huge savings, about $150/1000 now, depending on caliber and components on hand |
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I want to, just need to get the stuff to do it. I checked MidwayUSA for starter kits and they are all out. You might check the local gunshops in your area for reloading equipment. But be sure to get an instruction book first. A good one for newbies is the "ABC's of Reloading". |
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Ammunition costs are going up, so how many GTers have recently started reloading? Have you started casting bullets? How about swaging bullets? What is a "GTer"? In my case I have recently set my stuff up again after a long layoff. Glock Talkers? I think he is posting in the wrong forum.. lol. |
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Ammunition costs are going up, so how many GTers have recently started reloading? Have you started casting bullets? How about swaging bullets? What is a "GTer"? In my case I have recently set my stuff up again after a long layoff. Glock Talkers? I think he is posting in the wrong forum.. lol. Whoops! 
I have not been getting enough sleep. |
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I picked up a 550B not too long ago (less than a month). I was considering it for a couple of years but never really had the space. I still don't have the space but for plinking I just can't afford to keep buying and dumping brass on the ground. I'm only reloading to calibers 9mm and 223 and it's been a great learning experience and I figure it will take me less than a 6 months to recover the cost of all of the reloading gear.
Reloading is ultimately going to cost me though because now I'm looking at some precision loading for long range work which means I need a new rifle.... I guess I'll just keep doing my part to stimulate the economy the old fashioned way, without gov't subsidies. |
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Yes, as a matter of fact, I HAVE recently started reloading.
Now, I BOUGHT the equipment years ago, set it up in my shop, and forgot about it. Since my youngest son and I have gotten .45's, all of a sudden I've had this itch to reload. So, I've bought a .45 die, primers and slugs and relearned the process. You guys don't have to tell me I have piss-poor timing 
Can't hardly find FMJ's or primers, brass is expensive, etc. I'm loading 185-grain jacketed hollow points because I couldn't find any FMJ's. Anyway, it's fun and engrossing and I wish I had started when I bought the stuff six-seven years ago. |
| I looked into it but SHIT! The prices for equipment, primers, doo-dads and fucking BRASS just doesn't make sense. Maybe once I get a few thousand rounds of re-loadable brass it'll become worthwhile, or I'm not looking in the right places, but a when a bag of re-loadable brass costs as much as a box of ammo, I just don't see it. |
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I looked into it but SHIT! The prices for equipment, primers, doo-dads and fucking BRASS just doesn't make sense. Maybe once I get a few thousand rounds of re-loadable brass it'll become worthwhile, or I'm not looking in the right places, but a when a bag of re-loadable brass costs as much as a box of ammo, I just don't see it. Most bagged brass comes in quantities of 2x the normal size box of ammo. 100/bag for pistol and 50/bag for rifle. I'm going to throw some numbers out.. If 100 pieces of handgun brass is $25, then it costs you 25 cents per round on brass for the first loading. If you get 5 loadings out of the brass, you're down to only a nickle per shot for brass. You should get more than 5 loadings pretty easily, so the cost of brass becomes negligible. If a box of 50 rounds of handgun ammo is $25, that reloadable brass cost you 50 cents each. How does this not make sense? |
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I looked into it but SHIT! The prices for equipment, primers, doo-dads and fucking BRASS just doesn't make sense. Maybe once I get a few thousand rounds of re-loadable brass it'll become worthwhile, or I'm not looking in the right places, but a when a bag of re-loadable brass costs as much as a box of ammo, I just don't see it. Most bagged brass comes in quantities of 2x the normal size box of ammo. 100/bag for pistol and 50/bag for rifle. I'm going to throw some numbers out.. If 100 pieces of handgun brass is $25, then it costs you 25 cents per round on brass for the first loading. If you get 5 loadings out of the brass, you're down to only a nickle per shot for brass. You should get more than 5 loadings pretty easily, so the cost of brass becomes negligible. If a box of 50 rounds of handgun ammo is $25, that reloadable brass cost you 50 cents each. How does this not make sense? no no NO it depends on the cartridge you can load 38 special brass about 10 times, then it starts to show splits down the side and you throw the whole batch away. you never load rifle brass more than 5 times. a case head failue will ready the rifle fro the trashcan and maybe you for a coffin when you reload, you're already way ahead of the game cost wise, try to squeeze out the last penny at your own peril |
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I looked into it but SHIT! The prices for equipment, primers, doo-dads and fucking BRASS just doesn't make sense. Maybe once I get a few thousand rounds of re-loadable brass it'll become worthwhile, or I'm not looking in the right places, but a when a bag of re-loadable brass costs as much as a box of ammo, I just don't see it. Most bagged brass comes in quantities of 2x the normal size box of ammo. 100/bag for pistol and 50/bag for rifle. I'm going to throw some numbers out.. If 100 pieces of handgun brass is $25, then it costs you 25 cents per round on brass for the first loading. If you get 5 loadings out of the brass, you're down to only a nickle per shot for brass. You should get more than 5 loadings pretty easily, so the cost of brass becomes negligible. If a box of 50 rounds of handgun ammo is $25, that reloadable brass cost you 50 cents each. How does this not make sense? no no NO it depends on the cartridge you can load 38 special brass about 10 times, then it starts to show splits down the side and you throw the whole batch away. you never load rifle brass more than 5 times. a case head failue will ready the rifle fro the trashcan and maybe you for a coffin when you reload, you're already way ahead of the game cost wise, try to squeeze out the last penny at your own peril Um, yeah... I'm guessing you didn't understand where I said "handgun" in my example..... |
| I would be starting if I could only find some god damn small rifle primers and brass in stock. I guess I just don't know where to look.. wideners is out of stock on the stuff I need (going to be reloading .223 and .308, but right now I'm just focusing on .223). Any of you more experienced people know of a guide of where to look for components online? |
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I looked into it but SHIT! The prices for equipment, primers, doo-dads and fucking BRASS just doesn't make sense. Maybe once I get a few thousand rounds of re-loadable brass it'll become worthwhile, or I'm not looking in the right places, but a when a bag of re-loadable brass costs as much as a box of ammo, I just don't see it. Most bagged brass comes in quantities of 2x the normal size box of ammo. 100/bag for pistol and 50/bag for rifle. I'm going to throw some numbers out.. If 100 pieces of handgun brass is $25, then it costs you 25 cents per round on brass for the first loading. If you get 5 loadings out of the brass, you're down to only a nickle per shot for brass. You should get more than 5 loadings pretty easily, so the cost of brass becomes negligible. If a box of 50 rounds of handgun ammo is $25, that reloadable brass cost you 50 cents each. How does this not make sense? no no NO it depends on the cartridge you can load 38 special brass about 10 times, then it starts to show splits down the side and you throw the whole batch away. you never load rifle brass more than 5 times. a case head failue will ready the rifle fro the trashcan and maybe you for a coffin when you reload, you're already way ahead of the game cost wise, try to squeeze out the last penny at your own peril Um, yeah... I'm guessing you didn't understand where I said "handgun" in my example..... "load till it starts splitting" applies only to revolver ammo |
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Been reloading since 1982. I was buying primers, bullets and powder at the age of 14. Yep. They KNEW me, my parents and knew I was a safe reloader. Back then, IMR Powder was a division of DuPont, Sierra Bullets came in a cardboard box and powders were in metal cans or metal/cardboard cans. |
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I started recently when i was 14 and have only been doing for the past 25 years.
I cannot understand how people can shoot and not learn how to reload as an extension of that. I mean to me Shooting and reload go together like eating and shitting. Both are dependent on the other. Reloading is just something that should be on the list things man should be required to know to be a man. |
I started a few years ago for my .300 wsm. However, I don't have any of the stuff for bulk reloading. I've always done 20 rounds or so at a time for dialing in hunting rounds. I reckon I'm gonna need a powder drop and tumbler soon. Either way, I can't even afford to buy the brass, lead, and powder for my .40 right now.
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I have been rolling my own for almost 20 years. I always have beeen a wheeler dealer and have worked up quite a bit of componets.
Working 50-60 hours a week with a family it's kind of hard to find the time to reload. I'm running off stock I loaded 2-3 years ago. I can't bring myself to fire a lot of the factory ammo I have. |
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The time to start was about 9 months ago. Reloading components are more difficult to find than loaded ammo, so it doesn't really make it any easier GET ammo.. It still helps you save money to shoot, but like everything else ammo related, it's difficult to replace what you have just shot. Buying the boxed stuff at least gives you the option to shoot (at a premium).. But anyone that reloads will tell you how HARD it is just to find Small Rifle Primers and powder. |
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I would advise people who just like to go out and blast to not reload. The amount of money it takes to get into a reloading setup where the time/cost ratio works out to where you are actually saving money for (blasting ammo) doesn't really make sense if you are just a casual shooter. You'd be a lot better off just buying steel cased stuff if you like to go park your truck in the desert and run drills or just blow shit up. NOW.. if you have any interest in accuracy (Longer range rifle), reloading is worth every penny. It's not so much that you are saving money (because in most cases you truly wont save any money), it is the fact that your ammo is so much more accurate. Ie.. in my 16" coyote AR factory shit groups 1.5"-3" @ 100yds off the bench, cost is anywhere from $.40-.60 per shot. I can handload virtually the same load spec wise for $.30-.$40 cents per shot, and get .5"-.8". By the time I end up doing batches of loads, it takes me probably 3-4 hours to really spend some good time to prep/load up 50rnds on a single stage press. So if you figure minimum wage labor  you are adding probably $24 bucks worth of time onto your 50rnds.BUT.. the most beneficial part of that.. is when you gas your vehicle up, head 50 miles out to go bust up coyotes, spend 7 hours doing stands.. you are stepping out with ammo you can shoot .5" groups with inside 100yds versus taking the chance of a factory flyer on your one coyote you call in that day. |
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I would advise people who just like to go out and blast to not reload.The amount of money it takes to get into a reloading setup where thetime/cost ratio works out to where you are actually saving money for(blasting ammo) doesn't really make sense if you are just a casualshooter. You'd be a lot better off just buying steel cased stuff if you like to go park your truck in the desert and run drills or just blow shit up. NOW.. if you have any interest in accuracy (Longer range rifle), reloading is worth every penny. It's not so much that you are saving money (because in most cases youtruly wont save any money), it is the fact that your ammo is so muchmore accurate. Ie.. in my 16" coyote AR factory shit groups 1.5"-3" @100yds off the bench, cost is anywhere from $.40-.60 per shot. I canhandload virtually the same load spec wise for $.30-.$40 cents pershot, and get .5"-.8". By the time I end up doing batches of loads, it takes me probably 3-4 hours to really spend some good time to prep/load up 50rnds on a single stage press. So if you figure minimum wage labor you are adding probably $24 bucks worth of time onto your 50rnds.
BUT.. the most beneficial part of that.. is when you gas your vehicle up, head 50 miles out to go bust up coyotes, spend 7 hours doing stands.. you are stepping out with ammo you can shoot .5" groups with inside 100yds versus taking the chance of a factory flyer on your one coyote you call in that day. Exactly!!! Another plus is that you are not limited to sub-standard M193 or M855, and rely on "fragmenting" as some kind of half-ass bullet performance indicator. You really can load some very accurate, high performance bullets that actually expand. If you want to load volume blasting ammo, you will be spending a pretty penny on some Dillon. |
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Quoted: I'm looking into getting started. Pick a pistol round you would be interested in trying. 9mm, .38.. whatever.. Pistol cases don't require as much prep work, and you can get into it relatively cheaply. Start with a single stage press, the components are probably going to be a bit expensive if you can find them locally, but just buy enough to load 100rnds and learn from there. Then before you know it, you'll have boxes full of brass (even for guns you don't own yet), a die set for every caliber, and you'll start every morning scanning websites for components in stock |
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I loaded 1100 rnds a few weeks ago. I'd do more but I'm out of primers and every where I've inquired they laugh.
So, unless you have a good stock of components, you're out of luck. And to all you guys that say "I know how to make gunpower... you just need sulfur, saltpeter and..." I say, good luck. |
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I started recently when i was 14 and have only been doing for the past 25 years. I cannot understand how people can shoot and not learn how to reload as an extension of that. I mean to me Shooting and reload go together like eating and shitting. Both are dependent on the other. Reloading is just something that should be on the list things man should be required to know to be a man. +1 I have been reloading for 30+ years. 100 SP primers were .55, a 1lb can of Unique was 8.99 and brass was and still is free. |