reloading?

Katies Dad · Post by **Katies Dad** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:06 pm

Hey all I was just curious about reloading. I would like to do it but it looks so expensive to get in to. Also I dont know the first thing about it I know you need hulls primers shot wads etc.. where do you all get this stuff and what is a good beginers setup? Do you really save that much money doing it yourself? Thanks for any replies.

icefire · Post by **icefire** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:55 pm

if you are looking to save money in shotgun shells, reloading is not the answer. shotgun shells are cheap enought that you can't really save anything reloading. what reloading will offer though is the ability to make a greater variety of different rounds for different applications. you will be able to make a larger variety of premium rounds then are available commercially.

I reload and it is fun but also time and money consuming.
www.ballisticproducts.com will have everything that you need including manuels.

ice

Country-Side Breeders · Post by **Country-Side Breeders** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 6:34 pm

Ice is right in that you can make the exact loads that you want for your needs. Is it cost efficient? Not now...the cost of lead is up ($15 here) and is going up even more in late spring/early summer. You can buy the Gun Club brands or Federal Shells (I think they still have their $10/case rebate going on too!) for a lot less. If you're going to be doing a lot of shooting (we reload for most everyone on our trap teams; we shoot at 2 different clubs and both my husband and myself shoot on 2 different teams at each club...that's about 400-600/week we reload), then it pays to reload. As for getting your info/components, go to different powder companies and see what you like. Try http://www.alliantpowder.com or http://www.imrpowder.com or even http://www.mecreloaders.com/Reload.asp for info on reloaders. You can get some manuals from them and it will explain what primer to use with the shell, the fps, what wads to use and the shot size. There are some books out there with a lot of info on them, too. "Lyman Shotshell Reloading Handbook" is a good one with a lot of info in it.

portsider44 · Post by **portsider44** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 4:06 pm

With the rising cost of components it's hard to see a money savings by reloading. Unless you are doing a lot of it & buying everything in bulk. It not worth the time.

Here's some info from Hogdons site:

1 lb powered using a 16 grain load will get you 437 loads cost of powder is $14.95 for .9 lb?? Which would get approx 393 loads giving you a cost of .038 per load.

25 lb of shot will load approx 400 1oz shells & the shot is $18.97, giving you a cost per load of .047 per load

Fig 8 wads $8.99 per 500 with a unit cost of .017

Primers can be expensive if bought buy the 100, so the 1000 pkg case is the way to go. so $22.99 gives you a per load cost of .019

Of course all the prices I used were based on the BPI catalog & does not include shipping & haz mat fees for powder.

So now you are spending .121 per shell & gives you a cost of $3.025 per box. Plus this amount does not include the cost of hulls, equipment or time.

Hard to justify reloading when can get the Winchester super speed shells @ Walmart for $2.99 a box. I did a little shotshell reloading last year as I was just using up my supplies on hand. Now that I am out of powder I don't see doing much reloading for a while.

Katies Dad · Post by **Katies Dad** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 9:04 pm

thanks for the insight on reloading.

tfbirddog2 · Post by **tfbirddog2** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 9:16 pm

everybody here is right shotgun reloading is not very cheap anymore up to a few years ago it really wasn't bad ,but for the price of shells now and no process it is easer to go to Walmart.The only but on reloading is if it is for rifles it is cheaper by most calibers.I know it is for my 22-250.But for shotgund it really isn't any more.

portsider44 · Post by **portsider44** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 10:07 am

tfbirddog2 wrote:The only but on reloading is if it is for rifles it is cheaper by most calibers.I know it is for my 22-250.But for shotgund it really isn't any more.

I agree on the rifle side, it is cheaper plus the benefit is more easily seen. My 243 groups little over an inch with factory loads, but my handloads will group around the 1/2 inch mark.

Post by **Ayres** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 2:40 pm

I looked into reloading last year. The only way it saves money is if you reload 16 ga. or .410 shells, which (in my area) are always priced higher than the 12's and 20's for some reason.

loneeagle15 · Post by **loneeagle15** » Sun May 15, 2005 7:43 am

Hey portsider I was wondering if the prices you quated were for steel shot I have never priced it out but here steel is $18.00 a box. I do agreee there is not a saveings with lead.
I do reload my pistol and rifles there is a big sveings there unless you buy low end factory rounds. :shock:

portsider44 · Post by **portsider44** » Mon May 16, 2005 7:38 am

loneeagle15 wrote:Hey portsider I was wondering if the prices you quated were for steel shot I have never priced it out but here steel is $18.00 a box. I do agreee there is not a saveings with lead.
:

The Walmart $2.99 where for the 12 ga 1oz lead shot.

TAK · Post by **TAK** » Mon May 16, 2005 3:00 pm

I have reloaded for all to many years.... If you are only looking for about a 100 rds a week just go to Wally world and get the AA trap loads. 5 bucks a box and a darn good round. Also the 100 rds of fedrel shells have worked for me too. But if you are a trap or Sporting clays shooter and go through 1000's of rounds by all means you need to reload, not just for the cost but for the patters.
Even if you can buy in bulk, you need to take in account of the time it takes you to build a shell.... IF you have the time it is a great pass time......

TAK · Post by **TAK** » Mon May 16, 2005 3:11 pm

tfbirddog2 wrote:everybody here is right shotgun reloading is not very cheap anymore up to a few years ago it really wasn't bad ,but for the price of shells now and no process it is easer to go to Walmart.The only but on reloading is if it is for rifles it is cheaper by most calibers.I know it is for my 22-250.But for shotgund it really isn't any more.

You have to tell us some of your loads for the 22-250! I shoot a 55 grn hp/bt. I believe it is a Seira lot #1390 I run it with Win 760 39.4 grns If I recall it is moving out at 3600 plus feet/sec. Been some time since I sat down and reloaded.
I also run all the same but with a Balistic tip. Both are Deadly on the yotes! I have a single stage Lymn reloader with some upgrades. RCBS digital scale. When I grow up I want a Dillion Progressive reloader. I have used one for reloading the same 250's and also the .223. It is Magic!
Sorry to jump off target!

portsider44 · Post by **portsider44** » Tue May 17, 2005 2:03 pm

TAK wrote:IIF you have the time it is a great pass time......

I really enjoy loading rifle/pistol but to me shot shells can get very boring. Also rifle relaoding is not only cheaper, for the most part you get a better shell. One that is more consistent. My winchester 243 will shoot a little over an inch with fatcory loads. But with my handloads I normally shoot 1/2 to 3/4 inch group usually with 2 touching.

SO it's easy to see its a win-win situation. Cheaper & more accurate. :shock:

Addict · Post by **Addict** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 10:42 am

I started reloading at age 12 under my dad's guidance. It is something that I enjoy doing. It's kind of like tying you own flies for fly fishing. I started out on a mec 600 jr for 12 ga and now have a mec 9000 g. You can really crank out the shells with the 9000! The biggest advantage is you will get more consistant loads. I buy everything in bulk but really don't save much money.

For rifle on the other hand I have an old 264 win mag that will take you to the poor house if you buy factory ammo for. If your thinking on reloading for 223, 308 or others the ammo is cheap and pretty good. The only advantage to "rolling your own" is tuning it for your gun.

My biggest savings is loading pistol loads for my .357. I like to shoot the full lead bullets and my cost was down to around .10 a round I think. Your brass lasts forever with these light loads.

I just enjoy it. Just something about catching a fish on a fly you've tied, and a rod you've built. Same with shooting, it's nice to get the performance and shoot something with your own hand made ammo. You don't save much but it allows you to shoot more. Now if I can start machining my own reels and guns........

Addict

omega58 · Post by **omega58** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:00 pm

I looked into reloading, but my butt should be out training the dog instead.

I just look for great deals on shells and buy them. . .places going out of business are the best places. . .Galyan's had a great sale last year when "bleep"'s bought them out. . .best thing was Hevi-shot at $8.46 out the door!!!

Katies Dad · Post by **Katies Dad** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 10:41 pm

Thanks for all the feed back I have decided to just keep buying my shells when I find deals and when I have a little extra money!

Mntngoat · Post by **Mntngoat** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 10:02 pm

I don't think there is much of a cost saving's if any to be realized with 12 ga and very minimal with 20 ga, but if you shoot 28 ga or 410 there is definatly a cost saving's. Now this could very well only allow you to shot more and not save anything.

Just my opinion.
Michael

Addict · Post by **Addict** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:24 pm

For pheasant loads I can save a bunch. Here is the breakdown. One bag of shot is $16.00, 500 wads $10.00, 400 primers $7.56, pound of powder $14.72 and if you need hulls, $6.00 per hundred. You can save even more if you order in bulk.

I can get about 319 rounds loaded per bag of shot, 280 per pound of powder, 500 wads, and 400 primers for $61.28. That is using the hulls twice but I usually get several loads out of them.

The local price of 1 1/4 ounce pheasant loads goes for $9.99. That would put me at around 6 boxes or 125 rounds for the same amount invested. I'm not including the cost of a press or my time. To get them cheaper at $7.00 a box, but I have to spend $50 in gas which doesn't really end up saving me anything.

I also like being able to custom tailor my loads to my gun. You can get your hand rolled rounds to pattern better. I started off with a MEC 600 jr of my dads and eventually bought a progressive Mec 9000G because of all the loading I do. You can easily kick out over 200 rounds an hour without trying. If you figure in the cost of the press it would take me several years to break even. I enjoy loading so I don't view my time as wasted.

The only rounds that I can't save on are the 1 1/8 and 1 ounce loads. They usually throw these on sale for $3.00 a box (not the good AA) in the summer. I like to shoot lots of skeet with the light 1 ounce loads. I load my own not because I save money but because I like how they pattern.

Addict

Decoy · Post by **Decoy** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:18 am

All good advise,

I reload 12 and 28ga, mostly 28ga b/c it is alot cheaper to reload. It does take some time figuring everything out to get a good load but it can be fun.
A few years back i reloaded12ga, we would dove hunt in the morning then reload a few hundred shells during the heat of the day and shoot them again that afternoon.
Keep your eye out for a used reloader, that would be a good way to get into reloading.

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