Reloading ammo

[tufftom4]

Does anyone here reload and if so what will I need and what are the pros and cons of it, I am thinking of trying it.

[uncledj]

Been a while, but if you do a lot of shooting, it'll definitely save you some money. I got a lot of enjoyment out of it, and spent a lot of time doing it....I don't really see any downside to it.

I don't shoot much at all anymore, but if I did, I'd get back into it.

If you're doing pistol ammo, try to resist constantly going after hot loads. Hard on the gun and hard on the brass, and I enjoyed shooting wadcutter loads more anyhow. I seem to remember that anything getting much over 1000fps should be copper jacketed to avoid leading up the barrel.

[Sylvester]

I only reloaded shotshells and mostly 12 ga. I would shoot 8-10 k per year. Target only. Now I can buy about anything (if you watch for it) very cheap. The equipment isn't cheap and then the casings, powder and load. I won't do it again but when I did I was young with time on my hands since I could get by with 5-6 hours sleep.

 

[Freebird]

I don't any longer but used to a lot. I used a Rock Chucker reloading press. You can buy the full kit that comes with most of what you need. Just make sure you have a good scale if it doesn't come with one. Then about all you need are the various dies for the different things you wish to reload. I don't even remember everything I had but know I reloaded 30/06, 270, .308, and 30/30 rifle cartridges and 38, 357, and 44 mag handgun cartridges. That was probably close to 30 years ago and except for maybe a Ruger .22 pistol, all my guns were revolvers at the time.

[cowpuc]

:sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that:

 

100% right there with Sly on this one Tuffy! Only thing I might add is that if I were precision loading for accuracy in rifle/handgun loads, I think I would watch Craigs, or maybe even Ebay, try to find a good deal on some used equiptment (I sold everything a couple years ago during the height of high dollar ammo for $450 and that included EVERYTHING needed for 9mm, 45 acp, 30/30 and 22/250) and then buy dies and cheap ammo, pull down the ammo and build your loads from pull downs. Loading for extreme accuracy is really fun, very time consuming, but fun none the less. On the other hand though, if your doing it to save money,,, forget it IMHO too..

[cowpuc]

I don't any longer but used to a lot. I used a Rock Chucker reloading press. You can buy the full kit that comes with most of what you need. Just make sure you have a good scale if it doesn't come with one. Then about all you need are the various dies for the different things you wish to reload. I don't even remember everything I had but know I reloaded 30/06, 270, .308, and 30/30 rifle cartridges and 38, 357, and 44 mag handgun cartridges. That was probably close to 30 years ago and except for maybe a Ruger .22 pistol, all my guns were revolvers at the time.

 

This lop eared Boss varmint snuck in between Sly and I,, my :sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that: post was pointing at Sly's response.. Just wanting to keep things orderly here.. No cuts Boss:sign cmon:

[uncledj]

:sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that::sign yeah that:

 

100% right there with Sly on this one Tuffy! Only thing I might add is that if I were precision loading for accuracy in rifle/handgun loads, I think I would watch Craigs, or maybe even Ebay, try to find a good deal on some used equiptment (I sold everything a couple years ago during the height of high dollar ammo for $450 and that included EVERYTHING needed for 9mm, 45 acp, 30/30 and 22/250) and then buy dies and cheap ammo, pull down the ammo and build your loads from pull downs. Loading for extreme accuracy is really fun, very time consuming, but fun none the less. On the other hand though, if your doing it to save money,,, forget it IMHO too..

Not arguing....just trying to understand how you figger you won't save any money.....Have bullets, power and primers gotten expensive?

I felt I'd saved quite a bit...especially when loading rifle ammo and .44mag.

I will say I used the same brass over and over, which works best when you avoid the max loads I mentioned.

I never did make my own bullets,... but for pistol rounds for plinking, I'd always use lead bullets from local bullet makers and got them pretty cheap.

I had a RCBS junior press and a Lee something or another for shotgun. I should still have that stuff in a container somewhere.

It is time consuming, but I got a lot of enjoyment out of it.

[cowpuc]

Not arguing....just trying to understand how you figger you won't save any money.....Have bullets, power and primers gotten expensive?

I felt I'd saved quite a bit...especially when loading rifle ammo and .44mag.

I will say I used the same brass over and over, which works best when you avoid the max loads I mentioned.

I never did make my own bullets,... but for pistol rounds for plinking, I'd always use lead bullets from local bullet makers and got them pretty cheap.

I had a RCBS junior press and a Lee something or another for shotgun. I should still have that stuff in a container somewhere.

It is time consuming, but I got a lot of enjoyment out of it.

 

Maybe price out the ammo components and outlay for the press, dies, tumbler, scales, verniers, trimmer and then add in something for time spent and see what you come up with - for me,, yea,, it's cheaper to just buy em and spend my time shootin BUT,, if loading is what ya wanna do,, DO IT cause it is really a fun hobby. I got a buddy who even loads his own 22lr ammo and LOVES doing it!! Definitely NOT trying to discourage you, or anyone, from going for it - just sharing my thoughts and personal experience/opinion on the subject. It's been a LONG time since I set a die or cranked out a shotgun shell on my little Lee Loader so I may be totally out there on my opinion Tuffy,, if you do get into it, maybe do a cost analysis for us and let us know how it works it $$$ wise nowadays, would LOVE to read something current about reloading

[uncledj]

I suppose when you figger in the cost of equipment you may have a point, but it was an enjoyable process for me, and I learnt a whole lot about ballistics and took great pride in my reloads.

I still have some left today, and don't remember ever having a misfire on one of my loads.

It's also cool being able to load up / down just to play around

I'd load 44s up to the point where they were really uncomfortable to shoot, and would also load them down to the point where you could see them in flight.

When I was heavily into shooting, it was like I'd be ashamed of myself if I shot factory loads.

 

I guess that we wouldn't do a lot of things if we looked at it purely from a standpoint of cost anyway....It'd be pretty tough to say that hunting or fishing is cost effective, but many of us sure enjoy it.

[gmarshall]

I load pistol, rifle, and shot shell. When I was cowboy action shooting I would go thru 5 or 6 boxes of .45 colt in an afternoon. At over $50 a box that was an expensive day. Thats initially why I started reloading. Now I do it because I have all the equipment, so over time it's cheaper and I do enjoy going to the basement and making 100 rounds or so at a time. I recently bought a MEC 600 Jr. 12 ga shotshell reloader at a gun show for $60.

 

If you really enjoy it just do it.

 

My

[luvmy40]

One might say, "You'll just shoot more and not save any money." And, that might be true. One could also say, "You can load a better shell than you can buy for the money." That could also be true.

 

What I will tell you is this. Both are true. You can also load your own and save a lot of money if you do it right.

 

If you are not a competition shooter, go with Lee Precision and MEC. Look for deals on used gear on ebay.

 

If you have money to burn, buy new Dillon or Hornady gear.

 

PM me if you want help setting up Lee or MEC presses.

 

I have loaded many, many thousands of handgun, rifle and shot loads on "cheap" equipment over the last 40 years.

[Flyinfool]

I am also a reloader. Reloading can save you money. I can often buy cheap factory loaded ammo for less than I can buy empty brass. So when I get a new gun I buy a buy a couple hundred rounds of the cheapest ammo I can find. By the time I have used up that cheap ammo to break in the gun, I will now have a small pile of empty brass for reloading. I almost always use the trigger puller to get bullets out of the cases. With reloading, premium rounds are very expensive, I can hand load using premium components to create a round that is tailored exactly to MY gun. If you are loading for just cheap blasting ammo it is hard to actually save any money. The savings come from making quality rounds.

 

If you buy something like the RCBS Rock Chucker Starter Kit, it will come with nearly everything but the dies to get you started. Then you can upgrade pieces as you learn what features you would like on things. After 30+ years I still use that rock chucker press. I have accumulated dies for ~15 different calibers.

 

Start out by buying one or more reloading books, (the rock chucker kit comes with a Nosler book so get different ones) you will need then anyhow to have safe recipes to load, most of them have a wealth of info in the beginning of the book explaining exactly how a round works and WHY you need to do all of the steps that you do.

 

You will want an area that is cool, dry and free of distractions for your reloading area. cool so that it is comfortable, dry because you do not stuff to rust and the powder and primers do not like humidity, and free of distractions because mistakes can be VERY dangerous, you do have to pay attention to what you are doing. Many rounds have room in the case for a double load of powder, firing this could blow the gun apart right in your face. If you forget to put powder in a round, the primer will move the bullet out of the case and into the barrel and the next round would be going into a plugged barrel, also not good for you or the gun. It is not hard, but you do need to pay attention to what you are doing.

 

I also make it a point to NEVER remember a loading, I have all of my favorite loads written down, If you remember a load and mix up details from 2 different loads, bad things can happen. It is easy to mix things up as you load for more different calibers that use similar amounts of powders with similar names.

[Condor]

Does anyone here reload and if so what will I need and what are the pros and cons of it, I am thinking of trying it.

 

So what caliber or gauge do you plan on reloading for. Makes a big difference on equipment suggestions...

[RandyR]

I have a Dillon 650 progressive press that I use for large batches of pistol ammo and rifle ammo for shooting NRA service rifle matches. I also have a single stage RCBS press which I use for small batches of ammo, large rifle rounds> .308, or for anything that I want to take extra care to do. I also have a Lee hand press and numerous Lee Loaders.

 

I have a case trimmer, and two case tumblers for polishing.

 

The suggestion of an RCBS kit is a good suggestion.