Anyone reload their on ammo?

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jack barnes

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Springfield, Ma.
As in a earlier post I bought a SW 1911 45. I'm thing about reloading my own ammo as 50 rounds cost between $28 and $30. What is the pros and cons of reloading? Is it worth the expense of buy the equipment?

Jack
 
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Jack, I think it depends on how much you are going to shoot. Back in the 80's I shot on our SF units pistol team w/ lots of .45 rounds. I got a Dillon 550 progressive loader and it more than paid for itself. I worried that Clinton would consider me a NATO ammo supply point, then we went to 9mms. I'm not in the shooting much if any now. Not sure what the $$$$ of the loader runs now, and then, I had access to the used mil 45 brass to help keep costs down. Have at it. Bob
 
Jack,

I have been reloading my own ammo for over 15 years. I can't tell you the last time I paid for a new box of ammo. .45 and .44 are great for reloading due to their high initial cost. You can also taylor your ammo to your specific weapon. I have a couple of different .45's and they each like their own diet to shoot at their best. Depending on how much you shoot, reloading can save you a bundle, but you HAVE to know what you are doing. It can put you in great danger if you are sloppy or just don't know what you are doing. As for costs, if a box of .45 new is $28, a reloaded box of 50 is about $6-7.00 depending on your powder. Reloading for me is as much fun as the actual shooting. Its like turning pens, you have to be careful, but it can be very rewarding. I reload both handgun, rifle and shotgun. PM me with any questions you may have, be glad to help,

Kevin
 
I have done a lot of reloading over the years, and it has always been a very satisfying
thing to do. The ability to tailor your loads is a pursuit in and of itself. a chronograph
is also a fun tool/toy to take to the range to get readings on your home loaded rounds.
I sold my Dillon 550 and 650 last year along with many supplies, as it helped
our finances at the time, and frankly it was all gathering dust.
I have a Lyman turret press and Rockchucker still.
It will save you money if you have the free time to do it.
If you have a very busy life, and work it will likely become dusty equipment after time.
I would suggest shying away from the cheapest presses, they don't last long and are
flimsy and aggravating. A good RCBS Rockchucker is a good press that will last and last.
I have a preference for Hornady dies, pistol calibers with the Tin coated carbide sizer.
Powder measure, RCBS. Powder scale, get a digital. Tumbler, any will do, I had Midway's.
Get the sifter to seperate the media after tumbling as media can be a pest in the flash holes. Midway media polish is ok, get the white RCBS powder for extra shine in the tumbler, it is amazing!
Priming tool , RCBS was my preference.
Jacketed bullets, skip the bare lead. Berry's plated are ok for plinking.
Winchester brass,Winchester primers, and Hornady bullets were always good for me.
I shot a lot of .45 with Unique powder, some Accurate Arms powder.
Not a big fan of winchester 231 powder.
This is what worked best for me.
If you give it a go, get a good reloading manual, and if possible , an experienced reloader to show you the ropes.Be careful, it can be dangerous
if you do not follow the rules, and don't pay attention to details for EVERY round.A double powder charge of a light load with some powders will fit in
many cases.This can be disastrous.
hope it gives some insight for you.
 
The conventional wisdom is that reloading doesn't actually save money - you just shoot more.

I can attest to that. I've reloaded several pistol, rifle, and shotgun calibers over several years. I still spent the money, but I shot a lot more than I could have without reloading. As others have said, there's a real benefit in tuning ammunition to your gun.

Squib loads and double-charges may be dangerous. The real question is are you meticulous enough to follow a procedure that avoids them. If so, reloading can be a cost-effective and rewarding hobby.

It doesn't cost much to start reloading 45ACP. RCBS and Dillon equipment is nice, but there are cheaper alternatives as well. Check out http://www.geocities.com/leereloading/ (a project from a previous life).

There are also shooting and reloading forums with good information.

Regards,
Eric
 
Jack,
I dont reload but as a former gun shop owner, and a gunsmith, I could tell you that the best part of reloading is you choose the load. As a beginner at reloading. The main con I could think of is if a round is underloaded, you run the risk of a squib which means a bullet lodges in the barrel which causes your next shot to actually banana peel.
On a lighter not, I think I have a scale as well as some dies and other tools I am looking to trade if your interested.
 
reloading is great & maybe it will save $ it's a lot like penmaking..it's addictive & costly
 
I do reload around 10 different rounds. I know it saves me. I use to even cast my own bullets, but have slacked way off on that. As for initial cost the Best setup you can go with is a Dillon 550. I use a 650 but its hard to find components for it locally. 550 stuff is everywhere. You can pick up one on any day on ebay, and even if its not in peak shape, Dillon has a no questions asked waranty. If anything EVER breaks or wears out it will be replace at no cost. One reporter dropped a 550 from a helicopter and shattered it, then sent it back telling them what he did. His reply was a new 550. You can also get brass and bullets from ebay, espically if you use hard cast lead bullets. Powder and primers are best acquired from a local dealer that can spread the special handling cost out over a large order. Good luck, and no smoking in the reloading room.
 
The guy who asked how much you are going to shoot, hit the nail on the head. If you are only going to shoot a box or two a year, it is probably not worth reloading your own. If you are going to shoot two boxes every weekend, then it is definitely worthwhile.

Part of the benefit of reloading is economic; but the other factor is that you will probably be able to work up loads that are tailored for your specific pistol and will provide better accuracy than what you can get from factory loads.

If there is a gun club in your area, you may be able to find someone who will reload for you at prices that beat the retail stores or a mentor who will teach you the fine points of doing your own.

Its real easy to get a lot of money tied up in reloading equipment, quickly and you may be reluctant to do that if you are not sure this is going to be a long term hobby.

Lee Precision ( http://leeprecision.com ) has some beginner kits that will get you into reloading very reasonably and if you decide to get serious later on, a lot of the pieces in the kit will work with the more advanced reloading systems.

I reloaded for a 30-06 rifle and two pistol cartridges...357 Mag and 44 Mag and never moved beyond the Lee tools; but I was not a high volume shooter. If you anticipate doing a lot of shooting, you should probably start off with something more advanced than the basic Lee reloading system.
 
Jack, having done my own loads for most of my life, I find it to be the best way to get the round that I am looking for. The money part is a big issue, so basically the math that we figured out a while back for another friend that wanted to start was, if you are going to shoot between 100 and 200 rounds a year it will take about 15 years for any savings to start. The down side of this was he is now just using my equipment to do his reloads.
 
I'm not sure what the supply situation is like in other parts of the country, but finding the reloading components and supplies is next to impossible out here in Colorado Springs. The last time I went to my local store the reloading shelves were all but completely bare. Maybe 20 boxes of bullets when they used to have 1000+. No primers. No powder. Etc. I had to wait 4 weeks to get a 9mm die set. And I'm still trying to find the powder I would like. Anyone have access to Varget or W231?

The factory ammo situation wasn't great, but it was a lot better than the reloading components.
 
My Son is an avid hunter and has equipment for reloading and hopes to eventually do some.

He's been following possible new rules concerning gun control and such carefully as it may affect his sport.

My understanding is that it does take a certain investment to set up for reloading, and if reloading becomes "illegal" that investment could be in vain.

He's found there have been concerns raised that reloading may be made illegal. Here's a link to one article I found, and you might do a search for additional info regarding this: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=95733
 
Jack,
Seeing that we only live about 10 miles away, you would be more than welcome to use my equipment on occasion to load up. However, some of the components are getting real hard to come by. Primers are extremely scarce and the price of those that are available has been jacked up to over twice what they were early last year. I already have a bunch of excess .45 brass if you need some, so don't buy any. Also, I suggest that you do have one or two boxes of factory loads at all times, becuase if you are not target shooting, and have to use the gun for defense, in the state of Mass., then anything other than a factory load is considered to be create to cause more havoc and harm than a factory load, and can carry different repercussions in the legal system. Also, since it is a .45, you may want to experiment with different bullets, due to the feeding ramp criticality of most .45s. Some will function just fine with a wadcutter, or semi-wadcutter bullet, while others will not until the ramp is modified. Your best bet is to use a roundnose to start with.
I can keep on ranting about this, so if you want to talk sometime, give me a call. I'm in the phone book

Jerry
 
I might have some stuff left over from when I was a reloader. I don't use it and I would be interested in a trade if you want to trade some pen stuff for it?

P.M. me if you have interest.
 
i find its cheaper because i dont shoot so much because i realized what it takes to make a bullet so im a bit more conservative now cause i have to load them instead of a machine
 
BearToothWoods said:
Anyone have access to Varget or W231?
Click to expand...

I prefer to buy primers and powder at the local gun show. The prices are better and I don't have to pay hazmat shipping. When I do have to mail-order, I like to check out www.wideners.com. Wideners is currently out of stock of W231, but they do have Hodgdon HP-38 (which is the same powder rebranded).

Regards,
Eric
 
Jack,
I have been reloading for years. I use RCBS equipment and have been very happy with it. Please if you do start to reload get a good manual and follow it religously. DO NOT INVENT your own loads. It is great fun to reload but always be careful
Have fun
George
 
my roommate and I reloaded in college. Yeah, we had a whole reloading setup in our apartment, but our landlord was SUPER chill and didn't even care. We reloaded tons of .45 ammo, I must have shot thousands of rounds...spent every spare dime I had on ammo (this was before I was penturning....I haven't shot since!!). It's definitely true that reloading will not save you money, only make you shoot more. He had a 4-stage Dillon reloader and we could reload pretty fast with it. It takes some practice and concentration (making sure you don't double-prime it or something stupid like that). We tested all kinds of loads and saw which ones shot better in our respective .45s. My roommate had a S&W 1911 and modified the crap out of that thing, it was awesome. Man, I miss those days. I would go to the range, about 10 minutes away, in between classes and I always ALWAYS had shooting buddies that wanted to go.
 
I've reloaded for over 20 years now. Like Johnny, I prefer RCBS equipment. The only thing I quit reloading was shotshells, but only because shot was getting too expensive... still is, so my two Texan Reloaders are in boxes in storage. Reloading supplies can still be found here, but the demand has driven the prices up.

As has been said, if you only shoot a few boxes of ammo/year, reloading will not sanve you any money. However, if you shoot a box or two at the range every weekend, reloading will pay for itself in just a few months. For me, the most important thing about reloading is that I can create VERY accurate rounds and repeat process at will. It takes time and experimentation to discover the right powder type & amount when combined w/a specific grain bullet, etc. but it's worth it if you are a competition shooter, or avid hunter.
 
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