Posted: 1/15/2005 5:31:52 AM EDT
| I'm thinking about getting into reloading my own ammo. Is it really that much cheaper than buying ammo? How hard is it to get started? I have several different calibers that I'm interested in reloading, particularly .223 and 7.62 X 25. Any info you guys can give would be appreciated. Thanks! |
|
Reloading is easy,if you can follow instructions and not get too distracted from what you are doing. I started reloading in 1975. At that time,mil surp was drying up fast,and it was a lot less expensive to reload for my 303 Brit and 30 carbine.I started out using a Lee Loader for 30 Carbine. In 1976,my High School grad money went for a new press,scale,and dies etc,to get really going good,instead of the expensive digital watches that were all the rage,and that you can buy for less that ten bucks now! I'm still using all the stuff I bought then btw. For 223 Rem,you may not save much if all you are looking for is ammo to send downrange.If you want to try to improve accuracy and reliability,you can save some money and get better ammo for less than the cost of buying it.But it depends on how much you value your time too,unless it becomes a family fun time thing. You may or may not save much on the 7.62x25 until the surplus stops coming in,then it will save a lot imo. I haven't reloaded much in the last 20 years,as I haven't shot much except shotguns,and I can buy decent shells for about the same cost as reloading them.I am still shooting up ammo I loaded over 20 years ago though.I did have to buy some 45 and 9mm to go to the range last itme,but I think I still have some stashed away somewhere,I just need to look for it! One thing that drove the cost of reloading way up is the hazaradous materials shipping fees. So buying as many primers and as much powder as you can afford at one time helps.If you get in good with some buddies,or even a shop that will add your order in with theirs,you may be able to cut the shipping costs that way. Powder and primers have to be shipped in seperate boxes,with the hazmat fee applied to each of them btw.So if you can find them locally (gun shows!),you may come out better than mail order on that. Bullets have gone up in cost a lot too,but a lot is shipping and handling. I started casting my own over 25 years ago,and have had good service out of them in 45's,9mm's, and 357's and a little in 44 mags.Those cost almost nothing in materials,if you can scrounge the lead,the lube is pretty cheap,but the moulds and sizer and dies can get pricey fast. Look on eBay for deals on sizers.Moulds often go pretty high there though. I have bought a couple of Lyman presses off eBay for almost nothing,and those will do just fine for single stage reloading on the 223 and handgun cartridges.A compound leverage press like a Rockchucker is over kill,and if you get the case out of line,you may crush it before you know something is wrong,based on watching my buddies,but they were a little too eager sometimes! Go buy a reloading manual and read it before you start.It will tell you how to go about it. You can get by without a lot of stuff to start,but the starter sets are a good value most of the time,and the powder measure will speed things up a lot. I don't have a progressive press.They were really expensive when I started reloading,and I'm used to doing it slow and right,just like my paying work.I have thought about buying one,but I prefer to clean and inspect primer pockets,which is hard to do with a progressive machine ( and I prefer to put the money into more guns anyway  )I also prefer to visually inspect my powder levels in handgun cases,to double check for the dreaded double charge or squib load (little or no powder).A rifle case won't hold a double charge most of the time,but it still pays to inspect then for small over or under charges. That is also hard to do on a progressive.It would be hard to double charge on a progressive,unless you had to manually operarte the charging part.I get distracted to easily,so you may not have as many worries as I do,ha ha. Sorry for the long rambling answer.I have to write it as I think of it,otherwise my post count would be about ten or so!  Thinking of all this reminds me it's time to get it all unpacked and set up again soon,so I can start to reload and restock for the next 20 years! Regards,Robert. |
|
Reloading is really quite easy. Like GAMachinist said, if you can follow directions you shouldn't have a problem with reloading. I started out by buying a few books on reloading and reading them from front to back just to get a good base of knowledge to start from. Also, depending on where you live I'm sure theres a few here that reload that can have you over to see how everything works. I live in Snellville if you're close by. I initially started reloading .223 and .308 mainly because I was looking for quantity-not quality at a lower price. I was using a Dillon 550 at that time. Now, I only reload .223,.308 and 6.8 Rem SPC on a single stage press. The Dillon now sits in a closet gathering dust. Once the initial cost of brass is out of the way reloading can be really cheap. For example for .308 here's my cost breakdown per 20rnds. Lapua .308 Win Brass- $6.80 Sierra Match Kings 175grn- $4.20 Hodgden Varget powder-$2.54 CCI Primers-.18 cents With brass that's $13.72. Thats cheaper than a box of Federal GMM and shoots a hell of alot better to boot. It's cheaper still when you reuse the brass. Through the AR10 I was shooting I was averaging 5 reloads before I tossed the brass. My personal thought is that reloading is really beneficial when trying to squeeze the most accuracy from your rifle or if you shoot alot. For my non precision rifles it's easier for me to buy good surplus ammo than to sit behind the bench for a few hours making blasting ammo. |
|
I have a 550B and load 9mm, 38, 40SW, 45ACP, 44mag, 223, and 45-70. The 9 I don't make much back on, but it loads easy so I still do it. The 38, 40 and 45 I can load for about half price of store loads. I save my dad a fortune on the 45-70 over store bought stuff, and he raves about the consistency. The 223 shoots just like Black Hills and costs me about half that. I plan to add 308 and 30-06 soon, but with prices where they are now on the milsurp it isn't worth it yet. I will say reloading is a great hobby if your friends would describe you as 'a bit anal' and a bad hobby if you are easily distracted or prefer hobbies that mix well with beer. If you're going to do it, do it right. |
|
As stated, it's certainly cheaper, at least for some calibers. 223 match bullets, 308 match, or nice hunting rounds, 45ACP are cheap to load copared to factory loads. You can't really beat the cost of say XM193 by reloading unless you buy in huge bulk qty's. When it comes to say, 308 with 165gr. Nosler Ballistic tips, it would cost you nearly , if not over $20 for 20 rounds, and I can reload 50 for that price reusing my brass. I've been firing the same 308 brass for 5 years now. The same 500 pieces of Fed GM brass. I"m just now starting to have some with loose primer pockets. In LAWMANs post above, he's using high quality, high $$ brass. You can buy US made commercial, or LC brass for 100 pieces for $10, or 1,000 for 80, and that could do you for at least a couple years. That would drop his price per 20 considerably. It pretty simple, and for a basic set up using a single stage press, you can get started for around $350 including brass, powder, primers and bullets. Something that comes in to play that some people consider and some don't is the value of your time. I can load 80 rounds of match 308 in a bit over an hour, including brass prep. Some will figure that time with a $$ value and calculate it in to the cost per round or cost per 20. Most don;t consider the time invested in driving to the ammo place to buy, and then drive back and such. The time I spend reloading it "me" time. I get in to it, don't have my mind elsewhere (you can't afford to do this- there are many double checks to make and you don't want to forget where you ere before being interupted)---- anyhow, it had value to me, but not in dollars, but in relaxing and doing something I enjoy. It is rewarding when you get to the range with your loads, test them, find a sweet load and get to use it, be it in competition, or during the next hunting season. If youve' got time in your day that you think you could use for reloading, start now before you get busy. If you're already doing it, then when things get busier, you'll still make time for it. If you wait to start, then when things get busy, you'll not be able to see how you could get started. Watch ebay for deals on parts and stuff. RCBS sells a complete set with everything you need to get started, except for the bullet components. The first thing you'll need after getting started is a tumbler. You CAN reload without it, but cleaning brass without one is a PITA, and you don't want to resize dirty brass as it wears on your dies. If/when you get started let us know. There may be some guys with extra stuff that they'd come off with for cheap to help you out. I've got an RCBS 505 scale that I don't use since I went to digital, and also a set of RCBS 308 dies. If you're interested when you start, just let me know. |
| I too have reloaded since the seventies and really saved a bundle way back when I shot IPSC. I now enjoy relaoding .223 mostly and I use a combination of presses to reload it. I use a RCB single stage to size and de-cap. An RCB handle held primer tool and a Dillon 550b for everything else. One thing about loading rifle cartridges you have to be very thorough in preperation. A case micrometer is a must with .223 and .308. |
I definetely agree with it being enjoyable and seeing the results is even more enjoyable after you get your load picked out. I agree, I could cut my cost significantly by going to different brass. However (especially with .308) beware of buying once fired military .308 brass as it's usually been fired in machineguns. If you can get your hands on Lake City LR brass then jump on it as it's been fired in precision rifles. Winchester brass is usually considered good but stay away from Remington and Federal brass as it's usually softer and you won't get as many reloads out of it. I go with the Lapua brass because of how consistent it is. The only thing I need to do it trim them all to a uniform length. The case capacity is very uniform compared to other brands and the primer pockets and flash holes don't require any work- the brass is made that well. The big thing to go for if you are looking for accuracy is consistency. The more consistent you make everything the better accuracy you'll get. Now (for Archer) I imagine that you want to reload .223 for an AR15 and 7.62x25 for a surplus pistol, so you may not be looking for (or willing to do) the work to make super accurate ammo. However, you can make good shooter grade ammo pretty easily and for not too much money. Let us know when you are ready though because as Kletz already said, alot of us have extra gear that can cut your starting costs significantly if you buy good used stuff. |
|
Thanks for all the replies and information. I really appreciate the help. I am interested in starting to reload. There is definately a shortage of 7.62X25 surplus, forcing me to buy S&B at about $10 a box. No one in the Savannah area has any surplus, and there was none at the gun show last weekend either. There has been a little on line, but when you add the cost of shipping, the S&B is almost a better choice. If I reloaded, (as many who own CZ52's do) I can get away much cheaper. I may just change the barrel of my CZ52 to shoot 9X18mm which is a little easier to come by....don't know just yet. The Savannah area SUCKS for finding good deals on ammo, and the gun shows have been the same old folks selling the same old shit! That's kinda why I want to reload. Not much to choose from in the way of .223 either....(American Ammo, $75/500; Wolf, $62/500....the only bulk around) Bass Pro Shops will have a sale now and again, but normally $3.99/20 Winchester white box. I have a lot of different calibers, so I may want to expand what I reload at some time in the future. What are some good books that would tell me what I need to get started? What does everyone have that they might want to get rid of? Would anyone be interested in trades? I have made some pretty nice gun vises if anyone would be interested in one of those. |
|
Any current reloading book should have a how too section. I started with a Speer book,then bought a Lyman for info on older cartridges,then on to Hornady's book and Serrias books. The powder companies used to offer load guides for their powders,and probably still do,since it takes a few years for the info to get into a bullet compaines book.So they offer their own info so people will be able to sell powder! Look in the EE here,or on eBay,or even Amazon (search for "reloading").There is a book called the ABC's of reloading,but a Speer or Lyman book should do fine,and I'm sure if you have any specific questions,someone here will be glad to answer. I have some duplicate and unneeded die sets and bullet moulds too,if you want to get into casting. Robert. |
|
archer2, Where are you located in GA? I'd be inclined to invite you over to check out my reloading setup and load a few rounds if you are interested. Let me know, I'm on the east side perimeter, 285 and ponce. eta... my lack of reading comprehension is known. I see where it says Savannah now  Still, if you are in the neighborhood, drop on by, the offer stands. |
|
As Glfrd said, if you can find someone to let you watch them load, and then give you a hnad with it, it would help a bunch. There's lots od lingo associated that is kind of strange until you get started. I remember my first loads. It was like building a really hard model plane or something, and when I went to the range, I got my rifle aimed, closed my eyes, said a prayer and pulled the trigger, then thanked God I didn't kill myself. Check ebay and gunbroker for deals. Sometimes you see them for sale from estate sales and such, so you can get a good press for cheap. |