Should I start Reloading???

Heym SR20

Well-Known Member
Gentlemen - shoud I get into reloading, particularly givent he current price of ammo.

Lee seem to do a pretty good set of kit for just over the £100 mark - that combined with dies, powder, primer and some bullets would get me going. I have plenty of 243 RWS once fired brass.

Admittadly I don't shoot more than a box or two of ammo per year - as much to do with price as anything else.

I am also looking to get one of the 7mm calibres so reloading seems to be a good option here.

Any thoughts please?
 
Do it but unless you are firing aa lot of ammo it will be a while before you save money especialy once you get in to it and start to upgrade your reloading kit tumblers etc.

You should find a significant improvement in accuracy almost straight away.

Dave
 
Reloading

Hi

If I were allowed to shoot reloads at my local range i'd have a go, a reload blew up the other week, so its banned now - which is a pity.

However, with the pound stronger against the dollar - buying from Cabela's is making good sense at the moment.

Lee annivarsary kit Midwayuk - £112.13

Lee annivarsary kit US Cabela's - $94.99 (£62.36)

The delivery charges are really good too.

Cheers

Daemon

:D
 
i own a lee aniversey kit and it does the job fine all you will need to buy ontop of it are a set of dies and a couple of small tools you will find in time as dave says you will add to it but thats fine as yoou can do that at your own pace. ive been reloading for about 4 years and i wont go back to factory ammo reloading is boring tho after a while i think all re-loaders will admit this. the biggest bug bear for me with starting to reload is the cost of powder, you can only buy it buy the pound and that will cost you around £40 now so try to see if you can scrounge some off your mates if your local to me (wiltshire) i have a couple of powders i could let you have a try of.
 
HeymSR20
It's a bit like the petrol v diesel debate...if you only need a box or two of rounds a year then don't bother reloading as the investment in reloading kit will never be repaid.
However, if you decide to splash out on kit then I reckon you will end up on the range way more than you anticipated as you try to develop your own "special" load. It's a great hobby so be prepared to spend more each year. That said more time with the gun can improve your accuracy as you get more used to recoil/trigger/breathing techniques/sticks/bipods and so on.
Now that's when reloading makes sense; it makes practice sessions cheaper and you will end up using rounds that you have total confidence in.
Reloading components have rocketed in price recently but I assume factory rounds will do likewise and I reckon that you should be able to make a round for say 60-80pence depending on spec and where you live.My 6.5x55/140g/RL19/lapua/CCI cost me 71p each assuming I use the case 7 times.I live in Inverness so pay through the nose for stuff.

Regards
 
You'll never regret the initial outlay in getting yourself set up to reload. It's fun, much cheaper and offer the opportunity to create ammunition that is streets ahead of factory rounds.

I've been reloading for over 18 years and still use the original Lee kit I bought back then. And although to start with it looks complicated and finicky it's actually quite straightforward and simple. Of course you can take it to extremes of precision. Preparing cases can get boring if you're doing 100s, but even that I quite enjoy.

I really recommend reloading. And because your ammo is cheaper and better you will use your rifle more and become a better and more confident shot.

Best wishes, Craig
 
I have just started to reload, mostly to try and improve the accuracy potential of my rifles but also in the hope that I can shoot more for less. I like to 'zero' my rifles (ahem) recreationally on my own range, so I use a fair bit of ammunition. I've also just bought a .270 and factory ammunition is sphincter puckeringly expensive.

However, don't expect anything other than a hefty initial outlay just to reload one calibre - even if you go the budget route and use Lee kit (as I have done), you should still expect to shell out around £400 up front for basic kit, dies and consumables such as bullets, primers, cases, powder and primers - plus add another £100+ for each calibre you add subsequently. You will also run the risk of becoming a nerdy re-loader equivalent of the train spotter, devoted to Quickload and 'ladder method' load testing...

It would be an excellent idea for someone - legalities allowing - to hold a powder / bullet exchange library, enabling people to access small quantities for testing purposes. At £40 per pound for powder and £20 - £40 per hundred for bullets, experiments are expensive. I have just discovered, in less than 20 rounds, that Varget is not a good match for the bullets I want to use in my .223, so that's a 95% full tub sat on the shelf. It would be nice to swap that with someone who has some redundant N165 as I'd like to try that in my .270 - etc, etc, etc. Same for bullets - it's a bugger to buy a 100 expensive Nosler bullets to find they don't work well in your barrel.

Adam.
 
Adamant.
Oh how I agree with your comments. I have reloaded since 1973-4 and now spend hours reading reloading data, Quick Loader, Infinity 5. Over the years I have reloaded from .32 S&S Long (1000's) to .605 Jefferies (cordite) including 4. 8. and 10 bore.

If it were an illness at least I could go and see a Doctor. I confess to being totally besotted by the reloading bug.

Go for it but do not expect to save a lot of your hard earned cash. What you will gain is accuracy and that little wry grin when you put ten shots in the ten ring. Wonderful. It also gives confidence by allowing you to put more rounds through the rifle at less cost than factory. That in turn leads to greater confidence for the real thing.

What we need is a co-operative exchange where all those half full boxes of bullets and half empty tins of powder could be lawfully exchange for something of use. Now thats an idea Admin.

Be safe, follow the reloading manuals and get a more experienced reloader to start you off and away you go.

I need to go and have a sniff of some VU7000. No, no comments you do what you want to do and leave me alone.

Ah!!!! thats better.

Spiker.
 
Heym SR 20
Hi go for it fella
it's kinda moorish !! Have the bug at the moment . I jumped in at the deep end and just went for it . Its like fishing just gotta add the few odd bitsn bobs , to the gear !!! :lol: Flea bay does some great deals on digital scales , and other bits of kit . I started with a LEE aniversaty kit, and am growing in confidence , there is some great and free advise on the site.
It can be as complicated as you wish, or a gentle cruise in . When you grass your first prize with a homemade round , it is the best feeling.
Regards
Trapper
 
Spiker said:
Adamant.
Oh how I agree with your comments. I have reloaded since 1973-4 and now spend hours reading reloading data, Quick Loader, Infinity 5. Over the years I have reloaded from .32 S&S Long (1000's) to .605 Jefferies (cordite) including 4. 8. and 10 bore.

If it were an illness at least I could go and see a Doctor. I confess to being totally besotted by the reloading bug.

Go for it but do not expect to save a lot of your hard earned cash. What you will gain is accuracy and that little wry grin when you put ten shots in the ten ring. Wonderful. It also gives confidence by allowing you to put more rounds through the rifle at less cost than factory. That in turn leads to greater confidence for the real thing.

What we need is a co-operative exchange where all those half full boxes of bullets and half empty tins of powder could be lawfully exchange for something of use. Now thats an idea Admin.

Be safe, follow the reloading manuals and get a more experienced reloader to start you off and away you go.

I need to go and have a sniff of some VU7000. No, no comments you do what you want to do and leave me alone.

Ah!!!! thats better.

Spiker.

So true, and we also want tiny pots of powder for trial purposes, maybe enough for 20 rounds.

A
 
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