Budgeting for ammunition

[Pud]

One of the Browning's was produced in under license in Argentina the other Night Hawk custom. A worlds change in trigger and fit and finish. That being said the Argentine pistol is what i was competing with at the time with a pitted barrel and all. Some guns just wont function with some ammo as Loler UK said. Wilson is superb as you know. Were it me I would look at Les Baer. I once knew a shooter that insisted the primer sealer on wolf ammo tied up his firing pin ( the gun was EAA Witness). I offer'd cash on the spot for the remaining 900 rounds and he was insulted. Must have been the whole yes it's dirty and I clean at 1k intervals that bothered him. Best wishes for good shooting.

The issue with the taurus was ejector/extractor related. We never really got fully to the bottom of it and because it was so cheap it wasn't worth spending much money on. I've seen Les Baer's and they are amazing but I admit to having a sentimental attachment to Wilson. The first time I ever shot one it was lent to me by the range officer and was his personal carry. He was a bit grumpy most of the time (rough diamond type) but had seen me shoot quite a few times. It was a sort of "here, try this instead kid" kind of moment. Well that turned out to be the best shooting I've ever managed in my life and will probably never repeat anything close! Felt like a world champ. It's the only pistol I ever shot that truly felt like an extension of me, rather than something I was holding, if you know what I mean?

Always great to talk to a fellow 1911 enthusiast.

 

[Rutland lad]

Out of general interest, what was the problem with the loading you tried initially? Not that I'll completely understand the answer of course, but it's good to understand the type of problems encountered.

Just couldn't find the sweet spot for that barrel/bullet combo. It seems to like 130grain weight bullets, so perhaps I was never going to find a sweet spot with the 120's. A very different experience to my 180 Barnes in my .300 Winmag. Very accurate load.
Such is life.

 

[Lever357]

Good morning

I may have found a way to take my shooting forward, as apparently a new indoor range has opened close to home. A rare stroke of luck. I've been meaning to do this for literally 10 years but work and kids got in the way. Now theres a range around the corner, it's time to crack on.

They have options for indoor and outdoor, so all calibres are on the table and as this will be my first FAC, I'm thinking ahead in terms of what I might be likely to use and the costs of doing so.

What I've been struggling with is finding the cost of ammunition in the UK and if shooting on a range, I feel its quite important to know what you're getting yourself into financially. I can see that .22lr is cheap as expected, but I've seen some alarming figures for rifle centerfire. £40 a box might not be too bad for casual stalking, but for range use, you'd need very deep pockets!

My shortlist is:
Range: .22lr
Gallery Rifle: .357
Range/Fox: .222/.223
Range/Deer: 6.5 CM

Am I correct in thinking that the most popular calibres are the cheapest to shoot, so perhaps .223 and .308, with the rest carrying a premium of some kind? If I wanted to go for a 6.5mm of some sort, is that likely to be significantly more expensive than .308?

My second question is, is milsurp cheap and available in this country and would there be a cost advantage to having a slot for a rifle chambered in 5.56/7.62x51 over .223/.308 allowing ball ammo for range use and (rarely) nato expanders for fox/muntjac/CWD?

The reason I chose Creedmoor as a deer calibre is because by all accounts it has a little less felt recoil than .308. I've not shot with it before, so its a stab in the dark although it seems to have a lot of fans. I've had a brief go with the similar 6.5 swede and thought it was quite comfy compared to a 308. Also, when I last spoke to my FEO, he said they didn't really like granting .30 calibre on a first FAC....thats a whole other debate I guess.

Is there a price list published by anyone which would give an idea of the above and would there likely be a worthwhile saving if I wanted to look into reloading and buying all the associated gubbins?

I'll continue to scour the forum for information, it's been great reading thus far.

Thanks very much

How have you struggled finding the cost of ammo - you've got the internet!!!

Prices vary depending on brands and bullet weights.
.22 can vary from £3.50 per 50 to £10 per 50
.357 averages about £25 to £30 per 50 but you can use .38 Special in a .357 and thats about £20 per 50
.223 you can get excellent NATO GGG ammunition for around £24 per 50, or if you went .308/7.62x51 £12 per 20

Ask at the club, most can supply ammunition at competitive prices

 

[Pud]

How have you struggled finding the cost of ammo - you've got the internet!!!

Prices vary depending on brands and bullet weights.
.22 can vary from £3.50 per 50 to £10 per 50
.357 averages about £25 to £30 per 50 but you can use .38 Special in a .357 and thats about £20 per 50
.223 you can get excellent NATO GGG ammunition for around £24 per 50, or if you went .308/7.62x51 £12 per 20

Ask at the club, most can supply ammunition at competitive prices

Thanks for the info. Haven't found a single mention of NATO surplus anywhere on a UK site but price sounds reasonable.

I'm not an amateur at googling, so I guess it depends on the search terms used and I'm not really sure of all the variants when it comes to rifle ammunition, so it makes it difficult. Lots of leads, but mostly catalogues and no actual prices. A lot of RFD's either didn't seem to put prices, or had web sites that had some sort of display problem. I suppose when you know, you know.

 

[Milligan]

Thanks for the info. Haven't found a single mention of NATO surplus anywhere on a UK site but price sounds reasonable.

I'm not an amateur at googling, so I guess it depends on the search terms used and I'm not really sure of all the variants when it comes to rifle ammunition, so it makes it difficult. Lots of leads, but mostly catalogues and no actual prices. A lot of RFD's either didn't seem to put prices, or had web sites that had some sort of display problem. I suppose when you know, you know.

Look for Radway Green, or RG, or GGG.
Ammunition, Reloading Components and Accessories
Geco (RWS), Sellier & Bellot (Cz) and PPU are both good budget brands as well.