My thinking is. Is it worth the outlay of a self load kit for the amount I’m gonna use.
I only have a small piece of land and only to take 3 maybe 4 deer a year.
There is also a lot of learning to do.
I’ve only shot 3 deer this year the rest of my shooting has been setting up the new gun and scope.
Once your rifle is set up, you don’t need to shoot a lot of ammo. A box of 20 rounds. A few to occasionally check zero, otherwise it should be one round per deer. Ammo these days seems be £60 odd per box of 20, or £3 a round.
The simplest reloading kit is the Lee Loader, which cost about £50. Henry Krank do them. They are a bit slow, but you can produce perfectly good ammo.
Box of 50 non toxic bullets £60
1Kg of n150 powder - £140 - enough for about 300 cartridges
Primers - about £120 per 1,000
So you have the upfront cost, but then free ammo for a long time.
I bought a basic lee press, scales etc etc from a gentleman retiring, together with 1,000 large rifle primers about 15 years ago, for about £100. I bought a set of dies for 7x65r, and later 7x57 and 243.
If I need some ammo I just set up my kit up, turn on the cricket and potter away.
