Is reloading worth the hassle
- Thread starter Rake Aboot
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PointBlank
Well-Known Member
I just asked in a local shop for price on some 6.5x55 140gr ammo as I am getting low on Federal and was given a price of £55 a box for norma!!
Wasn't expecting that as I used to pay £25 for Federals. Perhaps now I can see why people talk about the cost saving of reloading with those figures!
Wasn't expecting that as I used to pay £25 for Federals. Perhaps now I can see why people talk about the cost saving of reloading with those figures!
Reloading can be done very inexpensively, with the simplest of gear. It only gets expensive when you buy into the "match ammo for my hunting rifle" hype and start buying Micrometer This, and Competition That. A friend of mine is a casual handgun shooter; he shoots about 5 boxes a year of 357 magnum. His Lee kit cost him $119 US and he's owned it for two years. At $46/box for loaded ammunition, he has well and paid for the investment in gear and components.~Muir
The tramp
Well-Known Member
I started reloading last year, started on 223. Now load for .223, .243 and .308. The cheapest 'plinking' ammo I can get for the 308 is £58/100. I can reload with top quality stuff for less than that, and getting .5moa accuracy or better. The .223 cost the same to load as buying .17hmr ammo, so, I now have a hmr for sale as I don't use it now, the 223 gets used a load more. The 243 I a touch cheaper to load than the 308, and that gets used on long range rabbits and crows etc, and I enjoy doing it, but if I was paying for factory ammo of a quality to match what I make, I'd miss everything as I'd be wincing while taking the shot knowing its costing over a quid a shot instead of about 40p.
You will save, if you don't shoot any extra, but that's another plus side of reloading, you can shoot more as its not raping your wallet with each shot
above all, enjoy, and enjoy more by reloading
Pete
You will save, if you don't shoot any extra, but that's another plus side of reloading, you can shoot more as its not raping your wallet with each shot
above all, enjoy, and enjoy more by reloading
Pete
phaedra
Well-Known Member
I'd have to agree with most of what's already been said. While reloading (for myself and my son) makes our shooting more affordable it's also very therapeutic and gives us another shared interest we can enjoy together.
Add to that being able to produce custom load ammunition with a higher degree of accuracy at a lower cost than factory and it's a win-win situation all round.
Yes the initial costs can be high but like many I started out with a very cheap Lee Loader and built up my kit from there, it will certainly outlast me and will be passed on to my son who I'm sure will continue to get years of enjoyment out of it.
Our current .308 load is 41g of TR140 with a Nosler Custom Competition 168g in Lapua or RWS cases, cost (excluding cases) is £34 per 100 and it will consistently produce .5moa
Add to that being able to produce custom load ammunition with a higher degree of accuracy at a lower cost than factory and it's a win-win situation all round.
Yes the initial costs can be high but like many I started out with a very cheap Lee Loader and built up my kit from there, it will certainly outlast me and will be passed on to my son who I'm sure will continue to get years of enjoyment out of it.
Our current .308 load is 41g of TR140 with a Nosler Custom Competition 168g in Lapua or RWS cases, cost (excluding cases) is £34 per 100 and it will consistently produce .5moa
+1. Just changed from a 2006 batch to a 2008 batch on N165, so checked this out. Similarly, the Hornady bullets seem to evolve over time. Got caught out last summer when I finished off a box of 140gr A-Max (old packaging) and tried to use a box of the new packaging. Regards JCS
I started reloading during the full bore pistol era, one gun I bought was a .45 cal S&W 625 revolver and used full moon clips, I only needed lower powered ammo for 15- 20 yards shooting but try buying that in 45 ACP....... I could tailor the load and shoot for about a third of the cost of 45 acp ammo. I currently reload 44magnum /44 special for a marlin lever acton and that has an excellent price saving over factory ammo and is easily as accurate.
I have just picked up a tikka .223 tactical and will start reloading for this shortly too. If however I only used the rifle infrequently say for foxing, I probably wouldn't bother.
I have just picked up a tikka .223 tactical and will start reloading for this shortly too. If however I only used the rifle infrequently say for foxing, I probably wouldn't bother.
I have what is basically a 45 ACP 625-2, a "Combat Model of 1989" with a heavy under-rib. Excellent shooter. I'm sure yours was painful to part with.~Muir
You lucky thing!!........ mine was the origonal 5 inch version of 1989 ( purchased in 1990)with the heavy underlugged barrel, I fitted a hogue monogrip grip ( excellent by the way! ) had a trigger job done and got the trigger blade narrowed and polished for fast double action shooting. I bought the gun after seeing the world revolver shooting champ Jerry Miculec at bisley outshoot everybody with their semi autos. with a 6 round full moon clip the gun is almost as fast to load as a semi auto!.... I even talked to Jerry in a trade tent, He gave me a very useful tip - several of the guys in my club had one and we noticed that after about 30 or so rounds were fired, the full moon clips were difficult to insert due to crud build up...... he advised me to always give the reloaded ammo a good crimp when seating the bullet head. This worked a treat and cured the ammo insertion problem!! Most people who tried my gun went out and purchased one. In my opinion they were one of the best revolvers made. I was gutted to lose it.
I also had a Peter stahl .45 6 inch (ported ) semi auto......But that's another story!
Regards Paul
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6pt-sika
Well-Known Member
When I got taken over by the competitive skeet and trap shooting thing almost 30 years ago I didn't reload shotgun shells . But a now deceased gunsmith friend had for a number of years earlier and he SANG the praises of Ponsness Warren 800B loaders very loudly and had four of them in his basement shop !
When I started shooting I decided I needed to load shotgun ammo PDQ as factory WIN AA in all four gauges was breaking the bank . Anyway I bought a pair of used PW 800B's in 12 and 28 . Then a couple months later bought NIB PW 800C's in 20 and 410 . After a year or so the 12 and 28 got replaced by 800C's also (incidently when I sold the 800B's I got a bit more then I paid). The 4 800C's cost me a hair over $2000 back then I can honestly say with the amount of shells I shot I paid for the four new machines in about 18 months !
My main rifle press is also a Ponsness Warren Mettalic II that an old girlfriend gave me for my birthday about the same time .I hate to think how many rifle and or pistol rounds I've loaded on that thing .
Point being depending on how much a fellow shoots and how deeply they think they'll get involved sometimes it pays to start with the premium outfit .
Now since I've given up competing in the shotgun games on a regular basis all my shotgun stuff is loaded on MEC600JR's . But before dove season each year I go over to a friends that has a PW 800C and load whatever gauge I want and about 500 of them in maybe 75 minutes .
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