Reloading or retail?

[Poet Jones 99980]

Okay pards,

Here is another one. Just starting out, as you already know. On a tight budget and selling some of my custom knife collection to get in the game. So, having said that...Reload or buy retail? I have access to a friends reloading setup, but still have to buy dies, bullets, primers, casings and powder. Not to mention sizing lube and such.

Opinions?...Advice?

[Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903]

I reload everything, do I save any money? No. Do I shoot a lot more than I would if I was buying retail? YES, YES, YES.

 

Randy

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

RELOAD!

With that said----Components for reloading and loaded ammo, are hard to find these dayz.

LG

[Pit Bull Tex]

When I started I bought retail until the supplier I bought from had a explosion that killed some and shut down.I started reloading after that.I enjoy loading.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

If you only shoot once a month or two, buy loads, or buy (err, I mean, contribute to his loading component supply) off a fellow reloader in your local club(s).

 

If you shoot anything strange that is hard to come by, or you want to practice a lot, or you are gearing up to shoot most weekends, start reloading, or at least save all your fired brass. You will drop from 30 cents a round (plus) down to 10 cents or less.

 

Shotshell loading might be down the road for you later, too, but mostly folks do it because getting light shotshells can be iffy, not so much to save money.

 

CAS is a reloading sport, not as heavy as say benchrest, but almost.

 

Good luck, GJ

[Noz]

Reload!

Cheaper and more satisfying

[Your Nemesis]

Reload if you can. Unless you can afford retail and find it available. When it is avail here it is about 30-40 bucks for 50 rounds. I of course have all

 

the loading equip. but I load for a fraction of that. Saving so much that I could if I needed to repurchase loading gear and pay it off quickly. You have

 

someone there that has the gear and can help you learn how GO for RELOADING

[Straight Arrow Hombre]

If you only shoot once a month or two, buy loads, or buy (err, I mean, contribute to his loading component supply) off a fellow reloader in your local club(s).

 

If you shoot anything strange that is hard to come by, or you want to practice a lot, or you are gearing up to shoot most weekends, start reloading, or at least save all your fired brass. You will drop from 30 cents a round (plus) down to 10 cents or less.

 

Shotshell loading might be down the road for you later, too, but mostly folks do it because getting light shotshells can be iffy, not so much to save money.

 

CAS is a reloading sport, not as heavy as say benchrest, but almost.

 

Good luck, GJ

Good advice.

[Warden Callaway]

One factor in figuring the cost of reloading is being able to buy local and in bulk. Buying local means within easy driving distance. Lead is heavy to ship, primers and powder require hazardous materials charges to ship. Watch for deals. We were just at a match where a guy had cast bullets for sale. I bought what I thought was one 500 bullet box and then ask if he'd discount for the second box. He said the price I paid was for both boxes! His price was half that of the big shooting supply place! I bought another 1, 000.

 

You can cast your own bullets but it takes an upfront expense of equipment and a learning curve. If you don't have a cheap source for suitable lead, I'd go with buying factory bullets in bulk.

 

If you decide not to reload, keep your brass segregated and in good condition. Someone will want to buy it and in this way you can recoup some of the cost.

[Madd Mike #8595]

Okay pards,

Here is another one. Just starting out, as you already know. On a tight budget and selling some of my custom knife collection to get in the game. So, having said that...Reload or buy retail? I have access to a friends reloading setup, but still have to buy dies, bullets, primers, casings and powder. Not to mention sizing lube and such.

Opinions?...Advice?

reloading will not save you any money

 

here is why

 

you will shoot more when you reload

that is still a win-win deal

 

just the voices in my hat talken again

[StirrupTrouble]

I reload, both to save money and to be able to shoot more. That, and it takes the stress of the day away to relax in the shop turning out some ammo, and is verify satisfying to see what I loaded perform well. If I didn't reload, I could not practice, and would have to greatly limit the matches I could shoot in. In my area, 45 Colt (what I shoot) runs about $1/round if you can even find it, and I can reload for about 18 cents/round as long as I have the brass. Depending on the caliber you shoot and what you shoot, it will probably not take long to recoup the investment

[Grizzly Dave]

When I started I bought 1000 rounds from a cowboy shooter who is a commercial loader. That gave me the cases to reload when I finished with the commercial ammo.

 

Shotgun shells you won't save a great deal on rolling your own, cartridges on the other hand you will save quite a bit. But like Randy Saint Eagle says, in the end it doesn't really save money, it just allows you to shoot more, which is a good thing in my book.

[The Meramac Kid]

I reload everything rifle rounds pistol rounds for every gun I have

I'm just starting again also and ill reload from the get go. back when I used to shoot sass I also reloaded then as well as cast my own bullets and ill cast my own this time around as well just one less thing I have to find the better

[Guest Maker-Wright]

I only shoot, and reload, 2 centerfire calibers... 38 sp. and 38-55 Win. IMHO they're the best balance of economy, component availibility, ease of reloading, inherent accuracy, pleasant recoiling, non-shouldered brass CAS and CS calibers there are.

 

It costs me about $5 to load a custom-tailored box of 50ea 38 specials ($25+ retail=$20+ savings a box), and about $8 to reload 50ea 38-55's (about $100 retail=$92 savings a box). I've gotten over 40 reloads from my 38 cases, and my 38-55's are going on 60 times re-stuffed.

 

Granted, I don't own as many guns as many shooters do(if I can't compete in CAS or Cowboy Silhouette with it, I won't make room for it) but 7 years in I'd already reloaded enough to not only recover the cost of components and reloading equipment, but also enough to pay for every gun I own. And, the overwhelming majority of this ammo was used in competition, I never "plink" and very rarely live-fire practice.

 

If you're going to shoot on any kind of regular basis, Reload.

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

On a tight budget? Select 38 Special as your caliber and buy readily available, once-fired cases. They are a fraction of the cost of unfired cases. I buy my cast bullets from a local caster and have little incentive to cast. I would save too little to justify the effort. Used reloading equipment shows up at estate and garage sales and gun shows. You can get into reloading at a much lower cost than Cowboy Shooting. Plus you get loads optimized for your guns and shooting style.

[Warden Callaway]

I have a reloading room. Maybe more like a wall with 8' workbench an lots of storage besides. I have mounted a (don't laugh) Dillon 350 press. I had a Lyman single station mounted beside it but gave it to my son. I pack up what I need in a boot box and set in my recliner in the living room and use a Lee "nut cracker" hand press to make my reloads. Mary is beside me knitting.

[Shorty Jack Hammer]

In my opinion I technically save money....if you want to shoot more it makes it affordable. I can get 4 times as many cartridges so I can shoot 4 times as much...I consider that saving...albeit I spend just as much money . I'm reloading 45 colt for $8.00 per 50. I can't find it retail for less than $41.00

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

When you decide which caliber(s) you wish to shoot look around locally, as has been stated above, for component suppliers. Your friend, who has the reloading set uo will be able to steer you in that direction, as well as other shooters at the club you shoot at. Initial costs for set up are easily $400-500 + so, your cost per box of 50 will be above average. But, if you intend to do a lot of shooting, that initial cost will drop rather quickly. Some of the posts above have outlined the cost of retail ammo vs reloads, so that is easy to quantify. You mentioned budget concerns. If your friend is willing to let you use his equipment your're ahead of the pack in terms of initial start up cost, even though you have to procure components. That's a good way to gain experience and decide on the type of equipment you want to buy when you're ready to have your own set up.

[Rye Miles #13621]

I reload everything, do I save any money? No. Do I shoot a lot more than I would if I was buying retail? YES, YES, YES.

 

Randy

You don't save money??? Goodness what are you doing wrong? I load .44-40 black powder and it costs me around $8-9 a box and maybe 6 or 7 for a box of SG shells. Factory would cost me 3 times that!!! If I was loading (gasp) smokeless I'd be saving even more!!! I couldn't afford to shoot factory!

 

Rye

[Cowboy Junky]

Reload it saves you money AND gives you a better SASS load to boot. IMHO if your on the fence get a Lee Press Turret press for $219 that's only a couple boxes of 45 LC and while they are not the "cream of the crop" they certainly do work well. I used a Lee for 10 years with no issues and no regrets.......it saved me a PILE of money and got the job done.

 

If you shoot a match a month that may be all you ever need. If you start shooting more and upgrade you can keep the Lee for "odd calibers" or sell it to a friend and use it towards the upgrade.

 

Or if you have deeper pockets just by a top-of-the-line press and get it over with........lol

[Deuce Stevens SASS#55996]

When I started the wife had just finished here student teaching and was job hunting. We had a Lee single stage. During the day she would resize, flare the cases, then hand prime. When i would get home from work we would go back down in the basement and she would charge the case then hand it to me and I would seat bullet and crimp. We once did 400 rounds a hour that way. Good memories and lots of fun. We started with 45's and shot those for three years. Also had a Lee Load All that we did all our shot shells on. Now it's a Dillon 650 and 550 and Mec Grabber. Good memories of the reloading gear I stared with but don't want to go back. I would not be able to play the game if I didn't reload, period.

[Go West]

Besides online buying, you can find bargains at matches sometimes. I got a free Dillon SD once. I bought a Hornady 366 shot shell press with several boxes of accessories. I bought 8,000 bullets once for about half price. 5 gallon buckets of brass after a large annual match for $75/bucket. When I started reloading .38 special, I bought 4,000 pc of brass online for under $100 delivered.

If money is an issue, do .38 special. It's the best bang for the buck out there and components or ammo can be found anywhere. I wouldn't purchase a press without a lot of research.

If you can use someone's setup, go for it. It wouldn't hurt to hang out when your buddy reloads once or twice either. Before you load one round, I would buy several reloading manuals and read through them if they discuss reloading process. I like Lyman, Lee and Loadbooks (one book one caliber).

[Guest Maker-Wright]

I'm somewhat minimalist when it comes to reloading. I've reloaded 10's of thousands of rounds over about 14 years and never used anything but an RCBS; rock chucker, beam scale, uniflow powder measure w/baffle and micrometer adjusting screw, and old-style Lee hand-held primer presses. I know it can be done faster with fancier equipment, but I'm frugal not only in how much I'm willing to spend, but also in how much equipment I'm willing to own, store, and maintain. I also find reloading to be therapeutic, as someone else stated in this thread. Not sure I need or want the process to go much faster. My folks load using multiple Dillon presses, tool heads, and electronic scales, and I've helped them reload their ammo using it all, but I still can't imagine I'll ever want to go with a progressive press set up.

 

That being said, I've got single-stage loading down to a pretty tight science... takes me less than 5 min to get set up and calibrate my powder measure, after that it takes 35 minutes to do 100 .38's, or 50 minutes to do 100 38-55's. Every flash hole is cleared, every primer pocket is cleaned, every case is checked for cracks, powder presence and level. I've never had a squib, or double-charge, or (subsequently) a destroyed gun.

 

A word on brass tumbling... use crushed walnut shell lizard litter from the pet store (I believe "Zilla" brand tends to have less dust) it costs a fraction of what the stuff packaged by the reloading manufacturers does. Toss a dryer fabric softener sheet into the walnut to keep the media clean and to help keep the dust down, and if that doesn't do the trick put in a dab of Nufinish car polish that you can buy at the auto parts store (once again at a fraction of the cost of the stuff bottled by the reloading manufacturers, and does just as good a job, or better). The walnut is more aggressive than corn cob, might not bring your brass to an eye-blistering shine, but it'll get your brass clean quick, easy, and cheap, and that's all you really need.

 

I buy my shot shells at Wal-Mart in the 100 round Winchester value packs. They'll smack down the knock-downs more reliably than feather-lites, and they have more pellets so an errant shot is more likely to break a clay pigeon if needed. I use a '97, but if you use a side-by-side I believe you'd want the Federal or Remington value-pack shells as they slip out of the chambers more easily.

[Litl Red]

Cost to reload shotshells today?

 

Right on $.20/shell. That is $5.00/box.

 

Part of this game is having shotshells that do not stick in my SxS. There are two brands that my shotgun will shuck without fail. Those are selling today for $9/box for one and $8.50/box for the other. I haven't seen the $8.50 brand for sale anywhere the last 8 months.

 

I've got enough components to last a very long time. Saving gas money by not searching for factory made cartridges is priceless.

[Litl Red]

Reloading for cowboy pistol and rifle cost about the same.

 

Primers are about 3 to 4cents each.

Powder is about 4cents a reload.

Cases cost around 15-17cents each and can be used and used and used.

Store bough slugs are around 9cents each. I cast and mine cost me a couple cents each.

 

I enjoy the hell out of experimenting with my loads and have turned most every gun purchased into tack drivers thanks to being able to match the loads to the gun. What would I pay for that? Well, I don't have an oldest son.

[Litl Red]

BTW, the costs for components are about:

 

For shotgun shells (not counting the hulls)

9.7cents / reload for shot.

2cents / reload for wads.

4cents / reload for primers.

4cents / reload for powder.

That's about 20cents per shotgun shell.

 

For my 45LC pistol/rifle cartridges

Mfg'd lead slugs about 9cents each.

Primers 3-4cents each.

Powder 3-8cents each.

Cases 17cents each new. Used many times.

Realistically, I figure around 25cents per cartridge.

 

What do you pay now for your cartridges? Figure to shoot 120 rounds of pistol/rifle at your weekend match, plus a little more than a box of shells.

[Hashknife Cowboy]

Been reloading since 1977......never sorry. From .380 to .375 H&H, worth the start up cost. You will not have any regrets, buy quality machines though and ask a lot of questions.

[Rio Brazos Kid]

Reloading your own ammo will save you probably in the neighborhood of $40 per match. Won't take long to amortize your re-loading equipment. To start, just buy the basic items needed, and a single stage press. This will get you started fairly cheap, and you will amortize that cost pretty quickly. You can up grade later on if you want, and can use all the items you have, except the press, which is good to have even if you do go progressive.

 

RBK

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

One thing I didn't see mentioned is you can tailor your loads. I got to shoot a 'store bought' 45 Colt and must say it was quite stout compared to mine. At 67 my wrists appreciate the lighter loads.

[Lit Rhodes, SASS #65398]

I shoot 38 special in both my pistols and rifle, I recently spend a day reloading and and so I checked the current numbers. Five years ago, I figured it was costing me about $3.50 a box of 50.

Supplies: About once a year our club pools and orders bullets from a Missouri Bullet and we takes a trailer over and picks them up to save shipping. .38 125gn at $64/1000

Primers are starting to become available again in Kansas City Bass Pro at $35/1000.

Powder from a local sporting goods store (Bass Pro - Titegroup) at $25/lb. or $1.11/100

Total at current price is about $11.00 a hundred or $5.50 a box. With that kind of savings, you can quickly pay for a reloader.

 

Welcome. Hope you have a long and happy ride, see you down the trail.

Lit

[Matthew Duncan]

It's been a few years when I've done the math.

 

45 Colt was 50 cents a round store bought.

 

10 cents a round for reloading or a savings of $40 a match

[Litl Red]

One thing I didn't see mentioned is you can tailor your loads. I got to shoot 'store bought' 45 Colt and must say it was quite stout compared to mine. At 67 my wrists appreciate the lighter loads.

 

 

You can not only suit your loads to your wrists, but...

 

I enjoy the hell out of experimenting with my loads and have turned most every gun purchased into tack drivers thanks to being able to match the loads to the gun. What would I pay for that? Well, I don't have an oldest son. post #25

[Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903]

You don't save money??? Goodness what are you doing wrong? I load .44-40 black powder and it costs me around $8-9 a box and maybe 6 or 7 for a box of SG shells. Factory would cost me 3 times that!!! If I was loading (gasp) smokeless I'd be saving even more!!! I couldn't afford to shoot factory!

 

Rye

Rye the reason I don't save money is because anything I would save I spend to load more ammo and shoot more.

 

Randy

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

 

still have to buy dies, bullets, primers, casings and powder. Not to mention sizing lube and such.

Opinions?

 

 

Well, casings are for sausages.

Cases are for cartridges.

But, we all believe we know what you mean.

 

 

Ultimately, it comes down to what you enjoy doing with some of your spare time, and whether you can save a little for up-front costs in order to save a lot down the road.

 

If you are just testing the CAS waters, and are on a tight budget, maybe you can talk your buddy into loading a little for you. He probably already has a suitable powder, even if he is loading for a different caliber than yours. You can buy bullets, primers and cases in fairly small quantities (hundred or so at a time, maybe 500 for slugs). Start small and work your way into bigger things. We KNOW you will be addicted when you start shooting this game, but all things in life are a balancing act, so no need to go head-over-heels right away.

 

Welcome to the game and enjoy the ride.

 

Good luck, GJ

[Shorty Jack Hammer]

Well this has been a very profitable or should I say fortuitous post for me. I've been following it and reloading was on my mind so I was talking reloading vs retail with my sgt at work. One of the graveyarders coming on shift overheard us and asked if I wanted a "good deal" on a never used shotgun press and all the gear to reload 12 ga shells. I asked what kind of "good deal" and he said "I'll give it to you if you take it". I don't even know what brand it is but apparently it's new in th box, so for free I not care......yeeeee hawwww