Giving up hand loading?

[PiratePast40]

Right now, it's almost the same price for ammo as it is to reload most 9mm and .223/5.56. BiMart has 124 grain Blazer and Norma on sale most all the time at $220 to $240 a case. Same with common 223/556 at $400 to $460 a case.

If you want something that isn't standard fare, yes, reloading does come out better price wise. I like shooting 147grain 9mm and 65 grain 223 so I'm still I'm still buying components and reloading those and making sure I have primers, bullets, and powder stacked deep.

 

[Capn Jack]

Saving Money By Making My Own Bullets

I decided to try and beat the cost of copper gas checks, (aprox. $35.00k) for my cast bullets and bought a gas check cutter. $100.00

Right away, I found it was very difficult to make the cutter work in my RCBS jr. press so I bought a 1 ton Arbor press from Harbor Freight for $50.00

The Arbor press was great, but the cutter kept falling over, so I had to buy some oversized drills and bore a socket in the press anvil to hold the cutter. $25.00

Now for material: My local Sears has .014 aluminum flashing 50'x6". You can special order it from their supplier, for $40.00 a roll. Cut into 3/4" wide strips, that's approximately 800 strips per roll.

By being careful, I can punch 8 GC per strip giving me 6,400 gas checks per roll. That's a savings of almost $5.00.

At this rate I'll only have to shoot about 6,400 .459 cal. bullets (275lbs of lead) to amortize the cost of making my own gas checks.

After that, THEY'RE FREE !!!

Now I've been thinking about saving even more money by buying a.....
Oh! Can't forget the cost of Kevlar gloves and a box of Band Aids for handling the cutout scrap material. That stuff is like Razor Wire.

There's also the saving I made by buying a .22lr adapter for my wife's pistol. ($250.00) Now, I can save a lot on the cost of 9mm....which I don't "buy" anyway....

 

[metalhead68]

Right now, it's almost the same price for ammo as it is to reload most 9mm and .223/5.56. BiMart has 124 grain Blazer and Norma on sale most all the time at $220 to $240 a case. Same with common 223/556 at $400 to $460 a case.

If you want something that isn't standard fare, yes, reloading does come out better price wise. I like shooting 147grain 9mm and 65 grain 223 so I'm still I'm still buying components and reloading those and making sure I have primers, bullets, and powder stacked deep.

Buddy of mine went to the Salem gun show a couple of weeks ago and reported that one vendor there was selling 30 year old bricks of primers for $100 per brick! I haven't bought primers in awhile but I've heard that they are returning to pre-pandemic prices. Is that correct?

 

[arakboss]

Buddy of mine went to the Salem gun show a couple of weeks ago and reported that one vendor there was selling 30 year old bricks of primers for $100 per brick! I haven't bought primers in awhile but I've heard that they are returning to pre-pandemic prices. Is that correct?

This is one of the reasons I don't go to gun shows.

 

[George1231]

Man all I gotta say is I'm glad I bought in bulk and stacked deep several years back after the obummer debacle.

Im with ya, never be caught with my pants down again

 

[George1231]

Buddy of mine went to the Salem gun show a couple of weeks ago and reported that one vendor there was selling 30 year old bricks of primers for $100 per brick! I haven't bought primers in awhile but I've heard that they are returning to pre-pandemic prices. Is that correct?

Somewhat but still higher than a woodpecker hole!

 

[Mikej]

Buddy of mine went to the Salem gun show a couple of weeks ago and reported that one vendor there was selling 30 year old bricks of primers for $100 per brick! I haven't bought primers in awhile but I've heard that they are returning to pre-pandemic prices. Is that correct?

Cheapest I've seen, on line, is around $54.00/K for small pistol primers. Going up to $100.00 +/- for benchrest large rifle primers. I don't search all the smaller, obscure, mail order places.
I'm happy to be stocked up enough to come up with, probably, around 2000rnds of the 9 calibers I load for right now.
I couldn't imagine paying for a box of ammo. I've become fond of loading my own and consider it as enjoyable as shooting the ammo.

 

[gmerkt]

Because of all this supply nonsense, I've got stupid amounts of ammo now. Factory and reloaded.

Primers have come down off their highs by about 50%.

Powder is another story. I don't think it moves quickly off store shelves or from online vendors at $50 to $65 the pound. Stick powders have gotten completely ridiculous, some are up to $70+. There has got to be a significant pull-back of buying by US consumers. But wars around the world are probably giving the manufacturers all the business they need for the time being.

Aside from high component prices, there is another threat to the business of the reloading equipment makers. A generational one. I don't think many young people take it up.

 

[Croat]

I was at LGS today. 8 pound keg of RL15 listed at $650. Unbelievable.
My personal fortune in powder is gaining value more rapidly than gold or silver.

 

[Croat]

Aside from high component prices, there is another threat to the business of the reloading equipment makers. A generational one. I don't think many young people take it up.

Good. Let the market run dry. I'm so disgusted with the gouging we've seen since 2019 that anything hurtful to the gougers is fine by me.

 

[awags_86]

Modern cartridge design and more exact tolerances on chambers has really made reloading less appealing outside of the tinker-er in me. (Talking bolt actions) I do still reload some but not all that often anymore. I'm very happy to have the components and ability to do so though!

Factory ammo not that long ago was a choice of two soft point bullets, maybe one was a boat tail. Things have changed

 

[JO JO]

I think it depends on if you want something to go bang at the range or if you want to go the next level and tune your ammo to your firearm. The cheaper factory is not anywhere as good as quality home loads. You can't buy quality ammo cheaper than what you can load quality ammo for.

 

[Pepe-lepew]

Cheapest I've seen, on line, is around $54.00/K for small pistol primers. Going up to $100.00 +/- for benchrest large rifle primers. I don't search all the smaller, obscure, mail order places.
I'm happy to be stocked up enough to come up with, probably, around 2000rnds of the 9 calibers I load for right now.
I couldn't imagine paying for a box of ammo. I've become fond of loading my own and consider it as enjoyable as shooting the ammo.

I recently stacked deep in benchrest primers for $60/1000 and powder for $40 a pound. I shoot too much so my couple year supply to bridge panics did not last through this panic followed by inflation.
Prices are not horrible if you stay away from Hodgdon distributed powders and brands like Nosler, then buy in bulk online. What perplexes me is people still buying Hodgdon. Other brands are less than 20% over pre-Covid prices and as good or better powder.
At todays prices, I am still reloading better rifle ammo for significantly less money for hunting and match rifle ammo. Pistol ammo the margin is smaller but still cheaper to reload.

 

[Mikej]

I recently stacked deep in benchrest primers for $60/1000 and powder for $40 a pound. I shoot too much so my couple year supply to bridge panics did not last through this panic followed by inflation.
Prices are not horrible if you stay away from Hodgdon distributed powders and brands like Nosler, then buy in bulk online. What perplexes me is people still buying Hodgdon. Other brands are less than 20% over pre-Covid prices and as good or better powder.
At todays prices, I am still reloading better rifle ammo for significantly less money for hunting and match rifle ammo. Pistol ammo the margin is smaller but still cheaper to reload.

Hodgdon? That and Winchester are pretty much the most affordable of what I use. IMR and Alliant are the spendy buggers. If you can even find IMR? I have no Alliant other than some 12 YO old Unique and Bullseye that I keep for, not sure why? And a few lbs of 4064 for the Garands.

 

[Bobbygun]

Hodgdon? That and Winchester are pretty much the most affordable of what I use. IMR and Alliant are the spendy buggers. If you can even find IMR? I have no Alliant other than some 12 YO old Unique and Bullseye that I keep for, not sure why? And a few lbs of 4064 for the Garands.

I got nicked pretty good for a pound of H4831SC a few months back. I think it was around $62. I haven't seen much Alliant product on the shelf in years. Ironically, on my way home from a meetup with Arakboss who sold me a pound of Bullseye, I stopped by Cascade Farm and Outdoor on the way home and they had one pound of Bullseye on the shelf. It too was over $60, and I got a much better deal from Arakboss. Unique is one of my mainstays for pistol cartridges. I haven't seen it on shelves in a long long long time. I still have a couple of pounds, but then I suppose I will have to start developing loads with something else.

 

[Mikej]

I got nicked pretty good for a pound of H4831SC a few months back. I think it was around $62. I haven't seen much Alliant product on the shelf in years. Ironically, on my way home from a meetup with Arakboss who sold me a pound of Bullseye, I stopped by Cascade Farm and Outdoor on the way home and they had one pound of Bullseye on the shelf. It too was over $60, and I got a much better deal from Arakboss. Unique is one of my mainstays for pistol cartridges. I haven't seen it on shelves in a long long long time. I still have a couple of pounds, but then I suppose I will have to start developing loads with something else.

And the fact that you're dropping well over 40gr of that 4831? Makes it go pretty quick if you're shooting much!

I don't understand why the "Old Time" hand loaders don't just switch to another powder? I went with the bullseye/unique team when I first started loading in Nov 2011. I didn't like the way flake worked in the RCBS powder dispenser. I just switched to W231/HP38 and haven't looked back. And HS6 works very nicely and gives a good case fill in the smaller cases of, say, 9mm and .40cal.

 

[Bobbygun]

And the fact that you're dropping well over 40gr of that 4831? Makes it go pretty quick if you're shooting much!

Well over! I use it for .25 and .30-06 as well as .300 Weatherby Magnum . I don't shoot my rifles as much anymore. I'm usually shooting handguns.

I just switched to W231/HP38 and haven't looked back.

Somewhere I have a list of recommended replacements, some from @oremike before he passed away. W231 rings a bell for sure.

 

[Mikej]

Well over! I use it for .25 and .30-06 as well as .300 Weatherby Magnum . I don't shoot my rifles as much anymore. I'm usually shooting handguns.


Somewhere I have a list of recommended replacements, some from @oremike before he passed away. W231 rings a bell for sure.

My minds set is, get a burn rate chart and get powder that's somewhere near the Beloved Bullseye and Unique, and available, and you will find powders that will work. 231/HP38 work fine and are clean. HS6 seems to be a little dirty in lower pressure rounds like .38sp and .45acp.

 

[arakboss]

My minds set is, get a burn rate chart and get powder that's somewhere near the Beloved Bullseye and Unique, and available, and you will find powders that will work. 231/HP38 work fine and are clean. HS6 seems to be a little dirty in lower pressure rounds like .38sp and .45acp.

I have noticed that is a common issue with people who complain about price and availability of powder. It often turns out they just can't find their favorites or their favorites are expensive.

There is so much data out there these days that, it should make it easy to find a substitute.

 

[thorborg]

When I started with Lee hand loaders reloading without a press in the late 60's, I remember my total cost (with reused brass) was just slightly less than 15% of available modern factory ammo using basic lead or some jacketed bullets that were on sale, and about 20 to 30% when I started using the new available bullets like Nosler, Speer and Bitterroot were putting out.
Oh, the days past!