Where do I start. I've had this issue ever since I started loading and that's been near 40 years ago. The issue is winding up with even lots of ammo based on even lots of components.
Cartridge case brass is the usual issue. You don't always have it in even lots to match up with even quantities of primers and bullets. Powder, not usually an issue because it dispenses in bulk.
I wind up with less than even lots (say, 20, 50 or 100) of cartridge cases. Reason? In my case, not always do I acquire them in even numbered lots. I get them free on the ground at the range or in the country. Somebody gives me some. Even if I started with a new lot of, say, 100, losses, damage and failure subtract from that. So I start loading in uneven lots. That then perpetuates itself, creating odd lots of primers and bullets.
Bullet quantities sometimes can cause imbalance. Bulk buys of surplus, pull-down, or factory seconds sold by the pound will do it.
Yesterday, I loaded up a of batch of .41 Magnum brass. When I was done, I had 93 rounds of finished cartridges and seven bullets left over. I have a bag of brand new WW .41 Mag brass, 100 cases. Yet I'm too stingy to scrap my odd, tired 93 old cases and replace them with the new bag of 100. If I do that, guess I'd better keep several of the better old ones in case of losses or defects in the new.
Then there is the deal with cartridge boxes. Factory ammo is often in 20 (rifle) or 50 (handgun) packaging. Plastic boxes sold to hand loaders for packing their own product are often in boxes of 50. Yet, I often shoot a revolver, a six shooter, that's six chambers, times eight cylinders, I need boxes of 48. Always the two rounds left over. But I realize a box of 48 wouldn't work out well logistically. Kinda like the deal with hot dogs and buns. Hot dogs typically are sold in packs of ten; buns typically in packages of eight. It's just the way it is.
The Germans may have had it partially right, anyway. During WW2, they packaged 9mm pistol ammo in little boxes of 16 cartridges. That's enough for two magazines full. The US military, boxes of 50.
Cartridge case brass is the usual issue. You don't always have it in even lots to match up with even quantities of primers and bullets. Powder, not usually an issue because it dispenses in bulk.
I wind up with less than even lots (say, 20, 50 or 100) of cartridge cases. Reason? In my case, not always do I acquire them in even numbered lots. I get them free on the ground at the range or in the country. Somebody gives me some. Even if I started with a new lot of, say, 100, losses, damage and failure subtract from that. So I start loading in uneven lots. That then perpetuates itself, creating odd lots of primers and bullets.
Bullet quantities sometimes can cause imbalance. Bulk buys of surplus, pull-down, or factory seconds sold by the pound will do it.
Yesterday, I loaded up a of batch of .41 Magnum brass. When I was done, I had 93 rounds of finished cartridges and seven bullets left over. I have a bag of brand new WW .41 Mag brass, 100 cases. Yet I'm too stingy to scrap my odd, tired 93 old cases and replace them with the new bag of 100. If I do that, guess I'd better keep several of the better old ones in case of losses or defects in the new.
Then there is the deal with cartridge boxes. Factory ammo is often in 20 (rifle) or 50 (handgun) packaging. Plastic boxes sold to hand loaders for packing their own product are often in boxes of 50. Yet, I often shoot a revolver, a six shooter, that's six chambers, times eight cylinders, I need boxes of 48. Always the two rounds left over. But I realize a box of 48 wouldn't work out well logistically. Kinda like the deal with hot dogs and buns. Hot dogs typically are sold in packs of ten; buns typically in packages of eight. It's just the way it is.
The Germans may have had it partially right, anyway. During WW2, they packaged 9mm pistol ammo in little boxes of 16 cartridges. That's enough for two magazines full. The US military, boxes of 50.
