To buy $800+ on ammo or get gear and learn to reload???!!!

[matts]

Learning to roll is dead simple. Now with the net there is a ton of free info and demo's too. Strait wall pistol calibers are a great place to learn. I have long tried to warn others after every panic. This will not be the last one. Few seem to learn. Learn to roll, get dies and components for any caliber you shoot. Then worry about setting aside ammo. Next panic, there will be another, and another, if you run low on factory you can just roll. I rarely bother to roll any more but keep all the stuff to do so. If I need it the stuff it there again. With some stuff the savings are quite good too. Mainly I just want to be able to make ammo if it gets to where I can't buy it. The stuff you set aside never goes bad, store it well and it's always there.

I been reloading since i was a little shaver with my pops. Thats 40 years ago!
Do it! Very therapeutic.
Matt

 

[nativeo]

I have 5 kids, a wife and some dogs....

 

[matts]

Sounds like you need lots of therapy.

 

[ageingstudent]

I have 5 kids, a wife and some dogs....

Okay still a lot of itchy trigger fingers. If they all like to shoot you'll need some sort of production capability. I had 2 trigger happy girls and one non shooting mother. A progressive was still helpful. (Thank god the kids grew up finally. I miss them but boy it's easier now). 5 kids you're a saint bro.

 

[DizzyJ]

With the calibers you're going to be shooting, and wanting the ability to tune your loads, it's a no-brainer to get into reloading.

I would recommend starting out with a single stage press. Even if you decide to go with a progressive later, there will always be a use for a single stage press.

The first thing you need to get is a good basic "how to" reloading manual. This will move you along rapidly and safely in your reloading career.

Lots of YouTube videos out there, and of course the boards here with plenty of knowledgable people to help you out with questions/concerns.

If you need help with or can't find any components (brass, bullets, primers) I'm sure I've got a few you can have to at least get started. I'd also be willing to show you step by step if you'd like as long as our schedules lined up.

Good luck and welcome to the madness!

 

[ron]

For 45, 223 and 9mm you need a progressive press for the volume. I would recommend a Dillon 550. Load 100 rounds in 3 to 4 hours
on a single stage or 15 minutes in the Dillon. 45 acp is a very easy caliber to get started on. You can reload much better shooting
ammo than factory. As an example factory 45 acp ammo you buy for practice will be 230 FMJ. My 200 grain 45 acp reloads shoot
much better with less recoil. Match grade rifle ammo is much cheaper to reload for than to buy. I started reloading in 1978 on a
single stage Rock Chucker. I have been cranking out loads on my Dillon 550 for 30 years.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Go half and half (you can get a single stage setup for $400ish) and start reloading whatever is NOT .223/5.56 or 9mm. I would suspect you save money on these: "45/10mm and in a bit less of an amount 300AAC, 6.5 G and 6.5 Creed." Time excluded of course but then, how much are you paid to sit around and watch Netflix?

I do load .223 and 9mm personally because I can tune the ammo to my firearms and get better accuracy (if all I wanted was a bang, I'd buy firecrackers or take a hammer to a box of primers). Although with current pandemic pricing, it might be more price competitive on even these popular calibers. Honestly though, once you start reloading, price is the least of it -- tuned ammo is the real joy (although, you do pay less for it).

If you get Lee equipment it's more like $100 to get going.

 

[David Sherman]

I need ammo and I also want to start reloading my own. The question is should I use the money I am thinking of spending on ammo now and buy all the gear and start learning and reloading now?
1. How long would it take for me to get good enough to load great shooting ammo? (I'm a very fast learner)
2. How does the cost compare (how much waste of practicing and learning) compared to buying factory ammo
3. I want to reload forever anyway soooo....

Get the reloading gear. This Ammunition Drought will pass but others will hit us again.

You might want to take the NRAs Basic Reloading Class:

NRA Explore

There aren't many instructors that teach this class but if you can find one he/she will help you avoid some mistakes.

 

[Helocat]

I have 5 kids, a wife and some dogs....

5 kids yikes. I have 3 and that's been a handful over the yrs. I have been reloading since I was 17, so at it over 30yrs. When I started it was total budget all the way. I picked up brass from my range, cleaned, hand sorted and traded it for primers, powder and projectiles. (Albany Rifle and Pistol Club in 88-92, full auto shoots = lots of 9mm and 45 to pick up, back then you picked it up it was yours)

Age 17 I started with an RCBS Rock Chucker II I bought from Bi-Mart, loaded tens of thousands of rounds on that thing. (No reloading bench. I bolted it to a chunk of plywood and would C-clamp it to my desk. Ya ghetto but it worked)
Age 26 I got my Dillon 550B used for a killer deal, loaded even more with that.
Age 44 I got my first Dillon 1050
(Insert 3 boys who like to shoot here)
Age 45 I got my second Dillon 1050
Age 47 I put AutoDrives on both 1050s
(Insert the 3 boys who like to shoot, start shooing even more)

I still have my D550 I use for precision rifle loads in bit of a single/two stage press set up.

Bottom line its allot of fun, I enjoy the precision nature of it and the nice brake from work and family demands. The boys help a little with the reloading but mostly enjoy the shooting the ammo part.

Older video of my small primer D1050 running 9mm

 

[nativeo]

Uh now I want a Dillon 1050 haha, maybe some day but for now it looks like I'm leaving toward a Dillon 550....

 

[Spitpatch]

DizzyJ sez:

"I would recommend starting out with a single stage press. Even if you decide to go with a progressive later, there will always be a use for a single stage press."

Start with the basics and you will learn the basics. If ever you decide precision-tuned handloads are desirable, you'll have the schooling to make it happen. If the automated machine has a hiccup, you'll have the schooling to diagnose rapidly.

 

[nativeo]

I suggest a single-stage press to learn with and get a blue progressive later. I have an old Herters press you can have if you can get it from Corvallis. Don't know if it would fit in a flat rate box or not.

I tried to message you buy your inbox is full

 

[Snip]

Reloading is a long and deep rabbit hole. I'd recommend to see what you will shoot the most and start there with your reloading quest. A Dillon 550 is a great press, but the 650 is a little better. The 1050 is a little more capable than the 650. Capabilities come with a higher price, but better throughput. Changing calibers on the 1050 is expensive, but it's cheaper on the 550 and 650.

 

[nativeo]

Is there a good resource I can go to to actually know what I need exactly if I were to buy a used machine. Of course I need brass and bullets but powder type and all the dies, tooling, tumbling etc.?

 

[AOTAC]

I didn't read all the responses, so someone may have chimed in with the same. My take? Good rifle plates can be had for $400-500 a pair. About the same for soft armor. You could always buy one or the other AND get a press to get started with. If there's any leftover funds, get components and a good reloading book. Then pat yourself on the back as you save money on ammo while saving money for more armor(though most reloaders tell me they just shoot more).

 

[gtivan]

Is there a good resource I can go to to actually know what I need exactly if I were to buy a used machine. Of course I need brass and bullets but powder type and all the dies, tooling, tumbling etc.?

Right now, components are a bit scarce. But when hunting a new load i usually just google a general query for the caliber and read all the forums for what is the most common powder for that caliber and start with that. ALWAYS compare any load on a forum to a manual.

Case trimmer. 223 is a pain in masses so get something quick. Even a old bench mount with drill is good. I had lyman ez trim, still works but slow.

Good calipers

Powder dispenser

Beam scale. (hate electric ones)

Press

Manuals

Brass tumbler

Bullet Puller

Nice Thing to have but not essential, a chronograph

You could have a whole thread on each of those and it would go on for pages. Again, I just google, read forums, and make a decision that usually works out.

 

[wgabel51]

I live here in Vancouver and would be willing to help you out with your reloading. I started reloading at a young age as there were 7 kids in the family and we all learned to reload so we could shoot. I started out on an older Herter's press and now use a Dillon 550. broke my 450, so Dillon replaced it with a 550. I used to load on a commercial bases using full auto machines and a couple of Dillon 1000's. Have a good day and stay safe
Bill

 

[PenTurner]

For me it is another hobby I enjoy. I save all my brass, and using the used brass the cost is about half what it would cost to buy factory ammo. Like others have said, I don't think about the savings, I just end up shooting twice as much for the same money, lol.

One thing that no one has mentioned is that you want to be able to be totally focused on the reloading. Any kind of distraction can be an issue, either a double load or a squib. I do my reloading in a room in my garage alone, where it is quiet and there are no distractions and I can focus on the reloading.

 

[osprey]

Most of the reasons I reload have been covered but I will expand a bit on the topic.
To me reloading is just another self sufficient skill set to hone in and have in the tool box. I dial in on loads for each firearm and load somewhat in bulk once I find that load.
I am also constant tinkerer and like to try different ideas with new and old guns in the fleet, loading stuff that you can't get factory. When this current frenzy hit most people were scrambling for ammo but reloaders were shoring up on components at reasonable prices. I am also of the opinion you should start with a good single stage and learn the process. A staged press can come later and you will still find many uses for the single stage. Good luck!

 

[awshoot]

... I am also of the opinion you should start with a good single stage and learn the process. A staged press can come later and you will still find many uses for the single stage. Good luck!

I agree wholeheartedly. Or at most, a turret press. There is a lot to get right and a very small potential for very serious injury from errors. A single stage press is mostly a chunk of metal and the most complicated moving parts are down at the bottom of the handle and the ram, and they're dead simple. Meaning -- a person can focus on learning the reloading part rather than troubleshooting a complicated press (or worse, not knowing it needs troubleshooting and going forward anyway and making potentially dangerous ammo).