as long as you don't mind expending in minutes what it takes hours to load... yer good.
Posted on 04/20/2009 3:31:08 PM PDT by freemike
I know nothing of loading ammo. Just curious. Is it expensive and difficult to load your own ammo?? I use mainly handgun ammo. What is the learning curve and how dangerous is it?? Special regulations involved??? ... and do you really save that much money??? Any and all advice I will consider. This is one thing I love about FR,, it's better than Google. Thanks so much!
It is not bad, but you may be behind the curve.
I talked to a man today who had just gone from store to store looking for primers, for reloading handgun cartridges, and there are none left. Cabellas and all the others are just flat sold out. As are all the common calibers.
It isn’t hard to do, get the parts early if you are going to, because primers or powder or bullets will be constrained in the future by new legislation.
Its a little late. Suggestion (ill let the REAL reloading experts chime in), I would visit as many garage sales/estate sales as possible. You can find alot of reloading gear that has been stashed away for years. Gotta be first though;)
There’s plenty of reading material and videos that cover the subject, but my advice would be to find somebody who handloads and have them give you an overview of the process, and equipment used. I cast bullets and have handloaded metallic and shotshells for decades, and I’ve found it very gratifying.
Another thing to consider is the present political environment also. I expect that in the future they will come after handloaders and purchasing of components.
You won’t save any money, but you will shoot a lot more for the same money.
I was heavy into handloading for many years tho I quit around 15 years ago. Unless you do a tremendous amount of shooting I doubt you really save money.
One of the advantages is tailoring a load to your particular needs.
Reloading is not difficult but requires just a bit of common sense.
Answer: yes.
Buy bulk ammo. shoot it. Reuse the brass repeatedly. buy projectiles which are still available and fairly inexpensive compared to live ammo. Primers can be found too if you look (especially at big gun shows). Depending on what you’re shooting, you can easily cut your cost per bullet down by over 50%. If you like .45 for example, you can easily cast your own lead bullets too if you are so inclined and get the price down even more. I recommend getting afew books from Lee reloading supplies. Lee is where it’s at for beginners especially.
I always blaze a blunt during reloading it relaxes me
I have all of the primers :)
I don’t have all of the powder yet though...
My first loading outfit was one of the original Lee loaders in which you literally had to pound the shell into the dies. It was awful but every single Lee product I used after that was as good as any and at a good price.
When I sold nearly all my loading equipment 15 years ago, I kept a few thousand primers, a few thousand 6.5 and .30 cal bullets and one of the Lee hand held loaders. Of course with a few sets of dies and a scale. Just in case.
I think I have owned just about every brand and type of loading equipment and have yet to run across any bad ones except that first one.
First laugh of the day ping.
Now having said all that. I shoot a lot. My wife does too. A single stage reloader would never keep up. Single stage loader can load maybe 20 rounds every 30 minutes. My wife blows through 20 rnds every 30 sec. at the range. So I bought big, a Dillon 650. It is a progressive reloader and on a good night I can turn 200 - 300 rnds an hour. Has a quick change feature to switch calibers. (Also shoot 9mm and .308) Full setup ran about $3000 but I knew what I was getting into. Start small. Or better yet get some books on reloading and study some before deciding. Good Luck
Anybody reload 460's? Can it be done with cheap hand loader or do I need a real Dillon that costs 6-7 hundred? I want to start with 460, 480, 44, & 7mm. I just bought 5 boxes corbon for 460, 62 bucks a box, pretty high. I've been using hornady custom in all my pistols over last few years. Can I load even better than what hornady sells?
I bought a Lee press, powder, primers, and bullets, but I still need 9mm dies - the seller was out of them.
Like anything else reloading requires practice, experience and it costs to develop the skill. Your mistakes arent free. There is a lot to learn unles you are already head first into it.
Factory ammunition is the way to go IMO. If you can get it.
My husband shoots trap and pheasants and loads his own ammo in the basement. He finds it relaxing. His shells are loading in such a way that there is little recoil (save the shoulder) and he gets better results (more kills). Don’t ask me how he does it, because I just hear him talk. I don’t shoot, myself.
He says he saves money — especially for trap where they chew threw a lot of shells. I don’t think that he does rifle ammo — but who knows what he does down there? I stay out of it.
You’ll shoot your eye out!
LOL! That accounts for your hot loads...
as long as you don't mind expending in minutes what it takes hours to load... yer good.
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