My Reloading Experience

[TXSHOOTER]

I’ve not taken the time to evaluate the TCoR (Total Cost of Reloading) versus buying factory ammo. I view reloading as a labor of love plus a sense of independence. Here are some points from my experience:

– 10mm brass is easy to resize, being a straight walled case.
– I use a Dillon, and although the entry cost is a little high, it’s well worth the cost. Calculate this into your reloading cost per round
to reload if you REALLY think you’re saving money.
– Good die sets are pricey; get the carbide dies. I believe they are well worth the cost.
– Primers: lately, a hard to acquire component. When I find them, the sellers command premium prices. Supply & Demand.
– Bullets: fairly good supply out there. I’ve used pull-downs. They look and load like new. I like Hornady XTP 180 and 200 grain. If you
can find and buy Winchester brand, you’re getting the same bullet at a lower cost.
– Brass: I buy factory ammo from PMC (Bronze), Hornady, Winchester, and a couple of others who make good brass. I get reasonably good ammo,
plus, brass that will reload 4-5 times. I buy new Starline brass and have had no issues with it. I know there is other good brass out
there from Diamond, etc. I just haven’t tried them yet.
– Powders: availability is better than it was a few years ago. I like Longshot, but I use others as well. Pick your poison for your
shooting needs. Use a good reloading manual. The latest information is usually available online.

I’m shooting and hunting with a G20 with KKM custom barrel, which basically makes it a G40. I’ve taken hogs out to 50yds with iron sights and hand loads. A G29 makes a great carry piece with some Hornady Critical Duty or Critical Defense in the magazine and the spare. You do carry a spare magazine, don’t you?

I’m just trying to help get this new forum started, so I await your comments and criticism.

Until later/hasta luego,
Jd

[sqlbullet]

I like the firearms hobby, so I enjoy reloading as an extension of that hobby. If you use the amount of different loads waiting to be tested versus amount of test reports, you might conclude I like reloading more than shooting, though I think that is really driven by the fact I can reload at home and shooting takes a minimum of a one hour drive one way.

Many folks claim that reloading never saves you money once you account for the value of your time. I accept this with a big grain of salt. Yes, it is true that if I were able to bill the time I spend reloading at my professional rate as a data engineer reloading makes no sense. Reality shows I won’t actually sell that time, so it has no real monetary value. I find this argument weak because reloading is downtime which we all need.

I do agree that if you are buying bullets, primers and powder it is hard to beat the price of budget FMJ ammo for popular cartridges like 9mm Luger and 5.56/.224. Given the price of primers these days that is extending into many other mainstream cartridges.

This calculus changes a bunch if you cast bullets, especially if you have a source of free or low-cost lead. Before the great covid primer outage I could reload 10mm for about the cost of 22LR. Using non-cannister powders the same could be said for plinking loads for the M1 Garand. That is sadly no longer the case, and I am almost to the breaking point on large pistol primers.

I agree that Dillon makes great stuff. I have two Dillon presses and they are excellent quality. Interestingly I use a Lee Reloader probably the most of any press I own. I don’t load the most ammo on it as I can load in an hour or two on either Dillon what would take a couple of days on the a single stage. But lots of my reloading is small volume test batches and the Lee Reloader mounted to a 1X4 and clamped to a flat surface turn about any room into a reloading room.

[The_Shadow]

I have been handloading for myself since 1978 started with 44Mag 30-30 and 30’06. Then I started loading for the 10mm at the very start of 1990 to feed my new S&W1006.
When I started out it was on the RCBS Jr. press but found it lacked the leverage needed for long rifle cartridges. The pressure I put on the press handle actually broke my 3/4″ plywood table it was mounted on. As time moved forward I bought the RCBS Big Max press which is very strong and has plenty leverage for easy resizing of anything. I do have a Dillon 550B with several die setups to work with.
However, I work to an exacting tolerance with powder charges and hand weigh each and every charge for most everything these days. Not working for speed but more toward consistency overall.
Yes, it has saved me money in the long run of things and the ammo I have in reserve by today’s cost factor is worth way more than what it cost to load them.
As time evolved over the years, I added other firearms & calibers so I handload for all except 22LR. Muzzle loading has also played into my passion of the hobby!
I started casting near the beginning using wheel weights which were free to me and also lead from various construction renovations I worked on.
I have acquired molds to cast for the needs and calibers with some being of the gas check type as well. BTW gas checks have gotten costly over the years!

With that said having all the Handloading tools and a great passion & knowledge of the processes involved, it pushed me to LOOK INSIDE the stuff being sold. This led to the documentations of the Pull-Downs over the years on the old forum. I had stepped up my knowledge base of the various smokeless powders, built as database of powder pictures and extensive loading data for the study.
Some of the members were generous enough to share samples of their commercial ammo that really added to the documentations we had all come to appreciate. I actually reloaded the ammo documented and tested some for performance, but some being reloaded and returned to the individuals because of rare or be discontinued for their collections and cost of the products as well.
There was much disappointment since the documentations were no longer after the closing of the old forum.

As I move to restore the documentations, this forum isn’t allowing for the pictures that I posted to show what was found in each.
Back then I had used Photobucket at first to host the photos being added to the original sections of pull-downs. Then Photobucket had a change in terms of service and wanted very costly fees. This led me to find another service to which I had to move all the photos to PostImage service and then readdress each and every photo so they would continue to be available on the various post. It was a serious undertaking to say the lease!

As we move forward here on the new forum, I’ll work to bring the documentation data back when I can.

[Cracker]

Started out in the late 80s with a Lyman single stage press loading 9mm. I figured a lot out using that press and I still have it and use it. Since then I’ve acquired 3 Hornaday Projector presses of which 2 are set up with 10mm and 45acp. It’s usually what I shoot but I do shoot 9mm, 38/357, 41mag, 44mag, 380, 22, 5.56/223, 308/7.62. Lots of good powders for all of those……use what you like. I’m frequently researching reloading and things that make it easier.

[oldfrank]

I started loading in 1976 with the original Lee Loader. I progressed to an RCBS Rock Chucker that I still use for rifle rounds today.

I am a competitive shooter and continuously reload to keep up with my hobby. If I was starting over I would buy a big Dillon but my Lee Classic Turret keeps up. I load a couple of hundred every week just to stay stocked up.
I have or do load for 9mm, .38spl/357, .45acp, 10mm, .243, .223, .308, 30-06, 30-40 Krag, 45-70, 32 Win Spl, 7.62×39,
30 carbine, 303 British and probably some I can’t remember.

The savings right now is tremendous for hunting rifle rounds, 9m is almost a wash right now even using range pick up brass.

[Author]

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