Reloading

[Gunner75]

Looking to get into reloading ammo since ammo is so scarce. I know of a few places that are relatively slow sellers but have the primers, powders, and projectiles. I'm curious if anyone here has any recommendations on a loader rig? There are so many with prices all over. I'm considering 9mm and .45 to start since that's what I shoot now.

yes I'm posting this from my GS3

[Dale Ty]

I've had decades of use from RCBS equipment.  FFF has most of their product line in stock.

[vf1000ride]

I have both RCBS and Lee presses. The Lee is my pistol press, I have the loadmaster progressive. Its not as nice as a Dillon but it's also 1/3 the price. I have no problem running around 300 rnds an hour by myself and 350-400 with help.

[C-bus]

I think the Lee Turret is the perfect beginning press.

[Gunner75]

I was looking at a Lee progressive myself. Found some great deals on a starting kit. My step father is telling me to get a Rock Crusher press, i considered it till I seen the price.....Daymn

[psyco1]

I've got the single stage Lee Challenger press and it does fine. You won't pump out the rounds like a progressive, but it does what I want it to do.

[Gunner75]

I've got the single stage Lee Challenger press and it does fine. You won't pump out the rounds like a progressive, but it does what I want it to do.

you actively use that press? Consider selling it?

[Strawboss]

Dillon is the way to go in my opinion. The lifetime warranty on their products simply cannot be matched by anyone. The warranty goes with the press, so no matter the age or who owns it, they replace parts, FREE. I have 3 of their products and the design and quality is the best. I've got a few other presses by other companies but the Dillon is what I always go back to.  Easy to work on, easy to use, easy to change calibers, just a no brainer in my book. Look them up, Dillon Precision

[C-bus]

Dillon is the way to go in my opinion. The lifetime warranty on their products simply cannot be matched by anyone. The warranty goes with the press, so no matter the age or who owns it, they replace parts, FREE. I have 3 of their products and the design and quality is the best. I've got a few other presses by other companies but the Dillon is what I always go back to. Easy to work on, easy to use, easy to change calibers, just a no brainer in my book. Look them up, Dillon Precision

There is no doubt that Dillon is top if the line, but I have no regrets about starting on a turret. One bullet at a time, but enough pace to make it worth your while. Also, by the time I had scales, dies, etc... My $100 Lee had $350 in it easily. That Dillon would cost about $1100 for a start up (priced it out).

[Strawboss]

A 550B with a caliber conversion kit is under $450.00. That's everything you need to load. You are going to buy dies and components anyhow no matter the machine. You don't need all the accessories you see in the photo. But the warranty is the deal MAKER, no warranty can touch it. No questions, broken part? Shipped that day, FREE. Lost a part? Shipped that day, FREE. Bought a used one that's missing stuff? Shipped FREE that day. No questions asked. No BS warranty.

[Gunner75]

I am watching an auction right now for a Lee Progressive 1000 master loader set up for 9mm with dies and plates for .40 and .45. Its currently at $127 with 4 days left. I have no doubt it will go higher, but it looks like its in good shape and If I can get into it cheap I will. As I said in an earlier post I can get brass, and primers cheaper than the prices being asked online. a bag of 500 9mm brass was 28 bucks. Powder was cheap too. 

[psyco1]

you actively use that press? Consider selling it?

I'm gonna keep it.

[vf1000ride]

Dillon is the way to go in my opinion.

 

I would have loved to purchase a Dillon machine, but for what I paid for the Lee progressive it can't be beat, mine was $179 + shipping from Lee.  I was able to buy the press, 4 tool heads and 3 shell plates along with the dies to do 9mm, .357sig, 40s&w and .45acp and even built the bench it is bolted to for about the same cost of just the dillion press by itself.  I can make ammo that is just as good as the Dillon can and it is darn near as fast.  You gotta pay a heavy entry fee to load with blue.  My plan was to save the cash on the front end and then if I ever do wear out the Lee press, I can afford another one.

[Gunner75]

There is a guy down the street here that reloads, has his FFL to sell reloads and all. Dude wants a pretty penny for some factory load ammo. Considerably more than what a box of normal ammo is going for now. If I go through with it, It will be for private reloading for myself, my father in law and my range buddy.

[C-bus]

Get on the Brian Enos site for a good list of start up needs. His packages are not at magical Dillon prices and you don't need those brands, but it's a good list.

[kiggy74]

I don't think its been mentioned yet, but if your desire to start reloading is soley based on the current supply situation with manufactured ammo I would suggest you reconsider.  The supply situation for ammo components (brass, bullets, powder, primiers) is just as bleak as manufactured ammo. To get started in reloading one caliber you're going to have to lay out around $1000 worth of equipment and consumables including the press itself. Add another couple hundred for each additional caliber, assuming you can't use any of the same components. For pistol you might not need all that, but once you start with pistol why wouldn't start loading for your rifles too? It's hard to make a case that an initial investment of $1000 to get you started is going to save you money, especially at a time like this when shops are expecting a premium for hard to find components. 

 

This doesn't at all take in to the cost of time required to reload.  Pistol loading isn't as bad, but reloading for tapered neck rifle cases is very time consuming in regards to case prep and trimming.  If you really enjoy it then I guess it's fun, but having to trim 1000 x 5.56 cases not only takes a couple days, it can also be maddening, unless of course you're willing to spend even more money on an expensive case trimmer.

 

In my experience, the decision to reload was based on a couple factors: 

 

1.  Better quality ammo for long range rifle - even a novice handloader can exceed the quality of manufactured match ammo.

2.  Maintain Supply of ammo during ammo shortages, or for hard to find calibers (ex. M2 Ball spec Garand Ammo)

3.  Ability to customize ammo properties based on need - plinking vs precision, bullet weight vs powder charge, cartridge properties specific to the chamber of a particular gun.

4.  Reduce cost of ammo, understanding that it will take years to realize any sort of savings. The exception is probably competitive pistol shooters. They really don't have much choice, as most mortals have to reload to be able to afford to shoot 500+ rds of .45 ACP every shooting session.

5.  I like all things gun so loading my own ammo was a natural leap to make.

 

Can you get started for less than $1000?  Maybe, there's definitely cheaper ways to go about it, especially if it's just pistol. But your savings on 9mm vs what you can are going to be minor (based on normal prices and availability). But what you save in $$$ you'll more than spend in time. The tools that you have can greatly reduce the time it takes, for example measuring a powder charge by trickle vs an auto-scale like an RCBS.  You might not buy the $280 auto-scale up front, but you will buy it eventually, probably after you realize you only loaded 20 rounds of 5.56 in an hour.

Edited May 28, 2013 by kiggy74

[Gunner75]

Evidently you didn't read all the posts. I'm only interested in 9mm and .45 currently. I'm watching an auction for a full on lee progressive set up that has everything I need to get started minus primers, brass, and the projectiles. Those three can be gotten at double the price that they used to be. However they are in stock with several local shops near me that have relatively little foot traffic, and since the original posting I've been given several thousand cci small pistol primers and 750 large pistol primers. Eventually I might get into reloading of rifle rounds. I personally don't own a rifle that uses a commonly found round, and other than my Mosin Nagant I've no need of other rounds at this time as I've amassed a stash of a couple of thousand rounds for it. My father in law owns a few different calibers and if he was to reload rounds for those then he can purchase the dies and supplies for them. My range buddy uses .40 .22 and 7.62x39. If he wants to reload any of those then its up to him to get the supplies as well.

yes I'm posting this from my GS3

[kiggy74]

Evidently my response wasn't the repsonse you wanted to hear.  I've had this same conversation with at least 3 friends of mine since the most recent dry up of ammo.  They thought reloading would be an option to solve all of their ammo supply problems.  What they've learned is that now instead spending all their time to find in-stock ammo they are now spending four times as much time trying to track down in-stock brass, in-stock bullets, in-stock primers, and in-stock powder, the last two aren't cost-effective to ship due to haz mat fees, which means you HAVE to find them in a store which isn't always an easy thing to do.  During normal supply conditions reloading 9mm might save you a couple cents per round, not counting the equipment costs.  So if you just paid double the normal cost for any one single component you will actually be paying more to reload than if you bought manufactured ammo, which didn't cost you any time either by the way. 

 

I'm just giving you the other side of the coin. What you choose to do with the advice is up to you.

 

 

Evidently you didn't read all the posts. I'm only interested in 9mm and .45 currently. I'm watching an auction for a full on lee progressive set up that has everything I need to get started minus primers, brass, and the projectiles. Those three can be gotten at double the price that they used to be. However they are in stock with several local shops near me that have relatively little foot traffic, and since the original posting I've been given several thousand cci small pistol primers and 750 large pistol primers. Eventually I might get into reloading of rifle rounds. I personally don't own a rifle that uses a commonly found round, and other than my Mosin Nagant I've no need of other rounds at this time as I've amassed a stash of a couple of thousand rounds for it. My father in law owns a few different calibers and if he was to reload rounds for those then he can purchase the dies and supplies for them. My range buddy uses .40 .22 and 7.62x39. If he wants to reload any of those then its up to him to get the supplies as well.

yes I'm posting this from my GS3

Edited May 28, 2013 by kiggy74

[Gunner75]

What haz mat fees are there to ship primers? Other than normal shipping fees I don't see any extra fees. I think ill be fine with reloading. I haven't been able to get my hands on 9mm or .45 in 2 months. Where as I've been able to and still able to get supplies to reload. All I need is the press and dies

yes I'm posting this from my GS3

[ReconRat]

Powder and primers are shipped hazmat by UPS or Federal Express. There is about $27.00 in fees for that.

There's something like a 48 pound limit per charge/shipment, and many people will buy that limit for each shipment.

 

You can find powder and primers locally if lucky and quick. Don't count on a steady supply this year.

Substituting other brand powders and primers will probably be necessary currently.

Start working on bullets and cartridge cases now. Many popular name brands and types are out of stock.

Mostly load what you can get in order to get started.

Edited May 28, 2013 by ReconRat

[kiggy74]

As stated, haz mat fee of $27 for a max shipment of 50 lbs, meaning whether you by 1 lb of material or 50 lbs you are paying a $27 fee on top of regular shipping charges.  Also, given currently supply issues they aren't selling 8 lbs jugs of powder, you're stuck buying only 1 lb cans.  You used to be able to save $50-60 by going with the 8 lb'ers versus 8 x 1 lb cans. I haven't seen an 8 lb can of anything other than shotgun powder in months.

[C-bus]

I've gotten primers and powder with no hazmat from cabelas.

[ReconRat]

MidSouth Shooter's has some powders in stock. No primers. A few 8 pound containers.

Found some powders I wanted. $25 haz mat from them. Cheap shipping charge.

[kiggy74]

I've gotten primers and powder with no hazmat from cabelas.

 

 

Cabelas brick and mortar store, not Cabelas.com.

[C-bus]

Cabelas brick and mortar store, not Cabelas.com.

.com

Stand corrected. Pulled my receipt.... $20 haz charge.

Edited May 30, 2013 by C-bus