Reloading components .

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  • dantheman

    I despise ARFCOM
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    I talked to a friend of mine today . He said that he is thinking about getting into reloading . Would I be correct in assuming that reloading components are difficult to come by right now , just like loaded ammunition ?
     

    twinin

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    Yes. I have still seen brass available just higher priced. However, popular bullets, gunpowder, and primers are higher and still hard to come by
     

    Magdump

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    It has been a challenge lately finding deals on the primers and powders I need lately, and sometimes having to settle for primers other than I like or wait forever. Pretty much been like that the past couple months and getting worse. I only load a few calibers so I’ve kept a fairly decent stock of components, problem is there’s not much cross over between them. Looking on the bright side, everything I’ve bought over the past few years has been uber fresh!
     

    jdavid1

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    I hope he's not going to get in it to save money. You won't.

    Components are pretty tough to get right now. I know lead time on projectiles is 4-6 weeks. Primers can't be found. Powder is easier to find depending on what you are looking for.
     

    Jonnygumbo

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    depends on what hes reloading for...if its for .22-250, .223 or .308 shoot me a PM, i have a bunch of components for those im trying to get rid of (except powder). And rcbs match dies for all 3.
     

    Jonnygumbo

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    o ok cool, well if he does let me know..i have a bunch of random pistol brass for those cartridges that is once fired. He can have them for free lol im just trying to free up some space in my reloading cabinets.
     

    Magdump

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    I hope he's not going to get in it to save money. You won't.

    Components are pretty tough to get right now. I know lead time on projectiles is 4-6 weeks. Primers can't be found. Powder is easier to find depending on what you are looking for.
    I disagree on the saving money part, although, that shouldn’t be the only reason to learn the art.
    I suppose if you are just getting into it and go throw money at it in an attempt to force your way into full fledged handloading it may take a long time and thousands of rounds before you save money. Otherwise, I’ve saved untold hundreds loading 300 AAC and 44 mag alone and I’m happier with what I load than any commercial loads I can find. I can also say I saved a small fortune on .357/.38 loads over the past 4-5 years, largely due to starting with nearly 6k pieces of brass already deprimed, cleaned and boxed that I bought in a large lot of reloading stuff for sale. I picked and chose what I wanted from that lot and sold off the rest and made my money back. What I’m saying is, yes you can save a bunch of money reloading, if you use your brain and don’t jump in all Willy nilly.
    You can also load things you can’t find or that may not exist. Like, say...7.62x54R subsonic. Anybody got any of that laying around? Wonder what it would cost per round if somebody started producing it?
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    Last edited:

    twinin

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    Right now, you can easily save a lot of money by reloading because the cost of ammo. However, I under stand your point months ago when brass cased 9mm was .17 and reloading was at .10 per round

    Your savings will increase more for the higher quality ammo that you make such as defense or match rounds as opposed to just FMJ. It also helps saves for expensive calibers that $4 per round and can be reloaded for $1.50
     

    jdavid1

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    I should clarify. You absolutely can save money. BUT if you are just getting into it to see a instant savings you will be surprised. You have to factor the up front cost of the press, dies, case prep equipment, and and the actual cartridge components. Not to mention the time it takes to load. When I was 20 living alone my time wasn't worth anything, but now with a wife and two kids when I get home from work my time is extremely valuable.

    I reload mostly 9mm rounds for competition. I have my completed round down to .10/rd. (not including brass). If I were to buy the comparable off the shelf round it would cost .27/rd. That saves me $170.00/1000 rounds. All my equipment was about 3,000.00. It took me about 18,000 rounds to break even on my equipment.

    Now you can reload the more expensive caliber rifle and pistol ammo and save a lot more. My .308 rounds are .90/rd. Comparable off the shelf round is 1.95/rd. So there is a huge savings there. BUT I would have to make a little over 3,000 rounds to break even on my equipment. That's a lot of .308 to shoot.
     

    Magdump

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    I should clarify. You absolutely can save money. BUT if you are just getting into it to see a instant savings you will be surprised. You have to factor the up front cost of the press, dies, case prep equipment, and and the actual cartridge components. Not to mention the time it takes to load. When I was 20 living alone my time wasn't worth anything, but now with a wife and two kids when I get home from work my time is extremely valuable.

    I reload mostly 9mm rounds for competition. I have my completed round down to .10/rd. (not including brass). If I were to buy the comparable off the shelf round it would cost .27/rd. That saves me $170.00/1000 rounds. All my equipment was about 3,000.00. It took me about 18,000 rounds to break even on my equipment.

    Now you can reload the more expensive caliber rifle and pistol ammo and save a lot more. My .308 rounds are .90/rd. Comparable off the shelf round is 1.95/rd. So there is a huge savings there. BUT I would have to make a little over 3,000 rounds to break even on my equipment. That's a lot of .308 to shoot.
    I think maybe not everyone looks at reloading the same. As far as time, I don’t look at it as a job at all. Or a chore. It’s a hobby. I make time for hobbies. I tend to load way more during wet winter season but also loaded a lot over the past few months with all the extra time I had due to covid, even though I was killing the overtime at work. I also set aside time to load at night when everyone else is unconscious, because I work nights and that’s my time. A couple hours with no disturbance or distraction is great for getting some rounds cranked out.
    I don’t load 9mm, .40 or 5.56 target loads even though that’s primarily what I shoot. I do load HP pistol ammo in the first two calibers and I’ve loaded my share of .223 heavy for target and pig shooting because of the savings, but it doesn’t make sense to me to load those in FMJ plinkster mode when I’m sitting on plenty that I bought cheap.

    I rarely buy new brass. In the past 5 years I’ve bought maybe 1000 pieces of new brass in only 2 calibers. Star line 44mag because I was impatient to load some ammo for my Desert Eagles and I bought a couple hundred pieces of Norma in 7.62x54R so I wouldn’t have to pull surplus bullets just to tinker with the round and I wanted to load some good hunting rounds and some subsonics. There is plenty of once fired brass around if you keep an eye open. I do save, buy, pick up and trade used brass like every hand loader should, which leads to my main point, being thrifty about it. I know not everyone will save money loading their own, but they definitely can. I’ve see where others waste money and I learn from it. Buying second hand is a big help for tools and such and a few components. I don’t go buy plastic ammo boxes for everything I load. I reuse commercial boxes and a sharpie. My favorite loading trays were made for me by my son with scrap lumber and a drill press. And man did he get them right. I used to melt down lead, wheel weights, Linotype and such and mold bullets for some rounds I load, but leave that to my father at this point. He’s a master at it and I can work it off any time if I need some from him.
    So, I wouldn’t try to sell someone on reloading simply to save money, but it’s definitely possible. It’s just not the only reason to get into it.
     

    jdavid1

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    So, I wouldn’t try to sell someone on reloading simply to save money, but it’s definitely possible. It’s just not the only reason to get into it.

    Exactly. I just hear guys all the time say they want to get into reloading to save money on ammo, but they don't realize the up front cost associated with it. I do it for the hobby aspect as well. I have probably 10,000 rounds of clean brass in my garage, but I still pick up brass at the range because I enjoy cleaning it.
     

    wcweir3

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    I don't know if I can post this but if someone needs a new Lee 222 Remington set of dies for free PM me. a friend picked them up for me and then lost the recept.
     

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