shotshell reloading.
- Thread starter jmax857
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NZClaybuster
CGN frequent flyer
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- Calgary, Alberta
You will NEVER save money reloading. You might get to shoot more.
Subgauge stuff or light loads normally cost less $, question is more about time, & if you enjoy reloading.
Subgauge stuff or light loads normally cost less $, question is more about time, & if you enjoy reloading.
i will never save money? i do believe i already have reloading .303, .270 and .44 mag for a few years. but yes time is money, factor that in and you could have been a boxboy at walmart for those 2 hours and just bought some rios. although i enjoy watching t.v with my lee loader and a workbench, i have a 12 gauge die set already and thinking about getting a little more into the skeet shooting. i've been doing some looking and the most expensive part is the shot? am i right?
I think what he was getting at is more along the lines of "your bank account will not get any larger when you start to reload shotshells, BECAUSE you will be shooting more rounds"
Your cost per round can decrease, but you will spend the same(probably more) amount on it because reloading is fun and addictive.
Your cost per round can decrease, but you will spend the same(probably more) amount on it because reloading is fun and addictive.
may I ask where are you gettin' your shot from?
"i will never save money? "
Make that read....you'll not save ALOT of money if you're loading 12 gauge or 20 gauge shells. The biggest savings...and they are substantial....are in the small gauges..28 gauge and 410.
You can save a few cents a box loading 12 gauge...only you can decide if it's worth it to you or not. Many will argue it's simply not worth it. It's all relative. How much shooting/reloading do you plan on doing? What else would you rather do in the evening if you're not reloading? Watching TV? I'd rather be in my loading room.
If you're just loading for the 12....Promo powder is the best buy out there. It's the powder of choice at my Club...don't know of anyone using anything else.
Yes lead is the most expensive component that has driven the cost of loading up the most. For Trap & Skeet....many guys have dropped to 1 oz of shot....and many others have gone down to 7/8 oz in order to conserve lead. Many are reporting having very good results using those lighter loads for their clay target shooting.
Right now I'm using up my $34.00/bag lead...stretching a bag as far as I can by shooting only 28 ga and 410. Haven't loaded or shot a 12 gauge shell in probably close to 5 years now. Just no real need to for Skeet that I can see. If lead is back down to around the $28.00 per bag mark it's probably time to start thinking about stocking back up before the price jumps again.
Where are you located? We get our shot by the ton direct from Hummason's in Ancaster Ont I believe.
There's a good reloading cost calculator program available. I don't have it handy but if you want it let me know...I'll find it and post a link to it here.
Make that read....you'll not save ALOT of money if you're loading 12 gauge or 20 gauge shells. The biggest savings...and they are substantial....are in the small gauges..28 gauge and 410.
You can save a few cents a box loading 12 gauge...only you can decide if it's worth it to you or not. Many will argue it's simply not worth it. It's all relative. How much shooting/reloading do you plan on doing? What else would you rather do in the evening if you're not reloading? Watching TV? I'd rather be in my loading room.
If you're just loading for the 12....Promo powder is the best buy out there. It's the powder of choice at my Club...don't know of anyone using anything else.
Yes lead is the most expensive component that has driven the cost of loading up the most. For Trap & Skeet....many guys have dropped to 1 oz of shot....and many others have gone down to 7/8 oz in order to conserve lead. Many are reporting having very good results using those lighter loads for their clay target shooting.
Right now I'm using up my $34.00/bag lead...stretching a bag as far as I can by shooting only 28 ga and 410. Haven't loaded or shot a 12 gauge shell in probably close to 5 years now. Just no real need to for Skeet that I can see. If lead is back down to around the $28.00 per bag mark it's probably time to start thinking about stocking back up before the price jumps again.
Where are you located? We get our shot by the ton direct from Hummason's in Ancaster Ont I believe.
There's a good reloading cost calculator program available. I don't have it handy but if you want it let me know...I'll find it and post a link to it here.
Keep in mind those inserts can only be used in break action guns. Quinte Outdoor Sports in Belleville sells Browning L'il Skeeters for around $50.00.
Do you know a machinist? A good....even a mediocre machinist can turn them out pretty easily. A machinist friend of mine made me my first sets of inserts back in 1981 for the price of a bottle of whiskey. LOL He actually made me 2 sets...20 and 28.
Now...having said that.....they do work...but they're not great. A bit of a PITA actually.
They work best when converting from 12 gauge down to 20 gauge. Believe it or not....I won a World Military 20 gauge championship with them back in 1985 in San Antonio Tx. Going down from 12 to 28 isn't quite as good.....you'll get some odd sounding shells from time to time. I haven't tried to pattern them so I don't know what kind of pattern they throw. But...I have used the 28's for Skeet and shot some good scores with them....23's..24's...25's. The odd misses here and there were not the fault of the insert in my view.
I only use my 12 to 20 inserts once in a while when I feel like shooting my Remington 3200. It's obviously a 12 gauge gun but I haven't fired a 12 gauge shell in close to 5 years. So when I want to play with it....I drop it down to 20 gauge with the inserts.
They tend to be a bit of a problem if you're using cheap shells. I only use Rem STS or Win AA shells with the brass base. If you use shells with the steel base....they tend to stick in the "insert" and are a pain to remove.
I have modified my L'il Skeeters in order to facillitate easier removal of the shell after being fired. If you don't modify them....the insert has to be removed completely from the gun in order to push the spent casing out of it. My little mod eliminates the need to do that.
They are also very dirty so be prepared to get your hands filthy.
"im not too far from belleville ontario."
We in Kingston get almost all of our reloading supplies from Lloyd Irvine....Irv's Shooting Supplies in Courtice (Oshawa). All except our lead. As I mentioned, we get that directly from Hummasson by the ton for our Club.
Do you know a machinist? A good....even a mediocre machinist can turn them out pretty easily. A machinist friend of mine made me my first sets of inserts back in 1981 for the price of a bottle of whiskey. LOL He actually made me 2 sets...20 and 28.
Now...having said that.....they do work...but they're not great. A bit of a PITA actually.
They work best when converting from 12 gauge down to 20 gauge. Believe it or not....I won a World Military 20 gauge championship with them back in 1985 in San Antonio Tx. Going down from 12 to 28 isn't quite as good.....you'll get some odd sounding shells from time to time. I haven't tried to pattern them so I don't know what kind of pattern they throw. But...I have used the 28's for Skeet and shot some good scores with them....23's..24's...25's. The odd misses here and there were not the fault of the insert in my view.
I only use my 12 to 20 inserts once in a while when I feel like shooting my Remington 3200. It's obviously a 12 gauge gun but I haven't fired a 12 gauge shell in close to 5 years. So when I want to play with it....I drop it down to 20 gauge with the inserts.
They tend to be a bit of a problem if you're using cheap shells. I only use Rem STS or Win AA shells with the brass base. If you use shells with the steel base....they tend to stick in the "insert" and are a pain to remove.
I have modified my L'il Skeeters in order to facillitate easier removal of the shell after being fired. If you don't modify them....the insert has to be removed completely from the gun in order to push the spent casing out of it. My little mod eliminates the need to do that.
They are also very dirty so be prepared to get your hands filthy.
"im not too far from belleville ontario."
We in Kingston get almost all of our reloading supplies from Lloyd Irvine....Irv's Shooting Supplies in Courtice (Oshawa). All except our lead. As I mentioned, we get that directly from Hummasson by the ton for our Club.
reload your own . custom loads avalable you cant buy . if you load hunting rounds , big savings . for trap and skeet and you dont shoot alot , buy factory . reloading you have endless loads avalable too you . recoil a problem . you load lite loads .
Here's a link to an online calculator to determine your reload cost.
http://10xshooters.com/calculators/ShotshellReloadingCost/
The last time I checked my 1 ounce 12 gauge reloads were running about $5.25 a box. I could lower that figure but want to stick with American Select powder and Winchester 209 primers.
The 28 gauge loads are a real savings with 25 per cent less shot and 30 per cent less powder. I also load Unique for 28 gauge which is less expensive than American Select.
http://10xshooters.com/calculators/ShotshellReloadingCost/
The last time I checked my 1 ounce 12 gauge reloads were running about $5.25 a box. I could lower that figure but want to stick with American Select powder and Winchester 209 primers.
The 28 gauge loads are a real savings with 25 per cent less shot and 30 per cent less powder. I also load Unique for 28 gauge which is less expensive than American Select.
CB......
What are you paying for that American Select and where are you getting it?
I've switched to Alliant's 20/28 powder for my 28 and like it. Don't like the cost much though at I believe it was $175.00 a keg???? Think that's what it was...either $165 or $175.
OOPS! Just noticed...that's for your 12...you're using Unique for 28. I switched from Unique to give this 20/28 a try since it's been getting such great reviews down south.
What are you paying for that American Select and where are you getting it?
I've switched to Alliant's 20/28 powder for my 28 and like it. Don't like the cost much though at I believe it was $175.00 a keg???? Think that's what it was...either $165 or $175.
OOPS! Just noticed...that's for your 12...you're using Unique for 28. I switched from Unique to give this 20/28 a try since it's been getting such great reviews down south.
My cost for reloading 12 ga last time around was $5.25 for 7/8 oz (skeet); $5.55 for 1 oz (trap and sporting) and $5.85 for 1 1/8 oz (trap and sporting)...all in, with hulls being free. I figure I saved $25.90 on flats of 7/8 oz; $22.90 on flats of 1 oz; and $19.90 on flats of 1 1/8 oz around here. Another way of putting it is I shot 5 boxes more per flat with 7/8 oz; 4 more with 1 oz and 3.4 more with 1 1/8 oz with the same cost, plus my time (moot point that one). Of course, prices fluctuate and cost of cheapie flats is around $70 right now before tax (on the expensive side). The differentials get even better (for me) in comparison to premium rounds like AA or Rem Nitro. Buying cheaper shot from local guys who make shot will lower prices too. I used fairly pricey shot ($38.95/bag + tax) for these calculations. Maybe I can better these prices a bit by using Promo or Claydot rather than Clays, at least I will see about this after the next order comes in. Cheddite primers, which I prefer, aren't that good a bargain pricewise anymore, from what I can see, and local shot makers are raising prices as lead WW become scarcer and the market will bear it. I'm pretty much at the point where I just get the best price I can with factory shot for a variety of reasons. So it goes...
I posted a couple of months back my cost for each of the components. In the end it was $4.60 per box to reload with my own hulls. Off the top of my head it was $45 for 1000 Win209 primers, $27 for a 25lb bag of 7.5 shot, $20 per 1000 claybuster hulls and $17 per pound for Red Dot powder. I use 1 1/8 oz of shot with about 16 grains of powder in Win AA hulls. Good accurate load and is 2/3 the price of factory econo ammo.
well i use an aya model 4/53. that being said i would like to know if using a little skeeter will scratch or damage my chamber?
and as far as quinte outdoor sports goes, i refuse to shop there. i personally do not like the new owners from what i have met of them, but thats my own opinion. i believe rick and jim did a much better job with treating their customers. and yes i do know a machinist i will ask him this weekend if he would be willing to mill me down some inserts. and could i not have them made out of plastic? or some sort of pvc like material?
and as far as quinte outdoor sports goes, i refuse to shop there. i personally do not like the new owners from what i have met of them, but thats my own opinion. i believe rick and jim did a much better job with treating their customers. and yes i do know a machinist i will ask him this weekend if he would be willing to mill me down some inserts. and could i not have them made out of plastic? or some sort of pvc like material?
"i use an aya model 4/53."
Not familiar with that at all. Never seen one.
"i would like to know if using a little skeeter will scratch or damage my chamber?"
No. Never seen....or heard of that ever happening. Certainly hasn't done any of my guns any harm that's for sure.
"do not like the new owners "
Didn't know they changed management. I have no opinion one way or another.....don't go there enough to make any difference to me.
"could i not have them made out of plastic? or some sort of pvc like material? "
I sure wouldn't. With the heat...and expansion of the shells upon firing I wouldn't use something like that. Don't know what would happen to them.
My very first "home made" sets were made of brass.
Not familiar with that at all. Never seen one.
"i would like to know if using a little skeeter will scratch or damage my chamber?"
No. Never seen....or heard of that ever happening. Certainly hasn't done any of my guns any harm that's for sure.
"do not like the new owners "
Didn't know they changed management. I have no opinion one way or another.....don't go there enough to make any difference to me.
"could i not have them made out of plastic? or some sort of pvc like material? "
I sure wouldn't. With the heat...and expansion of the shells upon firing I wouldn't use something like that. Don't know what would happen to them.
My very first "home made" sets were made of brass.
i like the brass idea much better, brass is a very soft metal, little skeeters are aluminum are they not?
http://www.aya-fineguns.com/shotguns_2.php?categoria=&id=36
thats an aya, a fine piece of spanish craftsmanship i must say.
and as far as supplies go i make the trip towards bracebridge ontario quite often. so its just a skip to epps, i will go there in about a week to check out all the goodies.
http://www.aya-fineguns.com/shotguns_2.php?categoria=&id=36
thats an aya, a fine piece of spanish craftsmanship i must say.
and as far as supplies go i make the trip towards bracebridge ontario quite often. so its just a skip to epps, i will go there in about a week to check out all the goodies.
