.243 winchester

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Hudsey

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Hi

I just bought a .243 and have been looking online for places that carry this bullet and at a good price. I would like to order it from within Canada and save the hassle of crossing the boarder. I looked at SIR and they had some alright prices, but is that going to be the best prices available? Is there not bulk buying sites or surplus?
 
But don't forget that you'll have to make up a lot of reloads in order to pay for itself for all your reloading equipment you'll invest in.
 
K98 said:
But don't forget that you'll have to make up a lot of reloads in order to pay for itself for all your reloading equipment you'll invest in.
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For the price of 10 boxes of match ammo or premium hunting ammo you can get yourself a nice reloading set up. If you only plan to shoot 2-3 boxes a year, it is cheaper to just buy it. However even if you plan to shoot as little as 200-300 rounds a year, you are better off reloading.
 
I have looked at "doing the math". If you handload 100 bullets it seems to be a basic price of 100 primers=$4.50, Gunpowder= $23.99-$29.99, 100 Bullets =$17-$37, 100 Once fired brass about $20. So if you add that and divide it by 5 it gives you the cost of one box. $13.09-18.29 that doesn't include the costs to ship the stuff here because those are online prices so that will put a couple dollars ontop atleast. Then there is investing in the equipment. Where I can go to the store and buy cheap Winchester XP2 bullets for $16 or Hornady SST for 21.99, Or federal corelokt for 24.99. Hence why I asked if it is worthwhile 2bad4u2.
 
there are several advantages to reloading.. cost savings being one of them.
I can pretty much guarantee you that anyone that shoots competatively and most hunters will reload. Not always for the cost savings but for the superior quality and accuracy of the rounds they make.

you are asking great questions. If in the end you decide to reload.. you will kick yourself for not having done it sooner. I did.

cheers,
 
hoochie said:
there are several advantages to reloading.. cost savings being one of them.
I can pretty much guarantee you that anyone that shoots competatively and most hunters will reload. Not always for the cost savings but for the superior quality and accuracy of the rounds they make.

you are asking great questions. If in the end you decide to reload.. you will kick yourself for not having done it sooner. I did.

cheers,
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Competitive shooters yes but I doubt most hunters reload.
 
1 lbs of powder will load you about 165 rounds in your .243. I have had brass go 15 or more trips so $20 for 100 brass is cheap when you work it out to 1500 rounds fired with the same brass. Primers are cheaper/unit by the thousand as are bullets.
5 boxes (100 rounds) of corelokt by your math will cost $125 plus taxes/shipping. Your components on the high end comes out to about $92, low end about $65. You have to remember you will have about 1/2 lbs of powder left over and you will be able to use your brass again.
Like I said before if you only plan to shoot 2-3 boxes (20-60 rounds) a year, buy them at Walmart. If you want the most accurate rounds for your rifle or if you plan to do a lot of shooting, handloading is the only way to go.
 
maynard said:
if you only plan to shoot 2-3 boxes (20-60 rounds) a year, buy them at Walmart. If you want the most accurate rounds for your rifle or if you plan to do a lot of shooting, handloading is the only way to go.
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you said it all right there...
 
In my experience reloading does not save money. However you get to shoot a great deal more for the same cost. Better ammo, and more shooting. You can't go wrong!
 
"...you get to shoot a great deal more..." Using ammo that is tailored to your rifle. No searching for the best price for ammo either.
Buy components locally. If your local gun shop doesn't have what you want, they can usually order it, if their supplier has it in stock. Shipping bullets, primers and powder is expensive. The shipping costs can eliminate any cost saving you might find on-line.
 
Hudsey said:
I have looked at "doing the math". If you handload 100 bullets it seems to be a basic price of 100 primers=$4.50, Gunpowder= $23.99-$29.99, 100 Bullets =$17-$37, 100 Once fired brass about $20. So if you add that and divide it by 5 it gives you the cost of one box. $13.09-18.29 that doesn't include the costs to ship the stuff here because those are online prices so that will put a couple dollars ontop atleast. Then there is investing in the equipment. Where I can go to the store and buy cheap Winchester XP2 bullets for $16 or Hornady SST for 21.99, Or federal corelokt for 24.99. Hence why I asked if it is worthwhile 2bad4u2.
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If you're only going to set up and load for (1) cartridge that you won't shoot on a frequent basis then don't worry about reloading. However, that single stage press you buy can be used to load every commonly available cartridge you are likely to shoot.

If you're only buying a box of bullets here and a package of primers there, with maybe 1-2 punds of powder, you're not exactly maximizing your savings here. Key thing is to buy in bulk once you've established what combination your rifle likes to shoot or if you plan on experimenting with a wide range of components. That way the cost of shipping can be spread out more, giving you greater economies of scale.

This discussion has been beat to death so often in this and the reloading section I'm surprised it hasn't been made as a sticky or someone has written up a beginner's article for those such as yourself. It would no doubt be beneficial to all.

Best of luck.
 
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hawk223 said:
Competitive shooters yes but I doubt most hunters reload.
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I bet you only use the .243 for deer, don't you.

It can also be used for coyotes and gophers. I've mine for about 4 months an I bet its got at least 100 down the pipe already... and there aren't even gophers out right now.

But seriously, as mentioned before... If you don't put at least a couple hundred rounds through it in a year... buy your ammo from a store.
 
I've hunted for the past 30 years and only in the last couple of years have I reloaded. When I see what fun I missed, I could kick myself. If you're really going to reload, do yourself a favor and buy the best equipment you could possibly afford. By the way, the .243 is a caliber I recently started to use, and it makes for a super range gun. A lot of fun to fire, so you can be guaranteed you'll be using it more. Whatever you decide, enjoy your gun.
 
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