Is it worth reloading 12 gauge.

LUTNIT said:
I know. I have one friend in a shop that does larger vehicles that only uses lead. He's my only sourse for lead at the moment and he can only get me about 10lbs/month as it's a smaller shop. In the next few years we may end up paying $3+ per pound for lead as the only source :(
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you mean you guys dont remelt your bullets thats a waste

ive done some crazy things for WW's went to the scrap yard a few times with a screw driver a pair of pliers and a bucket. laneways and sides of roads tend to be covered in them my other sorces of lead i have a contact that works at bell they use these big tubes of lead for something idk what the ends and the tube weigh alot and are almost pure for the slug caster this is good.i also found a few houses on my street that have alot of old junk under the porchs some had lead pipe and lead rings that go between the joints on drain pipes. scrap yards and scrapers are good sorces too they want money or something they can get a bit more for
 
antiqueguy said:
you mean you guys dont remelt your bullets thats a waste
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I've considered it but they tend to be buried a couple feet into a berm most of the time :( . The range I go to doesn't allow anything setup down range other than the provided target stands and targets stapled to them. I have considered trying to recover slugs but never managed to find any; I don't know how deep they go at 1500fps. I recently picked up a 900gr full bore slug mould for my rifled 870 but haven't had a chance to fire any. I really do want to try to recover them though since 2oz is a lot of lead.
 
LUTNIT said:
I've considered it but they tend to be buried a couple feet into a berm most of the time :( . The range I go to doesn't allow anything setup down range other than the provided target stands and targets stapled to them. I have considered trying to recover slugs but never managed to find any; I don't know how deep they go at 1500fps. I recently picked up a 900gr full bore slug mould for my rifled 870 but haven't had a chance to fire any. I really do want to try to recover them though since 2oz is a lot of lead.
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i built a 4ft long wood box 3ft of it rubber mulch and the last foot gravel tends to collect everything i dont have the luxury of a range heck i dont even have a place to shoot right now hence my sig line

ive found before when we where using a dirt mound that you need a shovel a screen and time shotgun slugs tend to bury them selves deep a 900gr slug may be a bit much for the thin wall of a rifled 870 barrel id only think about that in the thick barrel of a H&R slug gun(not the light version)
 
LUTNIT said:
Why can't you use a Lee LA2 for nickle plated cases? I've done many without issue. Swaging down nickle plated brass isn't as much work mechanically as swaging brass plated steel. If you do the magnet check you will find that many "brass" based shells are actually just brass plated steel.

I've used a Lee LA2 to resize and load every type of metal on a shell I know of and never had any issues. My only complaint is shells with higher than normal brass (Remington high brass are the most common) often need the priming parts removed to push the sizer off of the hull totally.
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when i was doing my reaserch before i bought it allot of people were saying that it was allot harder to size the nickle plated shells or high brass. so i took there word for it. even if it is not that bad it still turned out for the better
 
allan92 said:
i mould and reload slugs at 30 cents each. that is at the least 70 cents savings per round! i was going to get a loadall2 but i splurged on a mec size master and it was well worth it. if you go with something else and want to resize nickel based shells you will probably need to get a separate resizer. the size master has a collet type sizer so it will size anything.
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I agree with allen....

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so save ur cash up and reload ! BEsides saving $$$ its fun relaxing after the stress from the butt heads at work...
 
You cannot buy components to load shotshells cheaper than winchester white box target loads.

You CAN reload Winchester AA spec shells for 30% less than buying them.

That's going off of current flat pricing. I usually load 7/8oz in my AA HULLS as handicap. Then when 'playing for keeps' I will load to full spec.
 
I enjoy handloading so much that the economic equation as to whether or not it is cheaper one way or the other doesn't enter my mind anymore.I get a huge amount of enjoyment out of creating my own ammunition in both rifle and shotgun.But this is just my own personal experience and opinion.If you are trying to replicate run of the mill readily available commercial rounds then often the savings are not there.If you are looking at loading up something out of the ordinary then you will often come out ahead.One thing for certain,you can most likely load tailor made ammo for your own personal preferences cheaper than factory loads will cost you.Depends on what you are looking for in those rounds.
 
Yes it is worth to reload 12 Gauge shells:
In the winter when there is not too much to do.
you can make any loads that you want.
You can load slugs if you so desire. You can even mold your own slugs.
It is a good pastime.
Also I like to shoot trap.
I reload 3/4 oz. loads for the 12 Gauge, what a pleasure to shoot. Its like shooting a 410.[Low recoil].
I would recommend the MEC Junior presses.[You can make an awfull pile of shells in the winter.]
I have them in 410, 20 Gauge and 12 Gauge.
I tried the Lee shotgun press, [you get what you pay for].
Nuff said.
 
I enjoy reloading as well. I make a nice 7/8 12ga load that will cycle my semi auto's that is low recoil. im probably not saving money but I sometimes shoot 10 rounds of skeet on a sunday. I can shoot those loads all day.
 
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