Low cost Trap & Skeet ammo?

TACTICAL111 said:
If you shoot a lot and buy in bulk it is.
$4.50 a box of 12g is what my cost is.

28 & 410 savings are huge.
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I have a nice stockpile of reloading supplies for 12. When i did the math a few years ago, factoring in the replacement cost of supplies used, my price for reloaded 12 target was about $6/box. Some of my shot, wad, and hulls are purchased cheap, but the true cost for me is what it costs to replace it. To me, adding in my time reloading, 12 is not worth the effort. The true benefit for being set up for 12, is for me experimenting ...on slugs, buck, rubber balls.

Now reloading 410, and 28 is a great cost savings. Sometimes one can find a deal and the sub gauges are reasonable in bulk/retail. The trick there is to buy bulk in hulls that are good for reloading like AA or STS. My survival rate on 28 ga hulls in the field is not great as my semi throws major league fastballs, the 410 is a SXS so i now seem to keep most of those hulls.
 
Nothing wrong with Challenger, and Hnatiuk's had Remington Gun Club recently for $70/case. The Winchester Super Target from Green Diamond isn't too bad, but no good for reloading. I'm told the Challenger is made with Cheddite hulls?
 
+ tax, should have clarified.

adding in my time reloading
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Not factored as well. I shoot so much, I place it as a given. No choice.
Also, custom loads to your specifics can be very beneficial.
 
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I reload for precision 223 and the cost savings I see for making better than great quality match ammo versus buying the best factory ammo is massive. I can also tailor my ammo.

With shotgun is it that big of a deal? Does the wad you choose really make a huge difference? I mean sure you can tailor the shot weight and to a degree the velocity, but I assume you cannot chrono a shotgun over a standard chrono? That would make knowing how heavy your load is a bit of a crap shoot? I was told for target ammo just buying flats is cheaper than making it, but if you are wanting to load up quality hunting ammo then you begin to approach a break even point.

If you figure 20 grains of powder per shell, that's 350 shells for each pound, at say 35 bucks at the highest, so ten cents per shell powder cost. Lead shot seems to be between about 2 and 3 dollars per pound (25 pounds for 50 was cheapest I found quickly), so figure 1.125 oz is about 18 cents per shot (14 to 21 cents), wads were looking to be about 10.50 per 250, so 4.2 cents and primers say 4.5 cents, that gives me about 33 to 40 cents per shell....I'm sure you can find target ammo much cheaper than that....plus that doesn't include the cost of the hulls originally nor your time in doing it. It seems for hunting shells maybe the value is there, if not in cost, then in customizability
 
I figured my costs on 20 gauge were roughly 36 cents per shell, vs 30 cents to buy. Cost wise, it's not worth doing. As you said, for hunting loads it is cheaper to roll your own, I also like having the ability to make ammo if I can't find it easily. If you factor in the cost of driving to buy a case when it's not convenient, the appeal goes up.
I think all the components I bought recently were more than what you found, but that's supply and demand.
 
Early 80's I remember buying case of 12 gauge AA winchesters for $90.00, but they soon went to $120 a case, in the next couple of years and up and up. The one thing that was different back then was a case was 500 shells, not the 250 of today. when the costs got a little higher, shooters started looking for cheaper shells, and along came Elly (spl), Fiochi (spl), gameboar, and others that i don't remember. Peter's, AA, Federal's, sometime Remington were available at most shoots, for $5.00 a box. then $6.00, and soon $7.00. But the ammunition was of somewhat better quality then the $6.00-$8.00 a box you'd pay today. None the less, prices haven't changed a bunch, but the shell quality has, IMO.

struff55 said:
Back in the 80's & 90's we were paying $6-$8 a box not much has changed
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My reloading cost after tax and shipping
8lbs 700x $155 = .047 for 17gr charge
5000 federal 209a primers $ 175=.035 per shell
1000 cb wads $ 23 = .023 per shell
25lbs home made shot $10 = .025 for 1oz
= out to $.13 per shell or 3.25 a box.

No time added in and I do spend a lot of time making shells.
The price of my shot is made up of the hydro and propane cost to
make it as well as what I pay for scrap lead. This doesn't factor in cost
of setting everything up.
 
hogiron said:
Early 80's I remember buying case of 12 gauge AA winchesters for $90.00, but they soon went to $120 a case, in the next couple of years and up and up. The one thing that was different back then was a case was 500 shells, not the 250 of today. when the costs got a little higher, shooters started looking for cheaper shells, and along came Elly (spl), Fiochi (spl), gameboar, and others that i don't remember. Peter's, AA, Federal's, sometime Remington were available at most shoots, for $5.00 a box. then $6.00, and soon $7.00. But the ammunition was of somewhat better quality then the $6.00-$8.00 a box you'd pay today. None the less, prices haven't changed a bunch, but the shell quality has, IMO.
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I can remember paying $80-$85 per 500/case of Federal Gold Medal 3 dram plastic or paper hulls. Gold Medal Paper is the best in my books!!
 
58$ and 68$ per 250 cases?!? If any of you are travelling to B.C. Anytime soon let me know... We cant find any around here for under90$ and half the time in prince george you cant get any at all... I managed to find some winchester super target or whatever there crap is at co-op and they wanted 139$ bucks for 250, so I got them down to their "cost" price of 114. When guys bring a pallet in and sell em for 74$ people go bananas around here!
 
the spank said:
I can remember paying $80-$85 per 500/case of Federal Gold Medal 3 dram plastic or paper hulls. Gold Medal Paper is the best in my books!!
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I like the papers ... still have a flat or two. I also stumbled across some of the two piece wads that they don't make anymore. I also have some paper hulls, but don't reload anymore (LOL).
 
joehunt said:
My reloading cost after tax and shipping
8lbs 700x $155 = .047 for 17gr charge
5000 federal 209a primers $ 175=.035 per shell
1000 cb wads $ 23 = .023 per shell
25lbs home made shot $10 = .025 for 1oz
= out to $.13 per shell or 3.25 a box.

No time added in and I do spend a lot of time making shells.
The price of my shot is made up of the hydro and propane cost to
make it as well as what I pay for scrap lead. This doesn't factor in cost
of setting everything up.
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Where are you getting your stuff that cheap? I knew wholesale wasn't the best place to go but that's crazy cheap!

And also how long does it take you to cast shot? Is there a faster way of doing it that I don't know of?
 
Our club puts in a bulk order to hummason for powder and wads.
And I got some people together and ordered 85000 primers from lawry when they had them on for
29.95 a 1000. As for shot. I drip shot can drip about 50lbs an hour after lead is cleaned and sorted.
 
joehunt said:
Our club puts in a bulk order to hummason for powder and wads.
And I got some people together and ordered 85000 primers from lawry when they had them on for
29.95 a 1000. As for shot. I drip shot can drip about 50lbs an hour after lead is cleaned and sorted.
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The powder, fair enough I guess I can probably find it for that from a group buy at some point, and even then if it isn't quite that cheap but close I can deal.....the wads and shot are the big cost for me it looks like. I found a press, the mec 762r, comes with a bunch of wads, 15kg of shot (bb I think, might be a bit smaller), two pounds of powder, and comes with the micrometer charge bar....all for 250 bucks. I think this is a good deal, what do you think? Should I jump on it or just go buy a lee or mec from bass pro? The cheaper mec is 300 by itself, the lee I'm not sure but have heard the lee presses for shot shells are a little flimsy. Any recommendations here?

Oh and dripping shot? I assume into water or something? Is it easy to get good uniform shot sizes?
 
Personally I would look for a good used loader. If your going to be loading hi volume for target shooting defenetly get a progressive.
If you are going to be loading specialty loads like slugs and buck shoot I would lean more for a single stage. If you want new look on hummasons web sit. They have good prices.

The shot turns out pretty nice. It's not like factory by any means though. And I don't think you can go much big then shot number 6 with dripping shot.
Also before jumping in to shot shell loading and shot making make sure u can source good scrap lead at a reasonable price. I don't think it is worth loading them if you have to buy shot. Not for target shells anyway.
 
I still reload... with a Pacific 366 and a barrel full of AA hulls scavenged over the decades. I've not calculated the cost-per-box recently, but I'm pretty sure the margin below "cheap" loads has narrowed in the last few years. My last purchase of reloading supplies left me with sticker shock! From Lawry's: 1000 Cheddite 209 primers C$40, Claybuster 1 oz wads C$9 for 500, 25 lbs bag #8 shot C$44.... all plus 13% sales tax (Ontario.) No powder to be had, but I still have a few lbs of 700X as I bought "too much" (not!) some years ago! My time is free... listening to old-time radio and vinyl records on my vintage tube amplifier system. :)
Cheers.
 
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