reloading on the cheap?

[jethunter]

Not worth reloading 308 with CanAmmo selling 520 for $260 and WAN selling MFS for 500 for $300.

Even with 30/06, 270 Win and other popular cartridges worthwhile cost wise if you already have reloading equipment and just need to buy dies and shellplates.

You can reload 520 cartridges for less than $260 and have more accurate ammo as well. But you don't need to reload if you just want to shoot lots of cheap rounds in the generic chamberings like .308, 7.62x39 and .223.

Most people get bored after a couple years with the generic 308, 223, and 7.62x39 milsurp shooting and start to become interested in accuracy and more interesting cartridges and rifles. I like the M14, SKS, etc. But by themselves they get very boring very fast.

Reloading allows you to explore less common cartridges that aren't available commercially or are so expensive as to be prohibitive. I load .455 webley for approximately 10 cents a round. Commercial price is $1/round. I load 9.3x57 for 25 cents a round compared to commercial ammo at $3 per shot IF you can even find it. And 9.3x57 is way more fun than .308 milsurp, at least for me.

Nothing wrong with shooting the milsurp stuff and it is a lot of fun. But by itself it gets boring after a while for most of us.

 

[bobdbldr]

You can reload 520 cartridges for less than $260 and have more accurate ammo as well. But you don't need to reload if you just want to shoot lots of cheap rounds in the generic chamberings like .308, 7.62x39 and .223.

Most people get bored after a couple years with the generic 308, 223, and 7.62x39 milsurp shooting and start to become interested in accuracy and more interesting cartridges and rifles. I like the M14, SKS, etc. But by themselves they get very boring very fast.

Reloading allows you to explore less common cartridges that aren't available commercially or are so expensive as to be prohibitive. I load .455 webley for approximately 10 cents a round. Commercial price is $1/round. I load 9.3x57 for 25 cents a round compared to commercial ammo at $3 per shot IF you can even find it. And 9.3x57 is way more fun than .308 milsurp, at least for me.

Nothing wrong with shooting the milsurp stuff and it is a lot of fun. But by itself it gets boring after a while for most of us.

There are a lot of folks, I believe watching this thread because we are in that boat. I am getting a .44 russian and want to get a webley, plus I have a 9.3x62 husky and would like to get into reloading.
There is a lot of good info in this thread but somewhat still confusing ( brain like a commodore 64). Bottom line, what is the best kit or equipment required to get into this game? As said before super speed is not required but accurate safe rounds are! Quality equipment that lasts would be nice too.It seems to me that price is more where you buy than what you buy, there is a huge variance in pricing on the same equipment!
Cheers

 

[bobdbldr]

After reading my thread again, I was wondering if there is a course/symposium or something put on for beginner reloaders. It would be a great Idea, to teach safe effective and accurate reloading! I would travel for a course like that or even an online course. With suggestions on equipment and methods. Is there such a thing?

 

[stubblejumper]

get a lee powder scale, they are quite cheap.

I have used a few LEE products, but I will never recommend the LEE scale. A friend bought the LEE kit, and as cheap as he is, he ended up purchasing an RCBS 505 scale, because he simply wouldn't trust the LEE scale. He just couldn't get consistent results from the LEE scale.

 

[jethunter]

After reading my thread again, I was wondering if there is a course/symposium or something put on for beginner reloaders. It would be a great Idea, to teach safe effective and accurate reloading! I would travel for a course like that or even an online course. With suggestions on equipment and methods. Is there such a thing?

P&D in Edmonton has put on reloading courses before. I don't know if anyone out your way does it, though.

But you can find lots of videos on youtube, and RCBS and Lee both have instructional videos on their websites.

 

[jethunter]

There are a lot of folks, I believe watching this thread because we are in that boat. I am getting a .44 russian and want to get a webley, plus I have a 9.3x62 husky and would like to get into reloading.
There is a lot of good info in this thread but somewhat still confusing ( brain like a commodore 64). Bottom line, what is the best kit or equipment required to get into this game? As said before super speed is not required but accurate safe rounds are! Quality equipment that lasts would be nice too.It seems to me that price is more where you buy than what you buy, there is a huge variance in pricing on the same equipment!
Cheers

What's best for me might not be best for you. I really like my Lee turret press for all-round use. It's faster than a single station press if you are reloading a couple hundred handgun cartridges, but still works Ok for rifle cartridges. It's personal preference and you might find something else works better for you.

IMO this is what you need as a minimum to get started:
1. press $50-$500
2. dies and shellholder $30-$75 for each caliber you reload
3. balance beam powder scale (RCBS 505 is good for the price) $50-$75
4. inertia bullet puller $25
5. loading blocks (easy to make out of a piece of 2x4 if you're handy with a drill) $5-$10
6. components (brass, primers, bullets, and powder) and case lube

you will also probably eventually want:
7. a tumbler to clean brass $50-$150
8. case preparation tools (for cleaning and truing case mouth and primer hole) $15-$20
9. case trimming tools (actually not needed for most straight wall handgun cartridges)
10. powder measure

There are lots more stuff that you might want to look at once you learn more about reloading, but this is enough to make good ammunition. The higher volume presses cost more $$. A single station Lee press can be had for as little as $35 if you look around, and you could load 50-75 handgun cartridges an hour with it. The big progressive reloading machine presses will set you back closer to a $1000, but you can reload up to 400 rounds per hour with it.

 

[bobdbldr]

Thanks jethunter that helps, I started at factory sales and put the lee deluxe 4 hole turret press in my basket so far. I also picked the 3 die set for the .44 russian only because they don't have the full set for some reason, I will be checking other suppliers before I hit the pay button ,I was also looking for the 9.3x 62 die set but they don't have that either. Anyone know where a fella can pick up a set? Still gotta shop around to see about the price of the rcbs 505 scale and maybe a different press if they have the dies I need! Getting excited about making my own ammo!

 

[jethunter]

Thanks jethunter that helps, I started at factory sales and put the lee deluxe 4 hole turret press in my basket so far. I also picked the 3 die set for the .44 russian only because they don't have the full set for some reason, I will be checking other suppliers before I hit the pay button ,I was also looking for the 9.3x 62 die set but they don't have that either. Anyone know where a fella can pick up a set? Still gotta shop around to see about the price of the rcbs 505 scale and maybe a different press if they have the dies I need! Getting excited about making my own ammo!

I use the Lee .44 Russian die set to load .44 russian and .44 special. The 3 die set is a full set with everything you need. It has 3 dies: 1. resizer/depriming die; 2. expander die, 3. bullet seater/crimper die.

I don't know if Lee even makes 9.3x62 dies. You might need to buy from a different manufacturer. Mine are made by Lyman. Check with Mystic Precision, he will be able to find a set at a good price. Lyman, RCBS, Hornady, and most other brands will all fit in your press.

Since you're going with Lee dies, then at some point you might want to also consider the LEE Auto Disk powder measure - it screws into the LEE expander die and charges the case with powder. It works very well for handgun cartridges. You don't need it to start out with but it's a nice option to have further down the road once you get a feel for the process. It will almost double your reloading speed over weighing each charge. I use it for most handgun cartridges i load.