Reloading worth it.

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I like to target practice as welll as hunt. I dont shoot a thousand rounds a year. Probably around 200-300. I am shooting a 300 win mag and using winchester xp3 150 gr bullets. They cost me $59.00 plus tax per box. I was going to purchase a complete rcbs reloading set up last year but was talked out of it by somebody. They said premium factory ammo was as good as any reload and as far as saving money you would have to shoot for a long time. I am once again thinking of buying the complete reloading set up again but thought i would ask you guys for your opinions.

Thanks
 
I am not sure, but whoever told you that factory ammo is as good as a reload probably road on the little school bus and considering the forum we are on, I would imagine all opinions will be similar. Show me a benchrest or palma or F class shooter who picks up his ammo at Crappy Tire
 
From a financial only point of view, it probablly doesn't make any sense.
Having said that, reloading allow one to tune loads to both the use (target or hunting) and the rifle itself.
Nothing is more satisfying than having some of your personally assembled ammo outperform the factory stuff....
Factory ammunition is generally very good..consistent, reliable..does the job.
Handloading provides a whole new dimension to your understanding and enjoyment of the shooting sports.
When I started, I believed and told everbody that I would never bother to reload...didn't need to...too much trouble and effort.
I now have three(3!) presses in my basement, a vast variety of bullets, powders and primers at my disposal, and can load for any and all of my firearems.
I don't HAVE to handload/reload....I WANT to and ENYOY doing it!:D
 
You will shoot a LOT more if you start to reload. It will make you a better shooter, and before long, you will stop buying factory amunition completely.
I have not shot a box of factory anything in at least twenty years. ( Well Ok, 22 rimfire I have)
 
Whoever talked you out of it needs this:slap:
$59.00/box of 20:confused:. If you are shooting 200-300 rounds you are looking at 10-15 boxes=$590-$885 before taxes/yr.

I don't think your buddy can do math:slap:

Handloaded ammo lets you tailor the ammo to your rifle. You should be able to get better accuracy out of handloads without much fuss. Stuff a Premium bullet in, and there you go.
 
You don't spend less when reloading you just get more out of what you spend.:p If you are looking to squeeze every bit of accuracy and preformanc3e out of a gun then reloading is the way to go. Wether you high volume or high accuracy there is a press out there that will do the job
 
Depending on the number of calibers you reload for ... currently only one ... but if there is a likely hood of you buying more ... definately reloading is the way to go. As mentioned, even with just one caliber you will see a difference in the quality of your reloads vs factory ammo. In any case, if you're going to be shooting for a while, the cost of the reloading equipment will eventually pay off, faster if you have more than one caliber.
 
It depends on how you define "worth it." For the price of a full reloading kit and componenents you can buy a lot of factory ammo if you practice with the cheap stuff and hunt with the premium. Accuracy matters to a benchrest shooter but at hunting distances how much does that extra extra half inch matter? Probably not much.

Reloading is worth it to me because I can load ammunition combinations that the factory doesn't offer. It means that a mouth-water custom rifle in an oddball caliber isn't automatically excluded from the wish list.

To be honest I find loading centerfire rifle somewhat tedious. But I do load a lot of shotgun primarily because I can tailor my shells to what I want, not want the factory wants to make. Yes, it's worth it.
 
It hasn't saved me one bit of money lol. Per shot fired yes it makes sence if you can find a load and settle on it than its great. For oddball calibers its a must, and also if your after premium magnum ammo than for sure!.

A lee kit is a great start, you can upgrade latter on, or if you loose interest, your not out much $$
 
Whether it makes $$ sense or not, it depends how you look at it...

On the + side
+ Cost less per rounds
+ Better ammo
+ Never have to worry about finding ammo when you need it
+ Something else to do when you can't go to the range :D

On the - side
- Initial setup can be expensive
- Can be time consuming
- Might end up buying odd caliber gun that you would have otherwise ignored because of said caliber (Now you just need a new set of dies :evil: )

Personnaly, I think making the ammo is just about as fun as shooting it!
Mike
 
TPK said:
Depending on the number of calibers you reload for ... currently only one ... but if there is a likely hood of you buying more ... definately reloading is the way to go. As mentioned, even with just one caliber you will see a difference in the quality of your reloads vs factory ammo. In any case, if you're going to be shooting for a while, the cost of the reloading equipment will eventually pay off, faster if you have more than one caliber.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the replies. I shoot a 270 as well. A 204 or 22-250 is in the near future. One more question. I would imagine a chronograph is important balisticly to tell how your loads perform. I guesse you could kind of tell by point of impact at a set range. The xp3 i shoot now are the flatest cartidge i could find. Can you reload close to or better then most premium ammo.
 
I'll throw numbers into the thread. You should already be saving your brass.

300WM uses about 70-80gr powder. So you will get approximately 87-100 rounds per pound. Lets use $30.00/lb although if you buy bulk/larger containers this should be less. Primers, $4.00/100 again less if you buy larger quantities. Bullets, lets say you practice with Hornady interlocks at $28.00ish/100.

Your ammo is suddenly $12-13 a box, about 50% of the non-premium off the shelf price. 10 boxes into it, you have already saved enough to get a starter press. If you shoot regularly, you can't help but come out ahead.

Can you reload close to or better then most premium ammo.
Click to expand...

Except for ammo like hornady's "Light/heavy Magnum" loadings which use powders and loading techniques not available to handloaders and bullets like "leverevolution" which are not available as components (still true I think), you should be able to at least equal or better most factory ammo.
 
Moose hunter said:
I would imagine a chronograph is important balisticly to tell how your loads perform. I guesse you could kind of tell by point of impact at a set range.
Click to expand...

Velocity doesn't mean accuracy. It is sometimes nice to know how fast your bullets are going. How accurate they are is more important then the extra 20-30-50 fps you think you need.
In my target rifle I shoot 46 gr of Varget over a 155 moly bullet. I have used this load for about 4-5 years. Only last year did I clock it to see how fast it was, and compare it to what the other guys where getting. 2940 fps average with 10fps deviation. Works for me, but I knew that before I clocked it.
 
By nature, most folks who really like shooting find reloading to be a rewarding and intelectually stimulating addendum to their shooting experience.
Most precision shooters are just "a teeny bit anal" (understatement) in their efforts to have the "perfect" setup, so reloading is a natural extension of their sport.
Claybuster hit it on the money when he mentioned the ability to provide ammo for "oddball" rifles. Sometimes VERY high quality rifles are a steal on the used rack simply due to the scarcity of ammo.
May be worth asking a friend if you can use their setup just to try. See if the bug bites you.
Good luck, and have fun.
Thegunnut
 
joe-nwt said:
I'll throw numbers into the thread. You should already be saving your brass.

300WM uses about 70-80gr powder. So you will get approximately 87-100 rounds per pound. Lets use $30.00/lb although if you buy bulk/larger containers this should be less. Primers, $4.00/100 again less if you buy larger quantities. Bullets, lets say you practice with Hornady interlocks at $28.00ish/100.

Your ammo is suddenly $12-13 a box, about 50% of the non-premium off the shelf price. 10 boxes into it, you have already saved enough to get a starter press. If you shoot regularly, you can't help but come out ahead.
Click to expand...
I have to agree. If you are shooting 10-15 boxes of $45/box ammo, you can save HUGE in the long run. A loading press setup can cost as little as $250 for a fully equiped. Premium bullets with ammo and powder will drive up your reloading costs to MAYBE $20 a box. SO that means at 10 boxes a year, you'll recoup all your costs in a year or so. In 5 years you save $250 a year in ammo. You will find a satisfaction in knowing your ammo is just as good, if not better, than factory.
 
For anyone who shoots the big "boomer" magnums or who prefers to shoot premium bullets, reloading is the only way to go. I had a non-reloading buddy buy one of Remington's first LSS models in .300 RUM Back then, ammo was extremely hard to find in Newfoundland and factory selections were very limited. What was available, essentially was costing around $5.00/round (I know prices have come down now)

I introduced him to reloading and suddenly the rifle he couldn't afford to shoot, got used a lot more.

For my pistols, milsurps I also cast my own bullets, which really ups my savings due not only to the cost of factory component bullets, but the cost of shipping to rural Newfoundland as well. I even cast for my .30 cals and make up some light cast loads for my .308s, .30-06 & even 7mm Rem Mag.
 
maynard said:
Velocity doesn't mean accuracy. It is sometimes nice to know how fast your bullets are going.
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Exactly why I keep putting off buying a chrony, it's a "nice to have" and I've got way too many more pressing reloading needs right now. Loads that are giving me repeatable accurate results are what I'm interested in. I wouldn't sacrifice speed for accuracy but I'm still interested in how fast those accurate loads are ... so I will get one eventually, that's a given, just not yet.
 
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Moose hunter said:
I like to target practice as welll as hunt. I dont shoot a thousand rounds a year. Probably around 200-300. I am shooting a 300 win mag and using winchester xp3 150 gr bullets. They cost me $59.00 plus tax per box. I was going to purchase a complete rcbs reloading set up last year but was talked out of it by somebody. They said premium factory ammo was as good as any reload and as far as saving money you would have to shoot for a long time. I am once again thinking of buying the complete reloading set up again but thought i would ask you guys for your opinions.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Whoever told you that obviously doesn't do much shooting...reloading is very much worth it.

-Rohann
 
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