Rifle practice with large calibers and expensive ammo.

Standard load for my .458 Lott is the 300gr TSX at 2700 fps. For shooting practice I load the Hornday 300gr HP also at 2700 fps (1/4 the cost of the TSX bullet).

Note that .458 Win. Mag. ammo can be fired in the .458 Lott. I also load the Hornady 500gr bullet in a .458 Win. Mag. case at 1800 fps MV using a compressed charge of slow burn rate powder.

458Lott_bullets_zps7pfacrkb.jpg


sako.jpg

Sako AV .458 Lott
 
Pete04 said:
The reason I ask is because your cast bullets are a reasonably priced alternative to jacketed bullets for hand loading and you do cover many of the large calibre choices. I was hoping the 375 Win could be used in the H&H and Ruger.
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There is no problem loading the 200gr .375 Jacketed bullets intended for the .375 Winchester in a H&H or RUger, so don't see why cast would be an issue.
 
Pete04 said:
The reason I ask is because your cast bullets are a reasonably priced alternative to jacketed bullets for hand loading and you do cover many of the large calibre choices. I was hoping the 375 Win could be used in the H&H and Ruger.
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I have a mold being built for the 375 H&H bullets, but I expect it will be 3 weeks before it is here, if there is no postal strike.
 
RangerPark said:
It's funny, I always thought reloading would save me some money too. What's actually happening is I spend the same amount of money but get more bang for my buck. I actually think I spent more reloading that not, simply for the fact that I end up shooting more because it's cheaper. So if you're going to shoot lots, by all means reload. But don't think you're going to save money. Reloading, recreational shooting for that matter, can a very deep rabbit hole. I won't be taking any money to the grave that's for sure.
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Maybe so.

I found that reloading made it possible for me to shoot equal-to-factory quality ammunition for a lot less.
I usually reload about 100 rounds for a revolver at a sitting with a single-stage press.
More than enough for one range trip.
I would not shoot more than that anyway, for one gun on one range trip.
I would not shoot less probably, regardless of whether it was factory or reload.

I could spend $114.00 on 100 rounds of factory lead American Eagle .45 LC at Cabela's, or I can reload 100 rounds of factory-cast lead, for about $25.00. That's more than a 75% savings.

So, I DO save a small fortune by reloading.
So, you are incorrect in my case, and in the case of many other reloaders.
Not everyone is a high volume shooter, and not everyone simply buys more guns to reload for, or shoots more, because of it.

If you shot only 500 rounds a year of the aforementioned .45LC (10 boxes of 50 rounds) the factory cost would be $570.00.
If you reload and shot 500 rounds a year of .45LC, the cost would be only $125.00.
So, you would save $445.00 in one year on one cartridge alone, even with only a couple of boxes shot on only 5 range trips during the summer.

After 2 years of even limited shooting this one cartridge alone, it would pay for a very nice reloading tools setup.

As for large and expensive magnum rifle cartridges, it makes the difference between being able to afford to shoot them moderately, or to only shoot 20 factory rounds once in a while.

$118.00 a box of 20 rounds of factory .375 H&H, versus $35.00 for 20 rounds of reloads, even with premium Nosler 260 grain bullets from Cabela's.
 
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Lonesome Donkey said:
Maybe so.

I found that reloading made it possible for me to shoot equal-to-factory quality ammunition for a lot less.
I usually reload about 100 rounds for a revolver at a sitting with a single-stage press.
More than enough for one range trip.
I would not shoot more than that anyway, for one gun on one range trip.
I would not shoot less probably, regardless of whether it was factory or reload.

I could spend $114.00 on 100 rounds of factory lead American Eagle .45 LC at Cabela's, or I can reload 100 rounds of factory-cast lead, for about $25.00. That's more than a 75% savings.

So, I DO save a small fortune by reloading.
So, you are incorrect in my case, and in the case of many other reloaders.
Not everyone is a high volume shooter, and not everyone simply buys more guns to reload for, or shoots more, because of it.

If you shot only 500 rounds a year of the aforementioned .45LC (10 boxes of 50 rounds) the factory cost would be $570.00.
If you reload and shot 500 rounds a year of .45LC, the cost would be only $125.00.
So, you would save $445.00 in one year on one cartridge alone, even with only a couple of boxes shot on only 5 range trips during the summer.

After 2 years of even limited shooting this one cartridge alone, it would pay for a very nice reloading tools setup.

As for large and expensive magnum rifle cartridges, it makes the difference between being able to afford to shoot them moderately, or to only shoot 20 factory rounds once in a while.

$118.00 a box of 20 rounds of factory .375 H&H, versus $35.00 for 20 rounds of reloads, even with premium Nosler 260 grain bullets from Cabela's.
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You are correct. Kind of.
In order to save money, one would assume that your shooting the same number of rounds of factory vs, reloads. In reality though, this isn't likely the case.

In my personal experience, I shoot far more 45 lc now that I reload them then I ever did before, have several hundred brass stored away and a hundreds of bullets waiting to be reloaded. It has cost me far more, even at a much lower cost per bang.

The only way to really save is to refrain from pulling the trigger.
 
heronfish said:
You are correct. Kind of.
In order to save money, one would assume that your shooting the same number of rounds of factory vs, reloads. In reality though, this isn't likely the case.

In my personal experience, I shoot far more 45 lc now that I reload them then I ever did before, have several hundred brass stored away and a hundreds of bullets waiting to be reloaded. It has cost me far more, even at a much lower cost per bang.

The only way to really save is to refrain from pulling the trigger.
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With respect, in my case, I am correct, not "kind of".
I was and am shooting the same number of factory rounds versus reloads.
I had no desire to shoot more (or less).
I just wanted it to cost less.
Your mileage may vary, as the saying goes.

And, I don't believe that I am alone.
Not everyone desires to be a high-volume shooter.

They just want it to cost less, as I do, and they know that it does cost them significantly less, even if they are a lower volume shooter.

I demonstrated this in my original posting.
 
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Lonesome Donkey said:
With respect, in my case, I am correct, not "kind of".
I was and am shooting the same number of factory rounds versus reloads.
I had no desire to shoot more (or less).
I just wanted it to cost less.
Your mileage may vary, as the saying goes.

And, I don't believe that I am alone.
Yes, for many, they simply shoot more, so they spend just as much money as they would on factory ammo.
But they are still saving money on a per box basis.

Instead of channeling the money into shooting more and more rounds of ammunition, which I had no desire to do, I channeled the savings into a better reloading system, over the years.
As well, I was able to spend the saved money on other things that I would otherwise have been forced to deny myself, in order not to exceed my discretionary spending budget.

So, I didn't have to refrain from pulling the trigger in order to save money, because I shot the same amount.

However, if you want to be picky, the money was not actually "saved" as in bank savings.
It was spent on other things.
But, that money went a lot further because of reloading.
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I can only use myself as reference.
For my hunting rifles, I now put far more bullets down my rifles just working up a powder charge than I used to go through in factory rounds. That doesn't include the multitude of different bullet options that have accumulated. I suspect many guys are the same, with a single 270 having 5 or 6 different boxes of bullets to try out.

Like my wife going clothes shopping, she doesn't save when a dress is on sale. Even at half off, it's still money out of pocket that wasn't otherwise spent. Reloading really isn't much different.
 
heronfish said:
I can only use myself as reference.
For my hunting rifles, I now put far more bullets down my rifles just working up a powder charge than I used to go through in factory rounds. That doesn't include the multitude of different bullet options that have accumulated. I suspect many guys are the same, with a single 270 having 5 or 6 different boxes of bullets to try out.

Like my wife going clothes shopping, she doesn't save when a dress is on sale. Even at half off, it's still money out of pocket that wasn't otherwise spent. Reloading really isn't much different.
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We are both right actually.

It depends on the individual.
 
I have a Pedersoli HW in 38-55 (6 grooves, 1-12 twist, 30" barrel). I had a custom mould made, 360 gr solid base (Paul Jones#2 elliptical design), bullets sized to .380". Gun shoots this bullet very nicely out to 500 yds.
 
Kevan said:
Thats about perfect for me.
I will stay in touch..
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Got my attention too as I typically shoot a 270gr TSX from my 375, that would likely make a beauty plinker/practice bullet. Admittedly I don't have a lot of experience loading cast bullets, what is the fastest that they should be driven at before leading in the barrel typically becomes an issue?
 
Kevan said:
Thats about perfect for me.
I will stay in touch..
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Picked up the bullets from my friend, 300 of. I've asked about the mould manufacturer and bullet number but they look very much like the Lyman #'s 375449 and 375296. Oh, they seem to be pretty hard, weigh in at 258.5grs and are gas checked.
 
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