Discuss handloading, reloading and presses here.
 #91753  by Taurus247
 
Ok so im looking at maybe starting to get into reloading. My question is, is it worth it? I want to build up my ammo stash for a rainy day or anything else... But dont have tons of money to spend on either ordering a bulk amount online or keep driving up to Vipers and buying him out. With that in mind is it worth reloading or just buying what I can when I can?
 #91754  by SasquatchAF
 
Although I dont reload myself yet, I will say it is absolutely worth it. As long as you can get the components without the panic pricing over the last year, its a great investment. I was going to set up my reloading operation when I got back from my deployment, but it was pointless to start it during the craze.

The biggest cost is your start up to buy all the equipment, dies, components, etc to get the operation rolling. One thing you dont want to do is skimp on the equipment. But a good press and be done with it. But once you have everything and you only have to replace components, the price is fantastic! Plus its a good rainy day hobby to kick back and relax and enjoy some "man cave" time.

Not to mention if you want to get into some oddball calibers, or even some like 300 Blackout, it can be immensely cheaper to reload; plus you can tailor your loads to what you want to do with it. A lot of long range shooting folks only reload so they can make custom loads without having to pay out the a** for match ammo that still may not be the best suited for what you do.
 #91761  by stephpd
 
As far as the consumable pieces verses store bought ammo , yeah you can see the savings. With the costs of non consumables not so much. There is lots of equipment that goes into making good ammo. Some very much needed, others are helpful. Like any hobby you can spend as much or as little as you want.

For a low budget you could get the Lee Anniversary kit, a set of dies and start reloading for under $150. The other extreme would be the Dillon 1050 with all the attachments for over $1800. Both can make equally good ammo, the latter just doing it faster.

Items like brass tumblers not 'needed' for handgun loads but they do make for better looking ammo. Case trimmers not required for handguns but are for necked down rifle ammo. A dial indicator is very much needed if you get into making rifle ammo. And a good scale for measuring powder weight is essential.

Biggest advantage to hand loading is tailoring the ammo to the firearm. Using the same powder but changing the amount used can help with making a fairly accurate firearm into a much more accurate firearm. It's referred to as working up a load. Compared to stock ammo which may not be as accurate. Functional, yes, but not always the most accurate.

Reloading also allows for making ammo for different purpose, like light loads for plinking.

As an example I'm working on a few different loads for .223. By changing the bullet weight, and materials, I can make something similar to M193, M855, Mk 262, Varmint rounds, hollow point, etc. Some of these hard to ever find on any shelf. And each load worked up to perform best in my rifle.
 #91763  by Owen
 
I bought a Dillon 550B with a single caliber conversion and have since added more. Depending on the volume you buy components in you can save a lot and like was said it gives you control over the load. Personally I like heavy slower loads in 40 but lighter in 9mm. I make target loads though not for self defense. I've heard that self defense reloads are a bad idea if you ever got to court. But for fun factor it has definitely become a hobby right along side shooting. So much so that I buy the dies etc for each caliber I own. Well, not 22 (yet). ;) You do need to get a good powder scale and the calipers as mentioned. I was told by Paul from K&D to get a 1" micrometer to check case necks and it has come in handy.

In my opinion reloading is akin to cooking from scratch. The quality can be there and the pride in making it yourself are both great. It does have potential dangers though so do your homework before you dive in. If you know someone else who reloads see if they'll let you watch to get a feel for if it is for you. It definitely is not for rushing but more of a craftsmanship/tinkerer type of thing.
 #91764  by myopicvisionary
 
Absolutely worth it! My Dillon 550 has been in steady use since it was first on the market. I am currently reloading 230gr. RNL .45ACP for $6.00 a box of fifty. The bigger the brass, the better the savings. My 55gr FMJ 5.56mm loads are around $5.00 a box of twenty. And 150gr FMJ 7.62mm goes around $8.00 a box of twenty.
 #91771  by stephpd
 
And then there's also the side side hobby of casting boolits.
Learning about some basic metallurgy, finding sources of lead, quench hardening and being able to push lead to over 2000fps.

Because here too, once you get some basic equipment, you can save even more money when reloading.

Lots of good info here;
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/
 #91772  by phlydude
 
Between progressive press, scale/trickler combo, dies, extra parts, tumbler, etc it is a $1000+ investment for good quality items (buy once, cry once)
For .40S&W:
Bullets are approx $50 for 500 (jacketed)
Powder is anywhere from $18-25 per pound (7000gr in a pound - .40S&W reloading will get you ~1000 rounds depending on the powder and the charge)
Once fired brass is about $50/1000 cleaned and processed
Primers are $30/1000 on sale

So to make 1000 .40S&W rounds, it costs you about $205
1000 rounds in retail are about $350-400

You don't break even right away but eventually you will recoup your investment if you reload enough. If you ever decide to sell your equipment later on, you get most of your money back if you kept it in good shape.

Dillon will keep its value the best because of the blue cult following (and their no BS warranty doesn't hurt)
RCBS, Hornady and Redding next
Lyman
and finally Lee...not a knock on Lee but it is lower priced to begin with and some of their set-ups are built like they were bubba-gineered to keep the costs low.
Last edited by phlydude on Sat Oct 19, 2013 10:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #91780  by viper98
 
agreed...Dillon is the way to go....A little more upfront but you will thank yourself later on....a 550 or even better a 650 is the way to go.....
 #91782  by phlydude
 
And I just couldn't justify the cost of the Dillon...so I went Hornady. They also have a lifetime warranty and their bushing system is slick. We'll see long term if I regret it but so far, so good
 #91784  by stephpd
 
viper98 wrote:agreed...Dillon is the way to go....A little more upfront but you will thank yourself later on....a 550 or even better a 650 is the way to go.....
Dillon is the king of the heap. The 550 probably their best seller. It's what all the others aspire to be.

I went with the Hornady LnL AP. Similar to the Dillon 650 in that it automatically indexes the case with each pull of the handle. Best thing when I ordered it was the 'get loaded' rebate. At the time it was 1000 bullets. Now it's 500 bullets. So, for about $300 I got the press and 1000 jhp .45 acp. (with a retail value of ~ $200). I shopped around to find the place with the best price and saved $50 off the MSRP and they included free shipping too. (another ~ $50)

So I ended up with a fine press for ~ $100 if you include the price of purchasing the 1000 .45's. Or the press and bullets for $300 (and a retail value of $600.)

It's worked very well for me so far with one minor glitch that Hornady fixed at no cost. Just called them up and they sent free replacement parts. I've probably reloaded 15,000 rounds in the last 5 years.

I haven't gone with all the accessories like the case or bullet feeders. Ergonomically I feel the Hornady is better then the Dillon in that one hand stays on the handle while the other hand is used to manually hand feed both the case and bullet. With the Dillon you feed the cases with your right hand, bullets with the left hand. So the right hand comes off the handle each time. Left hand also does the indexing.(with the 550)


But as I said, even with something like the Lee single stage you can make ammo just as well as with any progressive press. It just takes longer.

And with my progressive press I still don't do all the steps all at once for rifle cartridges. With military brass and the need to remove the primer crimp I break it down into more manageable stages. First would be tumbling, Then depriming and sizing. [Then removing the crimp, trimming and deburring. This being the most time consuming, but needed. None of this do I use the press but a Lyman case trimmer and Lyman case prep multi tool.] Finally the actual progressive parts with priming, powder drop, seating and crimping all at the same time at the different stations of the press.

There's also the OCD part of me that sorts the cases by head stamp as well as weight. Bullets also sorted by weight. Thus making batches of ammo as near identical as I possibly can.

By contrast, when reloading brass for a handgun it's all done on the press and all at once in the many different stages of the progressive press. You can knock out quite a bit in a very short time. I'd hate to think of the amount of time to do the 5000 rounds each of .45 and 9mm I did if I were to all that on a single stage press.

But even with handgun ammo I still sort by head stamp and weight. Same for bullet weight, especially with cast boolits. But even with factory bullets there's a range of weights, though they claim a certain weight. Nice thing about cast boollits and weight is the ones really off are just tossed back into the melting pot.