Re: Do you reload???

[philw]

yep  I reload 


reload for the .303  so far   

I have the dies for the 9mm  just need to get all the extra gear

I will be also loading for the ,357 when I get that

I also cast lead balls for the .44  cap and ball   and am on the look out for some moulds for the 303, 9mm and the .357
no doubt I will load for more firearms as I get them

as others  I load as it add's that extra to the sport and i enjoy it.   I also do it  not to save $$$ but to shoot more for the same I spend.


MH  I have dreams about shooting 20k per year or more     

[billt]

I started reloading on my kitchen table in 1972 with a Lee Loader in .30-30 and a plastic mallet. I'm still at it 38 years later, more so now than ever. I still have all of my original Lee Loaders. I believe they cost around $9.95 each back then. When Melanie and I were  doing a lot of  ATA Trapshooting back in the 90's, we were reloading as much as 1,000 rounds of 12 Ga. a week. Sadly, many of the Trap ranges we used to shoot at are now closed due to building encroachment. The most painful was the Phoenix Trap & Skeet Club that was just 3 miles from my house. They hosted the Spring Grand, the second largest Trap Shoot in the world at the time. My Trap guns don't get used anywhere near as much now as they did then.

Since then I've gotten more into military style "Black Rifles", along with auto pistols, and they have opened up a whole new avenue of shooting for both of us. Because we've expanded our shooting hobby so much, the reloading aspect of it has grown proportionately as well.  Bill T.

[ellis4538]

Phil, I have been reloading for 25+ years.  I started with a single stage RCBS press and graduated to a Dillon 450 when they first came out.  When the 550 Dillon came out they produced a unit to convert their 450 to 550 so I upgraded.  I never have kept track of hom many rounds I have reloaded/shot but the component cost would probably pay for a nice house!  LOL  Sitting at the press (computer also) is a chore because of back problems - the Dr. says I don't have so I limit that.  I reload .45 ACP, .38/.357, .380, 9mm, .38 Super and .40 S&W soon.  Have reloaded .44 Spl./Mag., .45 Colt and 30.06.

Richard

[Pathfinder]

I want to reload. FQ - again, surprise? - misses the point. It is not just a hobby, or a way to save money. It is a life-assuring skill. And in that regard I want to learn it and do my own ammo.

Truth is, I don't shoot that much, nowhere near as much as I want to. Either I work full time with commute time (30 minutes) thrown in for good measure, or was unemployed and had to conserve cash - either way it limits shooting. Plus the ranges (rifle) are 10+ miles away from my house. The pistol range is actually on the way home, but we are still working out the volunteer schedules and it isn't open when I leave work, unless I am late. The days of shooting from my porch evaporated when I sold the ranch and moved into this little town.

All that said, I do have a Dillon 550B with dies for:
.38 Special / .357 Magnum
9mm
.45 Colt
6.8 REM SPC
.308

I picked up the Dillon and first 2 dies from a local dealer in Bismarck - it belonged to the Bismarck PD pistol team that fell apart, so they unloaded the reloader and dies.It does have a low powder sensor, and all in, I picked it up for $300.

I've never used them, though, and I suspect I am missing parts. They are in a box, waiting for space to open up here. I do have a lot of components, picked up in various sales or just because they were available (like 6.8 brass!!  ), so I am almost ready to rock and roll as soon as I get the space issues here resolved.

[Walter45Auto]

No. Because I live with 2 Smokers, one of whom is too stupid to where he'd go into a room full of gun powder with a lit cigarette.

If I did reload, I'd reload .223, .45 ACP, and .357 Mag. Oh, and .45-70 of course. Oh, and I'd probably reload .380, and .45 Colt too.

[Sponsor]

[alfsauve]

Like BillT I started in 1970's with a Lee hand loader and a plastic mallet.  After my first 100 rounds of 38spl, I bought a Herter's single stage press, that I still have.   Have added another press and many dies.

.38spl/.357mag/.357max
.44spl/.44mag
.40S&W
.45ACP
.223
.338Fed

Like others said, several of my guns have never seen factory ammo.

If there's one accessory I would really want it would be some more Flambeau 60rd reloading trays!   They only made one run of them.  I have 4 but would love to have 6 more.  Wrote the company and they replied that someday they may make another run.

[billt]

If there's one accessory I would really want it would be some more Flambeau 60rd reloading trays!   They only made one run of them.  I have 4 but would love to have 6 more.  Wrote the company and they replied that someday they may make another run.

Are you talking about the yellow ones that work like an "inverted checkerboard", small cases on one side, and larger, belted magnums on the other? I've had one of those for 35+ years. On one end it has a plastic, molded in large tab to help hold it that has a hole in it so you can hang it up on a hook. I also have one of their clear, yellow, plastic, powder funnels. I works great on everything from .223 up to .460 Weatherby. I haven't seen either in years.  Bill T.

[alfsauve]

Are you talking about the yellow ones that work like an "inverted checkerboard", small cases on one side, and larger, belted magnums on the other?

Yep those are the ones, Bill.   Flambeau makes a lot of plastic products for hunting and fishing but they only made a limited run of those. 

I really like the fact that they hold 60 rounds.    Every now and then I check GunBroker to see if anyone is selling them.   I also check the "bargin" bins of older gun stores just in case.

[billt]

I'm surprised by the whole "limited run" thing. It's not as if it's a collector plate or something. As a mold maker looking at the unit, I can see where a plastic mold to produce it would cost many thousands of dollars. I'm surprised they can afford not to run it. Usually products like that, (low cost high volume), have to be made and sold by the millions to be able to produce any kind of profit margin. A lot of the exercise contraptions, along with all of the Ron Popeil infomercial crap, falls into this type of category.   Bill T.

[jaybet]

I started reloading a little over a year ago because I'd drive for hours all over the closest counties and come home with two boxes of .38 for my wife to shoot. I now load .38, 9mm, and .45 acp with a Lee turret press. The equipment new cost me around $250 total. NOT including that but including all the supplies (except for brass- I scrounge that) I'm averaging #9.50 a box. That's about what 9mm is going for if you can find it, but 45 is at least double that if not 2.5 times, so it's saving me money.
The best thing, though, is that I have ammo when I want it and I don't have to go searching for it.