How many here roll your own?

[AllenM]

I am curious how many ppl here reload your own ammo?
Anybody on westside of Indy? I do just a few calibers .308, .223,
6.5 grendel, 6mmar turbo, 30.06, .45 I have a lot of experiance with 300 whisper as well. I will probably will be adding 9mm soon. l am trying to talk my wife into nice little 9mm 1911 kimber.
I would love to see photos of your setups, here's my humble arriagnment (I should have cleaned up a little better)

 

[Scutter01]

"We've replaced AllenM's powder with Folgers Crystals. Let's see if he notices..."

 

[AllenM]

Probably should make it decaf

 

[TJS]

Reloading

Hi Allen. I am seriously considering getting into reloading, since I got my AR. Doesn't take long to feed 100 rounds through it with 30 round mags. My son is about to build his own AR also. What does it cost to get a setup like yours? I think the progressive press would be the way to go. How long does it take to pay for itself ? If you use $ 8.50 for 20 rounds of store bought ammo, what kind of savings are you experiencing? Sorry for all the questions , but thanks for your help, Tom

 

[strongcrow]

I roll my own ammo. I currently load .45 ACP. 40 S&W. 9MM, 38Spl/357Mag. Soon to add .223 and .30-.30Winchester.

 

[Disposable Heart]

I roll my own, but I dont have a fancy set up. I use a Lee hand press on a card table. I rent a room, so I have to keep things orderly . But, I check every round (instead of letting a progressive let me get carried away) and never had a missfire (outside of my first month back to reloading ). I do wish I had a progressive. 2-3 boxes an hour? Ill take it!

 

[AllenM]

I started out with just the single stage press on the right and learned how to reload rifle on that before getting the progressive.
I think that was a good thing for me.
But when I starting shooting alot of pistol progressive is the way to go. I have only looaded pistol on it so far but am getting ready to do 223 in about two weeks.
It does rifle a bit differant than it works with straight wall pistol case and there are differant proceedures you have to do to lube and prep the cases.
But cost to do my first caliber on the progressive was about $600.00 all said and done, but I can load 1000 rds in a afternoon so it is worth it.
I have about 1500 pieces of 223 brass I am getting ready to learn on I will have more info on rifle loading on it after that.
Anybody that can offer suggestions about rifle loading on Progressive I would be glad to hear it.

 

[Disposable Heart]

Shucks, all I know is the single stage. I load lots of .223 though!

 

[jimbo-indy]

I use a Lee single stage and a Dillon 550. Current dies on hand:
.380, 9 mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, 38 Spl, 357 mag, 357 Maximum, 44 mag., 7.62 X 25, 9 mm Makarov and 45-70. Soon to come as the budget allows: 223 and 7.65 X 54R. Maybe 303 British too. I'll try to get some pictures.

 

[AllenM]

cool sounds like there is a lot of knowledge on this board to share

 

[Scutter01]

I wouldn't mind getting into reloading. Frankly, it sounds tedious and not much fun, but at ~30 cents/round for .223, it's too expensive to shoot very often.

 

[obijohn]

it is very important to learn each and every step of the reloading process. therefore, i think that a beginner is better served by a good quality single stage press. this will force you to think through and carefully observe each step. this can be difficult on a progressive. the single stage will still be useful after you upgrade to a progressive for load development and small runs. jmho, but seems to work.

 

[Scutter01]

it is very important to learn each and every step of the reloading process. therefore, i think that a beginner is better served by a good quality single stage press. this will force you to think through and carefully observe each step. this can be difficult on a progressive. the single stage will still be useful after you upgrade to a progressive for load development and small runs. jmho, but seems to work.

Makes sense. I just have a hard time eating a $500-$600 entry fee. That's like 2000 rounds of .223! :rolleyesedit:

 

[Pitmaster]

Kempf Gun Shop in Michigan City has a good deal on his Lee Classic Turret package. Probably the best overall deal around and a great way to get started. I've got one and am happy with it. I will be upgrading to a Dillon for quantity later this year.

 

[Scutter01]

Kempf Gun Shop in Michigan City has a good deal on his Lee Classic Turret package. Probably the best overall deal around and a great way to get started. I've got one and am happy with it. I will be upgrading to a Dillon for quantity later this year.

Wonder if I can get an airsoft conversion kit for my AR. Those plastic BB's are crazy cheap!

 

[AllenM]

I have heard good things about the Lee turet package. Only I heard them after buying my Hornady

 

[Farmritch]

I wrote a beautiful piece today on this subject and my air card signed me out and I lost it all , I'll try to catch the thought again
The best time to start reloading was 5 years ago ( as with every other thing)
Prices have jumped 2 or 3 times for... powder,bullets,brass and primers
in the last few years

I've reloaded for years , first only stright wall pistol cases then bottleneck rifle cases

There are a few points I'd like to hit on

Start out on a single stage press, I got my first 3 presses for FREE
( rock chucker RCBS junior and a Lyman turret model
Ask around at work,play or even family there are tons of un used presses out there and some will pass them along for free or very little , a used press is usually very cheap. check E bay also

I like Carbide dies and bought all my die sets new so I knew what I was starting with


At least 1 very good reloading book more is better
You will need a good scale and check weights
For bottleneck cases you will need a case trimmer also
A very good powder measure
Dial calipers
Also you will need a Chronograph it's the only way to check your loads so you can keep them consistant, also we have no way to accurately read pressures so it really is important any to match sppeds with published data.

The BIG THING is to BE SAFE you ARE messing with dynomite!!
Learn all you can... get all the good information and help you can
If you have A.D.D. reloading may not be for you.
A double charge can KILL you , a squib load if you don't pay attention and reload your weapon can KILL you if you try another round.
It requires the ut most attention to detail

I used to buy my handgun bullets from Star in Indy he went out of business last summer and all his equipment went to south America .
He could not compete with the raw materials going up almost every other day for a while, he was the last reasonable seller of bullets I know or knew of.
Primers are and have been very hard to buy and the price has gone up 30% in the last 9 months
Some powders are on backorder and will be for a while

Here is the run down for my last loading of .223
I have reloaded for approx .30 cents per round

Brass .07 - .09 cents per when buying from scharch ( military w/crimp removed & resized & trimed )
Bullets .17 - .25 cents
Primers .02 - .03 ea
Powder ( 7000 grains per pound ) 25.5 grains .07

This comes to .26 to .44 cents per round depending

Compare that to factory loads and it's about 45% to 60% less depending

This is not taking into account of the equipment purchase I have almost 1000 dollars tied up in my Dillon 550 ( which I do love )
with change kits for different calibers etc.
So the question will I ever brake even? maybe
Does it matter? obviuosly not
I am saving quite a bit as most of my componets were bought before the price really went up.
All indications tell me it will get much worse rather than much better

As the TSC commercial says there is no such thing as a free puppy

 

[kludge]

I started about 15 years ago with a Lee Anniversary Kit... and I don't think it costs any more now than it did then. Add dies, powder primers, a good loading manual, and you're in the game for ~$175.

I started with .40S&W and .308. I now have dies for 7.62x39, .45 Colt/.454 Casull, .38 SPL/.357 Mag, and 9mm.

A couple years ago I picked up a slightly used Lee turret press, but I still do everything single stage, I just like the fact that I can leave the dies set and pop them in and out.

I'm not a reloading guru by any stretch of the imagination. I save a lot more on rifle rounds than on pistol rounds, I also save a lot on handgun hunting ammo (.454 and .357).

Next I'll add .223/5.56 and .30 Carbine.

 

[campbellrex]

the only things i buy is primers & powder i pour all my own lead rex

 

[strongcrow]

OK guys, The other thread post kinda petered out around a group buy of components. I am looking to purchase primers and powder (probably from Powder Valley). I want to wait until after the next 1500, to check prices, but I'm looking to purchase 15,000 primers and 8 to 12 pounds of powder for myself. Anybody want to go in to lower the shipping and hazmat charges?