Question for reloaders

[jrdudas]

I hope this is the correct forum for this question; if not please feel free to move it.

I am thinking of getting into reloading as a way to lower my cost of ammunition and to also save the hassle of constantly looking for the best deal available.   I am a beginner at reloading and I have no equipment so I would be starting from zero.  I am thinking that the a Lee single stage press kit that has everything but a reloading book, die set, and a brass measuring tool is the way for me to start. 

I have been pricing supplies online however, and there seems to be a shortage in several categories.  It looks like the prices for lead bullets, and brass cases are high.  For 500 bullets I found the price to be around $45, and for brass I found it to be about $146 for 1000 cases.  Primers are about $30 for 1000.  These prices make me wonder if it's worth the trouble of reloading to save money.  When I first started thinking about reloading (about 3 years ago) the general opinion amongst reloader's was that their cost was about .05 cents a round after paying for their equipment.  If my math is correct, the prices I have found today work out to about .26 cents a round without counting the cost of powder.  I bought some reloads at a gun show yesterday for .28 cents per round, and I didn't have any start-up costs or labor.

Is there something wrong with my estimate; what do those of you who reload think.  I think I would enjoy reloading, but I would like to think that it would also be a savings.

Thanks for your thoughts,  JR
     

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Unfortunately, you have chosen a bad time to start reloading. The spike in gun sales right after the presidential election also caused a shortage of ammunition. All those new gun owners needed something to put in their new guns, and it was like a run on the bank. Hording started happening and it has been extremely difficult to find ammo in some places for months now.

So a lot of folks started thinking just like you and decided to get into reloading. Between new folks getting into reloading, and hording by experienced reloaders, supplies have been difficult to find and prices have shot up.

If you can find primers for $30, grab them. That is a great price today. The best price I have seen on Winchester shotgun and pistol primers recently is $35/1000. One guy was charging $40. And nobody had large or small pistol primers, only rifle primers. Even at these high prices you will still be doing better than buying commercially loaded ammo, because the prices on ammo have shot up too. I used to like to buy 100 packs of Winchester white box 45ACP at Walmart for around $20 a box. Walmart has not had any for months, and a couple of weeks ago I found a guy that was getting $45 for the same box of ammo.

So go ahead and get started, things will probably not get much better.

The Lee is a good choice, but before you spend one red cent on equipment or components, buy a good manual and read the section describing the reloading process. It will answer a lot of your questions and prevent some expensive mistakes.

The Lee book is good. So is Lyman and Speer. I taught myself to reload out of the Lyman Pistol and Revolver Handbook.

[Adirondack Jack]

Divide the brass cost by at least ten.  You'll likely get that many uses out of it.

[Jefro]

Howdy jrdudas, once you get into it the savings will be sustantial. The cost of brass will dwindle to near nothing, I have .38 brass that's been reloaded  50 to 100 times.  Richard Lee's "Modern Reloading" is a great starting point, also Lymans 49th Metalic Reloading. IMHO the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit is a great inexpensive press to start with, it can be used as a single stage or turret. I still use mine to work up different loads. Kempf's sells the complete kit as well as a tumbler kit to clean the brass.. The Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure and Large/Small prime system is a must upgrade to the Classic kit, $22 at bottom of page. You will also need a scale. My cost for reloading .38 is about $5 a box of 50. There's a ton of great info here at CAS City, try the "search" feature for specifics. Good Luck.
http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp
Richard lee/Lyman
Lee Classic Turret Press Kit
Tumbler

Jefro

[Johnny McCrae]

I reload five different cartridges on a Lee Classic Turret Press. I bought a separate turret for each cartridge. Setup is accomplished very quickly by just changing turrets.

I have some .38 special brass that has been reloaded at least 25 times and it still looks good as new after tumbling.

[Curley Cole]

I started loading about in 1970 I have used a lee turret press since about 1981. Still use it on everything from 380 to 45acp. Here is a cool little cost calculator to figger your loading costs. I load 38 for about $3.50/50 and 45 for about $4.50/50. Buy in bulk if you can and save some more money. Me and my pards buy powder in 8lb cans and split it.

http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

good shootin

curley

[kurt250]

go ahead and get started. because of the fallowing- 1) were still not out of the wood until the commiecrats are purged from both houses of congress, that will start in 2010. 2) as you reload you will learn more about it and will learn were and how to cut your costs. 3) what ever it costs now, it will only cost more later. and 4)you will not be at the mercy of government- eather state, fed, or local for shooting supplies. when you travel if you should go past agun store in another state you can buy up some primers, powder, bullets. i get alot of supplies here in idaho for my friends in commifornia. i love to help them get ammo and reloading supplies because the losers in commifrnia government have laws , that say you can't.gotzguns