Whats up with this? (gun owners)

[Aquila]

Whats up with this..

I went to go buy some bullets for my pistol and they cost $2.00 more a box.. and thats at 4 different gun shops

Did they implement some new tax Im not aware of, or has .44mag rounds suddenly become rare.

for that matter ALL the ammunition seemed to have jumped in price.

I buy Federal rounds, but Gold Dot and PMC werent any cheaper.

God damn liberals taxing everything.

 

[Guest]

 

[ma_guy]

Whats up with this..

I went to go buy some bullets for my pistol and they cost like $2.00 more a box.. and thats at like 4 different gun shops

Did they implement some new tax Im not aware of, or has .44mag rounds suddenly become rare.

for that matter ALL the ammunition seemed to have jumped in price.

I buy Federal rounds, but Gold Dot and PMC werent any cheaper.

God damn liberals taxing everything.

Ya gotta handload your own. It's the only way to go.

 

[fgarvb1]

I don't know.

In my part of the world hunting season is just around the corner, so a price increase is normal.

As a matter of fact i switched to high quality reloads some time ago.

For my 5.56mm/.223 i use ultramax as they can reload them cheaper than i can. I found that they do a reload a person can depend on from box to box with out resetting my scope.

I buy my .380 ammo from a place that has a range and sales many boxes per month or from an reloader here in town.

Now, i still have my reloading equipment and if i had a large caliber hand gun or rifle i would reload my own because i am cheap bastard who likes to hit what he shoots at.

Note: As with all reloaded ammo take a close look at it before you use it.

 

[Aquila]

Re: Re: Whats up with this? (gun owners)

Ya gotta handload your own. It's the only way to go.

Ive never done this, is it difficult and what tools do I need to buy?

 

[Aquila]

I don't know.

In my part of the world hunting season is just around the corner, so a price increase is normal.

As a matter of fact i switched to high quality reloads some time ago.

For my 5.56mm/.223 i use ultramax as they can reload them cheaper than i can. I found that they do a reload a person can depend on from box to box with out resetting my scope.

I buy my .380 ammo from a place that has a range and sales many boxes per month or from an reloader here in town.

Now, i still have my reloading equipment and if i had a large caliber hand gun or rifle i would reload my own because i am cheap bastard who likes to hit what he shoots at.

Note: As with all reloaded ammo take a close look at it before you use it.

I don't own a rifle.. because
Actually my aim with a rifle SUCKS. I can hit damn near anything with "High-Expert" precision every time, with a rifle.. lets just say Id never be a competition shooter... ever.
So im not too certain about buying rifle rounds, Im pretty sure the rounds I use don't come in predone reloads though.

 

[ma_guy]

Re: Re: Re: Whats up with this? (gun owners)

Ive never done this, is it difficult and what tools do I need to buy?

It really depends on how much you shoot. If you are only going through a few boxes a month then all you'd need is a single stage press ($80), a tumbler ($50) a micrometer ($30) a scale ($60) and a set of dies for each caliber you shoot ($20-$25 each).

You can find a lot of those used on E-bay and in a lot of gun shops. If you know someone that reloads talk to them and see if they'll let you use their gear (beer bribes work well...). All you'd need then is any dies that they don't already have.

I'm going to load up a few thousand rounds in the garage this weekend.

 

[Aquila]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Whats up with this? (gun owners)

It really depends on how much you shoot. If you are only going through a few boxes a month then all you'd need is a single stage press ($80), a tumbler ($50) a micrometer ($30) a scale ($60) and a set of dies for each caliber you shoot ($20-$25 each).

You can find a lot of those used on E-bay and in a lot of gun shops. If you know someone that reloads talk to them and see if they'll let you use their gear (beer bribes work well...). All you'd need then is any dies that they don't already have.

I'm going to load up a few thousand rounds in the garage this weekend.

I try to go through 500 rounds a month. which is hell with a high caliber pistol, (and expensive, ESPECIALLY with this price up)

 

[ma_guy]

500 rounds a month would be as much as I'd do with a single stage. That's probably 4 hours of doing nothing but making ammo every month.

I have a Dillion Progressive loader and can crank out 500 rounds in a hour on a good day. An Hour and a half on most any day. I usually shoot 5000-6000 rounds a month (I shoot both IPSC and IDPA) so reloading is a "have to do". I've managed to collect 2 40 gal garbage cans full of empty 40 S&W brass and another full of .38 Super. Once I get going I try to load a full can's worth.

If you are buying factory ammo now you might consider finding a custom reloading shop and by reloads from them to match the factory specs of whatever your using now. The cost would still be 70% of what your paying now. You'd have to mail them back your empty brass but...

 

[Aquila]

500 rounds a month would be as much as I'd do with a single stage. That's probably 4 hours of doing nothing but making ammo every month.

I have a Dillion Progressive loader and can crank out 500 rounds in a hour on a good day. An Hour and a half on most any day. I usually shoot 5000-6000 rounds a month (I shoot both IPSC and IDPA) so reloading is a "have to do". I've managed to collect 2 40 gal garbage cans full of empty 40 S&W brass and another full of .38 Super. Once I get going I try to load a full can's worth.

If you are buying factory ammo now you might consider finding a custom reloading shop and by reloads from them to match the factory specs of whatever your using now. The cost would still be 70% of what your paying now. You'd have to mail them back your empty brass but...

I wish I could do 100 rounds a day but I don't have time to go to the range that much. 500 keeps my skill level where Im happy with it. Id like to competition shoot for pistol, but I don't know where to sign up for that.

I have.. (all pistols)
Colt 1911 (antique I no longer fire this one)
Mark XIX Desert (.44mag variety.. my baby)
Smith And Wesson 4003TSW (.40 S&W)
S&W 610 10mm

Ive never bought anything else but Federal and S&W rounds, and I have more brass than I know what to do with (Yeah im one of those nice people that polices up his brass at the open range.. go figure)

how much for these types of rounds?

 

[ma_guy]

I'll have to dig up the URL for a custom shop I used out of Bangor, Maine. I haven't used him in a while but the last time I bought 40 S&W loaded to federal Premium Specs they were $14/box. The only cavet is that you have to buy in bulk. He won't setup for 500 rounds. His minimum used to be 1000.

He can load pretty much anything so you could order all of your stuff through him. You can customize what you want to. If you have a specific bullet you want or preferred powder he'll do that too.

 

[Weird Harold]

re: handloading

Ive never done this, is it difficult and what tools do I need to buy?

Check your local library for Hogdon Data Manual. Nosler Reloading Guide (i have HDM No. 26 and NRG No. Four, but any edition will have the "getting started" and "reloading procedures" sections.)

Speer and Sierra also have reloading manuals that should have info for the beginner in them, but I don't have their manuals, soI can't recommend them from personal experience.

For some idea of the cost of getting started see: A search on "reloading" at Ceballa's

A starter set from RCBS is $260 but doesn't include the dies for your specific guns.

Getting set up is a bit spendy, and the RCBS "Rock Chucker" is going to take you at least one weekend a month to support your level of shooting. Still, it's going to pay for itself fairly quickly -- I can load 500 .357 Mag. for the price of about one box of factory ammo or about one-tenth the cost (not counting my time.)

If you have a friend with a reloading setup, ask him to teach you reloading to see if it's worth your time and trouble.

 

[Ishmael]

What Ma-Guy said.

For pistol and shotgun I use a progressive reloader and have found the Dillon equipment to be good values.

For rifle I still use a single-stage press. An old RCBS "Rock Chucker". The things that I might add to the list are a case trimmer, an 80 deg. reamer, and a propane torch to re-anneal the cases from time to time.

I shoot .45 exclusively in pistol, so I also cast my own bullets for most shooting. Casting kits are fairly cheap except for the 'lead pot'. I have one now, but survived for years with a coleman stove and an old hand pot. My "formula" for the bullets is 5 lb's lead, 1 lb wheel weights, and 1 pound 50/50 bar solder.

Good shooting.

Ishmael