Penny wise reloads

[2 Dogs]

While I find myself in a good place as far as reloading supplies go I think with the current price of components I’m going to modify my normal reloading routine. I think I’m going to put up some 38-44 ish loads for my .357’s on plain base cast slugs for example. I found and recently bought a 8 pounder of Red Dot powder. As you know it’s a very useful and versatile powder for a wide variety of cartridges. I’m also sitting on a quantity of H4227 which I think will work well for 38-44ish loads as well. I have a good supply of Unique and am looking at our 44 Terminator cast slug for the 44 Special and Magnum sixguns. I also have quite a few already cast up heavy for caliber 44 slugs I think will be plenty powerful on say 10 grains of Unique in the 44 Magnum. I have a bunch of 45 AR brass that needs a job. I might take a page out of Huey’s book and have an extra cylinder fitted up to a Blackhawk. One of my Dillons is set up for 45AR and I’m on the search for a good load for my Mountain Gun. I haven’t decided what I’m yet going to do with my 32/327s or my 454s. I’m wondering if you guys think cost conscious ammunition might be a good discussion topic.

[weiler]

I’ve been putting some work into the labor side of my handloading costs, bigger casting pot, 4-6 cavity molds for 45 colt, 44 mag/special and the new 9mm. My time is worth a lot less $ wise when Im not in the office but my dear wife needs a break from 2 and 5 year old ….so a Hornady progressive is getting here monday….because of the children 😉

9mm luger im going with the Lee 125R-356, powdercoated and sized .357 over 4.3/W231. Alloy (#6 magnum shot) has been running $2/pound, primers locally are around 10c a pop but are finally available. Thats working out to around 16c a pop and seems to shoot darn good.

cast up and coated 20 pounds of MP’s 503 Keith copy. I think my little 4” 629 wants a .432” bullet so a lee sizer is getting honed out. Seating those over 5.5-6.0 grains W231 in special brass or deep seated in mag brass (thx David Bradshaw for the load)…bout 20c each for those.

[contender]

Like you 2 dogs,, I've been studying my various reloading stuff with an eye towards being cost conscious.

I also look at things a bit differently. I USED to try & keep all my brass loaded up. But,, I've aged, and decided to change my thinking several years ago. If I were suddenly gone,, my wife & kids would be left with a lot of ammo that couldn't be sold. Components can be sold. So,, I clean, mark & store brass instead of loading it now. I keep a good rotation of powders & primers,, but I also look at what I'm shooting or testing. Luckily,, my stock of components isn't too bad,, (wishing I had more of 4227) but otherwise pretty good. I burned a lot of 4227 prepping for an elk hunt 2 years in a row and used a lot of it in over 6500 rounds of .45 Colt.

But I've shelved other projects awaiting to see if the current primer cost craze & lack of many powders will ease up somewhat.

Weiler,, many use the Hornady progressives,, but most of the owners of them I've encountered over the years find the Dillons to be more user friendly,, and wish they'd bought a Dillon. Good luck with your Hornady!

[45MAN]

COST AND AVAILABILITY OF RELOADING COMPONENTS IS ALWAYS IN THE BACK OF MIND THESE DAYS. THE 32 MAG AND 327 MAG ARE EASY TO RELOAD, CAST BULLETS ARE REASONABLY PRICED AND YOU CAN LOAD A LOT OF ROUNDS WITH SMALL CHARGES OF UNIQUE AND LONGSHOT. MY HOT 327 LOAD USES ONLY 7grs OF LONGSHOT AND A 100gr XTP FOR 1,550fps OUT'a A 5.5" MODEL 97. FROM THERE I JUMP TO 45 COLT, WHERE YOU CAN USE UNIQUE AND GET A LOT OF LOADING DONE. GOING HOT IN THE 45 COLT AND I WILL BE USING H110/296 AND OR N110 AT DOUBLE THE grs + OF MY TYPICAL UNIQUE LOADS, THESE LATTER I KILL WITH, DON'T DO MUCH PLINKING WITH. I HAVE ALSO INCREASED MY USE OF 22lr's/DECREASDED MY USE OF CENTERFIRES FOR JUST FUN SHOOTING.

[taffin]

Mar 19, 2023 7:35:40 GMT -5 2 Dogs said:

While I find myself in a good place as far as reloading supplies go I think with the current price of components I’m going to modify my normal reloading routine. I think I’m going to put up some 38-44 ish loads for my .357’s on plain base cast slugs for example. I found and recently bought a 8 pounder of Red Dot powder. As you know it’s a very useful and versatile powder for a wide variety of cartridges. I’m also sitting on a quantity of H4227 which I think will work well for 38-44ish loads as well. I have a good supply of Unique and am looking at our 44 Terminator cast slug for the 44 Special and Magnum sixguns. I also have quite a few already cast up heavy for caliber 44 slugs I think will be plenty powerful on say 10 grains of Unique in the 44 Magnum. I have a bunch of 45 AR brass that needs a job. I might take a page out of Huey’s book and have an extra cylinder fitted up to a Blackhawk. One of my Dillons is set up for 45AR and I’m on the search for a good load for my Mountain Gun. I haven’t decided what I’m yet going to do with my 32/327s or my 454s. I’m wondering if you guys think cost conscious ammunition might be a good discussion topic.

RED DOT AND #4227 ARE TWO FAVORITES

[2 Dogs]

Mar 19, 2023 13:51:36 GMT -5 taffin said:

Mar 19, 2023 7:35:40 GMT -5 2 Dogs said:

While I find myself in a good place as far as reloading supplies go I think with the current price of components I’m going to modify my normal reloading routine. I think I’m going to put up some 38-44 ish loads for my .357’s on plain base cast slugs for example. I found and recently bought a 8 pounder of Red Dot powder. As you know it’s a very useful and versatile powder for a wide variety of cartridges. I’m also sitting on a quantity of H4227 which I think will work well for 38-44ish loads as well. I have a good supply of Unique and am looking at our 44 Terminator cast slug for the 44 Special and Magnum sixguns. I also have quite a few already cast up heavy for caliber 44 slugs I think will be plenty powerful on say 10 grains of Unique in the 44 Magnum. I have a bunch of 45 AR brass that needs a job. I might take a page out of Huey’s book and have an extra cylinder fitted up to a Blackhawk. One of my Dillons is set up for 45AR and I’m on the search for a good load for my Mountain Gun. I haven’t decided what I’m yet going to do with my 32/327s or my 454s. I’m wondering if you guys think cost conscious ammunition might be a good discussion topic.

RED DOT AND #4227 ARE TWO FAVORITES

I have your “Connecting the Dots” article saved!

[taffin]

Mar 19, 2023 8:40:12 GMT -5 weiler said:

I’ve been putting some work into the labor side of my handloading costs, bigger casting pot, 4-6 cavity molds for 45 colt, 44 mag/special and the new 9mm. My time is worth a lot less $ wise when Im not in the office but my dear wife needs a break from 2 and 5 year old ….so a Hornady progressive is getting here monday….because of the children 😉

9mm luger im going with the Lee 125R-356, powdercoated and sized .357 over 4.3/W231. Alloy (#6 magnum shot) has been running $2/pound, primers locally are around 10c a pop but are finally available. Thats working out to around 16c a pop and seems to shoot darn good.

cast up and coated 20 pounds of MP’s 503 Keith copy. I think my little 4” 629 wants a .432” bullet so a lee sizer is getting honed out. Seating those over 5.5-6.0 grains W231 in special brass or deep seated in mag brass (thx David Bradshaw for the load)…bout 20c each for those.

BEEN CASTING:

postimg.cc/Hry145G8

[boolitdesigner]

Mar 19, 2023 7:35:40 GMT -5 2 Dogs said:

 I think I’m going to put up some 38-44 ish loads for my .357’s on plain base cast slugs for example. 


It's been over two weeks.......... from the statement above I think you've found something out.... or you're being cautious.

[2 Dogs]

Mar 19, 2023 14:14:29 GMT -5 boolitdesigner said:

Mar 19, 2023 7:35:40 GMT -5 2 Dogs said:

 I think I’m going to put up some 38-44 ish loads for my .357’s on plain base cast slugs for example. 


It's been over two weeks.......... from the statement above I think you've found something out.... or you're being cautious.

No, I still have one .357 Mag that is leading despite PC, GC, water quenched and aged slugs. I’m going to firelap that sixgun a bit more. That same ammunition is fine in my other .357’s!

[Deleted]

I bought a new 8 lb jug of red dot two years ago. But I'm still using up an old 4 lb paper can I got a gun show.
I just emptied the last pound from a very old 15lb red metal keg of herco into my 1 lb container. I bought the unopemed keg in 2019. It's been fun. Not my most accurate 45 colt powder but it makes good shoot em loads.
I used up my unique. But have found w231 to be great.

I paid $20 for that herco keg.

I collect my lead at my local range. I sit on a berm in a pistol bay when nobody is around and pick bullets from the dirt. It's dumb, slow work but other than my time not much money in it. My cast bullets shoot well enough on targets and make steel ring loudly.

Last year I bought 10k+ large pistol primers from a local shop. They were old stock, mostly Alcan brand but 2000 were old winchester magnum large pistol. This shop opened in 1947 and has all kinds of old cool stuff. I paid $50 for the lot of old primers.

I used to attend gunshows to buy the powder and primers of the deceased. Covid made everybody an expert so good deals are gone. God bless them whose family cares none for their lifelong passions.

[jeffh]

Since I was a kid, I had this idea of a small personal battery - a select few guns to do what I needed, but even when unemployed and broke, never got a chance to really work in that direction, because I kept buying more stuff to FIND just the right few. In 2010 I had an opportunity to forego about half my income to take over a full-time teaching position. Much involved in that story, which is not germane to the thread, so I'll just leave it at that to make the point that concept of "disposable income" ceased to exist and I had to make adjustments to make this work. I did this willingly and on purpose. It was an opportunity.

I had ended up with more guns than I had time to use, always several unfinished projects, always needed a scope, sights, brass, moulds, dies for all but a very few guns I owned. I divested myself of the all the surplus (actually have ONE rifle left to move, even after all this time even) and really simplified my life. NOW, I can focus what little cash I can scrape together on more of fewer things and not always be short primers for this or a certain powder for that, brass for this one or whatever else for that one... NOW, I enjoy my hobby immeasurably more than I even have.

So, I've been working on this "partizan-reloading" thing for a long time and have learned a LOT. I'm learning things people knew already and many of us did to but have forgotten. C. E. (Ed) Harris and Frank Marshal have hit on a lot of these things. I've started two or three articles on the topic, but always end up writing twenty ages and then not having the motivation to spend the time paring THAT down. As the ideas evolved, dust settled, the articles changed and just got longer. In other words, for as much as I've learned and for as much progress as I've made, I'm still learning - still making cool, new discoveries.

I've settled on a certain few cartridges and firearms chambered for them and that's changed several times, as have the powders, bullet designs, etc. WAY too much to write in one post, even for ME.

What I can say with some confidence at this point (as I'm sure I'm not finished) is:
This is a LOT of fun to mess around with, especially with the introduction of the added challenge of not just running out and buying a new powder or mould;

You CAN shoot for less than shooting 22 LR if you cast, and I'm more apt to spend $40* on 1k primers than half than many 22 LRs, in fact I've ditched the rimfires and don't own one of my own; *yeah, still waiting and not giving up, but OK for some time yet.

Unique just keeps working, but if I had my chance, I'd grab as much Bullseye, Unique and 2400 as I could get if I could get it;

The 35 caliber just won't go away, no matter what bigger, better or cooler thing smiles and winks at me, particularly the 357 Mag;

I can shoot revolver and carbine loads with the 357 Mag for everything I need to do and COULD do it with Unique;

I don't want all my eggs in one basket and a 30 cal carbine is prudent to have on hand - in my case, the 30/30;

I can shoot SPP or SRP in my revolvers as well as in my carbine, but if all I have left are LARGE, I keep the 30/30 and 44 Special for versatility;

Both aforementioned cartridges do well with Unique too, and Bullsey and 2400 just broaden their spectrum too;

Unique in not the only powder I have. I have others but focus most on what I can do with Unique;

Brass lasts a LONG time when using Unique at sane charge-weights and I can get 1,000 shots per pound with a mix of 5.5, 6, 7, 7.7 or 10 grains of Unique in various loads;

The 357 is easier on my finite stash of "lead" than the 44 Special, but about even with the 30/30;

I make my own gas checks, but rarely use them - having "plain-based" all but one cavity in my multiple-cavity, gas-checked moulds;

My lube (45/45/10) is CHEAP and EFFECTIVE (to at least just over 1800 fps) and very quick and easy to apply;

I have loads that I can make which require no case sizing and no bullet sizing, which work in both revolver and carbine for 99% of my needs;

Yet, I have assembled a complete, redundant, potable handloading kit for the 357 and 30/30 with all the cool dies included - about 6# in a small tool bag;

I can do anything I NEED to do with ONE mould per caliber, but have kept TWO for each;

Single shots are very economical to shoot, for the obvious reasons, and will never fail to cycle, fail to feed, suffer from magazine issues, gas-related issues, etc. - I can shoot virtually ANY bullet I want from one, seated to pretty much ANY overall length without issue;

Revolvers have been much less "picky eaters" than autos in my experience;

All of these loads are a joy to shoot;

MANY of these loads sound like a BB-gun when used with a suppressor, some sound like a CB-Cap when used without, others are still not obnoxious;

I keep a fair amount of really slow pistol powder and medium rifle powder on hand for when/if I want to "crank it up" a bit;

My spartan battery and it's small appetite allow me the luxury of still also shooting one completely unnecessary rifle in 222 Remington, using cast and Unique;

I can buy more of fewer kinds of brass than if I were shooting twenty different cartridges, but maintain a reasonable level of versatility (eggs/basket thing) without taking up too much space or tying up too much cash;

ANY of the components I DO have are better than having the cash anyway;...

I could go on and on, but it's a lot more fun than I've ever had before and each of the few guns I've kept seem to shoot better than I could average across twenty or more other guns at any given time.

The topic of this thread is a noble and worthy cause. Sure, maybe it's to conserve components, save money, whatever, but it is a wonderful break from the over-the-top, round-per-minute, highest-velocity kicks, which were old before they got much of a start to most on this forum anyway. It's a hoot and everything I shoot now is USEFUL to me, but I have no bears, antelope, moose, elk, bison, whales, etc. to hunt or worry about, so geography, terrain, climate will all play a part in anyone's choices. MAKING those choices is a challenge that I think ANYONE here will get a great deal of pleasure from.

[boxhead]

It's been a while since I have seen Bullseye so grabbed some a couple of months ago when my LGS had it in stock.

[weiler]

Mar 19, 2023 11:26:57 GMT -5 contender said:

Like you 2 dogs,, I've been studying my various reloading stuff with an eye towards being cost conscious.

I also look at things a bit differently. I USED to try & keep all my brass loaded up. But,, I've aged, and decided to change my thinking several years ago. If I were suddenly gone,, my wife & kids would be left with a lot of ammo that couldn't be sold. Components can be sold. So,, I clean, mark & store brass instead of loading it now. I keep a good rotation of powders & primers,, but I also look at what I'm shooting or testing. Luckily,, my stock of components isn't too bad,, (wishing I had more of 4227) but otherwise pretty good. I burned a lot of 4227 prepping for an elk hunt 2 years in a row and used a lot of it in over 6500 rounds of .45 Colt.

But I've shelved other projects awaiting to see if the current primer cost craze & lack of many powders will ease up somewhat.

Weiler,, many use the Hornady progressives,, but most of the owners of them I've encountered over the years find the Dillons to be more user friendly,, and wish they'd bought a Dillon. Good luck with your Hornady!

Fingers crossed the Hornady works ok 🤞🏻

[contender]

I do hope the Hornady works well for you.

I had one gentleman who bought one,, & I helped him get it set-up. He's had a few issues but has learned to "work around" them & is "ok" with his. Another friend asked me a lot of questions,, but went with the "special deal" from Hornady. Well, he now laments he should have listened to me & gotten the Dillon.

I'm NOT saying Hornady isn't good or doesn't work. It's just that I've had more folks "frustrated" over the Hornady vs the Dillons.

[gnappi]

Mar 20, 2023 10:31:34 GMT -5 contender said:

I do hope the Hornady works well for you.

I had one gentleman who bought one,, & I helped him get it set-up. He's had a few issues but has learned to "work around" them & is "ok" with his. Another friend asked me a lot of questions,, but went with the "special deal" from Hornady. Well, he now laments he should have listened to me & gotten the Dillon.

I'm NOT saying Hornady isn't good or doesn't work. It's just that I've had more folks "frustrated" over the Hornady vs the Dillons.

Dillon has L-O-N-G term support which I have had the necessity of using on some 80's vintage powder measures. By contrast I still have a Hornady Pro-Jector that they have no parts for which sits mostly idle while my four Dillon presses run regularly.