Sometimes we have no choice!

We cannot get brass where I live, so I have hunted with the same cases for the past many years.

Two years ago, some of my friend - there were 7 others using my rifles - managed to loose 20 cases between them.

Last year I gave them all an ultimatum.

They normally go hunting in pairs. So I gave them one box of 20. When they give it back for more ammo, it better have all the empties.

Otherwise no more ammo, and no mote hunting.

No one lost any empties

I actually went even further once.

We recovered a solid from an elephant, the bullet was a Barnes Super Solid in 416.

I turned the bullet down to 375, and loaded it again and shot another elephant with it.

Sadly, it went straight through!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
...We recovered a solid from an elephant, the bullet was a Barnes Super Solid in 416.

I turned the bullet down to 375, and loaded it again and shot another elephant with it.

Sadly, it went straight through!

Now that is a great Hunting story. Makes one wonder just how many times it could have been Turned Down and re-used in a slightly smaller caliber.

It even cut the cost of the Barnes in half(if you don't count Lathe time).

shootin the old whitworth throwing about a half pound of lead a shot, discovered that if I dug into the bank a little i could recover those chunks of lead.
melt it down and pour another round.
dave

Gets rid of all his semi handguns and rifles because he's f***ing sick of chasing his brass...plus his midsection makes it hard to bend over

y'all are some very sick individuals... and i really hope to join the handloading 'sicko's' soon. so for now i'll add you know you're not a handloader if you brush the brass off the table forcefully to get it off your bench and out of your way so you don't step on it when getting up. (i know, y'all are cringing, and thinking of banning me from this site)

He buys brass and bullets 500 at a time and powder in 8# kegs. He has done so for so many years that he has forgotten that they even sell ready-made ammunition. So, no, he doesn't know what factory ammo costs. If they make it, it surely can't be any good.

The handloader is the guy that loses a match, because he keeps looking at his fellow competitors who aren't picking up their brass.

You could win a skeet match in 28 ga. just by shooting an 1100 and casually walking away after the station -- they'll get the twitters! LOL! Dutch.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Sometimes we have no choice!

We cannot get brass where I live, so I have hunted with the same cases for the past many years.

Two years ago, some of my friend - there were 7 others using my rifles - managed to loose 20 cases between them.

Last year I gave them all an ultimatum.

They normally go hunting in pairs. So I gave them one box of 20. When they give it back for more ammo, it better have all the empties.

Otherwise no more ammo, and no mote hunting.

No one lost any empties

I actually went even further once.

We recovered a solid from an elephant, the bullet was a Barnes Super Solid in 416.

I turned the bullet down to 375, and loaded it again and shot another elephant with it.

Sadly, it went straight through!

I have traded emails with a guy in Iran that made his own .32 handgun, bullets and brass and dies.
He scrounges powder and primers from other ammo to shoot it in a tunnel at his home. He risks his life just to shoot. I admire his courage.

quote:

Originally posted by SST:

He buys brass and bullets 500 at a time and powder in 8# kegs. He has done so for so many years that he has forgotten that they even sell ready-made ammunition. So, no, he doesn't know what factory ammo costs. If they make it, it surely can't be any good.

Well, in 12 gauge shotgun ammo, we've now reached the point where it is hardly worthwhile loading your own because of the ever increasing cost of components, especially shot.

I checked at the range I use yesterday, and shot is now $42.40 (including sales tax) for a 25 pound bag. The salesman at the range said that when he tells people that, he has some people immediately buy 10 bags because elsewhere shot is now as high as $60/bag. 1000 Winchester or Remington 209 primers are now $38.60.

I just tallied up the cost of loading 1 ounce 12 gauge loads for trap or skeet, and the cost came to $5.50 per box of 25 loads. (Assuming wads at $13.25/500, and powder at about $20/pound; and a load of 17 grains of powder for about 1150 f.p.s.)

You can buy promotional loads for less than that.

The only reason to load your own in 12 gauge now is that the promotional loads are over-loaded (to 1240 f.p.s. or thereabouts) and they therefore kick too much, but if you load your own you can load down to about 1135 to 1150 f.p.s. and save a lot of wear and tear on your shoulder.

In 28 ga. and .410 you can save a substantial amount by loading your own because there are no promotional loads available in those sizes.

Lloyd, it may have gotten more expensive to load shotshell, but those numbers are WAY high. If you buy judiciously, and in bulk, you can still buy primers for 2 pennies, a wad for less than a penny and a half, and powder for $10 a lb.

Even with $40 shot, that makes for well under $4 a box. Even promo loads just shot substantially past that. FWIW, Dutch.

quote:

Originally posted by Dutch:

Lloyd, it may have gotten more expensive to load shotshell, but those numbers are WAY high. If you buy judiciously, and in bulk, you can still buy primers for 2 pennies, a wad for less than a penny and a half, and powder for $10 a lb.

Even with $40 shot, that makes for well under $4 a box. Even promo loads just shot substantially past that. FWIW, Dutch.

Well I just checked, using Midway as our reference.

CCI or Remington 209 primers are $37/1000. Federal are $34, and Winchester are $38.

Claybuster 7/8 or 1 or 1 1/8 oz. wads for 12 gauge are 9.19/500.

Hodgdon Titewad powder -- the least expensive of the popular target powders for 12 ga. loads -- is $98 for 8 lbs.

Shot is $42.40/25 lb. bag at my range -- it's considerably higher elsewhere.

So, figuring cost for 25 loads (i.e. one box), that works out to $0.925 for primers (at $37/M), $0.46 for wads, $0.68 for powder (using 15.5 grains of Titewad with a 1 oz. load for 1125 f.p.s.), and $2.65 for shot (at a 1 oz load), or a total of $4.715/box of 25 loads.

Notice that those prices do not include shipping or hazmat charges. If you are fortunate enough to find primers and powder at a local dealer you are almost certain to find it higher priced than what was given above. The same for wads, and definitely for shot.

So I'm afraid that the figures you cite are very much a thing of the past. I can remember buying shot for $13 for a 25 lb. bag and primers for less than $20/M. But those days are long gone. Powder has not gone up as nearly as much as shot or primers, but I doubt that you can get shotgun powder for $10/lb. now unless it is salvaged or surplus stuff.

http://conniescomponents.com/photo_page.html.

And no one with any sense buys OEM primers anymore; Fiocchis do all duty except sub-zero. Promo is as good as red-dot, and Windjammers do just fine. FWIW, Dutch.

it gets worse...

When you find a great deal on some surplus powder and buy several kegs because you just KNOW you can make it shoot decent in at least one of your rifles.
I bought the IMR-7383 for $24 for a 7lb keg just because I knew I could make it work in some cartridges. Sure enough, it's looking pretty good with heavy cast bullets in my 9,3x62 with 304gr RN and the 375H&H with a 311gr cast bullet. Both NEI moulds.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

quote:

Originally posted by Dutch:

http://conniescomponents.com/photo_page.html.

And no one with any sense buys OEM primers anymore; Fiocchis do all duty except sub-zero. Promo is as good as red-dot, and Windjammers do just fine. FWIW, Dutch.

OK. Having gone to the Connie's Components website, I concede your point. You basically have to buy a truckload of stuff to get those prices.

That price for shot, for example, requires you to buy 80 bags, which is 2000 pounds, or a ton. That's enough to make 32,000 one-ounce loads, or 1280 boxes of 25 loads.

Yes, you have to be "aggressive" in purchasing, but what we do is just split a ton among several club members. No one is buying ahead at these prices, but shaving a little here, a little there, and before you know it, it adds up.

Anyway, between myself, the better half and the kids, we go through 10,000 or so rounds a year, so a ton is not particularly outrageous.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out what to do with 20 lbs of Win 452 AA...... The price was right, but now to figure out how to burn it up? That's a reloader for you....... Dutch.

Since the brass case is by far the most expensive component of a round of ammunition, it's just plumb stupid to throw it away after only ONE SHOT................ Particularly at today;s cost of ammunition!!

Most of us would bend over to pick up a penny. Brass is more like nickles dimes and quarters! Sometimes when your lucky you find $1 bills

I'm constantly checking on prices for used brass, new brass, powder, primers, etc. About to place a massive order w/ Powder Valley that'll have me set for a good while, along with getting the stuff to cast my own pistol bullets.


BTW...for picking up brass...get one of those gopher grabber things...the ones that have the squeeze handle and the suction cups...they're about the right length that ya barely have to bend over to reach the ground...and they're plenty good at pickin' up brass.

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
WHAT???

Some of you let your brass hit the ground!!!

The only time brass should hit the ground is in the field ...

Ken....

quote:

Originally posted by 375fan:
With the price of brass going up,especially on the big bores,you can bet I'm on my hands and knees to find it. Got to admit I've always done that. I too am guilty of scouring range looking for brass, and have always been amazed that shooters will leave so much good brass behind. Yep,love to look in stores for cheap factory stuff or just how much cheaper my reloads are. Point this out to wife to justify all the new components that are always arriving at house.

With the price of brass, and the amount of brass on the ground, Vs. gas and range fees, I come out ahead going to the range!