Anyone else reload ammunition?
- Thread starter TheFrenchMan
- Start date
Very cool! The is something I've been thinking about getting into myself actually!
OP
I've been reloading since I was kid with my father. Probably close to 20 years now. You don't save money, just the opposite. You shoot a lot more and end up spending the same or more lol.
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hotolds442
Member
I've been known to roll a few of my own.....
26 different chamberings, 5 wildcats, no less than 80 pounds of powder and 10,000 primers available to support my habit.
26 different chamberings, 5 wildcats, no less than 80 pounds of powder and 10,000 primers available to support my habit.
I figure it's a good skill to have just incase things go belly up anyways, right?
OP
Yup. Do a LOT of it. Cast boolits, paper patched in a 458 Win Mag, revolver, 308 in an StG58, 44, 45, 45 Colt, 8mm, the list goes on.
I'll post some pics up. The thread of the Wild Hair outing has me shooting my Super Blackhawk with some of my reloads.
The only thing I actually save money on by reloading is the 458 Win Mag.
I'll post some pics up. The thread of the Wild Hair outing has me shooting my Super Blackhawk with some of my reloads.
The only thing I actually save money on by reloading is the 458 Win Mag.
OP
Only if you have the supplies handy.
Figured out how to redo primers, and how to make a pretty fair smokeless powder substitute. If things really get to the point where you can't get reloading supplies, black powder / red powder, cast bullets and rejuvenated primers will keep the 458, the 45-70 and the 44 mag / 45 Colt pistols going essentially forever. I'm pretty sure I can make do with those.
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Man, and I was just thrilled to find some Red Dot the other day! What kind of Wildcats are you running? Any big bores?
OP
Why is Red Dot hard to get? Granted I've been away from things for a bit, but when I was reloading, RD was a very popular shot shell powder.
I ran 100's of pounds of Hi Skor 700X through a Ponsness Warren progressive 12 gauge loader that I converted to hydraulic. I could drop a loaded trap shell every 5 seconds once it was loaded and cycled. We used to buy 20,000 primers at a time, a ton of shot at a time and cases upon cases of wads. My shooting buddy and I would split the orders since we loaded similar loads. Then again, I was shooting 10-30 rounds of trap a week. Then on the weekends we would go to money shoots on Saturday night so it doesn't take long to burn up some shells.
Before my sister decided she needed my guns more than I did, I used to reload .220 Swift, .30-.30, 357 Herrett, and .270 Winchester. 2 rifle rounds and 2 pistol rounds. Pistols being Thompson Center Contenders with Super 16" barrels and Burris LER Scopes.
I haven't seen Red Dot on the shelf locally for probably 18 months. Every time someone in politics opens their mouth and says something stupid, reloading supplies just seem to melt away...it's a panic thing I guess. Obama. Best. Firearms. Salesman. Ever.
OP
The only time I can ever find components nowadays is when I go to the gun shows. I get all my components (powder, primers, projectiles) for the year in one trip to the gun show!
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hotolds442
Member
22x6.8 SPC, 22/250 velocities from an AR platform
6x55, 6BR reamer ran deeper and a 6.5x55 case blown out
243 AI, known to turn coyotes into red mist
6.5 WSM, 28" heavy barrel - my one mile shooter
7mm TC/U in a Contender
No big bore wildcats, but I'm in the planning stage for a 28 Nosler blown out to a .338 and I have 3 350 Remington Mags.
Youch! .243 AI? The wife's .243 Kimber is a barrel burner as it is. It's about due for a new tube, and I was thinking that .260 Remington might be a pretty fair round for her to shoot. Everything else on your list has a reputation for eating barrels, and high velocity. Pretty cool stuff.
I go for the other end of the spectrum. Big, heavy and slower. Every time I get cocky about shooting long distances I walk out the front door and look down the road. It's almost exactly 300 yards to the neighbors front door. I look at his door knob, grin. laugh, and shake my head. Hell, at my age I can't SEE his door knob at 300 yards most days.
For precision shooting, I have a Winchester M52C with a Lyman 20x Target Spot on it. It's boringly accurate out to about 100 yards or so.
Jeeps and guns. They kind of go together...
I go for the other end of the spectrum. Big, heavy and slower. Every time I get cocky about shooting long distances I walk out the front door and look down the road. It's almost exactly 300 yards to the neighbors front door. I look at his door knob, grin. laugh, and shake my head. Hell, at my age I can't SEE his door knob at 300 yards most days.
For precision shooting, I have a Winchester M52C with a Lyman 20x Target Spot on it. It's boringly accurate out to about 100 yards or so.
Jeeps and guns. They kind of go together...
hotolds442
Member
My 243AI has over 1700 rounds through the rechambered factory barrel. It still holds 75 grain Sierra hollow points at 1/4" MOA, and that's at 3400fps.
I can't see building a wildcat that's slow, I already own a 30/30 lol. Most of the shooting I do is between long range and extreme long range, so time of flight and ballistic coefficients are important.
I can't see building a wildcat that's slow, I already own a 30/30 lol. Most of the shooting I do is between long range and extreme long range, so time of flight and ballistic coefficients are important.
hotolds442
Member
It's 1:9.25, Factory Savage Predator Hunter 243 Winchester barrel set back .050" and rechambered to 243 AI