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While on this thread can someone tell me what the startup cost and savings is????
Im debating on starting up my own reloading. I am slightly overwhelmed at all the different pieces of machinery Ill need, tumbler, press, etc, so any additional info will be interesting!
If you shoot a lot, it's a huge savings (assuming you count your time as "free.") While I mostly shoot a different caliber,(.45 ACP) I can say my costs went down probably 70% after I started reloading. If you're an occasional shooter, it may not be worth the hassle, though personally, i enjoy reloading for itself. Just part of the hobby for me. The initial costs don't HAVE to be high. an RCBS partner press is about $60, dies another $25 a good set of calipers and a scale another $200 or so, a book $30. From there on, it's pretty cheap. Cases will be your main expense as your existing ones wear out. Powder is dirt cheap and bullets for .223 run about $12 per 100 for hornady 55 grain fmjbt, less if you can get them mail-order. Still waiting on my LTCs for this horrid little state, but when I was shooting seriously at 200 rounds a week or so, reloading was the only way I could afford the hobby. Also, as I'm also starting to reload .223, the 5.56 mm NATO military cases have a thicker case wall than the commercial .223 Remington, so technically, thsat could effect your potential powder loads, but from what I understand, unless you're loading very "Hot" rounds, you should have no problem reloading them with mid-range powder charges. But as someone has already posted, you should be religious about keeping your brass separate so you know what you're reloading. Also the primer pockets may need a little more TLC on the NATO rounds. Hope that helps. -BillWhile on this thread can someone tell me what the startup cost and savings is???? Im debating on starting up my own reloading. I am slightly overwhelmed at all the different pieces of machinery Ill need, tumbler, press, etc, so any additional info will be interesting!
While on this thread can someone tell me what the startup cost and savings is????
Im debating on starting up my own reloading. I am slightly overwhelmed at all the different pieces of machinery Ill need, tumbler, press, etc, so any additional info will be interesting!
My "normal" 5.56 load is:
55 gr. Win BT FMJs (cheap in quantity).
26.0 gr. Win 748 (meters like water).
Mixed military and commercial brass.
CCI Small Rifle primers.
I do not use special "hard" primers, but I am careful to seat primers sub-flush. Do some research on "slam fire" to see what this issue involves; it is not insignificant.
My routine is:
On return from the range, the brass is decapped (using an RCBS Universal Decapper), lubed (don't forget to put a dab of lube inside the neck of every fourth or fifth case; a Q-Tip works just fine), and FL sized. Brass then goes in the tumbler. When bright and shiny, brass goes in a plastic tub labelled: "Decapped, Sized only".
When the spirit moves me, I take the contents of the tub and perform the following operations:
All cases are guaged.
Anything that exceeds 1.760" is trimmed to 1.750"; necks are then deburred inside and out.
Priming done on RCBS Auto Priming tool. Each primed case is checked for sub-flush using Mark I, Mod. 0 finger tip.
Cases charged and bullets seated.
OAL checked for 2.250 on a spot basis (just seeing if the die has backed out of the press or the stem has backed out of the die).