Cost of reloading 12ga?

[number9]

I'm somewhat of a newbie when it comes to all things scattergun... but is it easy or cheap to reload 12ga? Say 3.5" chambered, #6 shot? There is obviously a lot of pistol stuff that gets reloaded, but I haven't seen as much for shotguns.

Based on the relatively simple design of shells I'm wondering roughly how much it would cost to buy the required bits for reloading. If it's at all possible, that is!

 

[Dick]

Reloading shotgun shells is simple and a great way to save money. In fact, it's pretty much the only reason to reload them - unlike pistol and rifle cartridges where you can do a lot of fine-tuning of the round to your particular firearm. I know a few guys who fool around with trying to get better patterns with their own loads, but there aren't many of them.

I haven't run the numbers for quite a while, but some years ago it was possible to reload a box of skeet loads for about $1.50 (not including hulls or equipment) - I'm sure it's nearly double that now, but good target loads are still much more than that. The problem for you is that with the load you mentioned, you're obviously not using them for trap or skeet, and I doubt that you'll shoot enough otherwise to amortize your investment in equipment.

If you want to work through the math, you can go through a catalog and get prices for shot, wads, powder, and primers, which are the four components you'll need, assuming you save or scrounge the hulls. For those big 12 gauge loads figure something on the order of 1.5 ounces of shot, maybe 40 grains of powder (7000 gr to the pound) (this is obviously not a load recipe, so don't anyone attempt to use it as such) and, of course, one wad and one primer. You can get the per-load cost, multiply by 25 and subtract that from the price of a box of factory loads to calculate how much you'll save on each box. You'll need to invest about $100 in equipment, so (for example) if you save $5 a box you need to reload 20 boxes to break even. Once you get the hang of it you can easily load a box in 10 minutes or less on a simple press - the MEC 600 Jr. is the industry standard.

Only you can figure out if that makes sense - it obviously does for trap and skeet types, but I doubt it's worth it for most hunters.

 

[mcornell]

If you are only reloading a small number of shells, then the old Lee Loader (the hand tool, no press involved) is probably your best choice. They can be had for $20 or less on ebay.

For an entry level press, consider the Lee Load All for $35 from MidwayUSA.

Mark

 

[number9]

Thanks guys. I tried my hand at clay target shooting a little while ago, and I had a ball. The best thing about it (for me at least) is that it's year-round, whereas most of the other sports hibernate over the winter.

As Dick said, the biggest benefit for shells is cost... a box of shells is what, $15? That's not many bangs for the buck I understand reloading brings that down substantially, I just don't know how much the gear -- presses, etc -- cost.

If you want to work through the math, you can go through a catalog and get prices for shot, wads, powder, and primers, which are the four components you'll need, assuming you save or scrounge the hulls. For those big 12 gauge loads figure something on the order of 1.5 ounces of shot, maybe 40 grains of powder (7000 gr to the pound) (this is obviously not a load recipe, so don't anyone attempt to use it as such) and, of course, one wad and one primer. You can get the per-load cost, multiply by 25 and subtract that from the price of a box of factory loads to calculate how much you'll save on each box. You'll need to invest about $100 in equipment, so (for example) if you save $5 a box you need to reload 20 boxes to break even. Once you get the hang of it you can easily load a box in 10 minutes or less on a simple press - the MEC 600 Jr. is the industry standard.

Do you think $100 is reasonably accurate? If so, reloading 20 boxes to make back my investment sounds great to me! That's much less than I thought. An even sillier question, can you buy "empty" hulls?

 

[Dick]

OK, if what you're interested in is busting clays, I can give you better information - after my last post I got curious about how much reloads were costing at today's prices so I ran the numbers. This is based on the standard 12 gauge target load of a 2-3/4 inch shell with 1-1/8 oz of shot (generally limited to 7-1/2 or smaller on target ranges).

Figuring you use Red Dot, which is pretty standard for 12 ga target loads, you're looking (per shell) at 7 cents for shot, 3.5 cents for powder, 2.8 cents for the wad, and 2.5 cents for the primer. Each of those may bump up or down a bit depending on what kind of deal you can get, but those numbers will be pretty close. That works out to be 15.8 cents per shell, or right around $4 a box. Nice fresh AAs are going to cost you around $7.50 or so, so that's a cool saving of $3.50 a box. (And yeah, you can get cheapie loads for less, but I'm not putting any of that crap through my guns).

As I mentioned before, you can get a new MEC 600 Jr for $100 bucks. I've reloaded thousands of boxes on mine and it's as good as the first day it came out of the box. That's really all you need - a press and the components, unless you find you need a different powder bushing and that's only another two bucks. And mcornell is right - there are perfectly adequate shotshell presses for even less money than that. So, you can project your own usage and figure out your break-even point - but for anyone who shoots regularly it's really a no-brainer.

Edited to add: Yeah, you can buy empty hulls (typically once-fired rather than new). Or you can scrounge them up from many gun clubs, or you can start with new AAs and build up your own collection. Most guys get around 7 to 10 reloads from a once-fired shell, by the way. You'll get more if you're shooting a double and less with an auto because they're a bit fussier about what they'll digest.

P.S. There are no silly questions (though you may get a silly answer from time to time!).

 

[number9]

OK, if what you're interested in is busting clays, I can give you better information - after my last post I got curious about how much reloads were costing at today's prices so I ran the numbers. This is based on the standard 12 gauge target load of a 2-3/4 inch shell with 1-1/8 oz of shot (generally limited to 7-1/2 or smaller on target ranges).

Thanks again, Dick, I really do appreciate it.

Figuring you use Red Dot, which is pretty standard for 12 ga target loads, you're looking (per shell) at 7 cents for shot, 3.5 cents for powder, 2.8 cents for the wad, and 2.5 cents for the primer. Each of those may bump up or down a bit depending on what kind of deal you can get, but those numbers will be pretty close. That works out to be 15.8 cents per shell, or right around $4 a box. Nice fresh AAs are going to cost you around $7.50 or so, so that's a cool saving of $3.50 a box. (And yeah, you can get cheapie loads for less, but I'm not putting any of that crap through my guns).

Hmm, $7.50 a box you say from a store? The last time I bought 12ga it was at Wal-Mart, and I'm pretty sure it was $12.something a box and the cheapest I could find in the state. I didn't look online, though, as I didn't really know where.

As I mentioned before, you can get a new MEC 600 Jr for $100 bucks. I've reloaded thousands of boxes on mine and it's as good as the first day it came out of the box. That's really all you need - a press and the components, unless you find you need a different powder bushing and that's only another two bucks. And mcornell is right - there are perfectly adequate shotshell presses for even less money than that. So, you can project your own usage and figure out your break-even point - but for anyone who shoots regularly it's really a no-brainer.

I found both MEC and Lee presses used online, and both at great prices. Which makes me happy! I am on a tight budget after all.

Edited to add: Yeah, you can buy empty hulls (typically once-fired rather than new). Or you can scrounge them up from many gun clubs, or you can start with new AAs and build up your own collection. Most guys get around 7 to 10 reloads from a once-fired shell, by the way. You'll get more if you're shooting a double and less with an auto because they're a bit fussier about what they'll digest.

Yeah, but if I had a press and empty hulls it would be quicker to break even than buying a couple boxes of AA to shoot and then reload

I'd be firing out of a pump, at least until I thought I was good enough to get something else. My father-in-law even has a bolt-action 16ga, I think... I'd never seen a bolt scattergun before! Can you think of any websites off the top of your head where I found find shot/wad/powder prices?

 

[Coyote33]

That, or maybe some people on here could get together and all will benefit.?

 

[Dick]

I can't remember the last time I bought a box of 12 ga target loads, so I checked the Midway catalog on-line (you know Midway, they're the SOBs that won't sell any components to us poor slobs here in the Worker's Paradise of MA) and they list 12 ga Winchester AAs for $6.49 - so I just added a buck to approximate retail. If it's more than that then you'll just save more. I assume they would ship to you in Maine, but shells are heavy and the shipping might kill any savings.

The problem with buying shotshell components via mail order is the shipping cost. Lead shot comes in 25-lb bags, and powder and primers get hit with a hazardous materials charge. You need to find a local source. I know that Kittery Trading Post has everything you need, but maybe someone can recommend something closer to Portland. You can likely find once-fired hulls somewhere - ask around at a local gun club, or maybe check out eBay. If you really, really want to shop on-line I'm going to PM you a place I recommend highly - I don't want to post them here because our A.G. Big Brother Tom or his goons may be listening in (good-bye and good riddance Tom, by the way, you a-hole).

Pumps fall in-between - not as temperamental about reloads as autos, not as good as doubles. I had one of those old Mossberg bolt-actions more years ago than I care to remember. Pretty crazy design for a shotgun, no?

 

[MARINE96]

number9,check with the regular shooters at the range,sometimes they will get together and buy lead in bulk to save on shipping charges,same goes for wads and powder.when i was big into trap i did this a few times and the savings were greater than mail order.

 

[number9]

I can't remember the last time I bought a box of 12 ga target loads, so I checked the Midway catalog on-line (you know Midway, they're the SOBs that won't sell any components to us poor slobs here in the Worker's Paradise of MA) and they list 12 ga Winchester AAs for $6.49 - so I just added a buck to approximate retail. If it's more than that then you'll just save more. I assume they would ship to you in Maine, but shells are heavy and the shipping might kill any savings.

The problem with buying shotshell components via mail order is the shipping cost. Lead shot comes in 25-lb bags, and powder and primers get hit with a hazardous materials charge. You need to find a local source. I know that Kittery Trading Post has everything you need, but maybe someone can recommend something closer to Portland. You can likely find once-fired hulls somewhere - ask around at a local gun club, or maybe check out eBay. If you really, really want to shop on-line I'm going to PM you a place I recommend highly - I don't want to post them here because our A.G. Big Brother Tom or his goons may be listening in (good-bye and good riddance Tom, by the way, you a-hole).

I have only tried a couple of small places locally for ammo prices, neither were as good as the evil community buying power of Wal-Mart but I'll have a look over the weekend to see what else is around. I haven't tried Kittery for ammo yet (plus there's Howell's in Gray, and Johnson's in Portland) so I'll see what they say.

Pumps fall in-between - not as temperamental about reloads as autos, not as good as doubles. I had one of those old Mossberg bolt-actions more years ago than I care to remember. Pretty crazy design for a shotgun, no?

I actually quite like shooting pumps, there's something about the weight balance that I like. I haven't fired the bolt, but I sure am tempted! I guess the good thing about a scattergun is that, even if you don't have great aim, there's still enough pellets flying around that you can take your time reloading slightly

number9,check with the regular shooters at the range,sometimes they will get together and buy lead in bulk to save on shipping charges,same goes for wads and powder.when i was big into trap i did this a few times and the savings were greater than mail order.

That's an excellent idea! Too bad I didn't think of it first! Thanks!

 

[Dick]

I actually quite like shooting pumps, there's something about the weight balance that I like. I haven't fired the bolt, but I sure am tempted! I guess the good thing about a scattergun is that, even if you don't have great aim, there's still enough pellets flying around that you can take your time reloading slightly

Although most of my shotguns are O/Us these days, I'll always have a soft spot for pumps. My first real gun was a battered Western Field pump that I bought just one day after I became of legal age to do so, about four decades ago. Between it's previous owner(s) and me, we shot that gun so much that the locking lug is peened back and the headspace has opened up enough to allow a shell to rattle around quite noticeably. No, I don't dare shoot it anymore, but it still occupies a place of honor in the gun rack.

I'm sure those partridges up there in Maine would like to see everyone using bolt action shotguns!

 

[MARINE96]

Happy to be of a service.
thinking of bolt action shotguns,my father had one for about three months before he got rid of it.
it was an old mossberg in sixteen gauge with a two round tube mag in the stock and a poly choke.
unusual looking gun,didnt fit either of us well and shot pretty poor for a scatergun.

 

[cdkayak]

Howell's and Kittery both have reloading supplies.

I usually pick up my shotgun ammo at Dick's in So.Portland.

Johnson's seems to be focusing more and more on dive equipment, the firearms section has been getting smaller each year and it was pretty small the first time I stopped in there.

CD

 

[Weerd Beard]

Kittery always seems to have a bucket of spent shells, though frankly I'd just find some decent priced ammo with good hulls and just shoot them off and keep the spents.

Yeah Johnson's is a great dive shop (I used to go there to fill my tanks, in the morning, and get home just before dinner ) but thier guns and Ammo supplies are very lame, and I remember buying ammo there before shooting with friends and the prices weren't very good.

I even asked half-heartedly about buying a 1911 there once, and since I still really wasn't quite ready to take the plunge yet, he never even tried to get a sale out of me. While on the dive-gear side of things, I bought TONS of stuff that I never thought I needed (maybe some of it I never did )

Good luck with reloading...frankly I feel it brings you closer to your guns anyway.

Arrrr

-Weer'd Beard

 

[Oni]

shotty reload

Yeah! I always thought of reloading shot shells, mainly because i use a shotgun quite often. i've got hundreds of empty shells sitting around, both bird shot and slugs. i'm glad weer'd showed me this post. but now i've REALLY gotta start loading my own stuff, 'cause i just got a BEAUTIFUL mosin nagat, and ammo is 8 bucks a box, or if i wanted to buy a case, it's 4 bucks, but still expensive!

 

[firtree]

I only shoot 3 boxes per weekend, but I don't see the economics of
reloading. Dick's sells AA and STS (both top notch) loads for 5.50 /box,
or $5/box if you buy 10. With the promotions Dick's runs now and then I
stock up on STS at $4/box. Maybe I can save $.50 reloading, but what is
my time worth?

F

 

[Weerd Beard]

Yeah! I always thought of reloading shot shells, mainly because i use a shotgun quite often. i've got hundreds of empty shells sitting around, both bird shot and slugs. i'm glad weer'd showed me this post. but now i've REALLY gotta start loading my own stuff, 'cause i just got a BEAUTIFUL mosin nagat, and ammo is 8 bucks a box, or if i wanted to buy a case, it's 4 bucks, but still expensive!

Dude you live in MAINE! Mail-order mil-surplus for your Nagant.

Arrrr

-Weer'd Beard

 

[DavidC77]

I just tryed to buy some "once fried" hulls from Midway and ran into that D*M Mass law, Midway can not ship hulls to Mass, I would think the same would go with primers and powder.

I shoot Win. AA hulls 1 1/8 ounce, # 8 with Win. 209 primer, Green Dot 19.6 grains and Win. WAA 12 wads (Claybuster 3118-12 can be used) and I love that combo, I shoot the same thing with my Fed. Gold Metal hulls (not recomended though by guides) and they shoot great also. (WARNING: Yes this works but check out the info yourself also just to be on the safe side)

My gun is a Remington Premier Trap 30" barrel. I'm going to get one of the Skeet barrels for it so I can use one gun for both.

Heck when I was shooting trap real active I would shoot 3 to 5 days a week, 200 or so rounds (or more) a day, so yes reloading was much cheaper. I've got a Mec Grapper press and I love it, it doe's 6 hulls at a time.

Check out Alliant Powders web site http://www.alliantpowder.com, they have some great info there.

Good luck and yes it is alot cheaper to reload your own.

 

[Dick]

Just a small editorial correction, but a big difference - Midway WILL NOT ship reloading components to MA. They don't deserve our business, and they get none of mine.

Reich Marshall Reilly's illegal scare tactics don't work with people who haven't forgotten what freedom means. I've PM'd you with a source that hasn't misplaced their cojones.

 

[cdkayak]

#9,

This is an old post but he's in your area, might be worth checking out.

http://www.maineshooting.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=26

 

[DavidC77]

Just a small editorial correction, but a big difference - Midway WILL NOT ship reloading components to MA. They don't deserve our business, and they get none of mine.

Reich Marshall Reilly's illegal scare tactics don't work with people who haven't forgotten what freedom means. I've PM'd you with a source that hasn't misplaced their cojones.

Ya I learned about that from the shop that I go to, the owner told me about the BS law suit / scare tactick.

Thanks again I e-mailed that place to see what i can get from them.

My gun shop that I am dealing with right now (Valley Sports, Tim, real nice guy) got me some once fried from his own personal collection so I'm all set right now. I think I will go the same route though, I'll buy some new AA's from him (or Dick's), shoot those and have some set for reloading once I shoot these other hulls that I have loaded allready than toss those.

 

[DavidC77]

Here's a good one, I was at WalMart the other day and I said to myself " hey check out the price on shells". I bought 4 boxes of Winchester AA's for around $4.50 a box in the mix that I reload my own in.

Now here's the funny part, I get home and put them in the cabinet with my other reloads (that are in old boxes) and I look at the prices on these boxes (maybe 5 to 8 years old) and there $6.50, $ 8.50 and one was like 11 or 12 bucks !!!

It's amazing with everything that go's up that these shells are cheaper than they were a few years ago.

I'm going to go and buy some more (from WalMart or Dick's) and get my "once fired hulls" that way. It comes out to like 5.5 cents a hull that way and they want 8 or 9 cents a hull from like Midway and the others.

Kind of funny.

 

[Dick]

Here's a good one, I was at WalMart the other day and I said to myself " hey check out the price on shells". I bought 4 boxes of Winchester AA's for around $4.50 a box in the mix that I reload my own in.

I've obviously gotta start spending more time at my local Wally-world. Thanks for the info.

 

[matt]

Just came across this and thought it might be useful in this thread:
http://www.trapshooters.com/calculators.htm

 

[4006]

Go to you local gun club you can get good price on wads shot primers you do not need
top of line primers buy the cheap one thay will go bang I ben shotting a reloading for years

 

[4006]

reloading

Go to you local gun club you can get good price on wads shot primers you do not need
top of line primers buy the cheap one thay will go bang I ben shootting a reloading for years

 

[hovbuild]

It is cheaper to buy factory loads in 12 ga. I have shot about 10000 rounds this year and buy it when it goes on sale...Cabelas free ship and when they got some good loads on sale cost me about 5.40 a box of 25. But I but 3-5 cases at a time and with the free shipping this is a real savings.. Walmart has some on sale now and then for 5.25 and these cheap target loads work just fine.

 

[BossHarley]

You can definitely get pretty good deals at Wal-Mart/Cabela's/Dick's sporting goods.
I reloaded for sporting clays for a while, then stopped as it was actually cheaper to buy Remington gun club (at Dick's) or Winchester/Federal at Wal-Mart than it was to reload.
Costs have come down a little, but there are still good deals to be had (right now Winchester super target at Cabela's for $58). That being said I do like to reload and the initial cost is very reasonable - I bought my Mec 600 for $80 (used) and I have reloaded a couple thousand rounds on it.

 

[Furious]

If you shoot a lot of clays you are crazy not to reload. I only shoot STS target loads and you can never find them for under $8/box, unless you find a promo like the recent one $2 off per box up to a max of $100.

A box of STS = $8, I can reload the same shell for $4 per box. I shoot a minimum of a flat a week and will probably be stepping that up to 2 flats or so a week and that alone is $80/week in savings. This will easily offset all costs of equipment, including a PW 800+!

 

[BossHarley]

Another consideration is time spent reloading. When I reload shotshells I use a MEC 600 (non-progressive) and can maybe reload 3-4 boxes in a hour. Consider that when calculating savings.
Dick's Remington Gun club on sale and with another 10% for case discounts, as well as the bulk packs at Wal-mart are really hard to beat for price.
I spend my reloading time on pistol/rifle ammo where the savings are huge, and accept that I will be shooting cheap ammo or spending a little more for quiality AA stuff in my shotguns.