A couple of friends have shown interest in my reloading so I invited them over for a session. First we cast a batch of 400g flat nose bullets. One of them really liked filling the mold so he did most of the casting. Then we progressed to the sizer/lubricator and lubed a few of the bullets. We then selected a few .45-70 cases, checked their length, lubed, sized/decapped them, flared the cases then weighed out the powder and seated and crimped the cartridges. I use a single stage press so I showed them how I do each stage and then had each of them do it themselves. They were very proud of what they accomplished.
I remember, not too long ago, that there was a mystery to reloading and I was a little afraid of doing something wrong. Now it is very intuitive and each step makes perfect sense. I wish I had had someone to walk me through the process. It would have made my first steps less tentative.
Sorry, no pictures. Perhaps I will wait to take pictures when I show young, beautiful girls how to reload.
They asked me how much the cartridges we built cost. I actually didn't know so I did the following calculations:
Powder: IMR 4798 at $26.65/lb equals $0.0038071/grain so 39.5g load costs $0.15
Primers: $34.95/K equals $0.04 each (rounded up)
Bullets: The lead was given to me so $0.00
Brass: This is harder to determine. Since I am reusing brass from factory cartridges, I have expensed their costs to the round I fired previously. Therefore the brass cost is $0.00.
The total then is $0.19 per round. This cost could be reduced if I wasn't loading to the maximum rated powder load but the lower power loads don't thump as much.![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
This also totally ignores the amortization of the $613.99 that I have invested in equipment.
They both said they had a great time and want to do it again. I had a good time too.
I remember, not too long ago, that there was a mystery to reloading and I was a little afraid of doing something wrong. Now it is very intuitive and each step makes perfect sense. I wish I had had someone to walk me through the process. It would have made my first steps less tentative.
Sorry, no pictures. Perhaps I will wait to take pictures when I show young, beautiful girls how to reload.
They asked me how much the cartridges we built cost. I actually didn't know so I did the following calculations:
Powder: IMR 4798 at $26.65/lb equals $0.0038071/grain so 39.5g load costs $0.15
Primers: $34.95/K equals $0.04 each (rounded up)
Bullets: The lead was given to me so $0.00
Brass: This is harder to determine. Since I am reusing brass from factory cartridges, I have expensed their costs to the round I fired previously. Therefore the brass cost is $0.00.
The total then is $0.19 per round. This cost could be reduced if I wasn't loading to the maximum rated powder load but the lower power loads don't thump as much.
This also totally ignores the amortization of the $613.99 that I have invested in equipment.
They both said they had a great time and want to do it again. I had a good time too.
