You Gotta Love Reloading!

[Patriot]

Where else are you going to be able to get 500 rounds of practice handgun ammo
(200 - .38 Spl, 300 .357 Mag) for about $24 and have fun doing it?

Brass - Have it
Bullets - 148gr BBWC given to me (1K)
Lube - 1/2 stick of lube - $0.75
Powder - $6
Primers - $17

Even if I had cast the 500 bullets that would have only been 10.5 pounds of lead which is
what I get free about every month. My biggest expenses are getting to/from the range
which is about a gallon of gas each way and a medium DD coffee.

 

[Jasper]

casting is where the REAL savings lie though!

1k 9mm only cost me ~ $50 now!

(realistically, almost any handgun caliber costs the same now)

$30 - 1k primers
$18 - 1lb powder (being VERY generous, .38sp i get 2500rnds/lb, 9mm i get ~ 1200rnds/lb)

~$2 worth of LLA for lubing my cast boolits (havent gone to a lubrisizer yet, although that's coming soon)

my only problem now is brass! (got plenty of 9mm, but need more .357 and .38sp!)

 

[Bugs100]

I've saved so much money reloading I'm broke. I use to shoot 100 to 200 a month tops before I started reloading. Now I'm shooting 200 to 300 a week.

 

[Patriot]

casting is where the REAL savings lie though!

I'm almost there. Melted down my stickies this past weekend at my camp so as not to
alarm the local neighbors. I'll start in on my regular WW as soon as there is no chance of
rain. Then on to the casting. I've picked up a bunch of moulds that I'm dying to cast
(and shoot) some boolits with.

ETA1: If you think reloading is a money pit, initial cost to start casting your own isn't cheap.

ETA2: Melted my first WW today. Keep those melting temp low boys. I sorted the living
bejeezus out of the WW and must have had at least a half dozen if not more zinc/steel
weights that I missed. My thermometer paid off big time on its first usage. 72 pounds
of goodness in the bucket and only three more 5 gallon buckets (2/3 full) to go.

1k 9mm only cost me ~ $50 now!

(realistically, almost any handgun caliber costs the same now)

$30 - 1k primers
$18 - 1lb powder (being VERY generous, .38sp i get 2500rnds/lb, 9mm i get ~ 1200rnds/lb)

~$2 worth of LLA for lubing my cast boolits (havent gone to a lubrisizer yet, although that's coming soon)

Go for the Star (Magma Engineering). That is one great machine! I did the 1K of bullets
on the Star after I tried a Lyman 450. Night & Day!

my only problem now is brass! (got plenty of 9mm, but need more .357 and .38sp!)

Got any .44 Mag? I have some .38 Spl.

 

[Patriot]

I've saved so much money reloading I'm broke. I use to shoot 100 to 200 a month tops before I started reloading. Now I'm shooting 200 to 300 a week.

Have you shot at the outside range yet? I was down there yesterday.

 

[hunter46spring]

I've saved so much money reloading I'm broke. I use to shoot 100 to 200 a month tops before I started reloading. Now I'm shooting 200 to 300 a week.

I feel your pain, bitersweet pain[sad2]

 

[swampy]

Wait'll you reach the point where you go to the range to empty some brass so you can take care of your reloading itch.

 

[Patriot]

Wait'll you reach the point where you go to the range to empty some brass so you can take care of your reloading itch.

With the exception of .44 Mag, that might never happen to me.

 

[pernox]

ETA1: If you think reloading is a money pit, initial cost to start casting your own isn't cheap.

ETA2: Melted my first WW today. Keep those melting temp low boys. I sorted the living
bejeezus out of the WW and must have had at least a half dozen if not more zinc/steel
weights that I missed. My thermometer paid off big time on its first usage. 72 pounds
of goodness in the bucket and only three more 5 gallon buckets (2/3 full) to go.

I wanted to see how many bullets could be cast from this, so here it is.

115gr (9mm practice round) - 4,382
110gr (.38spl practice round) - 4,581

That's what I personally practice with the most.

That's a lot of boolits. =)

 

[namedpipes]

How many times can you reload the same casing?

How would you rate the brass for reloadability?

Does anyone run home cast bullets in an auto like the 1911?

 

[Patriot]

How many times can you reload the same casing?

Lots of times especially if you are not stressing the brass with your loads.

How would you rate the brass for reloadability?

Not familiar with 9mm but I will load most any brass (unless defective) in any of the other calibers.

Does anyone run home cast bullets in an auto like the 1911?

Lots of people do. I will eventually, but for now I have only shot cast bullets I have purchased in my 1911 (as well as hardball).

 

[DukeInFlorida]

I have some 30-06 rifle brass that's 30+ years old, and still going strong. Been trimmed a bunch of times, but it's still there. I have some 9mm brass that's on it's 7th or 8th reload, with no end in sight. The military versions of the brass tend to reload a LOT more times than the commercial stuff. Well worth spending the extra $$$ on it.

Yes, I cast bullets for autoloaders. That's the real cheap way to shoot. Until primers went up in price, a cast bullet 9mm round was costing me two cents to shoot. That's $2 a hundred! (same as two boxes of 50, currently at more than $14 a box) A savings of $26 per hundred. I believe I saved enough to buy a new gun with the difference.

How many times can you reload the same casing?

How would you rate the brass for reloadability?

Does anyone run home cast bullets in an auto like the 1911?

 

[Chris Custodiet]

I've been a reloader for many years. To answer namedpipes' questions:

Cases have no fixed number of times they can be reloaded. Too many factors come into play. Generally you can get 4-8 reloads before the brass gets too thin and begins to split.

All American brass seems about the same to me. For some reason brass-colored unplated cartridges work better for me in autoloaders.

I've run thousands of home cast lead bullets through my Gold Cup over the years. No problems at all. I've had less success with 9mm cast lead in my Browning.

 

[EddieCoyle]

How many times can you reload the same casing?

It depends on the caliber and load. I have some .45 ACP that I've reloaded maybe 20 times. The .38 Special is also a low pressure cartridge, and you can get lots of reloads out of the brass, but since it is a revolver round and uses a roll crimp, the case mouth will work harden over time and you get splits. For low pressure calibers, I don't bother to sort my brass by number-of-times-fired.

For high pressure pistol cartridges, the primer pockets loosen up each time you load the brass. You can tell when to 'retire' the brass for higher pressure pistol cartridges (like the .357 Sig, 9mm, 10mm, .38 Super, etc) when you notice the primers going in too easy (or soot around the primer on the fired cases). I try to sort these cases by number-of-times-fired, and can usually get anywhere from 4-10 reloads out of them before I leave them on the range at NES shoots. The number of reloads has to do with the initial quality of the brass, and how hot I load them. For example, I can get only 4 reloads out of Federal (American Eagle) .38 Super cases before the primers get too loose, but for light cast lead loads for 9mm, I can get 10 reloads out of WIN brass.

Do a search on here. There's lots of info with regards to which brass is hard to prime, and in which calibers, which brass is thin, etc. The only brass you should avoid like the plague is anything with an AMERC headstamp.

I have some 30-06 rifle brass that's 30+ years old, and still going strong. Been trimmed a bunch of times, but it's still there.

This is very dangerous advice.

Did you ever wonder where that brass you're trimming off is coming from? If you full-length size your brass, it's coming from the case head. If you section some of your many-times-reloaded .30-06 cases, I bet you'll see this (I found this image online):

Repeatedly firing and full-length resizing thins the case wall near the case head. When it gets thin enough, you risk a case head separation upon firing. This is much more than an inconvenience - it can kill you.

It's not worth it. Go five or six reloads out of a full-length sized bottleneck rifle case, then throw it in the scrap bin.

 

[DukeInFlorida]

What I didn't say is how many thousands of 30-06 pieces I have. Some of it is, indeed, 30+ years old. I have been reloading it a long time, and most of it pre-dates my keeping track of how many times it was reloaded. I ALWAYS look for the signs of fatigue. It looks safe, acts safe, and is safe. And, is still plentiful. I don't shoot it as much as I used to though. I am onto a new more favorite gun.

This is very dangerous advice.

Did you ever wonder where that brass you're trimming off is coming from? If you full-length size your brass, it's coming from the case head. If you section some of your many-times-reloaded .30-06 cases, I bet you'll see this (I found this image online):

Repeatedly firing and full-length resizing thins the case wall near the case head. When it gets thin enough, you risk a case head separation upon firing. This is much more than an inconvenience - it can kill you.

It's not worth it. Go five or six reloads out of a full-length sized bottleneck rifle case, then throw it in the scrap bin.

 

[EddieCoyle]

What I didn't say is how many thousands of 30-06 pieces I have. Some of it is, indeed, 30+ years old. I have been reloading it a long time, and most of it pre-dates my keeping track of how many times it was reloaded. I ALWAYS look for the signs of fatigue. It looks safe, acts safe, and is safe. And, is still plentiful. I don't shoot it as much as I used to though. I am onto a new more favorite gun.

The age of the brass doesn't make a difference (unless it's over 80 years old, then it could be balloon head). I have a bunch of loaded surplus .30-06 (unfired) ammo with an LC 43 head stamp - 66 years old. I bought it from Howie's Dad.

If you have that much .30-06 brass, do yourself a favor and scrap the ones you've loaded a lot. The only way to tell if there's thinning is to measure the wall thickness near the case head, or section the case and look.

From the outside, a thinned case will "look safe", and it will "act safe" right up until it blows up in your face. I've seen the results of a .30-06 case head separation, and it ain't pretty. The shooter was lucky - he ruined a Garand, and got a few cuts, but he can still see.

 

[Patriot]

I have some 30-06 rifle brass that's 30+ years old, and still going strong. Been trimmed a bunch of times, but it's still there. I have some 9mm brass that's on it's 7th or 8th reload, with no end in sight. The military versions of the brass tend to reload a LOT more times than the commercial stuff. Well worth spending the extra $$$ on it.

Not all military brass is great. In fact there is some Korean 30-06 M2 ball ammo
that I had that looked great but has a bad rep so I just disassembled it, tossed
the cases, powder, and primers and kept the bullets. Old brass is just that, old
brass.

 

[DukeInFlorida]

I usually do the bent piece of wire inside the casing trick, and feel for indents, and odd bumps. I look at the outside of the metal, and look for the telltale signs of metal fatigue : changes in the color of the brass, typically a lighter color line where it's fatigued. Those get tossed as I find them.

The age of the brass doesn't make a difference (unless it's over 80 years old, then it could be balloon head). I have a bunch of loaded surplus .30-06 (unfired) ammo with an LC 43 head stamp - 66 years old. I bought it from Howie's Dad.

If you have that much .30-06 brass, do yourself a favor and scrap the ones you've loaded a lot. The only way to tell if there's thinning is to measure the wall thickness near the case head, or section the case and look.

From the outside, a thinned case will "look safe", and it will "act safe" right up until it blows up in your face. I've seen the results of a .30-06 case head separation, and it ain't pretty. The shooter was lucky - he ruined a Garand, and got a few cuts, but he can still see.

 

[bob68]

ive used cast RN 230 gr lead bullets in my 45 for years with no problem. (both auto and revolver)

 

[BIG GUN]

The age of the brass doesn't make a difference (unless it's over 80 years old, then it could be balloon head). I have a bunch of loaded surplus .30-06 (unfired) ammo with an LC 43 head stamp - 66 years old. I bought it from Howie's Dad.

If you have that much .30-06 brass, do yourself a favor and scrap the ones you've loaded a lot. The only way to tell if there's thinning is to measure the wall thickness near the case head, or section the case and look.

From the outside, a thinned case will "look safe", and it will "act safe" right up until it blows up in your face. I've seen the results of a .30-06 case head separation, and it ain't pretty. The shooter was lucky - he ruined a Garand, and got a few cuts, but he can still see.

I shot 20 rounds of LC-43 last weekend that a friend found in his fathers basement. It was kind of grundgy but held a 4" grp.@ 200 yds. with my 03A3 which I cleaned with the old G.I. milky bore cleaner because the primers were corrosive, then Kroiled the bore. The brass went to the scrap can.

 

[Patriot]

I shot 20 rounds of LC-43 last weekend that a friend found in his fathers basement. It was kind of grundgy but held a 4" grp.@ 200 yds. with my 03A3 which I cleaned with the old G.I. milky bore cleaner because the primers were corrosive, then Kroiled the bore. The brass went to the scrap can.

Des Moines '42, never fired. The other 19 rounds shot fine...

 

[n1heu]

 

[WILDCATT]

ammo

that was a defective case.I have some carcano that put 3 holes in the base.suprised me no end.shot one rest got pulled.