Point Of No Return
On Sale for $30 per 50? Gah! Never mind that they are good stuff—Black Hills—but that is some STEEP ammo. Then again, that’s not all that bad when you start thinking about what the price per round is from your “Majors” and their little 20 round boutique boxes.
Anyway, folks—this is a BIG reason why I reload!
Posted by gb_in_ga
05/22/2007 at 04:08 PM
GB_IN_GA: reloading is always the best option as long as you can afford the couple of thousand dollars necessary to set up shop with all the necessities - as well as the time to set aside to do it right. Not every one has that luxury. There are several members here who reload but I always caution everyone who is considering it to make sure you learn how first and practice all the safety rules in doing so. It’s not rocket science but it does require patience and attention to detail.
The majority of folks here will have to keep stocking up when prices are good.As for me, when the ammo runs out I will have to go way back in the gun safe and find “Ol’ Hickory”, my .50 cal Hawken that just needs a little black powder and lead shot (which I can melt and cast in short time with a few small tools). It’s the ultimate “fallback” if the shit hits the fan. No reloading of shells necessary. I can fire and cycle in under 30 seconds. I practice with that piece every few months. It always draws stares at the gun range. I wouldn’t part with it for a million bucks.
We were just talking about reloading costs on one of my gunny forums the other night. Gb_in_Ga, have you priced powder and primers lately? They’ve gone up nearly 70%. Bullets cost 40% more than a couple years ago, and new brass is up 50%. While “factory” ammo is by no means cheap, the days of 2 cent reloads are over.
How come? Well, there’s a war on!! And the Chicoms are buying up all the copper that they can, to make the windings for their generators on that 3 Rivers Gorge hydroelectric damn project they’re building. It will take thousands of tons of copper. Last but by no means least, the ammo and powder companies have been buying each other up the last few years, so there is less actual competition in the marketplace.
And Skipper, I can set you up for under $500 with a first class kit that makes it fast and easy and takes out almost all the mental effort. Just pull the handle. Rigs that require a bit of concentration, skill, and time go for only $85. Really simple and slow kits go for only $16 but they get the job done. You can load 1000 rounds of .45ACP with just one pound of powder and a single box of primers. With bullets the components total comes to under $150.
Maybe you could “borrow” Sam from Warner Brothers? I don’t think they’re giving him much work lately.
And I swear there was one episode where he was guarding the sheep, with rifle and helmet.
Hmm, draw a turban on old Wiley? Could work!
bombs are going off in Turkey, Palestinian gunmen are starting another civil war in Lebanon, Britain and Russia are going toe-to-toe over the Litvinenko radiation poisoning incident, and with hurricane season about to begin the Chicken Littles are screaming doom and gloom for the second year in a row.
Meanwhile, while you slept a few thousand more Mexicans crossed the border last night, Wal-Mart built six more stores somewhere, the trade deficit with China increased by a few billion dollars, the North Koreans and Iranians came up with seventeen more plans to prove they are barking mad and several thousand more non-Muslims were murdered in Darfur by followers of the Prophet For Profit.
Then again, you already know all this and just need a place to get together and figure out what we’re all going to do when the roof caves in - and make no mistake, the rafters are crumbling. Depressing? Sure, but what are we going to do?
To think, this is only the beginning. Mark 13:7-8 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows
Get well Skipper!
It will be a bit worse before you get better. Your X ray picture looked like you have no other option than a stay in dry-dock.
Take care of yourself!
Posted by Gabby
05/22/2007 at 05:58 PM
"GB_IN_GA: reloading is always the best option as long as you can afford the couple of thousand dollars necessary to set up shop with all the necessities - as well as the time to set aside to do it right.”
You are both right and wrong there. Yes, it takes time to do it. No doubt about that. But no, it doesn’t take anywhere near that amount of money to do it, at least not to get started. A single stage press setup for 1 caliber—say .38 Spl/.357 Magnum (which use the same dies) can be had for less than $200 and that includes scale, dies, powder measure and the whole 9 yards. Go check out Midway and price out an entry level Lee single stage kit and the other assorted goodies you’ll need. It isn’t all that fast, but it makes perfectly good ammo and is a good starting point.
And yes, you really do need to be sure that you know what you are doing. Thankfully, I was taught how to do it right way back when I was a teenager, by my father.
“We were just talking about reloading costs on one of my gunny forums the other night. Gb_in_Ga, have you priced powder and primers lately? They’ve gone up nearly 70%. Bullets cost 40% more than a couple years ago, and new brass is up 50%. While “factory” ammo is by no means cheap, the days of 2 cent reloads are over.”
Of course I have. I reload, after all. Most of what I shoot (and that’s a lot) are reloads. Several calibers. Yes, the cost of components have gone up, but then again the cost of factory ammo has gone up as well. It is pretty much proportional. Point is, it is STILL a whole lot cheaper to reload than buy factory ammo, even if you don’t cast you own bullets (which I don’t—yet). The one caveat is that you really do need to either get your powder and primers locally or buy them online in large lots, this in order to keep from being eaten alive with HAZMAT shipping fees. Thankfully, I haven’t had the need to buy that much in the way of new brass lately. I really only use new brass in high end .357 Magnum loads, which I still have a sizable supply of. I’ve got gobs and gobs of once fired brass that suit my “normal” range ammo needs in all other calibers just fine. For instance, I have thousands of serviceable, empty .38 Spl cases on hand. 9mm, too. For me, at least, the price of brass is a non-issue. About the price of powder and primers—I have noticed that it has gone up, but not by any 70%—at least not since I last bought them last month. Then again that was also about the time we moved from Ga to Tx which might have something to do with it…
Posted by gb_in_ga
05/22/2007 at 06:25 PM
Sheepdog Militia
1. Pack heat, not fudge!
2. No, thats not a rabbit in my pocket and I am not happy to see you.
3. Live in bliss Lambchop, Sheepdogs on patrol.
Guess what Skipper...somehow my back got frakked up last weekend, I don’t know how. So I’m busy trying to find a decent chiropractor who will take a look-see...So much for my Memorial Day weekend too. ARRRRRRGH!
Macker, it’s all Bush’s fault.
SAM, THE SHEEPDAWG! I love it!
Thanks, Anon. I will carefully watch every one of them to make sure they don’t infect me with their poor hygiene - which may be difficult with today’s overpopulation of stoopid people.
I can only hope and pray I get a good crew on that day. Otherwise I may wind up with a vasectomy and a limb amputated to boot. The best medical care in the world is useless if too may people in the profession have their heads up their butts.
Which reminds me of an old joke ....
Gb_in_Ga
Well I was caught by surprise for sure. I buy powder by the 8lb can, primers in 5000 lots, and bullets by in bulk by the thousand. So I only have to get the cash up once every couple years. Last time I bought Fed 215s they were $15/K. Now they’re $25/K. Ouch.
My shooting costs are higher than most folks because I reload for “real” high powered rifles*, in the 5000+ ft/lb class. So I use lots of powder and big heavy costly bullets. I might have to switch to just dicking about with my .357 and WW296. I like VV N110 better, but the import powders are even more expensive! (Damn Grafs forever for dropping Norma and Dynamit Nobel). Even making it myself, my favorite rifle round sets me back about $1.50 per shot. Ouch!
The bottom line is, if you shoot anything other than .22 rimfire, and you shoot more than 2 times a year, then you ought to be loading your own. Not only will you save money, it’s also an excercise in freedom - you can make stuff “they” won’t let you buy.
Skipper’s blackpowder route is a good one too, but isn’t totally weatherproof. I can take my mongo sized cartridges and fill them up with FFG BP behind a cast bullet, and they’ll get the job done just fine. Try that with your .223, 7.62x39, or even your .30-06: they become squirrel rifles at best.
* = of course other cartridges are real. And some are quite powerful too. I was just making fun of the idiots in the MSM and their silly nomenclature.
Sheepdog Militia—“Duty, Honor, Tight Shot Groups”
Posted by MAJ Mike
05/22/2007 at 10:45 PM
Drew I can hear the worlds tiniest violin playing! You think reloading is expensive in the US try doing in in the UK. A hundred Vmax .223” are £14 or $28 now. A pound of Varget is around £28 or $56. Primers last time I bought any were £18 per thousand and brass is out of sight. Luckily I had the foresight to stock up on bullets and brass from the US!! Just as well I have a .223 as this is fairly cheap. It would make me cry to have to load for a 22-250 let alone a 50cal!
Skipper I was going to say at least you don’t have the mrsa issues we have here with socialised medicine, but it seems the nasty bug is all over these days. Hope your surgery goes ok and you recover soon. At least you can get in for surgery when it suits you not when it suits them as happens here.
Good luck with the surgery Skip, see you soon.
05/22/2007 at 06:38 PM
05/23/2007 at 07:31 AM
