$$$ saving with reloading

[DaFadda]

Skosh makes a good point... and no.... I don't think anyone will ever forget his squib loads. (ROFL , loveyaman). IF I were to buy a new machine I would go with a Dillon for speed. But I would still recommend for any beginner that they start with a single stage. Set up and fine tuning can be frustrating for a beginner, especially if they don't have someone with experience to work with.

hit it on the head when he suggested the Lee Classic 4 hole turret. Probably the best marriage between a progressive and a single stage. Its what I currently use. The turrets are removable, so you can "set and forget" your favorite calibers. I have turrets for 45, 38, 357,9mm, and just purchased spare turrets for 38 Super and 7.62x39. The turret can be used in single stage "batch mode" which is how I use it, OR in a semi progressive mode. Lee Classic turret kit is $209 at Cabelas last week.

The Col. also makes a good point in that you can tailor your rounds for what you want to do, and whoever said the real cost savings comes when you pour your own lead was also spot on. I don't cast my own bullets, and I buy JHP from Montana Gold at 172 or so per k for 230 grain. Bullet price will drop like a stone if you cast your own, but its just too much work for me.

Most important.... and you are already doing it... please ask anyone here your questions... we're here to help and support ya. Good luck with the hobby... OH... check out the threads in the reloading section for pics of workstations, favorite loads, etc.

Da

[sdmc530]

is right, if I could do it all over again I would not have started on a single....no way would have jumped to blue. Glad I went blue and won't look back.

However Dafadda is right, you do learn basics on a single, it helps but knowing what I know now I would go blue right off the bat!

[Caleb]

Do you guys that make your own lead bullets use a respirator?

[DrHenley]

Originally Posted by IamCaleb

Do you guys that make your own lead bullets use a respirator?

Not sure what kind of respirator would protect from lead fumes. Most respirators are for particulates. I just do it outside with a crossbreeze.

[sdmc530]

I don't do my own bullet making because of the lead dangers. I don't have an outside place to do it and inside would be a no no so I am not lucky enough to make cast. Would love too though!

[skosh69]

Originally Posted by IamCaleb

Do you guys that make your own lead bullets use a respirator?

If you or anyone else is interested, member "dsparkie" csats bullets. He's made some for me in the past and they were good to go.

Regarding respirators, we use 3M vapor cartridges at work that would probalby stop the vapors, I will look into it. I wore my mask at an indoor range once because of the smoke and vapors from shooting lead cast bullets. Led tastes nasty.

[NAMVET72]

and but some people don't have a lot of money for a big fancy reloading press and he is just beginning, and I am betting you two would have made a lot of mistakes if you used one the first time out...................


Just my .02 cents worth,

[sdmc530]

Originally Posted by NAMVET72

and but some people don't have a lot of money for a big fancy reloading press and he is just beginning, and I am betting you two would have made a lot of mistakes if you used one the first time out...................


Just my .02 cents worth,

, no doubt I would have made mistakes....I just think of time as an investment and the cost of a progressive then is worth the cost, to me anyways. Blue is probably the higher priced that is true for sure but even a lee or Horn progressive would not be "horrible"

I am not putting down single stage at all, you do learn a lot and get a great understanding of reloading where as a progressive you may not. I learned a lot on my single stage. If I had a buddy who loaded I might not have had to learn the hard way though.

I still would go back to starting over would get progressive. The only thing about single stage is they are easy to sell to a buddy who wants to start up without investing $800ish in Dillion.

Either way you will do fine, learn a lot, make some mistakes and all will be well. You will shoot more and have a better satisfaction in shooting with you own made bullets!!


Its a great hobby!!

[skosh69]

Originally Posted by sdmc530

, no doubt I would have made mistakes....I just think of time as an investment and the cost of a progressive then is worth the cost, to me anyways. Blue is probably the higher priced that is true for sure but even a lee or Horn progressive would not be "horrible"

I am not putting down single stage at all, you do learn a lot and get a great understanding of reloading where as a progressive you may not. I learned a lot on my single stage. If I had a buddy who loaded I might not have had to learn the hard way though.

I still would go back to starting over would get progressive. The only thing about single stage is they are easy to sell to a buddy who wants to start up without investing $800ish in Dillion.

Either way you will do fine, learn a lot, make some mistakes and all will be well. You will shoot more and have a better satisfaction in shooting with you own made bullets!!


Its a great hobby!!

What he said.

[titanse05]

I'll share my experience with getting into reloading since I haven't been in the game all that long.

Back in 2009 I realized that I was shooting a lot for a non-competitive shooter and wouldn't take long to see the savings with reloading. So I bought a reloading book (ABC's of Reloading) and read it cover to cover a couple of times. Once I did that my research turned to the internet and I watched countless hours of videos of people's reloading process and reviews of various presses (single stage and progressive). It didn't take me long to realize that I was a progressive press kind of guy so my research focus was narrowed down to two auto-index presses, Dillon 650XL and the Hornady LNL.

After watching tons of videos and reading reviews on these presses, including comparisons between blue and red, I ended up making a decision. I went RED!

Now my reasons for going RED came down to two simple related things, cost and did I want/need a case feeder. As far as cost goes, after pricing both presses out with two calibers I would save over $200 plus get 500 free bullets from Hornady as part of their promo. Easy enough.

Now much more important was did I want/need a case feeder. On the blue press the case feeding station is located on the right side of the press which forces the inclusion of a case feeder to reload efficiently. On the RED press the case feeding station as well as the bullet feeding station are both located on the left side of the press. Why is this important you ask? Well to me this is very important because with the RED press I can keep my right hand on the press handle and the left hand handles the insertion of the case in station 1 and the bullet seating in station 4. So for my needs the RED press was a much cheaper choice since I didn't need a case feeder.

So in summary, if looking at these two presses it should come down to whether you want a case feeder or not. I didn't because it adds cost and noise to the process. But everyone's needs are different. I don't get passionate about pushing people to one or the other because I know that both are great choices and both aren't perfect. Most issues with both of these presses are with the priming systems and just need massaged and fiddled with a little every once in awhile to keep things running smoothly.

Now after I purchased everything for the startup I had around $800 invested. This included the LNL, shellplate, dies, good electronic scale, tumbler and all the other things needed for startup. As far as components went, I started off reloading lead bullets from www.mastercast.net and ended up with a cost of $0.11 per round of 45ACP. So back then Winchester White Box was around $33 per 100 rd value pack so reloading netted me with savings of around $0.22 per round. My press and all the reloading gear paid for itself after 3,600 rounds.

The first two years I probably reloaded around 4k rounds but over the last three years have only reloaded 1,500 rounds. These last few years I haven't had a ton of time to hit the range since I'd rather spend time with my wife and children (3 year old daughter and 1 month old son). Plus when I do go shoot I'm usually shooting my ARs and the pistols don't get much love.

I have been wanting to start reloading for the ARs but I have yet to get one completed round. Here is my thread about taking the plunge: http://www.cotep.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3651 However, I have a couple thousand cases ready to load I just need to get the dies and powder measure setup and I'll be ready to rock. Will happen this summer.

I have no regrets getting into reloading as I enjoy the process and I truly know that I have saved money over the years. I know that I will eventually have more time to dedicate to my hobby since my wife likes to shoot and wants more practice and of course when my kids are older they will be introduced to the sport.

Another huge plus to reloading is that once you are stocked up on components, which I am, you can just sit back and watch the gun/ammo scares and still enjoy shooting when you want.

If you have anymore questions I'll help if I can. Hope you found it helpful.