looking at starting reloading

[njc110381]

Some patience and second hand kit will save you a fortune over new. I got a Lee turret press (£75), RCBS 10-10 scales (£180ish), and some dies and a few other little bits for £100 when I started. Someone was packing up reloading and wanted it gone.... Couldn't say no really!

 

Unless you're in a hurry hold back on the new kit. There's always stuff coming up for reasonable money if you're prepared to wait a while. The more you spend on the kit the less it will save you.

[Harnser]

Doc , your most important piece of kit and your first buy should be a good powder scale . Go ahead and start reloading and you will save money and have more consistant ammo . You will proberbly become a reloading nerd like most of us and lock your self in your shed for days on end .

I have loaded pistol and rifle ammo for many ,many years and have only used Lee gear . Dont let the knockers put you off Lee stuff ,its good and a lot cheaper than many others .

 

Harnser .

[Tod]

Doc , your most important piece of kit and your first buy should be a good powder scale . Go ahead and start reloading and you will save money and have more consistant ammo . You will proberbly become a reloading nerd like most of us and lock your self in your shed for days on end .

I have loaded pistol and rifle ammo for many ,many years and have only used Lee gear . Dont let the knockers put you off Lee stuff ,its good and a lot cheaper than many others .

 

Harnser .

I can second that, I used lee gear and never had a problem, used it for .357, 38 and 9mm , amazing how many you can make in a short space of time, you will get the bug my friend.

[Vince Green]

Buying PPU ammo against the cost (and time and effort) of reloading No real contest.Its about break even. If you want to reload small amounts for greater accuracy good luck but if you want to load large volumes for range use it will take over your life and the cost of the equipment you will need will eat big holes in any savings for years to come.

 

If your rifle will take PPU buy that instead, you live in Hampshire, see Alwood in Bracknell, he is cheap.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Vince Green

[Beretta28g]

Buying PPU ammo against the cost (and time and effort) of reloading No real contest.Its about break even. If you want to reload small amounts for greater accuracy good luck but if you want to load large volumes for range use it will take over your life and the cost of the equipment you will need will eat big holes in any savings for years to come

 

Thats OK if you can get Privi to shoot well in your rifle, mine hates them with a vengeance. Reloading is the way forward for me to have cheaper ammo.

[Vince Green]

Thats OK if you can get Privi to shoot well in your rifle, mine hates them with a vengeance. Reloading is the way forward for me to have cheaper ammo.

Thats always the big if in these things. I shoot in a fairly big group and none of us reload any more. Like any ammo, PPU works for some and not others. But its not bad ammo Edited May 20, 2012 by Vince Green

[Beretta28g]

Where i can standardly put 3 in a inch at 100 yards with the rifle, with Privi i get a 3'' group.

[Vince Green]

Where i can standardly put 3 in a inch at 100 yards with the rifle, with Privi i get a 3'' group.

Its very much horses for courses. My .308/ 7.62 bangs them in out to 600 yds but not everyone is that lucky. Its not the ammo its the rifle that counts. a 6.5mm rifle ( which is what the OP has I believe) is usually quite forgiving but there is only one way to find out.

[Beretta28g]

I have a 6.5x55 too.

[bedwards1966]

Vince Green makes a very good point that I hadn't thought of, try PRVI PARTIZAN ammo first. If it works in your rifle then it is the same cost as reloading, to within a couple of pence. And far less hassle.

[docholiday]

Vince Green makes a very good point that I hadn't thought of, try PRVI PARTIZAN ammo first. If it works in your rifle then it is the same cost as reloading, to within a couple of pence. And far less hassle.

 

I shoot with `PPU my rifle likes it and groups it better than federal but its still about £12 a box

[phaedra1106]

PPU 168gr match is around £80/100 round here (if you can get it), I can reload much better ammo for around £42/100 (that's using a case 5 times). I found the 168gr match gave 2MOA at 100yds with the Steyr, my current load of 41gr of N140 and 168gr Nosler CC gives 1/2 MOA.

 

As for PPU components, the pistol brass is fairly poor but the rifle is not too bad, the .30 bullets in 168gr were OK but the 174 & 175gr were really poor, up to 1.5mm difference in length.

[Vince Green]

PPU 168gr match is around £80/100 round here (if you can get it), I can reload much better ammo for around £42/100 (that's using a case 5 times). I found the 168gr match gave 2MOA at 100yds with the Steyr, my current load of 41gr of N140 and 168gr Nosler CC gives 1/2 MOA.

 

As for PPU components, the pistol brass is fairly poor but the rifle is not too bad, the .30 bullets in 168gr were OK but the 174 & 175gr were really poor, up to 1.5mm difference in length.

Why is it so expensive where you are? .308 PPU is around £42 a hundred, same as your reloading cost. Same for 6.5x55. Mind you, it is going up in leaps and bounds for reasons that are not entirely clear. The pound is getting stronger slightly they ought to be getting cheaper.

 

http://www.peterlawman.co.uk/ammunition

 

Can't see how it can be double price.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Vince Green

[al4x]

Doc if you are going to do it then start properly, it saves a load of hastle in the long run and it is far easier to be consistent. Having learned the basics I bought a RCBS rock chucker kit from the US which I think came in about £250 including taxes on its way in so a fair bit cheaper than here. It has decent scales a decent powder thrower and a good press, I weigh every charge and manage to throw most of them with few being out, seating the bullet etc with a decent set of dies and the rock chucker press again very few are out which just makes the whole process easier. Depending on the level of accuracy you want but generally better than factory it is very simple, but it is an investment that takes a while to pay off. The simple thing is buying components when you see them at a decent price and not chopping and changing all the time. I've now got a load for my .243 that works well and one for my .223 and it takes very little time to knock up a batch.

[docholiday]

Cheers Alex

sounds the sort of think I want to do

[EMcC]

Hi David, Once you start you will not stop !!!

I have just finished reloading 120 .222 only because I had the cases knocking around and I am on the range Wednesday so thought it a good idea at the time.

Had I been required to buy my ammo, I would probably only have bought 20 - 40.

I also reloaded some .308 so, again, not that I needed them, but I reckon I will have a much more enjoyable afternoon knowing that I don't have to watch the purse strings.

[phaedra1106]

Why is it so expensive where you are? .308 PPU is around £42 a hundred, same as your reloading cost. Same for 6.5x55. Mind you, it is going up in leaps and bounds for reasons that are not entirely clear. The pound is getting stronger slightly they ought to be getting cheaper.

 

http://www.peterlawman.co.uk/ammunition

 

Can't see how it can be double price.

 

His prices are excellent, problem is he's nowhere near me and hasn't replied to any of my emails or phone messages for the last 3 months :(

 

The 168g Match .308 is £71.48 at Henry Kranks (who are supposed to be the main importer) over £11 more than Peter Lawman, doesn't make sense does it!.

[Vince Green]

His prices are excellent, problem is he's nowhere near me and hasn't replied to any of my emails or phone messages for the last 3 months :(

 

The 168g Match .308 is £71.48 at Henry Kranks (who are supposed to be the main importer) over £11 more than Peter Lawman, doesn't make sense does it!.

I think it is just hiking up the price because they can. Before replying I have done some research on the American sites selling ammo and I can't see privi as having gone up by much at all in the past couple of years but Kranks (I have their 2009/10 catalogue) have put their prices up a lot. So draw your own conclusions.

 

In the US PPU 168grn Match .308 is around £11 a box. They have to import it just as we do (and further)so how does that sort of price differential get explained away?

Edited May 21, 2012 by Vince Green

[JonathanL]

Mike

I dont understand your reply, having just put 80 quid down the range this afternoon I cant see it taking to long to make reloading worthwhile, if I go to the range 40 to 50 times per year plus my stalking thats a lot of ammunition.

However does anyone else feel that I would be wasting my time and money by starting reloading ?

 

Absolutely not - especially at the rate you are going through ammunition. The increasing cost of factory ammunition makes reloading a better bet all the time. Reloading kit and components inflation hasn't kept pace with factory ammo.

 

Reloading will also result in your learning a great deal more about how your ammuniton for firearms work which is also a good thing.

 

J.

[Vince Green]

Mike

I dont understand your reply, having just put 80 quid down the range this afternoon I cant see it taking to long to make reloading worthwhile, if I go to the range 40 to 50 times per year plus my stalking thats a lot of ammunition.

However does anyone else feel that I would be wasting my time and money by starting reloading ?

I don't think you have realised how much time and effort would be involved in reloading that amount of ammo on a regular basis. Loading equivilent to a hundred a week or whatever is a lot of work. If your only purpose is to save money its not actually going to save that much per hour.

[docholiday]

Thankfully my time is free

[al4x]

that is why you have decent reloading gear Vince, once set up I can rattle through whichever caliber I've selected and really it doesn't take long. If I was simply after .223 to use on the range it would be even faster as I wouldn't weigh every charge. Case prep takes a little while but if you load in batches of 100 its pretty fast. I can knock out 100 in under an hour and a half if I stick to the same caliber. By my reckoning the saving on that is quite a nice hourly rate.

[Bloke]

I am also interesting in starting reloading, but only for .38/.357. Forgive me for my lack of knowledge, but I can currently pick up 100 Gecko.357 rounds for £35 - and £30 for 100 x .38, seems cheap, but the only ammo I can get locally. Would reloading give me any saving on this? Also, how good are Gecko, if they are that cheap?

[al4x]

nope you won't save much on that, no experience of their ammo in that size but I can say their .243 is very good for the money. Saw it reviewed in a magazine and the tollerances a handloader would be proud of

[Imperfection]

I am also interesting in starting reloading, but only for .38/.357. Forgive me for my lack of knowledge, but I can currently pick up 100 Gecko.357 rounds for £35 - and £30 for 100 x .38, seems cheap, but the only ammo I can get locally. Would reloading give me any saving on this? Also, how good are Gecko, if they are that cheap?

 

I reload atleast 2,000 357 rounds a year and i can do them cheaper than what you're paying,but it depends how much of it you want to do and if you want light or hot loads.

 

1000x small pistol primers= £30 (works out at 3p each)

1lb Alliant 2400 reloading powder= £40

 

There are 7,000 grains to the lb and because i prefer hot loads with magnum powder (12grains) it means i get 583 reloads from a tub which works out at total 17p per round-so 100x rounds £17.

 

Bear in mind i cast my own bullets so they cost me nothing and i reuse cases.

 

You could save a heck load more cash if you switched to fast burning Bullseye which works out at:

 

1,750 reloads from a tub of powder (4 grains) = 3p per load + 3p for the primer= 6p per round and £6 per 100x.

 

Even if you bought ready made RNFP (round nose flat point) hard cast lead bullets they work out at 6p each.