rifle ammo reloading

[dph]

just been out and bought some hornaday ammo in 223 and paid just over a pound each bullet. it makes me wonder about reloading, never tried it before, so i ask, does it work out to be much more economical to reload ?.

[markbivvy]

just been out and bought some hornaday ammo in 223 and paid just over a pound each bullet. it makes me wonder about reloading, never tried it before, so i ask, does it work out to be much more economical to reload ?.

 

 

will depend on how many rounds you go through.

[wy111]

Economics?, Yes, it's a lot cheaper to reload, especially if you get through a lot. The initial outlay for the reloading equipment is the problem. Mine, a .243 works out @ around 55p a round in comparison to £1.20+ for factory.

There are pluses, getting a round that is more accurate than any factory ammo and unfortunately becomes an addictive hobby as well. You can pick up some cheap 2nd hand gear gear by "searching around". If you want new, I can give you some US sites that are a damn site cheaper than new over here. Last year i replaced my old dies with 2 Forster dies from the US for the price of 1 over here.

[dph]

Economics?, Yes, it's a lot cheaper to reload, especially if you get through a lot. The initial outlay for the reloading equipment is the problem. Mine, a .243 works out @ around 55p a round in comparison to £1.20+ for factory.

There are pluses, getting a round that is more accurate than any factory ammo and unfortunately becomes an addictive hobby as well. You can pick up some cheap 2nd hand gear gear by "searching around". If you want new, I can give you some US sites that are a damn site cheaper than new over here. Last year i replaced my old dies with 2 Forster dies from the US for the price of 1 over here.

 

its interesting to hear you say that you can achieve greater accuracy from hand loads, is it that you can put more precision in your detail, is it getting the powder quantity dead right or the whole process

[mr smith]

its interesting to hear you say that you can achieve greater accuracy from hand loads, is it that you can put more precision in your detail, is it getting the powder quantity dead right or the whole process

 

 

Yeah you can basically set up the ammo to your rifle rather than using a manufactures catch all ammo.

[Paul223]

The whole process, choosing the bullet head you want, experimenting to find out how much jump to the rifling that head likes in your rifle, what type and how much powder to create a consistently accurate round, using cases which have been fired in your rifles chamber neck sized so they give the least amount of variance on being chambered, and yes in the long run cheaper. :blink:

[wy111]

Now you're opening a whole canfull of (Enjoyable)worms. This is where the addictivenes comes in, perfection. It's not just the powder. Cases, heads, primers, head seating depth, primer pockets, primer holes, neck/fullsize resizing etc. Your attracted to the bait, once your hooked theres no getting away. Most rifles and factory ammo will shoot well within the "Kill zone" out of the box. It's all about tuning a specific load to your rifle and there are many factors that can improve accuracy. If you don't want to get into the frenzy, you can reload to factory specs with only minor adjustments, but as you asked, to get get the best accuracy, it's the full process.

I started off the same way as you, to save money in the long run, but now after over 20 years, you don't want to know what gear i've accumulated

[duey]

Once you start reloading your on a slippery slope, as you are always looking for more, or better equipment to improve your manufacture in the never ending pursuit of perfection.

 

The cost of the individual round comes down drastically but it takes a few years to recoup the equipment costs so be sure in your mind as to what it is you want to achieve before you join the rest of us nutters

 

Ian

[mry716]

Or dph

you could just go ahead and buy cheaper ammo.

 

I tested lots of calibres of Prvi Partzan ammo and found it excellent in most instances and of course so much cheaper than that you are buying. Try some at £40 per hundred as it is as cheap as homeloads and you also have some pretty good brass ready for your own loads if you decide to go down that road.

 

Henry Krank imports it so have a word with them and see who stocks it locally to you.

 

http://www.henrykrank.com/

 

Other less expensive yet more than adequate ammo is PMC imported by York Guns so ask them to see who has some nearer to you. I use this in 223 as it is as cheap as homeloads and saves all the hassle of loading small cases with my big fingers. I get 3/4" groups at 100yds with a Sako so am more than happy.

 

http://www.yorkguns.com/index.htm

 

Or Magtech which is imported by Viking Arms.

 

http://www.vikingarms.com/

Edited January 15, 2008 by mry716

[tulkyuk]

Or american Eagle - which is made by fedral

[dph]

Or american Eagle - which is made by fedral

 

thanks for the info on other makes of ammunition, i don't suppose i will be a heavy user of 223 ammo and i haven't had the gun long, yes 3/4 of an inch at 100 yds is certainly good enough for me and i will be keeping all my empty cases. i have to say though i have been reading up and studying ballistics charts and i also read a reply on this site which said that hornaday 40gn v max zeroed in at 100yds will still be flat at 200yds. i tried it for myself and who ever wrote the reply was absolutely correct. can i ask mry716 if the cheaper stuff will do the same, if so i will be phoning around soon.

[mry716]

Generally the 223 performs at its best with a 55gr bullet. Some rifles shoot heavier and / or lighter bullets equally as well but I think you will have to try different factory loads to see which provide the best performance for your needs. However I know of nothing in the cheaper ammunition ranges less than 50grn .

 

Dont be too dismissive of 'standard' ammunition - a 55 grn bullet in a 223 is good for rabbits out to 250yds with little or no holdover dependant on the zero range.

 

For example, let’s look at the trajectory for the .223 Remington, shooting a 55-gr. bullet with a muzzle velocity of 3,600 f.p.s. The bullet coefficient is 0.237. The scope-mounted rifle is zeroed for 200 yds. If we were trying to dispatch a rabbit that had a kill zone of 4 inches and we were using the .223 Remington as sighted above, the bullet would be within the 4 inch span (+/- 2 inches) from the muzzle to about 250 yds.

 

If we increased our margins to +/- 2.5" and the zero to 250yds (or 1.85" high at 100yds) we should still be within our 5" circle out to 300yds.

 

So shooting out to 300yds for rabbits holding your cross hairs on target really cannot be considered a particulalry curved trajectory.

 

Adding flatness to a trajectory may give the impression of providing a longer range but in actuality doesnt do so productively in many circumstances. The lighter bullet weight provides considerably less retained energy at longer ranges that may or may not provide positive kills.

 

My recomendation would be to start out with 55grn and later if you really feel a need then consider other bullet weights. Perhaps you never will find that need.

[duey]

I Think that it must be said that there is more to shooting long range than reading the drop off a ballistics program in the real world there are numerous factors that greatly increase the 2" drop from 200 to 300yds on a flat shooting round most of which are human error

 

miss calculation of range

 

temperature

 

wind speed and direction

 

humidity

 

Inclination of shot

 

actual accuracy of the rifle, +/- 1 moa for example

 

the list is not endless but as you can see if you add all these little errors up you end up with what is called a margin of error factor and if that is bigger than your target area or kill zone then it is a NO SHOT

The biggest causes of a miss or an injure instead of a kill in my opinion is incorrect allowance for the wind conditions, so yes its great to have a flatter shooting round as possible but please look into all the factors that act on a bullet and try and learn how to compensate for them as much as possible. The biggest correcting factor of course is to get closer.

[dph]

I Think that it must be said that there is more to shooting long range than reading the drop off a ballistics program in the real world there are numerous factors that greatly increase the 2" drop from 200 to 300yds on a flat shooting round most of which are human error

 

miss calculation of range

 

temperature

 

wind speed and direction

 

humidity

 

Inclination of shot

 

actual accuracy of the rifle, +/- 1 moa for example

 

the list is not endless but as you can see if you add all these little errors up you end up with what is called a margin of error factor and if that is bigger than your target area or kill zone then it is a NO SHOT

The biggest causes of a miss or an injure instead of a kill in my opinion is incorrect allowance for the wind conditions, so yes its great to have a flatter shooting round as possible but please look into all the factors that act on a bullet and try and learn how to compensate for them as much as possible. The biggest correcting factor of course is to get closer.

i agree with all you say, and reading all the informative replies [which i thank you all for they have helped me a lot] i think i will try some heavier bullets they do seem to offer greater stopping power and more humane kills. the reason i tried the lighter ammo was the fact that they would seem to compensate for my poor judgement of distance at night being very fast and flat, as i say zero at 100yd and still the same aim point at 200yd.

[duey]

Just a hint

 

If you shoot the same ground all the time at night, from the same firing points, more often than not, then why not go during the day and get some referance range points that are easly visable at night and use them to assist in the night time ranging of quarry.

 

Heavier ammo isn't necesaly the answer, your rifle will have a specific twist rate to the barrel and that twis rate lends itself to a give weight of bullet, and often a change of 5gr in bullet weight can often mean the differance between a 1/2" group and a 3" group. if what you are using gives a good group then stick with it and just try and find some time to get some trigger time on some targets

 

good luck

 

Ian