• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

Reloading question

Tony4310

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
474
Location
Florissant, MO
I've been collecting spent 9mm cartage's and I was wondering where to get reloading equipment and bullets and primers? I won't get the equipment till tax time due to cost... Any help would be great.
 

hrdware

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
740
Location
Moore, OK
Do some shopping before you buy your equipment. Try and find a few places in your area that have reloading equipment set up so you can look at it and play with it a little. You will need to decide if you want a single stage press or a multi-stage press. Budget may help decide this for you.

Keep in mind that brass should only be loaded no more than 7 times due to case stretching and reforming. Also price your materials vs the cost of buying factory loads. You may find that unless you are wanting to guarantee the measure of powder in your shot, it may be cheaper or easier to buy the factory stuff.

Other than that, enjoy reloading, I find it relaxing. :)
 

afcarry

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
206
Location
Southeast of KC Mossouri
I was thinking about using reload as self defense rounds and that way I have plenty stocked up.

Think very very carefully before you reload for PD. Its a personal choice, but there is something to consider when load for PD. And that is lawsuits. If there is ever a question about your defensive use of deadly force and you go to court, the prosecution will exploit that fact as much as possible, claiming that "You make extra-high-power-super-deadly bullets because you brutally and heartlessly planned the murder of the poor unfortunate soul when he was only trying to stab you because they were trying to feed their poor unfortunate family." Some do it anyway because they believe that the lawsuit is not a concern since they defended their family or themselves to the best of their ability. Just something to think about.

Also Bass Pro will have some reloading supplied and equipment, and www.natchezss.com
 
Last edited:

Shooter64738

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2010
Messages
107
Location
Missouri
Hard to beat cheap ammo.

It's hard to load 9mm and beat some of the prices you can get on the cheap stuff. WWB 9mm is around $20/100. 40, 45, 357, and even some 38 will save you some money, but without also casting your own bullets it really is hard to reload 9mm and have less in it than cheaper factory ammo.

223 on the other hand... I save tons reloading that, and just about any rifle caliber. I get a lot of stuff from natchezss.com and midwayusa.com.
 

Tony4310

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
474
Location
Florissant, MO
Could not the same be said if you bought HP rounds 3 or 4 boxes at a time?

Think very very carefully before you reload for PD. Its a personal choice, but there is something to consider when load for PD. And that is lawsuits. If there is ever a question about your defensive use of deadly force and you go to court, the prosecution will exploit that fact as much as possible, claiming that "You make extra-high-power-super-deadly bullets because you brutally and heartlessly planned the murder of the poor unfortunate soul when he was only trying to stab you because they were trying to feed their poor unfortunate family." Some do it anyway because they believe that the lawsuit is not a concern since they defended their family or themselves to the best of their ability. Just something to think about.

Also Bass Pro will have some reloading supplied and equipment, and www.natchezss.com
 

afcarry

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
206
Location
Southeast of KC Mossouri
Could not the same be said if you bought HP rounds 3 or 4 boxes at a time?

Their misguided logic is that you created them for the explicit purpose of avoiding manufacturers' "less lethal than yours" loads. Another possible reason would be for forensics. They may check powder burn patterns and such, but with reloads that you made in you living room, basement, garage or whatever they will have absolutely no baseline, thus producing different results. I have yet to see for myself a case where any of this is addressed, but it is of some concern to many people. It makes no sense to me, since most reloaders don't load to max SAAMI pressure specifications (for example, I sometimes load down a couple grains or so in order to reduce stress on my weapons), but that's something that would be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Like I said, it makes no sense, but its something to consider.
 
Last edited:

LMTD

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Messages
1,919
Location
, ,
Hey tony. you are in luck.

I am a huge reloading fan and you are welcome to bring a few hundred over and try a press before you buy, I have no issue with it at all.

Graff & Sons reloading is the best reloading shop in st louis, they are not much of a gun shop but they have just about everything you can dream of for reloading.

70 west to 5th street in st chuck, veer right, down the hill and heading back up the hill 5th is 4 lane and drops to 2 right in front of graffs, turn left just past em and the parking lot is in back.

I have a few thousand to get caught up on so you are welcome to check my set up out without even buying primers or stuff just to see if you like it before you buy it. I have a dillon, my buddy has a lee and those are the two most popular presses but there are other quality units as well.

Feel free to give me a call and we can set up a time and date if you would like.

I gotta warn you though, it is addicting and you shoot a LOT more once you get into it.
 

mmdkyoung123

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
164
Location
Independence, and Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Hey tony. you are in luck.

I am a huge reloading fan and you are welcome to bring a few hundred over and try a press before you buy, I have no issue with it at all.

Graff & Sons reloading is the best reloading shop in st louis, they are not much of a gun shop but they have just about everything you can dream of for reloading.

70 west to 5th street in st chuck, veer right, down the hill and heading back up the hill 5th is 4 lane and drops to 2 right in front of graffs, turn left just past em and the parking lot is in back.

I have a few thousand to get caught up on so you are welcome to check my set up out without even buying primers or stuff just to see if you like it before you buy it. I have a dillon, my buddy has a lee and those are the two most popular presses but there are other quality units as well.

Feel free to give me a call and we can set up a time and date if you would like.

I gotta warn you though, it is addicting and you shoot a LOT more once you get into it.

I have been thinking about doing the reloading thing but have NO experience with it. I was hoping you might be able to give me some insight since you have experience with it. I like to shoot and try to go once to twice a month but would like to go once a week or more if I could afford it.
My primary carry guns are .40 and .45. Would reloading save enough on ammo to make it worth it? How hard is it and what is a realistic start up cost? Is this something I can do at the workbench in the garage?
Sorry if these are stupid questions. I grew up shooting and hunting with my dad but we always just bought our ammo. It's getting to be cost prohibitive to go to often now even buying it bulk when I can so I would like to find a way to fix that if possible. Especially since my son is getting old enough to start shooting and my wife is FINALLY starting to like it also. Thanks for any advice you can give!!

Mike

(edited for spelling)
 
Last edited:

afcarry

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
206
Location
Southeast of KC Mossouri
(My primary carry guns are .40 and .45.) Mine too! Let's be friends. I also reload 9mm, 7.62x54R and 6.5 Creedmoor, though.
(Would reloading save enough on ammo to make it worth it?) With the .40, just barely, but yes. With the .45, definitely yes.
How hard is it and what is a realistic start up cost?) Its not difficult, just pay attention to details. As for the cost, that's extremely subjective. If you were to buy all Lee equipment, it wouldn't be all that much. Other higher quality equipment can run you much more. With Lee, you can start basic reloading for about 200 or so. Very rough estimate. I have mostly Redding equipment, so I spent about 700. I don't know of another manufacturer that makes better equipment though. Dillon, Redding and Forster are outstanding brands. Hornady is pretty good, Lyman and RCBS are okay, and I PERSONALLY wont buy anything Lee.
(Is this something I can do at the workbench in the garage?) I do, so I guess so. Make sure you store your powder, primers and dies in a dry place though, away from the humidity. The dies may rust, the powder and primers may fail when needed.
 
Last edited:

LMTD

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Messages
1,919
Location
, ,
I have been thinking about doing the reloading thing but have NO experience with it. I was hoping you might be able to give me some insight since you have experience with it. I like to shoot and try to go once to twice a month but would like to go once a week or more if I could afford it.
My primary carry guns are .40 and .45. Would reloading save enough on ammo to make it worth it? How hard is it and what is a realistic start up cost? Is this something I can do at the workbench in the garage?

Thanks for any advice you can give!!

Mike

(edited for spelling)

No question about reloading is stupid, especially after you start.

If you are shooting that often then IMHO it would indeed pay off to reload.

Here is the deal, there is a start up cost, depending on options and desires it can be fairly inexpensive all the way up to a big expense.

From the bullet alone perspective, yes it pays off. I buy in bulk because I shoot a lot and I do reload primarily for cost reduction though I have played with rounds a little on accuracy and velocity adjustments etc.

the last time I priced it out I was making 9's for about 9.5 cents and 45 for around 12.5 however cost have indeed gone up a bit since then, I would estimate you could add 35% on top of that from my last bulk purchase. I think the best way you could estimate the pay off beyond one of the online calculators where you enter prices is to price out the ammo you are using per month, times it by 12 and then divide that figure in half and you will be close to the cost savings.

I personally would tell anyone considering it, you will not get fast enough payback on everything to justify the cost savings unless you shoot a bunch and it is not worth it at all on that alone. What you have to realize is it is NOT a fast process and unless you enjoy doing it you are some what wasting your money.

Why? Because while if you get a fast press you can produce about 400 rounds per hour after set up. You can do more than that, but there are reasons you will not want to go too fast, there is some what of an art to it which develops quickly, most folks I have introduced to it get about 200 rounds the first hour and are up to 400 in the second or third hour they do it. I would estimate it takes me 30 minutes to set up and take off, it would be about the same to switch from 9 to 45 but I paid for that speed and ease, it just depends on how a person wants to do it.

When I go to the range I shoot a lot, I mean a whole lot, more than a great many people shoot in a life time. It is not uncommon to take 5 to 10k in 9mm and 5k in 45 and about 5k in 223 and we tend to shoot pretty much all of it over 8 or 10 hours there are usally several persons with me shooting so it is not as much as it sounds like it is at all.

More later family emergency
 

hrdware

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
740
Location
Moore, OK
(My primary carry guns are .40 and .45.) Mine too! Let's be friends. I also reload 9mm, 7.62x54R and 6.5 Creedmoor, though.
(Would reloading save enough on ammo to make it worth it?) With the .40, just barely, but yes. With the .45, definitely yes.
How hard is it and what is a realistic start up cost?) Its not difficult, just pay attention to details. As for the cost, that's extremely subjective. If you were to buy all Lee equipment, it wouldn't be all that much. Other higher quality equipment can run you much more. With Lee, you can start basic reloading for about 200 or so. Very rough estimate. I have mostly Redding equipment, so I spent about 700. I don't know of another manufacturer that makes better equipment though. Dillon, Redding and Forster are outstanding brands. Hornady is pretty good, Lyman and RCBS are okay, and I PERSONALLY wont buy anything Lee.
(Is this something I can do at the workbench in the garage?) I do, so I guess so. Make sure you store your powder, primers and dies in a dry place though, away from the humidity. The dies may rust, the powder and primers may fail when needed.

I also do my reloading in the garage, before I got married I used to do reloading in the living room on a special reloading table I put together. However the wife didn't like the idea of pressing primers and powder in the living room so I have been moved to the garage. Primers and powder stay in the house and the dies I keep in the garage with the press. Haven't had any issue with rusting.

I currently have a single stage RCBS press and like their stuff, however I am probably a bit biased as the press I have I inherited from my father. I have looked at both the Dillon and the RCBS multi-stage presses but they are so pricey I haven't made the commitment to those yet. Only problem I have ever had with the RCBS stuff is I kept breaking de-capper pins on my 223 dies. Called up RCBS and they sent me 3 extras for no charge. Then I realized I had picked up some rounds that had berdan primers in them. Not sure how many I can get out in an hour once I get everything set, but could do a lot more with a multi stage press though :)
 

Shooter64738

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2010
Messages
107
Location
Missouri
I have been thinking about doing the reloading thing but have NO experience with it. I was hoping you might be able to give me some insight since you have experience with it. I like to shoot and try to go once to twice a month but would like to go once a week or more if I could afford it.
My primary carry guns are .40 and .45. Would reloading save enough on ammo to make it worth it? How hard is it and what is a realistic start up cost? Is this something I can do at the workbench in the garage?
Sorry if these are stupid questions. I grew up shooting and hunting with my dad but we always just bought our ammo. It's getting to be cost prohibitive to go to often now even buying it bulk when I can so I would like to find a way to fix that if possible. Especially since my son is getting old enough to start shooting and my wife is FINALLY starting to like it also. Thanks for any advice you can give!!

Mike

(edited for spelling)

I'm going to be in independence all next week for training with little going on after training each day. I also shoot 45acp 99% of the time. I've got 500 to reload and intended to bring my reloading gear with me. Be happy to show you how to do it and the steps and equipment needed.
 

Tony4310

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
474
Location
Florissant, MO
That is a big reason I want to reload is because I want to start shooting more,plus it would come in handy in an emergency or disaster.

Hey tony. you are in luck.

I am a huge reloading fan and you are welcome to bring a few hundred over and try a press before you buy, I have no issue with it at all.

Graff & Sons reloading is the best reloading shop in st louis, they are not much of a gun shop but they have just about everything you can dream of for reloading.

70 west to 5th street in st chuck, veer right, down the hill and heading back up the hill 5th is 4 lane and drops to 2 right in front of graffs, turn left just past em and the parking lot is in back.

I have a few thousand to get caught up on so you are welcome to check my set up out without even buying primers or stuff just to see if you like it before you buy it. I have a dillon, my buddy has a lee and those are the two most popular presses but there are other quality units as well.

Feel free to give me a call and we can set up a time and date if you would like.

I gotta warn you though, it is addicting and you shoot a LOT more once you get into it.
 

kylemoul

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Messages
640
Location
st louis
on a side note, i used spent 30-06 or my 7.62x54r shells and put them on my truck antenna.

bam! perfect antenna decor
 

mmdkyoung123

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
164
Location
Independence, and Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Shooter,
I appreciate the offer, however I will be heading to Michigan tonight after work for vacation. I appreciate all the info everyone has given me so far. I think I will look at getting a cheap set up to start and see how I like it and how much it saves me, and then look at getting a better set up in a year or so. someone feel free to let me know if that is a bad idea however

Mike
 
Top