Oldtimr

Did I get a shock today. I had laid back some .45 Colt ammo several years ago. I had not shot my .45s for quite a while ad I decided I was going to go to the range as soon as this heat wave is over. I checked my supply of .45 ammo and found I really needed to buy more. I went to two gun shops and found all lead RNFP ammo was selling for anywhere from 34 dollars to 38 dollars for a box of 50. Jacketed HPs were very much higher. Fortunately I laid back a whole lot of Lever Evolution 45s years ago for hunting. I would up going to my go to supplier Graff and Son and bought some RNFP at 31 dollars for a box of 50. Not happy with the price but it was the best I found. I will buy more a little later and I will continue to check around for a better price but I am not hopeful. I really have to get out more, the last tie I bout all lead RNFP ammo it was in the 20 something a box range. One thing about Graff's though is no matter how much ammo you buy on the internet, shipping is $7.95 for handling and insurance. Something else since the last time I bought ammo over the internet I did not have to sign for handgun ammo. My receipt said I would have to and prove I was 21 or older. Yeah, go ahead and vote for Hillary!

super_hunt54

Never too old to start reloading Oltimr!! Other than a couple boxes for testing new ammo for someone or another I haven't bought factory ammo in many many moons.

Topgun 3006

Same here sh54 and all my reloading equipment was given to me by an old friend that got too old to hunt and didn't want to mess around with selling it. All I had to do was buy some reloading dies for my 25-06 since he already had .243 and 30-06 dies that I needed. That saved me a bunch of money when about all I had to do was buy bullets and powder since he also gave me 1000 primers and I had a lot of empty cases for all three calibers.

Bocajnala

OT, I didn't quite follow you on the buying ammo online thing? Do you just mean having Graffs order it online for you? I have ammo shipped to my door. Not my preferred way to do it as I like to buy from my local shop, but I've done it that way before.
-Jake

super_hunt54

Yep. Cost is MUCH cheaper in the long run even if you have to buy reloading equipment if you shoot a lot that is. Now if you don't shoot a lot then the cost factor is blown out of the water with today's prices for new reloading equipment. BUT you can still factor in the tailoring of each load to match your specific firearm which can be even MORE of a plus than simple cost. I've had more than a few firearms that just didn't shoot worth a tinkers damn until I put in some serious time at the reloading bench to come up with not only a good load but also a proper length for them. There are more than a few rifles that are extremely picky about how far off the lands the bullet is. You can have a rifle that the group more resembles a shotgun pattern than a group and just a few thousandths adjustment to the OAL and whammo you have a one holer! There are just too many pluses to reloading your own ammo (if done properly of course) than there are negatives. One more of those pluses is, it's just plain old relaxing! To me anyway. I love getting away from everyone and just sitting at my bench working up loads. Figuring out why this rifle does this or that rifle does that.

TN Lone Wolf

I actually did some economics analysis for reloading vs. buying factory loads. I'll see if I can find my notes and post them tomorrow.

Oldtimr

Boca, I ordered the ammo on line from Graff and Son.

Topgun 3006

sh54---What you said is certainly true about being relaxing. It is for me too and when I read what some of the people on a couple of the reloading sites I visit post about trying to speed up how fast they can load I sort of shake my head. I like to just take my time and probably don't put out more than one finished round a minute. I usually deprime/resize a bunch one day and put in the primers. Then the next day I take one at a time and weigh the powder on my OHaus beam scale, put it in the case and then put the bullet in with my press before moving to the next round. It's just the way I started doing it about 10 years ago when I was given all the equipment and it works for me. Doing it that way is not only relaxing, but it's pretty hard to make any mistakes compared to really cranking rounds out quickly the way it sounds like a lot of people do. I don't shoot enough to justify buying all the equipment, so it was sure nice to get all of it for free. The friend who gave it to me used to get all of his firewood off my place up north, so I guess he figured that he more than owed me that equipment for the number of cords he took off the place over about ten years to heat his house.

super_hunt54

I'm just the opposite usually as far as shooting amount. I probably put more rounds down range in a month that most people do in their lifetime. There are a few on this forum like that. Mercy, RR, Ron, just to name a few. I have 4 presses and not a single progressive. I'm not a factory and with the way I have my rigs set up I can still crank out some good volume in my pistol loads. Like you I hand weigh each powder charge rather than using one of those drops. I have "scoops" for most of my loads that will get me pretty close to the proper weight to make things quicker. I shoot probably 3 times more with handguns to stay in shape than I do rifle. With my close vision getting pretty salty I shoot instinctive with my carry firearms at defense distances and that requires consistent practice. The boss (wife) already has enough fits about what I spend on reloading. Just imagine the hell I'd have to pay if I didn't reload....YIKES!!!

Topgun 3006

Even if you reload you must spend a fortune every year on components if you shoot that much sh54!