Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

i am wondering if i should learn how to reload. how much money does it cost to reload the 30-06? how hard is it to do it. and how long does it take to reload.?thnks

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

reloading for me if fun couse i like to tinker.if you shoot alot at the range or in the feild, reloading will save you alot of money as compaired to if you had to buy factory loads every time out.now the set up cost for reloading will set you back some but again if you shoot alot it will pay for it self in no time.i,m not sure of the ratio between factory and hand loads but it would be somthing like,$1.00 for factory versus 20 cents for reload per shell.thats just a wild guess,never realy sat down i figured out what a hand load cost per shell.i do it for the fun and the increased accuracy.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

The material to load a box of 30-06 runs me about$5.60 a box and takes about twenty minutes on a single stage reloader . It very easy to learn in my opinion. What equipment you decide to buy will determine how long it takes to recover your initial investment from the money saved reloading . custom rounds cost more than the price given ,it was figured equal to a factory round .

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

]If you shoot alot it pays to reload. If you don' t shoot but a couple boxes of shells in a years time and you don' t have the extra space to set up a loading bench then it would not be worth your time. If you decide reloading is what you want the first thing to do is buy a reloading manual and read, read, read. It is a rewarding and fun experience, and once you know what your doing,you can load a box of shells in about 15 minutes on a single stage loader. If you know of anybody who is already into it, that would be a big help if they could help you get started. There are many different brands,makes,and models on the market to choose from, but do your homework before jumping right into it. Start small and gradually work your way up. As long as you stay within the guide lines of the reloading manuals you will be fine. Once again if you shoot alot and start to reload you' ll see the savings for sure. Not to mention the great feeling you' ll have with the end result. If ya need any advice or have a question,I' m sure someone here will be glad to help out. Hope this helps. Good luck and keep us posted.[:D

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

Warning.....it' s addictive but a heck of alot of fun! I don' t reload to save money i just do it because i like to tinker and it' s a great hobby. It' s also a great way to get your rifle to shoot at it' s best.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

yes it will add about 500 items to your " to buy" list

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

i have been doing some research on the internet and i have figured out that alot of people love reloading. i think that it would be the kind of thing that i would like to do. but dono if i shoot enough. but i thinks thats the problem. i worry sence i am a kid and work on a fmaily farm about shooting my 30-06 for wasting shells. well shooting is the only way to get better. but i cant afford to waste to many shells.. so i think that if i started reloading that i would definatley shoot more. i have done some reading up on it but i think before i do anything that i get a book on it and read it. that way i will kinda have an idea of what i am looking for.

well all of your information has been very help full but if you have more info please share. thanks

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

i realy don' t shoot enough to justify the cost of all the toys involved with reloading.but i love to tinker and i enjoy the sub M.O.A groupings reloading creates.and your right reloading will force you to shoot more,that in its self is a good thing.reading a good manual on the subject if there no one around to show you the ropes is a must.starting off small is the way to do it but don' t go to cheap when it comes to a press.i made the mistake of buying a cheap bottom line lee press and it was nothing but a head ache.i now use a rock chucker from RCBS and i love it.RCBS has a rock chucker kit for around $250.00 from midsouth supply,it comes with every thing you will need(including a reloading manual) except the dies and shell holder.the press alone runs just under a hundred bucks,worth every penny.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

i have a question about bullets. when they say 30 caliber do they mean like 30-06 and 308 and so on??

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

When they say .30 caliber they mean any cartridge that takes a .308 diameter bullet. 30-06 Sprg. and 30-30 Win. are included. Good luck.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

ok thanks.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

When you throw away an empty brass cartridge case, you are throwing away about 75% of the value of a loaded round of ammo. Reloading a fired cartridge essentially involves four simple things: Removing the spent primer and replacing it with a new one; squeezing down the neck of the fired case so it will hold a new bullet; putting in the new powder charge; putting the new bullet in the case. I started loading with a .30/06 years ago with a simple tool called the Lyman 310. I didn' t have a powder scale, so I cut off a .30/06 case about 2/3 of its length and soldered a little handle onto it made from a coat hanger wire. Using Army surplus .30/' 06 powder (4895), I made my powder measure short so it could not possibly hold a dangerous overload of this powder. I bought 1000 salvaged GI bullets through the NRA. The ammo I made would not win any rifle matches, but it was good enough to permit me to shoot a lot. If you are shooting your reloaded ammo in just one rifle, and using very mild loads, you can shoot indefinitely with the same brass and neck-size only. Once you start reloading for different calibers and different rifles, things get a little more complicated, but by then you will have read several reloading manuals, and will get the additional info you need from them.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

Ask a few of your friends or hunters if t hey know anyone wanting to get out of reloading. A deal may come your way. Years ago, I got a complete setup by trading a CB set for the works, press (Bonanza Co-ax), brass (38-357), 38-357 dies scale, books, etc. The local Sheriff' s dept. got me to reload their target anmmo for them, which amounted to over 1000 rds. every 3 months. Got a lot of practice. Moving to Miss. enabled me to use large rifles and I started reloading 35 Rem , 35 Whelen and 30-30. Go to a few gun shows and look around. You might come up an a deal there.
Good luck.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

Around 50 yrs ago I started reloading my 30/30 with a lee reloading kit,it came with a dipper for the charge,resizer and bullet seater,used a hammer instead of a press. later I got one in a 30/06,they worked pretty good then and I think they still sell them. And I think I still have the one in 30/30 some where???
If a beginner wanted to try reloading to see if that is what they wanted to do.It would be a cheap way to go.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

Midway has that tool it sells for $13.73 Sounds pretty tedious to me though and wonder if he might not be better off going with one of the Lee kits to start cheaply and then invest in a new press later on

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

how safe are they using a hammer???

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

You have to have (bare minimum):

1. A press (could be a hand press, or bench-mounted).
2. A set of dies.
3. A powder scale.
4. A powder funnel.
5. A reloading handbook (recommended, but now you can get loading data on-line!!)

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

don' t forget brass,bullets and powder, oh yeah time

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

i have looked at them, pretty cheap compaired to the RCBS. i know that the RCBS is higher quality but would the Lee kit get it done for awhile or until i get into reloading

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

Mrfishy the Lee anniversary kit runs about $70.00 and will do fine to start or how ever long you want to reload . I have used them and they work fine . It is not the same quality as RCBS, but the quality of ammo produced is just as good at 1/3 the cost for equipment.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

Halcon is right I am using a LEE Chalangeer press still ( been reloading fro about 20 years) I' m buying an RCBS press soon not that the LEE press doesn' t work well; I just want something new. The only fault I have with the press I have is the spent primer catcher ..... it' s molded into the press and has a little plate that you take off to sweep up the primers, when I did my reloading in the cellar it wasn' t much of a problem, I' ve since moved and no longer have a cellar and want something more convienient.

Scales on the other hand get the best you can the more accurate the scale the more reliable ( and reproducible) the loads.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

Yes the hammer method is pretty safe,I am now in my 60' s and survived it.You don' t hammer it like you do a nail head.
You were wanting a less expensive way to go and that was the least I could think of.
As Halcon said you can get the lee kit forbout $70 bucks plus the dies.
I looked in the natches catolog and they do have the original loader for $13.44.I don' t remember what I paid but I know I had to dig a lot of blood root and sang to get it.
Good luck in what you choose and have lots of fun

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

I am using the Lee 4 hole turret press with the autoindex. It works really great for pistol loads where you can use the autodisk powder measure to throw charges. For my rifle loads I remove the index bar and use in single stage. Does the exact same thing, just take some getting used to. The Lee will do you just fine, do yourself a favor and buy a starter kit though. The first things to upgrade to is a better scale and a handprimer.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

ok... yes that is what i have found that the lee kit costs. sounds like that might be what i am looking for. now about the powder. how do you go about doing that?? i mean once you figure it out do you have to do that for every bullet figure out how much by measureing it?? or is there an ezier way to it.

thanks for all the info you guys have gave me:D

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

Mrfishy You can use a powder measure rather than a scale to throw your loads ,but you need a scale to set it and you won' t be quite as uniform as using a scale on every charge . Its faster and that is the way they do it with a progressive loader . its more like making factory loads in my opinion.

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RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

DG, you are so right I guess we got the cart before the horse on this one. Usually that is where we tell everyone to start ..... buy a good manual and read the how to section to get an understanding of reloading then jump into buying the equipment.

MRFISHY, That web site I posted has a good section on how to reload with pictures too. But you will need the manual anyway as it' s your " cookbook" Lyman #48 is a good one to start with as it will have data for a number of different bullets and powder. The other ones deal more specifically with their products ei. Sierra has data for their bullets ....

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

yep... i am planing on ordering a manual and reading first before i do anything. i am just askin questions to kinda find out still how much i wana try this. thanks guys:D

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

Nothing wrong with that, I believe the Lee Anniversary Kit comes with the Modern Reloading book which is just as good as any of the others. Have a good idea of what your doing before you start. The real satisfaction comes at the range or in the field, the fun is getting to shoot more because you have to try this or that to work up the perfect load for that gun.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

mrfishy,
Reloading saves money! That has got to be one of the biggest lies I ever told my wife. I' ve never saved a cent by reloading ammo. In my case, if I hade $20.00 to spend on ammo, I spent $20.00! I just shot a lot more. There are some honest people on this site. Those who say that loading is a lot of fun are telling the truth. For me, reloading has become a sport unto itself. It' s gotten to the point that I don' t know if I reload to shoot, or shoot to reload. The suggestion to get a manual and readit, is the best advice you' ll ever get. Good luck.[&:]

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

BigBob .30-06 truer words were never spoken.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

I don' t know about you guys, but I spend a bit more on my reloads. I use a premium bullet and can do a box for about $8-10. It makes sense to me. I also like the accuracy, but have a hard time getting a whole lot more accurate than the Federal Premiums. Of course, Fed. Premiums cost a whole lot more.

Unless you buy in bulk, a box of Sierra Game King 180 grain boattails will cost you about $18-20. For calculation purposes, that makes the cost of a bullet about 20 cents. A typical load for .30-06 uses about 15-20 cents worth of IMR4350, again depending upon whether you get a good deal on powder or buy in bulk. Primers are about 1 1/2 cents each. Assuming you are reloading your own brass and don' t have to buy new brass, that puts the cost of a reload at 35 to 40 cents per shell, give or take. At 40 cents per shell, that makes the cost of a box of 20 about $8.00. Using a premium bullet like say, Nosler Partition brings the price up to about $13.00/box. With Swift A-frame, just under $20.00 (cost of each bullet is about 88 cents)

Now, you can get a box of .30-06 shells for about that at Walmart, but you won' t have the quality you can get from reloads if you are a careful reloader. I took the liberty of checking a few prices from the Fall Cabelas catalog:
Winchester Power Point 180 grain ---------------$16.99
Winchester Supreme (180 Nosler Partition)------24.99
Remington 180 Core Loct--------------------------12.79
Remington Safari Grade (Swift A-frame 180)----26.99

To recap, what you get by reloading is better quality for less money. If you choose, you can load top of the line bullets. You can also go cheaper with less well-constructed bullets. For whitetailed deer, it makes no sense to use a bullet costing close to a dollar when the 15-20 cent bullet will do the job.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

The point we were making is this: When I started reloading it was for .357mag at the time I could reload for about half what the factory rounds were. So at the range I' d shoot 100 rounds not 50 ..... didn' t " save a thing just shot more.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

ya. thats what i wana do. i need to get out more and shoot more with my 30-06. thats what i want to do.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

reloading is spelled " RCBS" Period.

Yes Lyman makes some fine products as does forester, Wilson, Dillon......others too, Hornady' s A/P is a very fine press.....

I equate Lee to Yugo

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

thnks for the info guys. i aprecate it

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

mrfishy, I am glad you brought this up because like you, I to want yo get into reloading. I was wandering if anyone could give advice as to what reloading manual would be best suited to a greenhorn. One that gives the differences of powders. stick, ball ,etc... also what kind of high quality scale do you recommend? I have saved 30-06 brass for years now and have over 5000 pieces of brass. Another question. how many times can you reload 30-06 brass with avg charges.How do you know when the brass is getting to weak? I also heard that the wall thickness of brass is different from one maker to the other. So if you were going to buy brass as I will have to do for my new 338, which brand? where do I find suppliers.also I think that rock chucker sounds pretty good, so I will check into that. Thanks everyone DAKOTA NUT 5.

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

BigBob said it right, it' s just plain more fun to shoot something you had a hand in making too. I' m just starting myself and I,m hooked already. Made up 40 rds. and I,m really wanting to get out and try them out. Loaded up four different loads just to see what shoots best. Then I' ll try some more!!!:D

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

sounds about right

every one i have talked to on and off this site said that they started to save some money and shoot more and they said the ended up gettin addicted to it:D

RE: Reloading 30-06 shells.
 

Dakota Nut5.....I recommend Hodgdon' s reloading manual in hardcover. It has three companies powders in it and I' ve found it to be in tune with all my rifles.

Other really good manuals is Hornady' s and Lymans....Speer' s is fine too.....Nosler' s has left me wondering a few times and I have no experience with Speer' s manual.

30-06 cases can be fired five to ten times and the first sign of loss is a split neck or a ring around the case about 1/4" foreward of the head of the case. This ring is caused by headspace and is not dangerous.....however if the case is not discarded when the ring appears, the case will break in half in the chamber and leave the foreward end of the case in the chamber when you eject the case. It comes out easily but it' s not something you want to happen on a deer hunting trip.