Reload anyone?

[Seven]

How many of you reload your own shells? I use to do this with my father all the time, but it seems like it is getting harder for me to find material as the years go by. About the only place I can find it now is Gander Mountain.

[greensteelforge]

Reloading is still worth it. The "shortages" in ammo and supplies won't last forever, and whether prices come down or not, reloading should always be cheaper than factory. I shoot allot of large caliber, and oddball cartridges, so reloading is the only option for some of my guns. I don't particularly enjoy the repetitive monotony of the loading process, but it beats the full day's wages it would cost me to spend an hour at the range if I bought commercial ammo. If you don't shoot regularly, it will take you quite a while to recoup your cost in equipment. Buy your supplies in bulk whenever possible, and avoid the gimmicky uber-bullets. For most pistols short of the magnum velocity rounds, I use lead bullets, and jacketed for the heavier cartridges. For all of my hunting rifles, I have found the traditional round nose jacketed slugs in heavy-for-caliber weights to be the most effective on game. For match rifles, I use either berger or sierra match bullets. For plinking and practice, I use whatever is the cheapest available bullet in the weight I use in the field. If you are new to reloading, I highly recommend the Hornady reloading manual for it's excellent chapters on the procedures involved, and the best practices for reloading nearly any cartridge.

[dinosaur]

try www.natchezss.com They.ve got it all.

[skippyb1]

try midway usa as well. i have found they have more than anyone else. i reload, my dad reloads and a friend of mine reloads. it's beneficial to load your shells so it's cheaper and you can custom loads which means they are more precise than with factory loads. definately reload.

[Seven]

I like the customization of reloading also, that is why I want to start doing it again. I will try these sites and see if my dad want's to buy some too.

[mikekat]

I reload both shotshell and brass and it has many advatages. Just recently I went to Grayling, MI to hunt grouse and reloaded hotshells that were 1 1/8 ounce of 7 1/2 shot and had a muzzle velocity of around 1500 fps to give me a little edge. It worked well as i got 2 grouse and 4 woodcock

[dinosaur]

I load my own because the fact is that consistency, assuming a viable rifle, is dependant upon consistent ammunition. Factory ammunition is pretty good if you get it all from the same batch. You can check that from the numbers on the boxes. But it's not a guarantee. Factory ammo is inconsistent.

If you load your own, you control the exact amount of powder. You seat the bullets yourself and can check the measurments on each round by caliper to make certain they are perfect. You can also fine tune the rounds under a very bright light to make certain there are no burrs or flats. If your rounds are perfect they will fly true.

I have a buddy with a 30.06 who won't shoot any rounds other than the ones I make. It takes a while but they are freaking perfect.

[dandy1]

I have reloaded since about 1967 and love it. It give you time alone during the winter to work on getting your loads all done for the upcoming season. As Dinosaur said you can really coustomize your rounds to fit your firearm. I even measure the chamer so that I know I'm seating the bullets to the correct depth for the rifle or pistol. Close the action on your firearm, then run a dowel rod down the barrel till it touches the bolt and make a mark on the rod at the end of the barrel. Then drop JUST the bullet down into the chamber and run your dowel rod till you just touch the tip of the bullet and make another mark on the dowel rod. When you pull it out you'll have the exact lenght of the chamber and how long your bullet needs to be when you have it reloaded.

[dhoyle]

I use the same to determine seating depth, the only thing I do differently is to seat the bullets about a tenth of an inch short of the lands. Just a thought.