How good of a friend is he?
Texpass said:
I have a friend that has run into some money issues and wants to sell his reloading equipment which is only about 3 months old. Dillon 55B and several dies and other things and from what other folks say a good price too. My questions are will reloading pay for itself, and I understand various items are hard to come by these days with the panic buying. Sure would like some feedback before I go off the deep end.
How good of a friend is he and how close does he live? There are other options to money issues than outright sale.
Have you considered fronting him some money and letting him load for you? Many shooters will cringe at the prospect of shooting someone else's reloads, but it you are with him when he does it (helping and learning), I think those objections will be less and the legal issues of unlicensed ammo manufacture/sale will go away, too. (Ammomakers need licensing similar to firearms makers/sellers)
Let me start out by giving two pieces of advice near the top in my list. Start learning with a single-stage press and get a mentor.
The complications of loading with a progressive press (you have to keep your attention focused on multiple actions at once) lead me to advise single stage presses for newbies. The fact you have a friend familiar with the equipment to teach you mitigates that advice somewhat.
When I got my first gun (mid-70s) I bought a press and dies that same week because I knew I could not afford to shoot unless I reloaded (ammo cost was about 20 to 25 cents retail, or a nickle a shot if I reloaded locally cast lead.)
So, yeah. I agree with everything in the previous posts.
1) Reloading can be a fun, relaxing activity in an of itself.
2) You CAN save money, but you won't. You will shoot more for the same cost.
3) If you count the cost of your time (calculated at $7.50 an hour) in the cost of your reloads, the cost savings may disappear. But don't count it. Nobody ever does. (Especially not to their wives.) The relaxation and satisfaction factors more than make up for it.
4) You can make ammunition however you want. My friend loads for his 500 S&W at power levels from 400 foot pounds up to 2500 foot pounds. Great practice and familiarization rounds.
Good luck, good shooting. Happy reloading. You know you will.
Lost Sheep
references:
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230171
http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=13543
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=11&sid=1efda7af229b625361fbd5ae1f754eec
or, if the links don't work, paste these addresses into your browser
thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230171
forums.accuratereloading.com/eve
rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=13543
rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=11&sid=1efda7af229b625361fbd5ae1f754eec
My usual caveat:
Remember, only believe half of what you see and one quarter of what you hear. That goes double for what you get from the internet. Even this post.
Do your own independent, confirming research when ANYONE gives you new facts on the web.
Also remember, even the idiotic stuff might have a kernel of truth buried in there somewhere.
Lost Sheep