Save Money Reloading Handgun Ammo?

[mikld]

One fact very often overlooked when discussing merits of reloading; most reloaders know much more about their guns than those who do not reload. I know the barrel dimensions of 90% of my firearms (even a couple of my 22 rimfires) I know about cylinders/chambers' construction/dimensions. I now know more about the "firing mechanism" of my guns than I did pre-handloading. And I know a little about making my guns more accurate by varying the velocity, peak pressures, bullet type/composition, etc.

Reloading is much more than "saving" money!

 

[rclark]

Reloading is much more than "saving" money!

Like anything, it is what you put into it. I know some people reloading is just a means to end. Ie. Look up a safe load in the manual and stick with it, shoot more, but not look for 'the most accurate' load. Just load for plinking. If it hits a can at 20 feet, it's an accurate load. Then there is the other extreme where the round has to be just so, brass so shiny you can see yourself in it, perfect crimp, weigh bullets, measure all powder drops, etc.... If it takes an hour to load one round, why it is worth it. Test it for ultimate accuracy and start all over again. Most of us are in the middle somewhere.

See that with R/C airplanes too. Some just what a Ready To Fly. Others will build from plans or scratch build working calculating new air foils and such.... Some will build, but not fly.... All fun, but you do get out of it what you put into it.

 

[Lost Sheep]

"A reloading bench? Where are you going to fit a reloading bench? ..."

Everything I need to reload fits in less than 10 cubic feet of space, though I store the powder and primers separately, so really, 6 cf, 3 cf and 1 cf is more like it.

All the tools but the case cleaner go into three medium sized toolboxes. The case cleaner (which actually is an optional item anyway) does not go in the toolboxes. A folding workbench completes the inventory.

In three trips to the car, everything (1-two toolboxes 2- one toolbox and the folding workbench 3 -brass, powder, primer, and bullets in any handy cardboard box) I need to reload can be transported to anywhere I can set up. In my living room or rumpus room, a dropcloth spread over about 20-25 square feet will do very nicely as well.

"How many guns do you have now?"

"One fewer {{pick one}}
A) "than I will have the next time you ask that question"
B) "than the number of pairs of shoes you have (and there is always a ready market for used guns)"
C) "not enough"

Lost Sheep

 

[Clark]

I have enough money so that I will not run out.
So I don't go to work any more.

I don't like working on outboard motors. I have replaced my last water pump.
But I do like reloading.

Reloading is not about saving money, it is about spending time.

 

[sawdustdad]

I don't like working on outboard motors. I have replaced my last water pump.
But I do like reloading.

I've done frame-up restorations, including engine overhauls, on several tractors, but I never did figure out how to change an outboard water pump. Just never interested in that particular endeavor.

Reloading, now that's interesting...

 

[Clark]

On outboards, old ones, have dissimilar metals like stainless in Aluminum. Newer ones have threaded inserts so the threads are stainless on stainless.

But the problem was I could spend all day on one screw. Kroil, heat, and still strip out the head. The a impact driver, air hammer, drill it out, easy out. Drill it out re tap it.

If we spent all day in a frustrated effort to reload one piece of brass, I would quit reloading too.

A nice thing about reloading is it is based on mass production. If we don't like a piece of brass, we throw it in the garbage.

The brass and bullets we deal with are manufactured with extreme precision, but we only pay 25 cents for them. I can play fast and loose and keep my blood pressure low.