What % of your ammo do you make yourself?

[9ballbilly]

I reload for .30-30 and .45colt, That leaves .44spl and .32-20 left to go. After I get dies for them I plan to cast for all four calibers. Eventually I'd like to make all of my own ammunition. do any of you guys/gals make all of your own ammo? If not, what percentage do you make yourself (including casting bullets)?

 

[FlyFish]

I reload for about 30 different cartridges, everything I shoot except for the rimfire. Every now and again I'll pick up a box of factory, but it probably hasn't happened more than once a year or so over the nearly 40 years I've been reloading.

 

[Paul B.]

If by "Make your own ammo" you mean reloading it, then I would have to sa, "All of it." The only time I buy factory ammo is usually a couple of boxes to shoot and take various pressure measurements. That only happens when I buy a new or new to me rifle. I cast bullets for all my handguns and shoot them exclusively. I also cast for some of my rifles Some of the rifles get shot about 100 times with cast for every jacketed bullet that goes through them. It's fun and it's cheap shooting.
Paul B.

 

[zxcvbob]

70%. It's only that low because I shoot a fair amount of .22, and I haven't figured out how to reload that one Centerfire is over 90% handloads.

I cast most of my pistol bullets. I don't cast or swage any rifle bullets. Yet.

 

[FrankenMauser]

I reload for every centerfire cartridge I shoot, except .38 Special. (I go through so little .38 Special, that buying factory ammo on sale once every 4-5 years is not an issue.)

I also reload 12 ga shotshells, and make my own .44 Mag and .444 Marlin shotshells.

I cast bullets for 6 calibers of rifles and handguns.
And, I swage .44 caliber bullets for rifles and handguns.
(Cast/swaged bullets still only make up about 10% of what I shoot.)

But... I also keep a healthy supply of .22 LR, .22 Short, and .22 WMR on hand; and shoot plenty of it.

As far as ammo on-hand, it's probably about 60% factory (almost entirely rimfire) and 40% handloads.
For ammo fired, the numbers are probably the same... 60/40.
But, if you drop the rimfire ammo, I shoot 99% handloads.

 

[Unclenick]

Pretty much all of mine is handloaded except .22 Rimfire. I buy match bullets for most of the centerfire rifle shooting I do, but cast my own for handguns and some rifle loads, like .45-70. New ammo is something I have some of, but typically only buy it if it's very cheap and in order to get reloadable brass for something, or if it's the first few rounds for a new (to me) chambering to try the gun out. I've pretty much stopped shotgun shell reloading as it doesn't seem to save much money and inexpensive shells come around every fall that are good enough for the small amount of shotgunning I do.

Some, including most notably Masaad Ayoob, feel it's prudent to use commercial ammo for self-defense from the standpoint of not confusing CSI's with the unfamiliar evidence and not giving a survivor or the relatives of a deceased perpetrator an excuse to sue you, as handloading for self-defense might be argued by some attorneys as indicating blood lust. These are not factors tracked in legal publications, so nobody really knows how much it actually matters, statistically. Do whatever you are comfortable with in this regard or check with your county prosecutor's office to see if they care or not. I think mostly you'll find they don't care if you used a handload, a battle ax, or the kitchen sink, as long as its use was justified and the nature of the weapon is not illegal (poison-tipped or explosive bullets, that sort of thing). But some may be funny about it, I suppose.

 

[FM12]

Wait. You can BUY ready made ammo? What a novel idea.

 

[Unclenick]

That's safer than stealing it.

 

[PoiDog]

I handload everything I can, so that's all but rimfires. I cast for most of it as well, so it's easily 90%.

I have several guns that have never seen factory ammo. It just happened, since I do purchase the occasional box of factory stuff on sale.

 

[Hammerhead]

95%
My GP100 has yet to see a factory round. I can't remember the last time I bought factory centerfire ammo.

 

[Nick_C_S]

In terms of calibers, all of them. If I own it, I load for it. I even have dies for calibers I don't have - such as 308 & 223 - in case SHTF.

I do buy and shoot factory ammo. For the brass and for chrono comparison data. But overall, I load at least 90% of what I shoot.

 

[Nick_C_S]

I reload for every centerfire cartridge I shoot, except .38 Special.

^-- Wow, you don't see that sentence very often lol.

Without doubt, 38 Spl was the first cartridge I've ever loaded; and is still, by far, the one I load the most.

 

[4runnerman]

All except 22 rimfire. A die set is part of a rifle purchase. 9 rifles and not a one has or will see a store round fired in them.

 

[Revoltella]

Some, including most notably Masaad Ayoob, feel it's prudent to use commercial ammo for self-defense from the standpoint of not confusing CSI's with the unfamiliar evidence and not giving a survivor or the relatives of a deceased perpetrator an excuse to sue you, as handloading for self-defense might be argued by some attorneys as indicating blood lust.

Poppycock.

 

[hodaka]

All of it except rimfire, shotgun and personal defense rounds. About 25 calibers.

 

[Huskerguy]

I was buying a few boxes a year to build up a stockpile of each caliber I shoot. I use these for new firearms and when I have others shooting my firearms. I rarely have them shoot my reloads. I load 4 handgun and 2 rifle calibers.

 

[arch308]

Except for 22 rimfire I only shoot my reloads. Even my SD loads are hand loaded. Most of my guns have never fired a factory cartridge since I have owned them.

 

[lee n. field]

If not, what percentage do you make yourself (including casting bullets)?

Almost all of it, that isn't .22 rimfire.

 

[whipper]

If the quantity of 22's on the market don't go up and the price doesn't come down I might try reload them too.

 

[9ballbilly]

Yes, by "make your own" I did mean cast bullets for them too. The four calibers I mentioned are the ones I own. I didn't include rimfire because it's not reloadable (and my son inherited my Henry carbine on his 16th birthday). That only leaves .12ga. Not sure if I'll reload for it or not. Glad to know I'm not totally off the reservation wanting to reload and cast all my centerfire rifle and revolver ammo.

I've heard about the handloads for self-defense debate and all I can say is I've never bought, much less handloaded, a single round intended to kill a person. I suspect everyone here feels the same way.

I just had a thought, couldn't a prosecuting attorney make basically the same argument if you happened to be loaded up with Win. "Personal defense", or Hornady "Critical defense" factory ammo?