I have been shooting more and more competitions this fall, and have decided that it might be time to start reloading again.  The volume of shooting makes you think that it might be cheaper to do this yourself, thereby allowing more time on target.  If you are a shooter that doesn’t shoot but a few boxes a year, reloading is not for you.  The time and expense of machinery will not yield a benefit to you.  However, you may decide you simply enjoy it, and the cost isn’t a real issue because you like having the hobby around you even when you aren’t shooting.  That is fine, but I thought I would run some real numbers to help you know if it might be time for you to start reloading.

The first thing to know is that one pound of powder has 7,000 grains in it.  This will help you determine how many loads you can get from one can of powder for your application.  In my case, I use Vhitavuori powders that cost about $30 a pound.  With my 9mm load I can get 2,121 rounds.  With 45 ACP I can get 1,400 rounds loaded.  So here is the breakdown.

9mm
Powder $.015
Primer  $.03
Bullet    $.056  Lead Bullets/Berry’s Plated bullet is $.07

Total      $.10 per round/$.12 with Berry’s

So you can see that the 9mm will cost around $10 per hundred if you are a brass scavenger and don’t have to pay for your brass.  I personally don’t buy brass for the 9mm or the 45 ACP, because you can normally find it at the range, or you can start by saving your brass from factory loaded rounds.

45 ACP
Powder $.02
Primer  $.022
Bullet    $.087 Lead bullet/Berry’s Plated Bullet $.12

Total     $.13 per round/$.16 with Berry’s

Once again $13 per hundred if you are a brass scavenger.  This represents quite a bit of savings for the person who will shoot several thousand rounds per year.  With 45 ACP going for about $40 per hundred it would be easy to save about $250 reloading with the Berry’s load.  This either puts money back in your pocket or lets you shoot around 1,500 more rounds per year for the same money as the person who doesn’t reload.

Whatever you decide, do the math.  You might find you could be saving some money or shooting more.

I recently made contact with George Phillips who has written an e-book for beginning reloaders.  For those not familiar with an e-book, they are downloaded for your enjoyment at considerable savings.  George’s book is $.99, so it is a great value, and will offer you some insights into starting the process of reloading.

It is by no means exhaustive, and the preview copy that we read did not have any pictures, so you should understand that is by no means an complete book for the beginner, but at less than a buck it is hard to beat.  You can get it from Amazon or from his sight www.thephillipsgeneralstore.com

Reloading 101 will help you get started towards a lot of fun working up your own loads and saving money in the process.  As I have said before, reloading is a great way to enjoy your hobby at home when you can’t get to the range.

When you start reloading it seems hard to believe that you would ever need anything more than the old standby single stage press, but that quickly changes, especially if you shoot in high volume.  If you are a competitive shooter, I still recommend that you start small to learn the basics, but you will eventually want to upgrade to a progressive press to save time.

A progressive press moves the brass around to the different dies so that you every time you pull the handle you essentially have a completed round kicking out of the press ready to go.  They all have accessories like shell feeders, bullet feeders etc to make the loading even faster.

Dillion Precision has long been the leader in progressive reloading.  Their machines are high quality and used by some of the best shooters in the world. The 650 pictured below is one of the fastest machines available.  It will set you back about $550 after everything is said and done.

Another good progressive loader is the Hornady Lock-n-Load Automatic Press.  It retails a little less than the Dillon 650 at $490, but you can get your local dealer to order the Hornady for much less.  One thing to note about the Hornady company is that their customer service is unbelievable.  They will work with you on anything to make sure you are 100% satisfied.

One thing to note about using a progressive press; they require some maintenance.  You will have to adjust them as you use them to make sure they continue to function properly.  It is a machine, and that differentiates it from the single stage press.

There are some other companies that have progressive presses, but in our experience, the cheaper the machine, the more time you spend trying to get them to work right.  So save your money and make sure you buy quality equipment.  A good press should last a lifetime of reloading.

I mentioned yesterday that you could get everything you need for reloading in one kit from Lee, except a very important piece of equipment: calipers.  If you have never used calipers, you might find the following article helpful before proceeding any further.

Now that you have a wonderful understanding a how calipers work, let me tell you why they are so important for reloading.  The load book that you use will reference something called Overall Length (OAL) of cartridge for every load that they give you.  It is extremely important that you follow that length when designing your cartridges so that a few things don’t happen.

1.  You load the cartridge too long.  If this happens, you are going to have trouble getting reliable feeding from your gun.  This often shows up at Cowboy Action Shooting events when someones lever action rifle will not function properly.  The same thing can happen with your pistol.  Lame ammo, makes reloading no fun.

2.  You cram everything in brass to deep.  Now you have a pressure situation that might be unsafe.  You could potentially bulge a barrel or worse, blow a mag out or hurt your slide.

Using calipers will make sure that you keep things exactly where they are supposed to be; fun and safe.  If you are looking for a good set of calipers, try the Frankford Arsenal dial caliper.  They are very serviceable and won’t break the bank.

When getting started in reloading it is important to make a few considerations.  What are you going to be reloading?  How much are you going to reload?  What is your time vs. money factor?  If you getting started and not sure about whether or not you will be hooked on reloading, the best answer to these questions is the Lee Challenger Kit.

50th Anniversary Kit

This kit sells for $134 at Lee.  It is a popular kit because it is essentially turn key.  You get everything that you need to get started reloading except a pair of calipers (we will deal with calipers in another post).

The upside is obviously the value.  Downside is time reloading.  A single stage press takes a lot of time to operate, but if you are a cowboy shooter like I was when I bought the press, it was perfect.  I loaded about 100 rounds a month on this press and never had one problem.  This press would also make a fine press for a precision rifle shooter who is getting started.

There are certainly better presses available, but if you think you might move on to a turret press or a progressive press one day, the Lee press will be fine.  In fact, after buying a progressive press, I still kept my Lee press for rifle.

If you have been thinking about reloading it’s easy to see that you can get your money back on this press very quickly.  When I first started I could reload 45 Long Colt for about $10 per box when the average box in our area was $25 plus.  At 100 rounds per month I was able to get my money back out of the press in 5 months.

This is a great beginning press that will serve your loading needs for years to come.

Reloading is a great way for you to enjoy your hobby without actually being able to get out and shoot.  When I first started shooting, I only got to do it about once a month at a local Cowboy Action shoot, so reloading .45 Long Colt was not only cheaper than buying ammo, it was also a great way to stay connected to my hobby even though I wasn’t actually shooting.

To begin this series it is important that I give credit where credit is due.  One of my dad’s coworkers took an interest in me because he liked shooting as well.  He actually took the time over a Christmas break to teach me how to load .45 Long Colt.  He convinced me that an initial investment in some equipment would pay off in the long run, and he also told me about how much fun it was to shoot your own loads.  That first day spent reloading gave me the bug, and I have been doing it ever since.

My second major step in reloading came from a friend who became like a brother.  Andy taught me the value of the progressive press.  The price for equipment went up, but so did the round count!  We were shooting competitively so reloading was a must for the budget.  Andy introduced me to custom loads, technical data, and the idea that reloading done correctly could produce a better round than the factory.

If you are a reloader, make sure you pass that knowledge along to someone who can use it.  Right now is a great time to start reloading.  With minimal investment you can have your hobby in your home and have the satisfaction of turning out some great loads.  If you are unsure about reloading, ask your local shop if they know of anyone who reloads a lot.  More than likely, they would love to show someone else how to enjoy their hobby.

Thanks Ken and Andy for helping me so much.