To reload or not???
- Thread starter Keywestguy
- Start date
#1 For a 25-06 it would cost anywhere from $0.50 to $2.00+ per round. Your 1st 200 rounds may cost close to $5.00 per round. Buying equipment and components for your 1st 200 rounds could easily cost $1000. You could buy 500 rounds of quality factory ammunition for a $1000 and save a lot of time and hassle.
Reusing brass is where you save money when loading ammunition. You could load 25-06 for $0.75 to $1.00 if you only factor in the cost of primer, powder and bullet. It is much more expensive when you factor in the price of brass, dies, press, scale and all the other equipment you will buy. Unless you are shooting thousands of rounds every year you will not save money. If you factor your time, there is no way you would save money.
#2 It really depends on the factory ammunition. I've been able to buy bulk factory ammunition that shoots just as well as my hand loads. The advantage is you can load the specific bullets you want and once you find a good load, you have a better chance of being able to shoot that same ammunition in 1 year or 10 years later.
#3 It would take me about 2 hours to make a batch of 50.
#4 There are many brands of equipment that will work well (RCBS, Hornandy, Lee, Forster, Redding, Lyman, etc) For someone new to loading, I think the RCBS Rockchucker Supreme Single Stage Kit for around $500 would be a decent value for someone getting started.
#5 Buying equipment and components to load ammunition is about as difficult as buying ammunition. Most of the time you can find what you need online or at a local store for a reasonable price. In 2020, it was difficult to buy ammunition as well as powder, primers or bullets to load. I buy most things online (Midway, Cabelas, Brownells, Midsouth, Powder Valley, etc). I try to buy powder and primers locally to avoid hazmat shipping charges but will sometimes order a few thousand primers or larger quantities of powder online.
The only reason to load your own ammunition is if you enjoy doing it. If you don't enjoy the craft, you are much better off spending you time and money on things you enjoy doing.
Before spending all the time and money on getting into reloading ammunition, I would highly recommend you find a friend with the equipment and knowledge. If your friend is knowledgeable, you could load 50 or 100 quality rounds for the same price as cheap factory ammunition. Then you will have a better idea if you really want to get into loading ammunition. If you are shooting less than 100 rounds/year, you are much better off borrowing your friends equipment every year or two than buying your own.
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Keywestguy
New member
Thanks to everyone that posted, I truly appreciate your thoughts. For now, I will stick with a variety of factory loads just to see what my rig likes to consume, then will choose from there.
God bless each of you and happy 2024!!!
Don’t forget, DSC 2024 is just a few weeks away!!! DSC Convention - 2024 Dallas & 2025 Atlanta - Dallas Safari Club
God bless each of you and happy 2024!!!
Don’t forget, DSC 2024 is just a few weeks away!!! DSC Convention - 2024 Dallas & 2025 Atlanta - Dallas Safari Club
Hidalgo
Well-known member
Happy New Year to you & yours also. Remember that there are always people here that are eager to help if you need info or advice (as you have already seen).
I think that is a smart move on your part.
With the cost of components today, factory ammo is not really out of line (WOW, can’t believe I admit that).
Factory ammo today, is better than what our fathers and grandfathers had.
Factory cartridges, hand loading allows you to shoot more, but not necessarily cheaper.
Your 25-06, a favorite of mine, I suggest as you mentioned, trying a variety to see what it likes. I would then buy 100 or more rounds. The brass left can easily be sold as the 25-06 is not easy to come by in some areas.
DiRTY DOG
Well-known member
It's costly to start. Before you can load a single round, you gotta research what tools you need and drop $600-$700 for the absolute basics. Press, dies, calipers, powder scale, case prep tools... If you're actually serious about starting a lifelong hobby then start with better stuff so you don't have to upgrade later. Then you gotta research what components you need and drop another chunk of $$ just to do some testing. Primers, powder, bullets, brass... Good research lets you buy components that play together nicely in bulk to save $$.
I'm leary about helping new guys because 3 of the recent guys I helped discarded a lot of my advice, made poor purchase choices, and yet still come back to me for help. Example, one guy bought a new 243 Tikka and VX5 scope and a RockChucker kit, ok very nice. But he keeps buying small quantities of random bullets and powders. He picked up 300 discontinued bullets, a 1lb non-popular powder, several random not good 1lb powders, a box of these bullets, a box of those, several boxes of another bullet. Some of these primers, some of those. Because they were on sale. He's gonna have to develop loads for each of those small batches of random components and spend lots of time testing small batches, they're all going to have different points of impact and drops etc. NONE of those bullets or powders are "good" combos let alone "good" bullets or powders. He just impulse bought them without much/any research.
Now he has an expensive shelf full of random bits and pieces and none of it is very good. And he'd rather ask for loading advice than go read a load book or go online and read. He was doing some dangerous stuff and blew out some primers and didn't understand how dangerous it was. He developed a 80gr load but then used the same powder charge for a different 100gr bullet and was confused why the bolt was jammed shut and brass was wrecked etc. Now he wants me to tell him which mediocre powder he bought to use with the random bullets he bought. I told him NONE, you're gonne be frustrated trying to make those work as a beginner, go read a load manual for your safety and then go buy better components.
I had originally recommended he research and select ONE premium big game hunting bullet & powder combo and ONE target/varmint bullet & powder combo for just 1 rifle. And hopefully those use the same powder and highly recommend modern temp stable options. Then go develop good loads and go back and buy more components in bulk. Stick with those combos and work on his reloading skills and methods.
It was fun helping a new reloader until he did stupid stuff. A lot of these younger new guys refuse to read or research on their own, they want somebody to just tell them, but then they ignore your advice and do dangerous stuff because they don't know what they're doing. (A lot of these new guys are the ones snatching up and hoarding components even though they haven't even started loading yet). That's why I commented that you probably are not ready to start reloading if you need someone to convince you to do it.
I'm leary about helping new guys because 3 of the recent guys I helped discarded a lot of my advice, made poor purchase choices, and yet still come back to me for help. Example, one guy bought a new 243 Tikka and VX5 scope and a RockChucker kit, ok very nice. But he keeps buying small quantities of random bullets and powders. He picked up 300 discontinued bullets, a 1lb non-popular powder, several random not good 1lb powders, a box of these bullets, a box of those, several boxes of another bullet. Some of these primers, some of those. Because they were on sale. He's gonna have to develop loads for each of those small batches of random components and spend lots of time testing small batches, they're all going to have different points of impact and drops etc. NONE of those bullets or powders are "good" combos let alone "good" bullets or powders. He just impulse bought them without much/any research.
Now he has an expensive shelf full of random bits and pieces and none of it is very good. And he'd rather ask for loading advice than go read a load book or go online and read. He was doing some dangerous stuff and blew out some primers and didn't understand how dangerous it was. He developed a 80gr load but then used the same powder charge for a different 100gr bullet and was confused why the bolt was jammed shut and brass was wrecked etc. Now he wants me to tell him which mediocre powder he bought to use with the random bullets he bought. I told him NONE, you're gonne be frustrated trying to make those work as a beginner, go read a load manual for your safety and then go buy better components.
I had originally recommended he research and select ONE premium big game hunting bullet & powder combo and ONE target/varmint bullet & powder combo for just 1 rifle. And hopefully those use the same powder and highly recommend modern temp stable options. Then go develop good loads and go back and buy more components in bulk. Stick with those combos and work on his reloading skills and methods.
It was fun helping a new reloader until he did stupid stuff. A lot of these younger new guys refuse to read or research on their own, they want somebody to just tell them, but then they ignore your advice and do dangerous stuff because they don't know what they're doing. (A lot of these new guys are the ones snatching up and hoarding components even though they haven't even started loading yet). That's why I commented that you probably are not ready to start reloading if you need someone to convince you to do it.
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Dultimatpredator
Well-known member
Same happened to me as dirty dog. Everyone accept for 2 guys cheapened out on components and on sale "junk". A few use to bring me their brass along with primers and powder to reload for them on with buying dies and gifting them to me. Stopped reloading for them years ago becuase they had q few fail to fires and blamed it on me. Lol. I asked to inspect the rest of the ammo that was with the fail to fires. The ammo and bullets looked like rust and corrosion sold! I asked where they stored the ammo. I was told it all sat in wet jacket pockets out in their unheated garage for a season. The guy fell in a creek and stripped down in his garage and left the soaked jacket with all his ammo in the pockets. After he mouthed off it was my fault I stopped loading for him and his brother. You can't teach stupid. They also use to blame my hand loads when they missed deer and thought I sabotaged it on purpose so they wouldn't get a deer. Lol
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You are too nice loading ammunition for others. If someone wanted me to load ammunition for them, I would have to be offered at least $10/round before I would seriously consider it. They would be much better off buying factory ammunition or paying for custom reloading from someone else before paying what I would charge. I'm happy to sit down at my bench with a friend and load ammunition for free but I'm not spending my free time loading for someone else.
Dultimatpredator
Well-known member
Yep, even ladder tested their guns with several powders till we found the best shooting combos. Neither of them would give me a squirt of pee ifni was dieing of thirst in the Mohave Desert. Don't talk to either of them any more. How times have changed. Guess I was hard up for friends back then.
I tell all guys new to loading ammunition to read the manuals. Hornandy, Nosler and other manuals all have good basic information you need to understand before getting started. Having a friend with good foundational experience sitting down at the bench and showing you tips and tricks is also very helpful.
Brad Phillips
Active member
Yes I quoted myself.. While it sounds good, seems like it would have to be perfect to actually work. I have a few "trusted" friends that bounce things off each other. BUT, I have never actually started a "newby" that wasn't blood related. I guess being close lets you say things that need to be said without offending someone.
The stories above are enough to prove that. Scary to think you are helping someone, when in fact, THEY cannot follow simple instruction.
Hidalgo
Well-known member
I will never, ever reload for anyone else. Although I do reload at times for my son's skeet habit if he gets in trouble. And when I do that, I take extra pains and pay even more attention to what I am doing. Loading for anyone else is a ticking time bomb. Sooner or later it will come back to haunt you. I know of a duck hunter who stuck a shotgun barrel in the mud and then blamed his hunting partner (who reloaded his shot shells) for the issue when he made the barrel on his Beretta look like a peeled banana. I adhere to the saying "I roll MY OWN" very literally.
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204 AR
Well-known member
This thread really went out on a tangent fast lol. I rarely shoot factory ammo, but have to admit that a lot of it shoots very well and a hunter can easily get by with nothing but factory stuff, as millions of hunters prove each year. I think the op has an intelligent plan to start with. If nothing else, trying the factory ammo first will get him some brass, which might be hard to find in 25-06, idk. If the bug bites hard enough he can get into reloading then.
Reloading for someone else is risky, as has been said above. I help the in-laws load for their rifles to help them save some money, but they charge powder and seat bullets when they come to visit. We don't have stellar loads worked up, just middle of the road ammo, power wise, that shoots plenty well enough for the ranges they will shoot and the shooting skill they possess, and they're happy enough with it. It took some years to convince them that deer don't require 30-06 180 gr bullets that pound your shoulder and cause a flinch, and a 7mm-08 is plenty with mildish loads, no need to pay 40 a box for Superformance when you're shooting 200 yds or less normally. They've seen the light in recent years and shoot better as a result also, so I can claim a small victory in at least this case lol. In fact next weekend I think they want to load some 6.5 CM when they come out. I helped them stock up on some brass and bullets when I found deals and store that for them, and just sell them the primers and powder as needed from my stash. I would not do this for just anyone of course. The last phase of this process, that I can't seem to get anyone to do, is help me shop by looking for primers and powder or bullets when in the vicinity of the box stores and let me know what's out there and see if we need it. That would be nice.
Reloading for someone else is risky, as has been said above. I help the in-laws load for their rifles to help them save some money, but they charge powder and seat bullets when they come to visit. We don't have stellar loads worked up, just middle of the road ammo, power wise, that shoots plenty well enough for the ranges they will shoot and the shooting skill they possess, and they're happy enough with it. It took some years to convince them that deer don't require 30-06 180 gr bullets that pound your shoulder and cause a flinch, and a 7mm-08 is plenty with mildish loads, no need to pay 40 a box for Superformance when you're shooting 200 yds or less normally. They've seen the light in recent years and shoot better as a result also, so I can claim a small victory in at least this case lol. In fact next weekend I think they want to load some 6.5 CM when they come out. I helped them stock up on some brass and bullets when I found deals and store that for them, and just sell them the primers and powder as needed from my stash. I would not do this for just anyone of course. The last phase of this process, that I can't seem to get anyone to do, is help me shop by looking for primers and powder or bullets when in the vicinity of the box stores and let me know what's out there and see if we need it. That would be nice.
Dultimatpredator
Well-known member
And if you planing to buy all that equipment for reloading only “one“ gun It’s not worth it.
SixsixtyMags
Active member
Lots of great advice being given by "THOSE THAT KNOW"!
I got into reloading because of the cost of 6.5 Remington Magnum ammo, it was $27.50 a box when 30-06 ammo was around $8.50 a box, I could load the 6.5 for about the same price as I could load the 30-06 for if I used my fired brass.
Now, the 6,5 Rem. Mag is plus or minus $100.00 a box, (mostly plus), and my initial cost of getting into reloading has been recouped by reloading just for that one caliber. I also have the .350 Remington Magnums which are up there also, reloading for those two calibers has saved me a lot of $$$$$.
Like others also mentioned, custom loads, I load 129gr. Hornady Spire Points in the 6.5 Mag., they were only available in 100 and 120gr. from the factory, the 129gr. is super accurate and works extremely well on deer.
I got into reloading because of the cost of 6.5 Remington Magnum ammo, it was $27.50 a box when 30-06 ammo was around $8.50 a box, I could load the 6.5 for about the same price as I could load the 30-06 for if I used my fired brass.
Now, the 6,5 Rem. Mag is plus or minus $100.00 a box, (mostly plus), and my initial cost of getting into reloading has been recouped by reloading just for that one caliber. I also have the .350 Remington Magnums which are up there also, reloading for those two calibers has saved me a lot of $$$$$.
Like others also mentioned, custom loads, I load 129gr. Hornady Spire Points in the 6.5 Mag., they were only available in 100 and 120gr. from the factory, the 129gr. is super accurate and works extremely well on deer.