Do any of the shooters here handload ammunition?I'm trying to have a less expensive way to go shooting.How much does all the equipment cost?How much do you save on ammunition per 1000 rounds?Is it worth it, or does it take too much time?

I'm not sure if you would call me hard core, but this is my reloading room:



Yeah, I know its really really disorganized but i know where everything is.

I reload not necessarily to save money but more to add to my gun hobby.

I reload mainly pistol calibers but I do load for 7.65x55 (I think, the swiss round) and I will be loading for 223. I reload for 9mm, 38spcl, 357mag, 40s&w, 45acp, 45long colt currently.

I find it fun and enjoyable and makes me shoot less (which saves money). I don't reload much 9mm since its still just barely cheaper to reload than to buy factory but for all the other rounds, its cheaper to reload than to buy factory.

I figure its about 1/2 the cost to reload for 45acp however thats also because I buy in bulk, I buy bullets by the 500 pack and primers by the 1000 pack.

I probably won't see a return on my investment for a long time (i have sunk about $2000+ in the last 10 months just in reloading) but its something I will have for a long time and I enjoy it immensely. I also now don't feel like I'm wasting anything when I go to the range (dumping the brass on the ground and leaving for example).

My buddies and I will be getting into casting bullets in the near future, you can really save some money with cast bullets if your guns shoot them (i have a bunch of revolvers and most semi's can handle lead even glocks with lone wolf barrels.)

You don't need a setup like mine to start, my buddy loads all his ammo with a 99 dollar Lee Anniversary kit.

So for 9mm it isn't really worth it?

nah, you can get blazer and white box winchester really cheap.

and both shoot good.

JimmyMethod wrote:So for 9mm it isn't really worth it?

Kinda/sorta/not really.

Like m-rider says, you can still get winnie whyte box and blazer for cheap. Say around 8-12 dollars per 50. Now I can reload 9mm for around 5-6 bux a box, but is it REALLy worth it? I'm not so sure when 6 dollars is so close to 8 dollars a box.

Now if I do the whole bulk thing, I can reload 9mm for just a hair over 5 dollars a box. I just haven't needed any 9 in a long time so I haven't bothered reloading it.

If you shoot anything other than 9mm, its quite worth it.

If all you shoot is 9mm, I honestly don't think I would worry much about it.

This is true about the 9, at least for now. Wait until Obama gets into office and then you watch him tax the living **** out of ammo and I will make it totally worth it. I predict that components will ultimately be worth their weight in gold. It may take a minute, but I really think that's the next thing the anti-rights groups and politicians will come after.

bobo, that is one helleva nice setup you've got there. I used to have a Lee press in college, but it was a headache to load ammo. I think that I'm going to pick up the Dillon XL650. It seems like the best option given cost vs. features.

I would go for the 650 over the 550 for 2 reasons. The 650 does auto indexing (550 you have to manually index after every throw of the press arm) and the 550 only has 4 states (650 has 5) so good choice.

I would like to have the the Super1050, but it's more than I want to spend and I think that the 650 will load plenty fast to accomodate my needs. It also appears that I can load for more cartridges than the 1050, unless I am misunderstanding their website.

Repo Man wrote:I would like to have the the Super1050, but it's more than I want to spend and I think that the 650 will load plenty fast to accomodate my needs. It also appears that I can load for more cartridges than the 1050, unless I am misunderstanding their website.

Caliber conversions for the 650 run about 60-100 dollars or so. A caliber conversion for the 1050 is like 300 dollars or something insane like that. Much more complex machinery involved in the 1050.

The 1050 is geared towards people who reload like 10,000 rounds or more a month. The 650 is the perfect balance between high volume shooters and expense. The 550 is very nice but doesn't do auto indexing and only has 4 stations as mentioned above.

People that load on 1050s usually have several of them for each caliber since the caliber head is so much more complex than on the 650. They will load their 9mm/45acp/40s&w on each own's dedicated machine.

If you can afford a 1050, get a 650 with all the bells and whistle such as the case feeder and what not rather than the 1050.

so uh...what are the prices on these presses?

Mr1der wrote:so uh...what are the prices on these presses?

Rough prices, but around 500-600 for the base 650 and about 1500 or so for the base 1050.

A decked out 650 with all the bells and whistles (like the case feeder, the roller handle, strong mount, blah blah blah) can get close to 1100-1300.

bobotech wrote:
Rough prices, but around 500-600 for the base 650 and about 1500 or so for the base 1050.

A decked out 650 with all the bells and whistles (like the case feeder, the roller handle, strong mount, blah blah blah) can get close to 1100-1300.

Do you like your Hornady progressive? I was thinking of getting one due to the $300 credit toward hornady bullets this year.

Wow, this was a year ago?

Yup.

I like mine.

I load 45 colt, 45acp, 40S&W, so far on it. I haven't done any rifle loading on it though yet. Plan on it, just been too busy loading other things.

bobotech wrote:Yup.

I like mine.

I load 45 colt, 45acp, 40S&W, so far on it. I haven't done any rifle loading on it though yet. Plan on it, just been too busy loading other things.

Cool, I'll keep that in mind. Ever had any problems with it?

Yes, loading 45acp was annoying until I got a dedicated 45acp shell plate for it. Number 45 shell plate. Once I got that and stopped using the old #1 shel plate, everything started going much smoother.

Can't wait until I own a home and can designate a whole room for the purpose of reloading and machining/fabricating. My gf's father has a mouth-watering set-up using a lot of 1950's loading and casting equipment.