Best place to buy 45 Long Colt Round Nose Flat Point

I just started shooting an old family .32-20 revolver this year. I didn't save my brass from my first few outings, because I didn't expect to want to shoot it that much. Despite the primitive sights and stiff trigger, I'm enjoying shooting it enough that I'm starting to balk at spending $0.60 per shot. I'd also like to load jacketed or non-lead bullets to use at an indoor range that doesn't allow unjacketed except in .22

 

I agree and many are afraid it's dangerous and/or too difficult.

 

Then a hand or bench mounted single stage setup would let you do so for little outlay and little room required.

I sort of like the clamp on bench mounted option. It's too tempting to use a hand style tool while watching TV or something else that is distracting. And distractions is not something you can tolerate when reloading ammo. It also speeds up the actions since you can use both hands to do two things.

 

But some of us are. And many who aren't interested are either somewhat intimidated or not knowledgeable about reloading.

The best, lowest cost .45 Colt ammo is the ammo you load yourself -- if we failed to point that out, we would be doing a disservice to many of those reading this thread.

 

Sorry for contributing to the thread-jacking (Oh, the humanity! ) but thanks for the helpful replies.

 

Yep, it'a ALL your fault. You egged us on...

And a hearty "Ditto" to what Vern said. I know I would not have gone into the details if the OP had said that he simply did not want to reload and was not interested in looking into the matter.

 

Or if he'd asked about 9mm, or even .38 Special.

There are some cartridges where there's a very poor selection of factory ammo, and if you can find it it's very expensive. .45 Colt and .41 Magnum are two of the worst in this regard.

 

Sorry, but I do plan on shooting a fair amount and not reloading. $28/50 for cowboy action loads isn't going to break the bank.

 

Sorry but that's a little contradictory. If you were doing a "fair amount of shooting", it would break the bank. Unless you're independently wealthy. I guess it depends on what you consider to be a "fair amount of shooting".

 

"A fair amount" of shooting is about 50 rounds a day (for me, anyway), five days a week. At $28 for a box of 50, that's $140 a week, or $7,280 a year. With bullets cast from wheel weights, I can cut that waaaaaay down.

 

Gotta agree with the above 2 posts. More than any other discipline, handgun shooting proficiency requires "lots" of lead going down range. If you don't reload, you are likely to be held back by financial constraints. Just MHO.

Don

 

45 Colt is one of the cartridges I reload for. I use a Lee Hand press that takes up no room at all. When I'm finished with it, it goes back in the box it came in and gets stored in an old desk drawer. I use Lee-Dies, and the little powder dipper that came with the dies for powder. Just pick a powder from the list that comes with the dies. I do have a Lee Auto-Primer tool, and case measure/trim, and chamfer tools. I'm in business for for less than 100 bucks, and it all fits into a cardboard box, not much bigger than a shoe box.

I used to use a Lee-Loader, and a hunk of 2x4, but I've gone "hi-tec" these days.

Ok..so the best place to buy 45 Colt ammo? In the reloading section. I can buy enough powder, bullets, primers, and brass for about the cost of three boxes of factory ammo, to reload 500 rounds, with powder and primers left over for the next batch.

 

Even buying commercial cast bullets I can cut that to $1800. Methinks the difference here is our respective definitions of "a fair amount" of shooting. I shoot a couple thousand rounds a month in just .22LR and crank out .38Spl and .44Mag by the hundreds on a Dillon 650. Been through 200rds apiece of .38-40 and .45Colt in the past two weeks alone.

 

Most stores here don't get much below $35 per 50 for .45 cowboy rounds.

Not to flog the dead horse, but with volume shooting (.45/.40/.38) the savings from my Lee turret paid for itself, and a nice '80s .45 Blackhawk in the first year.

 

If you have A .45 Colt and don't reload, trade it for A .44 Mag. You just can't find A good selection of ammo for the .45. You can for the .44

 

The best place that I have found to get 45 Colt online is Georgia Arms. I have shot a couple thousand of their 45 Colt and it has always went bang.

Before I moved space for reloading was an issue for me as well. I reload 45 Colt now. As far as components the best place to find lead bullets is to look for a cowboy action shooting club near you, they ussually will have someone or know of someone who casts lead. You can also get them for $67 per 1000 from moultin lead online.

 

I reload in a barn tack room and have been doing it for about 52 years with no problems. The horse and mule seem to like the company out there in the winter, especially with a small wood stove going . I prefer good quality single action guns, especially in this caliber over the double action guns and use them for hunting, target shooting, and home defense. Around the farm and while riding , I like carrying it too. For the first shot from the leather it is quite fast. Go for it and take up reloading, it will open up a whole new aspect of shooting etc for you. My thoughts, Snoop

 

If you do not reload, then you could try buying reloads from Ga. Arms and after shooting , save the brass and send it to Mastercast in Enon , PA. Their prices with brass sent from you is about $12.00 per box 50, 225gr lead flat nose -800ft/sec. This is the cheapest way I know . But if you like this caliber and what it can do in the right gun, then reloading is a must.

 

Mastercast.net says they are ceasing ammunition sales as of December 31.

 

The Lee mold, 255 grain flat point, is a VERY accurate bullet over 8.3 grains of Unique.

 

The .45LC is what got me into reloading. At an average of $38 per box, I had to take up reloading.

It's a sport in itself, or a hobby or whatever you want to call it.

The only problem is that I'm not so sure it's really saving me money. I just get to shoot 5 times more ammo than before.

 

Well I've been looking into reloading and want to start. Its a little overwhelming could someone point me in the right direction on starting?

 

You can start with a Lee Pro 1000 that will serve you well for about $150. You will need to get brass, primers, lead bullets, and powder. A beginners reloading manual will help too. The initial layout is costly at first but over time will pay more than enough. It is not difficult to do. Later you will want to get a mould and lead melting pot and wheel weights to make your own cast bullets. In the winter when things are slow around the farm , I do most of my reloading and look forward to it. Start gradually and study a beginners reloading manuals and it will help to build your confidence in trying this. Read up on this as much as you can. Hope this helps... Snoop

 

I have found that shooters who reload, not only shoot more and save money by doing it, but are generally more knowledgeable about the performance of the guns they shoot. They are usually very good shooters as well and can extract the best accuracy from their guns.

 

It would likely be better to post that question in the reloading section since this thread has pretty much run its course.

As with most things you can go from "mild to wild". We can give you a list that results in a sub $100 option or we can easily have you out shopping for a couple of G's worth of equipment.

A bunch of us mentioned some options above. Now it's up to you to tell us how much room you can devote to reloading and how much you shoot per month and how much you're willing to put into the gear needed for reloading.