scout26
Member
Given the number of posts I’ve seen about starting in reloading, I figured I would throw my $.02 up the flagpole and see who salutes it.
The reason I recommend the following is a few years back one gentleman at my club decided that he was tired of buying new shells all the time and was going to join us reloaders and start saving piles of money (plus he was tired of watching us fight like spoiled children over his once fired hulls…..MINE, NO MINE, ALL THE ONES FROM THIS ROUND ARE MINE, I CALL DIBS ON NEXT ROUND). Following the Go Big or Stay Home philosophy, he went out and bought the top of the line Poness-Warren 2000 Platinum reloader with hydraulics and all the other bells and whistles you can add, a $250 RCBS scale, a half ton of various sizes of shot, eight or so 10/12 lb kegs of various powders, tens of thousands of different primers, 30-40 bags of various wads, and even some hulls off E-Bay. He probably spent $2,000-$3,000 total. Once it all arrived it took him about a week to get it setup and running.
And he hated it. “It’s the most boring thing I've ever done, I’d rather watch paint dry.” He absolutely despised the reloading process. Took him about 6 months to sell off everything. Most of us who bought the wads, primers, shot and powder off of him gave him close to what he paid, but I know he lost money on the P-W reloader and some other items.
With this minimal investment, someone can find out if they like reloading and if so begin the long, slow, dark, descent into the madness that is reloading. If they decide reloading isn’t for them, they can sell what little equipment they have for probably right around what they paid for it. Same with whatever left over components they have, or just give them away. That way they’re only out a few bucks at most.
I figure somewhere in the neighborhood of ~$150-$175 to get started reloading in 12 gauge.
Lee Scale - $20 You can go fancier, but the purpose here is to get started for a minimum investment. I still have the one I bought many years ago and still works as advertised.
Lee Load-All II - $20 +/- I know some people will criticize this choice and say get a MEC 600 Jr. Nothing wrong with the MEC. But here’s why I recommend the Lee. 1. You can get one for $20-$40 compared to $100 +/- for the MEC, 2. It comes with all the bushings for both powder and shot. 3. You still will have to buy additional bushings for the MEC at $2-$3 each and charge bars for $12-15 each, or for an additional $40 you can get a Universal Charge Bar. 4. I think the process is easier to learn on a Load-All then a MEC. So it boils down to $100+ for the MEC vs $40 tops for a Lee Load-All II. I still have two Load-All’s (12 and 20ga) that I use for my hunting loads and to try out new recipes.
Hulls: - Free If you don't have any on-hand, either buy some Winchester AA’s or any type Remington to shoot first, [all current production Remington use the same data; STS, Nitro, Game Loads, Gun Clubs, Shur-Shot, etc]. If you don’t have some on hand already, see if you can find them lying around at your range/club. You can use other hulls but there are more recipes for these two brands then all the others. As you gain experience and start to learn what you’re looking for in a load you can start trying other brands of hulls.
Now at this point you need to get some recipes or load data. The manufacturer’s websites are a good source. Start at www.reload-nrma.com in addition to links to websites there are also: Step by Step (Virtual) Reloading instructions, a listing of NRA certified reloading instructors, and Safety Rules. You can also get printed manuals from the manufacturers via mail or at gun and sporting goods shops that carry reloading supplies. Once you have some recipes you want to try you can go buy the components listed in the recipes. Try to limit yourself to no more then three or four different types of each component or below is my suggested list that should give you enough variety to find a load you like. Remember we’re trying to find out if reloading works for you.
Powders: Buy a 1 lb jar of each of Clays, WST or WSF, Red Dot or Green Dot - $50-$60. Again this will give you a broad range of recipes to use...
Wads: One bag of Duster Blue (1 1/8 Ounce Loads) or Green (1 Ounce and 7/8 Ounce Loads) or Claybuster FIG 8 or TGT12 or CB12L wads, If you can’t find them then use OEM wads if need be, but I say get at least three different kinds - $8 or less per bag or ~$25
Primers: – 1 sleeve (100 primers) each of Rem 209P’s, Winchester 209’s and CCI 209 and 209M - $10-12
Shot: - $30- $45 for 25 lbs. This is the ouchy part. Depending on what you’re looking to do, you might be able to find sources for reclaimed shot which is cheaper for the casual shooter.
Initial total cost ~$150-$175
Other costs:
Lyman Book: A great resource and has an excellent guide to hulls and a plethora of recipes ~$20. If you decide that reloading is for you then you must have the new 5th edition. An invaluable resource for reloaders, but for someone just dipping their toes in the water, I consider it a “nice to have”. Between the Manufacturers recipe books, instructions in the Lee or MEC owners manual, the NRMA website, and/or an experienced reloading instructor/mentor, a newbie can safely learn the basics of reloading.
Savings. Everyone always ask “How much will I save by reloading my own ??” The true answer is NOTHING. Yes, there are calculators out there that will show you per shell/box/case savings. But the bottom line truth is that you be able to shoot more, and shoot a higher quality shell for the same amount of money you were going to spend on factory ammo anyway. You get to tailor the load to you, your gun(s) and the clay game or hunting you’ll be doing, and not being dependent on Wally World only having Fedchestington 2 3/4 dram 7.5 Trap/Field loads when you wanted Remeralchester’s MAX 9’s to shoot a couple rounds of skeet. Or vice versa.
One final thing: the “Cost of Your Time” is Zero. Unless you’re calling in, “Hey boss, yeah, I’m not coming in today, I’m staying home to reload, so don’t pay me for today.” Chances are the time you spend reloading is the time you’re not watching 24 Lost CSI Dancing 5th Grade Mythbuster Idols or whatever other vomitus happens to be spewing forth from the idiot box. You’re not getting paid for that so you can’t say that the time spent reloading is worth anymore then the time spent on whatever other activity/hobby you weren’t getting paid for doing before you started reloading.
If you decide that reloading is for you and you want to increase your output, then you can upgrade your equipment to a progressive. To really get the per box/case savings you have to buy components in bulk.
Comments, questions, concerns ????
The reason I recommend the following is a few years back one gentleman at my club decided that he was tired of buying new shells all the time and was going to join us reloaders and start saving piles of money (plus he was tired of watching us fight like spoiled children over his once fired hulls…..MINE, NO MINE, ALL THE ONES FROM THIS ROUND ARE MINE, I CALL DIBS ON NEXT ROUND). Following the Go Big or Stay Home philosophy, he went out and bought the top of the line Poness-Warren 2000 Platinum reloader with hydraulics and all the other bells and whistles you can add, a $250 RCBS scale, a half ton of various sizes of shot, eight or so 10/12 lb kegs of various powders, tens of thousands of different primers, 30-40 bags of various wads, and even some hulls off E-Bay. He probably spent $2,000-$3,000 total. Once it all arrived it took him about a week to get it setup and running.
And he hated it. “It’s the most boring thing I've ever done, I’d rather watch paint dry.” He absolutely despised the reloading process. Took him about 6 months to sell off everything. Most of us who bought the wads, primers, shot and powder off of him gave him close to what he paid, but I know he lost money on the P-W reloader and some other items.
With this minimal investment, someone can find out if they like reloading and if so begin the long, slow, dark, descent into the madness that is reloading. If they decide reloading isn’t for them, they can sell what little equipment they have for probably right around what they paid for it. Same with whatever left over components they have, or just give them away. That way they’re only out a few bucks at most.
I figure somewhere in the neighborhood of ~$150-$175 to get started reloading in 12 gauge.
Lee Scale - $20 You can go fancier, but the purpose here is to get started for a minimum investment. I still have the one I bought many years ago and still works as advertised.
Lee Load-All II - $20 +/- I know some people will criticize this choice and say get a MEC 600 Jr. Nothing wrong with the MEC. But here’s why I recommend the Lee. 1. You can get one for $20-$40 compared to $100 +/- for the MEC, 2. It comes with all the bushings for both powder and shot. 3. You still will have to buy additional bushings for the MEC at $2-$3 each and charge bars for $12-15 each, or for an additional $40 you can get a Universal Charge Bar. 4. I think the process is easier to learn on a Load-All then a MEC. So it boils down to $100+ for the MEC vs $40 tops for a Lee Load-All II. I still have two Load-All’s (12 and 20ga) that I use for my hunting loads and to try out new recipes.
Hulls: - Free If you don't have any on-hand, either buy some Winchester AA’s or any type Remington to shoot first, [all current production Remington use the same data; STS, Nitro, Game Loads, Gun Clubs, Shur-Shot, etc]. If you don’t have some on hand already, see if you can find them lying around at your range/club. You can use other hulls but there are more recipes for these two brands then all the others. As you gain experience and start to learn what you’re looking for in a load you can start trying other brands of hulls.
Now at this point you need to get some recipes or load data. The manufacturer’s websites are a good source. Start at www.reload-nrma.com in addition to links to websites there are also: Step by Step (Virtual) Reloading instructions, a listing of NRA certified reloading instructors, and Safety Rules. You can also get printed manuals from the manufacturers via mail or at gun and sporting goods shops that carry reloading supplies. Once you have some recipes you want to try you can go buy the components listed in the recipes. Try to limit yourself to no more then three or four different types of each component or below is my suggested list that should give you enough variety to find a load you like. Remember we’re trying to find out if reloading works for you.
Powders: Buy a 1 lb jar of each of Clays, WST or WSF, Red Dot or Green Dot - $50-$60. Again this will give you a broad range of recipes to use...
Wads: One bag of Duster Blue (1 1/8 Ounce Loads) or Green (1 Ounce and 7/8 Ounce Loads) or Claybuster FIG 8 or TGT12 or CB12L wads, If you can’t find them then use OEM wads if need be, but I say get at least three different kinds - $8 or less per bag or ~$25
Primers: – 1 sleeve (100 primers) each of Rem 209P’s, Winchester 209’s and CCI 209 and 209M - $10-12
Shot: - $30- $45 for 25 lbs. This is the ouchy part. Depending on what you’re looking to do, you might be able to find sources for reclaimed shot which is cheaper for the casual shooter.
Initial total cost ~$150-$175
Other costs:
Lyman Book: A great resource and has an excellent guide to hulls and a plethora of recipes ~$20. If you decide that reloading is for you then you must have the new 5th edition. An invaluable resource for reloaders, but for someone just dipping their toes in the water, I consider it a “nice to have”. Between the Manufacturers recipe books, instructions in the Lee or MEC owners manual, the NRMA website, and/or an experienced reloading instructor/mentor, a newbie can safely learn the basics of reloading.
Savings. Everyone always ask “How much will I save by reloading my own ??” The true answer is NOTHING. Yes, there are calculators out there that will show you per shell/box/case savings. But the bottom line truth is that you be able to shoot more, and shoot a higher quality shell for the same amount of money you were going to spend on factory ammo anyway. You get to tailor the load to you, your gun(s) and the clay game or hunting you’ll be doing, and not being dependent on Wally World only having Fedchestington 2 3/4 dram 7.5 Trap/Field loads when you wanted Remeralchester’s MAX 9’s to shoot a couple rounds of skeet. Or vice versa.
One final thing: the “Cost of Your Time” is Zero. Unless you’re calling in, “Hey boss, yeah, I’m not coming in today, I’m staying home to reload, so don’t pay me for today.” Chances are the time you spend reloading is the time you’re not watching 24 Lost CSI Dancing 5th Grade Mythbuster Idols or whatever other vomitus happens to be spewing forth from the idiot box. You’re not getting paid for that so you can’t say that the time spent reloading is worth anymore then the time spent on whatever other activity/hobby you weren’t getting paid for doing before you started reloading.
If you decide that reloading is for you and you want to increase your output, then you can upgrade your equipment to a progressive. To really get the per box/case savings you have to buy components in bulk.
Comments, questions, concerns ????
