Ever feel like you're chasing after the wind?

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G. Freeman

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Please forgive me but I just want to vent. I started reloading in 1991 when I was a young man in my early 20's. Back then, a can of powder costs $10.00, a thousand primers cost $10.00, 500 rounds of lead bullets for my 45 ACP costs around $18.00 (retail). Never had to buy in bulk.

A very good S&W or Ruger revo sets you back $300.00 to $350.00. Even a BHP Mk-III goes on sale every so often for less than $350.00 (retail California prices). You can buy a Springfield Milspec for $350.00 and the stainless ones go for ~ $420.00.

Now when I buy my reloading stuff, I have to buy them in bulk, pay hazmat, and spend up to $200.00 to $300.00 a pop for each order just to get ahead. Even at that, prices are still rising.

Also, the prices of firearms have skyrocketed without any increase in quality necessarily.

I used to think that shooting and reloading is a good past-time and hobby. You have extra cash here and there, so you buy ammo or reload and go shooting. It doesn't feel like that anymore to me.

Add to this, anti-gun legislation at every corner, poor quality firearms, bad service from manufacturers and gun shops, gun shops charging up to 20% consignment fees, skyrocketing retail ammo prices, etc.

Sometimes don't you get tired of all this stuff? Shooting/reloading does not seem to be a past-time anymore. It seems to be growing into an all engrossing quest for fun, affordability, and quality, which sometimes appear fleeting and more and more beyond the reach of the average American worker.

And this ammo ban AB962 in CA. If this passes...well, it will be the end of it here in the People's Republic of California.

I'm I alone in feeling this?
 
It's all about the Passion my friend, Firearms are my passion and I will feed that passion
no matter what.

Make your shots count!
 
I feel ya man. But this hobby is not too much different from others, with legislation set aside. Take fly-fishing and fly-tying for example. No longer do decent fly rods, reels, lines, wadders, etc. come at reasonable costs. If you want good stuff you end up paying for it. Fly-tying is very similar to reloading. To tie some top quality fly's that you can't get over the counter, one has to pay for top quality materials. But you have the satisfaction of using your own fly to catch your fish. And this fly performs better than anything you would ever be able to buy off the shelf.

I got into this hobby thinking I could save some money on ammo. Well it has turned into me wanting to produce the best possible ammo I can but have to pay the price to do so. Then again my match ammo does cost less than factory match ammo in the long run. Therefore I'm in no way about to give in to what the government wants me to, I will always shoot my guns, make my own ammo, fly fish, and tie flies. It's my god given destiny and my right as an American.
 
Yeah and you used to be able to buy a "real" muscle car brand new for under $4,000. Now the guberment will buy it back as a clunker for $4,500 well that is until they ran out of our money. I am with you guys though and I feel your pain. I found some small rifle primers today in a town 100 miles from home. $6.49 per 100. I know this guy and he claimed he paid $5.00 per 100. Needless to say I didn't buy any. I need to be making some prairie dog rounds, but not at those prices. I guess we all need to get us a gamo air gun.
 
Per another post, you need to chase the estate sale and garage sale. I cannot believe how cheap I am getting reloading tools and components. I got 2 lbs of 3031 two weeks ago for $5. The small and large match pistol primers I actually was feeling guilty about the price.... Again, watch Craigslist then go with cash and start dealing. A part of the fun is in the deal.
 
Time to start casting your own. Then with the money you save you can buy more powder and primers. And with a little effort you can get the cast to shoot pretty darn well. I like to shoot 30 cal and I shoot a lot of it. If I were still buying jacketed bullets I'd be in the poor house.
 
I started reloading in 1991 when I was a young man in my early 20's. Back then, a can of powder costs $10.00, a thousand primers cost $10.00, 500 rounds of lead bullets for my 45 ACP costs around $18.00 (retail).
Click to expand...

And tell me what was your wages back then? or don't. point is inflation has alot to answer for, as well as a buying frenzy by shooters in resent.

Don't get me wrong, I see some of the prices being charged for some equipment/supplies and think to myself 'That's just plain wrong'.

Best advice- watch the pennies and don't buy unessential stuff.
 
I've read a number of threads like this -- kind of gloom and doom and "maybe I aught to just give it up 'cause things aren't what they used to be."

The truth? Our gun laws are BETTER now, (with the exception of the '86 closure of the machine gun registry and some transfer laws) than they've been in many decades -- arguably, since 1934. The SCOTUS has finally ruled on the personal nature of the 2nd amendment and looks to be getting ready to take a shot at incorporation. CCW laws are PHENOMINALLY better than they were just 15 or 20 years ago. Gun ownership is through the roof, with the political clout that comes with that many voting gun owners. In a Dem. controlled congress and with a Dem. president, the anti-gun folks can't get a SINGLE thing to move on the gun control agenda. (Yeah, yeah, Cali. is a cess pool. What else is new? The rest of the country is IMPROVING.) Heck, a group of folks can open carry military style firearms on a public street outside of a Presidential appearance and not even be stopped and questioned by the police or even the Secret Service. There have been plenty of decades in our history where those men would undoubtedly have been arrested, and probably shot -- and the public would have been HAPPY about it. My, how things have changed!

Things are sure expensive, though, right? Not really. Now that we seem to be coming out of the huge ammo crunch, prices are settling a bit. And guns and ammo have ALWAYS been expensive. Even at current prices, a lot of our componants are still cheaper (compared to the value of the dollar) than when our Dads and Granddads were buying them. And guns are the same, if not more so! For a lot of out Dads and Granddads the Win Model 70 or '94 was the gun of a lifetime. No wonder they took "so many deer over the years with that old gun." It was all they had, and probably one of the very small handfulls of guns they could ever afford!

Look at us now! How many of us have tens, dozens, some even HUNDREDS of firearms to play with? How many of us shoot 10,000 rds a year or more? Do you think that was common for ANYONE 50 years ago? And look at the variety! Thousands of bullet designs, hundreds of gun powders to load. Probably three or four dozen new cartridges that weren't invented (or were unheard of in this country) when our Dads were getting into shooting. AND, what's more, there are on-line retailers who can get you ANYTHING you want, from oddball bullet moulds, to match-grade upgrade parts for your guns, to a million different holsters and other accessories -- and will have it in your hands in a day or two. No piddling little selection of ten or a dozen "hunter's specials" items you could mail order out of the Sears catalog and expect to get in a few months. Our grad-dad's wouldn't even comprehend a tenth of the stuff that's offered in the Cabela's catalog, or Midway's, or Browenells, or in many others.

The shooting sports has changed a lot, and some disciplines seem to be dying out (IMHSA, Bullseye and PPC). But the ones that have stepped up to fill their places (IDPA, USPSA, SASS, 3-gun, etc.) are exciting, practically-oriented, and are bringing in flocks of new shooters to the point where there are hundreds of times the numbers of competative shooters, and matches to shoot, than there ever were before.

And on, and on. Every generation seems to think the sky is falling -- because things look different than they did when we were kids. A realistic view of history shows our fears (at least for now) to be unfounded! "Laissez les bon temps roulez!" :D

-Sam
 
I'm fairly new to this, so I don't get the same sticker shock as some of the old timers around, but I look at the price tags on ammo I bought 5 years ago when I first got into this ($7.25 for a box of 30 rounds IMG M193 5.56x45) and I can't help but cringe.

But my salary is also 20% higher than it was 5 years ago, so can I really complain?

Besides, it just makes finding those deals that much sweeter. I ran across a box of 230gr bullets for $19 at a random sporting goods store last week <-- made my week
 
I'm in agreement with Sam1911 all the way - for the most part this is a great time to have shooting habits but I do empathize with a Californian in the feeling that the anti-gun laws OF THAT STATE will not get better and will only continue to get more restrictive. It's why I packed up and left the place ten years ago.
 
I agree with Sam1911 as well. I have been reloading for just a few years but I am old enough to remember when gasoline was 22 cents a gallon and haircuts were $1.00. I also remember when Texas passed concealed carry and have watched the national scene for long enough to see that gun laws (save California) have eased and that those who support the Second Amendment have grown in number and political influence. We have a sympathetic SCOTUS and reloading components and ammo are relatively the same as they were 40 years ago even though demand has increased. It's all a matter of perspective.

Historian

"Democracy requires wisdom."
 
G. Freeman,
There are good days and bad days. When the Democrats are in power and the liberals that hate real freedom control them, then it's a bad day.

Tomorrow doesn't have to be. Join the "active" moral majority, and grease the wheels. We can't just give up and let the Brady Bunch, the Obama bin Biden organization destroy our freedom. That requires constant vigilance and effort. Freedom was never free. Thank God for the few that work the grindstone for us. We can't quit supporting them, we can't quit. The perks are many. We can buy AK-47's, Ar-15's, and Fal's today because we didn't give up when Clinton was in office. Now we've got a dangerous foe that makes him look like a grade schooler.

If you don't belong and support the NRA today, change that tomorrow. Join your local gun club and get involved. One stick you can break, a bundle you can't. Many groups who get to know each other through gun clubs, do ordering in bulk and split the Hazmat Fee's. That turns those dastardly fees, from thorns to just a grain of sand.

And this ammo ban AB962 in CA. If this passes...well, it will be the end of it here in the People's Republic of California.
Click to expand...

Remember the Bill last year on Gay Marriage? Catholics and Mormons got together and canvassed neighborhoods all across California, with tracts about saving the American value of marriage and family, and their side one, because the majority woke up to the danger.

The NRA is working hard in your state to stop this. Somebody has to help them canvass the state. They need volunteers....hint;)

OMG...don't get me started:D
 
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