Is reloading shotgun hulls cost effective?

[brandnew]

Hey all. I reload pistol calibers, but now that I'm shooting more shotgun I thought I'd look into the price difference between buying loaded, and buying components to reload myself. My calculations have lead me to believe that reloading shells would cost me around $6-7 per 25 rounds which is about the same as target grade loaded rounds of birdshot.

For those of you who reload hulls, is it for increased quality for the same price?

 

[azyogi]

For target loads there is not much savings. When you get into slugs, or buck then you can save a bunch. Specialty loads like buck and ball or game loads, besides being hard to find are very expensive.

 

[Rembrandt]

Once fired shotgun hulls are about a nickle each, ($1.25) per box.....that's most of the savings, can be reused 6-10 times depending on how hot your loads are. Rest of the savings can be had in purchasing components at a good price.

 

[freakshow10mm]

I load 20ga for $3.50/25.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Depends.....

How much shotgun do you shoot?

A skeet shooter who shoots 2,000-2,500rds a month can save a considerable amount by reloading.

If you shoot 200-250rds a year like I do now (if even that...) then NO.

You will need to by shot by the ton to get a reasonable price (most expensive component now), and by wads in the 10,000pc quantity, powder in 32lb increments, and primers in 25,000 lot quantities.

However, if reloading .410, 28ga, or speciality loads such as slugs and buckshot (cast them yourself, I do) you can save considerably.

 

[ilmonster]

I shoot skeet and sporting clays (1,500-2,000 rds per year). Winchester AA shells locally are $7.99 - $8.99 a box. I can load a box of equivalent quality shells for $4.75 a box on my MEC 9000 (using Clays powder, Win primers, Lawrence high antimony shot, picked up Win AA shells, Win. pink wads). I paid for the press in the first year, and now it's all gravy.

Additionally, I shoot 7/8 oz. 12 ga. loads for skeet and it's impossible to find those type of shells around here for any price, so reloading also allows me to taylor the load to the shooting I do.

Goose, I buy primers in quan. of 1000 for $31.95, 25# bags of shot for $28.95, wads for $20/1000, etc., so you don't have to buy in enormous quantities to make it pay for itself.

 

[NCsmitty]

Reloading 410 bore and 28ga are the shells that provide the greatest savings, and the larger 20ga and 12ga not so much.
The big box stores have very competitive prices on the 12 and 20ga bulk shells, and it takes a while to get a payback for equipment and component costs.
As mentioned, the ability to custom load is a plus and it is a great hobby too.
Mec loaders are tried and true, and I recommend them if anyone decides to load shotshells.


NCsmitty

 

[tlen]

You may break even with cheap target loads [AKA low base] but if you want upland loads [AKA high base] you'll save a bundle because all you add is a little more shot and powder.
http://10xshooters.com/calculators/ShotshellReloadingCost/

 

[Maj Dad]

Bought my first MEC 600 Jr for $36.95 delivered from Gopher (or one of those old mail order co.'s) in the late 60's. It's still cranking (12 ga) and I have a 600 Jr and a 700 Versamec in 20 ga. They are inexpensive used, and reasonable new, and I have a blast loading on them. If I were a serious shooter, I'd have one of the progressives, but these are just fine for me - I can load 4-5 shells a minute easily. I buy components (except cases, though they are sometimes available) from the trap & skeet range I belong to (military, but there are civilian clubs out there) at a good savings, and I definitely save money (costs are around 3-3.50/box). Every now & then someone will run a loss-leader sale on dove/quail loads that I can't pass up, but I just suspend reloading until it's gone. You can find once-fired AA/Remington Premier cases in Shotgun News, Gunbroker and the like at reasonable prices.

 

[Wildyams]

Search around at garage sales, I got a nice mec 600 with auto primer for $50. Go to a shotgun club and you can probably get empty hulls pretty cheap. I was lucky enough to get a whole lot of shot for free, i got a 5 gallon bucket that all the broken open bags of shot were thrown into, so i have everything from 4 shot to 9 shot in my loads, but its just for target, so its not that huge of a deal.

 

[jluther820]

I load on one of the cheap lee load-all presses. It is slow, but it works and my shells pattern better than factory loads.

 

[Hey_Allen]

I'll make someone a good deal on a MEC 9000GN 12gauge that I ended up with when a co-worker moved overseas to a country that doesn't allow firearms at all.

From what his wife was saying when I picked it up, he'd bought it, used it once, and then forgot it in the closet for 4 years. The dust on it (as well as some cat hair) was the only problem I had to solve, other than finding another primer catch tray and printing up the manual to find out if everything was there.

Like some have already said, it depends on how much you shoot shot, though. I only shoot once in a while at this point, and what I do shoot is mostly just for fun, not competitive shooting. If I were doing sporting clays or something along that line, I'd probably be using it, rather than looking to move it and get a metallic progressive press!

Also, if anyone in the northwest wants to meet up, I ended up with ~5000 shot primers in the deal.

 

[evan price]

If you are shooting 12-gauge clay pigeon loads (#7.5 or #8, low brass) I really don't see how you can save anything over buying the 100-round packs at Wal*Mart or any reasonable gun store. iirc those are about $20 for 100 rounds. Maybe if you were shooting thousands of them.

Anything special like 16 gauge or heavy shot, that stuff is going to save money.

As far as hulls go, any public skeet range will probably let you take away trashbags of hulls. I know that the ODNR range by me fills a dumpster with hulls every week.

 

[freakshow10mm]

Sometimes it isn't about the savings so much as the quality of the ammunition. If my handloads cost the same as Walmart's value packs, I'll pick my handloads all day long because they are custom loaded to my gun. When you think of it as custom loads for your gun at Walmart prices or better, then it becomes worth it.

I load maybe 200 rounds a year of 20ga. I use them for hunting only and don't shoot games. I set the press up (MEC 600jr), run it for an hour or so and I'm done for the year. Traded a mold and a pound of powder for it, which I got in a trade for helping someone setup their reloading stuff and get them started, so the press didn't really cost me anything but 2 hours of my time.

 

[frankd4]

number two

I shoot alot of 2 shot reloading is the cheapest way to go.

 

[Rugg_Ed]

brandnew
For those of you who reload hulls, is it for increased quality for the same price?

Yup !! along with some custom loads that can not be purchased from the shelf. Besides its fun knowing you created a fantastic load to kill a clay pigeon, bowling pins, steel plates, or real critters.

 

[snuffy]

Does loading shotshells make sense today?

Yes! Oh I know how wally world and the other big box stores have those economy packs of shotshells. But if you took one of those econo shells apart, you would find soft chilled shot, a small charge of very fast powder, and the cheapest thin wad they could find. Loaded inside a hull that’s NOT made to be reloaded, in some cases attempting to reload them could be dangerous.

Now take one or more of those cheapy shells to the pattern board. Ummm, you do pattern your shotgun,,,right? No? Then how do you really know how the chokes really work? Anyway, the cheapo shells will have blotchy patterns, holes a bird, rabbit, or clays could sit in unharmed!

You can not reload shells cheaper than those econo shells. Can’t be done! Especially with what shot, powder, primers, and wads cost these days. Why would you WANT to?

What you want to load are shells that are as good as, or even better than the top of the line target shells put out by Winchester, Remington, and Federal. That would be the AA, STS and gold medal. To do that you must either buy the loaded shells, shoot them to get empties, or buy once fired empties. The new AA is no where near as good as the older compression formed AA. That leaves the STS and gold medal.

To duplicate the performance of the original loading, you need to buy all top of the line components. No skimping here. Magnum shot,(don’t let that name fool you), is high antimony shot. It’s harder than plain old chilled shot. The hardness translates into better patterns. It’s what the factory STS and others target shells have in them. Wads; The big 3 all sell their wads for reloading. They all work, but you can save some $ by buying claybuster wads. They’re made to the same dimensions as the wad they’re replacing, just cheaper. Some say the plastic isn’t as soft, but I’ve found them to work just fine. Powder; Just about any of the shotshell powders will work well. Just be sure of your recipe and follow it exactly. Primers; Again they all work well, be sure to match them to your recipe.

 

[NuJudge]

If you are a handloader for very long, you will become a scrounger. Many things, such as Remington compression formed empties, are available for the picking up. Replacement wads are a good bit cheaper than WW and Remington. Primers and powder are much cheaper in bulk.

One thing not mentioned by others is the ability to load the 12 gauge with only 7/8 or 3/4 oz of Lead. I can not tell the difference between the two in the way birds break, but I can tell the difference at my shoulder. Fatigue sets in much later with 3/4 oz of shot.

I've also handloaded Steel shot. Data and special wads are available on the Internet to load 7/8 oz Steel shot up to 1850 fps, fully 300 fps faster than the fastest factory loads. I can really feel the difference on my shoulder, but I can also see a real difference on a duck. This ammo comes in a lot cheaper than factory ammo.

CDD