I know what you mean about being tickled by people's reaction to the report of your gun, but doing that indoors is just rude beyond a couple rounds, if at all.
I'd never really considered that other people might think I was a jerk. I've mostly had good experiences with people who saw my guns. My indoor range is frequented by people who fire AR-15s with muzzle breaks, it's a highly urban area and everyone fires everything indoors and just doubles up on hearing protection.
I don't know how you would shoot indoors at full power and avoid significant bullet expense. Lead and plated have limits and are not usually associated with full power loads or shown in any everyman data. You could use gas checks but that is a relatively expensive bullet
I think I covered too much ground in my post- I want to know more about each bullet type so I can use the right type for the right loads. I plan to use the cheapest bullets that will fire extremely accurately and reliably for a given load though, so while I could load expensive Hornady XTP rounds at nearly any powder level that really seems like a waste when I could save them for the wrist wreckers and use Berry's for target shooting with light loads assuming the Berry's were very accurate and reliable at light target loads.
I also will likely not be shooting high volume of max load ammunition. As with my 9mm it's usually a magazine of the "defense ammunition" and then it's plinking ammo for the rest of the trip. I will probably do similar and fire a cylinder or three of the "heavy loads" and then switch over to some nice fun light target loads.
It's quite unlikely the savings will be "extraordinary," and frankly, you may not save a dime for a very, very long time, if ever.
I just took a look on ammoseek and the best I can do on ammo, before shipping, is 52 cents a round for Fiocchi .44 mag. I can get Berry's for 13 cents a round, primers for 3 cents a round, and maybe a cent of powder per round? That comes to 0.17/rd for a Berry's load and a 0.35 cent difference. I am buying what I perceive to be rather expensive equipment and it will all be free with the savings of just 2,500 rounds loaded. In other words, 2,500 rounds of .44 magnum loaded with Berry's will save me $875 dollars. (Forster Co-Ax, Redding 10X powder measure, Redding Competition Pro die set, Mitutoyo calipers, Mitutoyo micrometer, MyWeigh scale). In my book that's extraordinary savings as I'll load that many rounds in my first year!
For starters, nobody is going to be impressed by someone shooting a 'hot' .44 Magnum. Maybe if this was 1956, but it isn't.
The only impression you will make on others is that you are a newby and will be off to another 'look-at-me' hobby in six months.
Well call me names if you must but I personally think I might top out on .44 magnum in terms of how wild I can take it and I'm not ashamed of that at all. A lot of my friends don't really like going past .357 magnum, and my girlfriend is having about as much fun as she can handle with .38spl+P. I would love to try a bigger bore than the .44 but those Buffalo Bore rounds I spoke of earlier were really about as much as I could handle. I was loving firing them, but I only fired a dozen and I had had as much fun as I cared to have. Maybe a .454 would be something I'd appreciate but before I buy one I'd certainly need to try firing it first to see if I could handle it.
My concern is the OP started off with questions about primers, plated bullets, saving money, and then switched to wanted max or more loads to impress the other lane. Much of the advise given, mine included, was off base for a newbie looking to load hot fire breathing loads.
Your advice was excellent sir. I wanted to know more about types of bullets, bullet and primer combinations, and just generally enough to get started. You, and the other fine posters of this forum, have given me that. I want to get into reloading with safety in mind and I want to load light to medium loads while I learn what I'm doing.
Everyone seems to be taking my admittedly over the top first paragraphs in #25 to mean that I want to load my first round with a compressed charge of titegroup, when just a few paragraphs later I emphasize my appreciation of safety and caution, and my plan of starting really low and learning what I'm doing on my way to the "good stuff".
OP moved the goal posts at post #25.
I certainly did not, although I guess I understand why everyone feels that way. In the very first post I commented on my desire to save money, and load for
heavier and more accurate rounds. I made post #25 in response to all the advice I had been given around just playing it safe and easy and buying the most expensive factory jacketed rounds for easy loading.That advice doesn't really jive with my game plan of having fun while saving money.
Now that I know enough of the basic bullet information to get started on reloading the light loads I thought by elaborating on my goals a bit I could hopefully get some additional advice. Perhaps I should just make another topic later when I get to that point. I'm truly sorry for scaring anyone or for moving the goalposts in a way that confused anyone.
I really want to emphasize two things to everyone:
The first is that I take safety more seriously than many of my peers and I bought gear that is an entire decimal more precise than the margin of safety I plan to operate at. I am loading to the tenth of a grain, but my scale is accurate to a hundredth. I am loading to the thousandth of an inch, but my calipers are accurate to a ten-thousandth. I am going to be using a micrometer to check the concentricity of my ammunition. I will be firing a sampling of every batch of ammunition I ever produce over a chronograph and checking the reading before I fire a second round of any sample. I will be taking safety so seriously that many will think I'm being overly careful and wasting time. I want to emphasize this point because the idea that anyone is concerned for my safety troubles me and I do not want to worry any of you. Your advice is extremely valuable to me and in return I promise fastidious attention to detail and rigorous safety precautions.
The other thing is that the compressed load of titegroup was a JOKE and I would never, ever exceed the lowest maximum load I found in any of my manuals. I will always be loading based on reputable published data.
So, what does it all mean for yours truly? Well my current plan is to make an order for bullets when I get paid on Friday and I will be buying 100 Hornady XTP 240gr, 100 Berry's Plated 240gr, and 100 240gr "Keith" bullets coated in polymer to try this coated thing out. Nothing I load will exceed the half-way point between minimum and maximum for the published recipe I am using for this starting batch.
Thanks to EVERYONE who has posted and when all my equipment arrives I will be making additional posts to show everything off and give you an inside glimpse into how a millennial who has never reloaded in his life approaches the hobby many of you enjoy. If anyone has additional thoughts on bullets or .44 loading in general please add to this thread as I will be reading any reply with interest, even the negative ones.