Who to Order Reloading Supplies From?

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Jaywalker

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I've recently picked up reloading again after many, many, many years, and I could use some references for good mail order shops to order supplies from (bullets, gauges, chronographs, and so forth). Right now, I'm a little annoyed at Midway (had stuff I needed out of stock until tomorrow, and wouldn't either hold the shipment or waive shipping charges for the second one), so I cancelled the order. I've bought some stuff from Cabelas (the RCBS Master Reloading kit). After the Midway disappointment, I tried to order from Midsouth, but they aren't open on the weekends.

Who else is good? It would be good to work with a small, knowledgeable, ethical shop, who's guys could walk me through the Stony Popint Bullet Comparator, and the differences among chronographs, and tech stuff like that.

Jaywalker
 
I buy mainly from Midway (dealer discount is too good).

I also buy from Sinclair Intl, but usually only buy reloading stuff from them when it's on sale or if I place an order for a specialty item from them and want to add a few other items onto the order.
 
You might want to try Bose'sGuns.com for many of your reloading supplies. They are extremely competitive with MidwayUSA and other online suppliers.

For powder and primers, go to gun shows or to your local sporting goods dealer. Their prices might be a bit high, but often much less that the hazmat fees you'll be charged for online ordering.
 
Might try these guys, I used to get their catalogs but never ordered from them. Usually get my stuff from Midway except powder & primers which I buy locally.
http://grafs.com/
 
goto cabelas for heavy bulk bullets..... why???

cabels still does shipping by price... they just shipped me 30 lbs of lead bullets for 6.95....
 
I go to cabelas to pick mine up but cost me less than 5 bucks in gas so its worth the trip to fondel the guns most people dont live that close..
 
I shop in this order. But not loyal to any of them, whoever is the bottom line cheapest with shipping calculated on the stuff I want. Powders and Primers I buy locally because of the $20 hazmat fee.

1. Midway
2. Widener’s
3. Natchez
4. Midsouth
5. Cabelas

BTW. I dislike Cabelas shipping polices, Its okay for them to charge the snott out of you for shipping for say like a $50 wallet but when it comes to them getting the dirty end of the stick they add a $5 sir charge.
 
I use Midway 90% of the time. Midsouth has some good specials, like they just had 1k .223 Hornaday TAP bullets for $34 before they ran out. For primers and powder I have bought locally but am looking at buying from T&T Reloading . A pound of powder runs $22-$25 around here, so I need better prices. Also good for brass, powder and bullets is GI Brass.
 
I was spending $2k/year at Midway when Larry Potterfield started the change to charge shipping and left on safari.

I have never spent a nickel there since.
They are o.k., I just needed to get out of the habbit and lick my wounds from buying some Adams and Bennet barrels and Core light stocks.

Now I buy my reloading stuff from:
http://www.lockstock.com/
http://www.grafs.com/
http://www.sinclairintl.com/

I get some powder and primers locally.
I have bought 32 pounds of IMR4895 from:
http://hi-techammo.com/
But I would consider these people:
http://powdervalleyinc.com/
http://www.gibrass.com/gunpowder.html

I have bought 1000 processed pieces of once fired 223, 308, 40sw, 10mm, and 45acp brass from:
http://www.scharch.com/

And I get some brass from
brass on ebay
I would also buy from
http://www.turngray.com/

I have been buying bullets from:
http://www.nationalbullet.com/
http://www.berrysmfg.com/
http://missoula.bigsky.net/western/
http://www.beartoothbullets.com/index.htm
http://www.montanagoldbullet.com/
I would also buy from these people:
http://www.castperformance.com/?uid=170&page=1658

Sabots from
http://www.jdcomponents.com/prices/prices.html

I get gun parts from:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/home/default.aspx
 
Thanks, all. Really good ideas. I hadn't heard of Widener's, or almost any that Clark mentions.

Jaywalker
 
Its usually wise to TRY to find decent prices locally if possible. Powder and Primer has a hazmat fee of $20 and primers and powder cannot be shipping in one order so if you need both the fee will be $40.

Many places waive the fee if you order over 32 pounds of powder and 5000 primers.

bullets and brass you may want to try locally just because they are heavy and shipping "may" be a factor in the final price.
 
Shooting supplies

I used to order mainly from Midway until they changed their order policies. Now I deal mainly with Natchez Shooters Supply- a good outfit with decent prices & excellent customer service. :)
 
I've only bought one thing from Natchez, but I don't use them anymore. While the item was delivered on time and at the price they quoted, these were some seriously unhappy people. Each of the two or three I spoke to were grumpy and unpleasant, and I didn't enjoy the process at all.

Jaywalker
 
For plain ol' bullets, try Roze Distributors . No frills, basic JHP, FMJ and cast in plain flavors. Prices very good to excellent (especially considering shipping and handling is no charge for orders of 1000 bullets or more) and service is excellent.
 
Powder and Primer has a hazmat fee of $20 and primers and powder cannot be shipping in one order so if you need both the fee will be $40.
Click to expand...

They are shipped together under one hazmat fee, as long as the order doesn't go over 75lbs. There are no good prices locally, at least nothing even close to Powder Valley prices. I just ordered 16lbs of powder and a bunch primers and it's all in one order under the one hazmat fee.
 
thanks for the correction Valkman. I could have sworn that I read somewhere that they could not be shipped together due to the risk of explosion.

I read in my Lyman handbook that its illegal in most states for an individual to have more than 10,000 primers (fire code). There's probably some rule about maximum amount of stored powder as well.

I doubt the fire marshall visits any of your homes too regularly though.
 
I buy from a local guy most of the time. Cause if I don't, he may not be here when I NEED him to be.

There are some drawbacks:
His prices are about 5% more than mail order on most things.
His width of inventory is somewhat limited.

But the advantages outweigh them:
He has been loading for over 40 years, and will spend any amount of time I need to help me out.
I buy in bulk, so I reorder when I'm low, not when I'm out. That pretty much takes care of inventory width problem.
 
I haven't used Powder Valley but they do have some good prices on their powder, cheap enough that if I do a combo order it will more than pay the hazmat fees. In my case it seems I'm within 200 miles of them, I might just take a little ride up there and pick some things up! :D

Powder Valley web site
 
Ben, that sounds like a great guy to deal with. I drove all the way across Vegas to Henderson yesterday looking for powder and primers, and one guy has good prices but no selection, and another has selection but high prices. The guy I like the most in Vegas knows about reloading but wants $25/lb for powder. I bought 8lbs of 231 online last night for $90, and 8lbs of H108 for $50. Wish I could buy locally! :)


P.S. - I found a Redding Profile Crimp die as you suggested for my .454 -thanks!
 
One other benifit:

When he gets something new in a caliber I shoot, I usually get a "test" sample for evaluation. :D

Valkman, trust me you'll have one of those dies for all your straightwall pistol calibers in short order.
 
Pick and choose. Individual items at one place may be best price while others are not. Do not assume that if one item is a good price everything else is as well.

I usually purchase from Lock, Stock and Barrel at www.lockstock.com for very good prices, but another THR member just directed me to a better buy on a Hornady LNL at Graf's. On the other hand their prices for accessories are higher at Graf's. I have also had good service and prices from Midway.

Check in at each on the great list provided by Clark.

My favorite for bullets is West Coast Bullets--inexpensive and high quality. They are in Nevada, I am in SF Bay area. If I order one morning I know I will have bullets the next afternoon. The bullets are copper plated but per one TFL member the plating is thicker than Berry or Rainier and I have had them up over 1300 fps in .357 mag. Haven't had to buy for a while as I bought 10,000 RN .38 for less than $400 including shipping 18 months or so ago and am just getting to the end of them. Used to buy 1000 RN .38s for $53 with shipping included. I think they are now two or three dollars more per thousand.

For powder and primers I now buy from United Sportsmen, Inc. in Concord,CA. I am with the Diablo group there and can buy primers and powder for cost plus 6%. Needless to say I haven't been to a gun show in a long time for this purpose.
 
Around here as a rough rule of thumb for bullets or ammo is shipping usually runs about twice sales tax. For hard cast bullets the local gun show guys can equal the best I find on the web (but they may not have the weight/shape I want) so I buy local when I can. But when I need to stock up I place an order and let the UPS guy do the heavy lifting as carrying 100+ lbs to the parking lot at a gun show around here is serious work, everything is bigger in Texas, especially our parking lots!

For jacketed bullets it usually ends up ordering is cheaper in total price per bullet after tax/shipping.

For powder and primers the local gun show guys are always about the same price and the $20 haz mat fee makes buying locally the way to go.

--wally.
 
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