Journal FroMan's Journal: Reloading 15
I ordered a reloading kit, 9mm dies, and a brass tumbler this afternoon from my local gun shop. I might have been able to get a better deal online by a couple dollars, but this guy has been helping me out a lot recently with shooting questions and research into reloading.
I also picked up a couple hundred primers and bullets. I saved all the brass I shot last year, so I'm in good shape that way. The last component is powder, which I know very little about. With the help from a manual I've started learning about it. And I figure I'll start out with a more or less all purpose powder. When I've tallied up the cost it looks like it should be about ~$.15/round to reload (.04/primer,
I'm looking forward to shooting about 50% more this year with reloading. Here is a video of shooting from a couple weeks ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V05okGGPG9k
my ammo costs twice that.... (Score:2)
I primarily shoot .45 ACP. Runs me nearly .50 a round. I have a small mountain of brass but nowhere in the house to setup a reloading bench :(
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Montana Gold [mooseweb.com] prices.
Back of the napkin says you could be shooting .45 ACP JHP for $.21 a round by reloading. If I ever pick up a .45 I'll definitely be looking at reloading (especially since the only added cost is the dies) beyond what I am paying. For the press kit, dies, and tumbler I'm paying about $220ish. It wouldn't take a lot of ammo to break even the cost of .45 ACP. A lot quicker than my 9mm anyways.
As far as a bench, well, I don't have an answer for you. But I be a couple hours with a saw and
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I think I'd risk getting bored reloading a box of 50.
I wonder if I could figure out how to automate it...
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While I haven't reloaded before, it doesn't look too bad. I guess I think of it like waxing and sharpening skis. In and of itself it isn't much fun, but it needs to be done to get to the fun part. I could pay to have it done and it'll cost more, not be as good, and shorten the life of the skis.
I picked up a single stage press. But there are multi-stage presses which allow someone to crank out 100s of rounds in a relatively short time. You can find some videos on youtube showing what one does in the rel
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As far as a bench, well, I don't have an answer for you. But I be a couple hours with a saw and 2x4s you could put together something sturdy enough. Myself, I've got a workshop in the basement where I'll setup. In a wood shop benches are like gold.
Oh, I could build a bench. My problem is a lack of space. Currently living with the GF and we have no basement. In the process of moving out (a long story I won't go into here) into an apartment which also won't have room for a bench. One of these days I'll buy a house and this won't be an issue but for the time being this is what I'm stuck with. I save up my brass anyway and will occasionally get the opportunity to reload it at a friend or family members house. Not as often as I'd like to but every l
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Ah, space issue. That I can understand. You live so close to the border (iirc from last summer's shooting in Binghamton), when you look for a house, free yourself from the taxation and gun grabbing of NY. Btw, next time I get out to NY I'd love to meet up with you. My folks live up the road in Oneonta and we drive through Binghamton on the way there.
I've just been shooting FMJ since I picked up my gun (glock 17L) last spring. It certainly isn't a carry gun (is that a rocket launcher in your pocket or a
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You live so close to the border (iirc from last summer's shooting in Binghamton), when you look for a house, free yourself from the taxation and gun grabbing of NY.
Yeah, I'm near Binghamton. We are lucky enough to have a pro-2A judge here in Broome County. I have a unrestricted NYS pistol license that's good for concealed carry anywhere in the state other than the five boroughs of the People's Republic of NYC. I've thought about bailing on the state before but I have a really good job right now (4 weeks of vacation, good benefits, etc.) so I don't have much incentive to leave. If I moved across the border I'd have to give up my NYS pistol license, so that's anothe
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I'm in West Michigan, 15 minutes outside Grand Rapids.
Luckily it doesn't matter what a judge's opinion here for carry. I've yet to get my CPL, but that is mostly until I feel comfortable shooting at better than 10 yards and have something a little smaller. I'm not likely to go 3.5" or such, but 9" of gun doesn't conceal very easily nor is it likely to be comfortable on a waist. It would probably have to be a chest holster, which doesn't exactly fit my wardrobe after temps hit the 50s and I'm down to a t-
off-topic (Score:1)
You look like one of those militia types Nancy Pelosi warned me about. Altho it's hard to imagine you could do much harm with that little pea-shooter. Hardly any kick at all. And in the movies they always do much better than that in target practice. And how come the delay in the "bang" sound? We don't have anywhere near the wide open spaces here for sound to travel very far without bouncing off some collosal idiot or building.
On a more serious note, now I see how you came up with your /. username! :)
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Thanks. Back in junior high I had every nickname you could think of because of my hair, Carrot Top (which I argued was actually a carrot bottom, since the tops are green), FroMan, Ronald McDonald, Red, Norman (not sure where this came from), Fire, Mr. President, and a few others. To keep things simple I finally had to nail it down to one and chose FroMan. I have friends for over 15 years who only know me as Fro.
Heh, for a 9mm it has quite a bit of kick. The extra 2 inches of barrel (not being ported) pr
I reload 9mm (Score:2)
And .38, and .357, and .44....
I use Missouri Bullet Company's 9mm/125gr Smallball [missouribullet.com] in my Glock 19 with a charge of 4.2gr Alliant Bullseye [alliantpowder.com] powder. Works really well for me with minimal leading.
Shooting jacketed would bring the prices up some, but lead bullets work well enough for me and the load should just meet IDPA power factor requirements (Though I haven't chronographed it).
Cost per 1000 rounds
Primers $30
Powder $10-ish (7000gr per lb, so I get ~1500 rounds per bottle)
Brass - Free range pickups
Bullets $60
T
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Thanks.
You are shooting straight lead from a glock? Do you get any buildup in the barrel. Everything I've ready says not to shoot lead since it'll foul the barrel and potentially increase pressure to catastrophic failure. Hence I've only shot FMJ from mine.
Anyways, have you tried Montana Gold 124gr with 6.5gr IMR Hi-Skor 800-X. It seemed like a middle of the road for bullet weight and burn. Then I can try different combinations either direction.
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Nope, not much more than with jacketed. I'm not sure where the myth of "don't shoot lead in Glocks" started, but it's very persistent. With any reloading (or shooting), it's obviously important to make sure fouling doesn't reach dangerous levels. But in the average IDPA match I shoot about 125-150 rounds with no noticeable leading. The barrel gets a bit dirty from the lube on the lead bullets, but I run a Boresnake through it at the end of the match as it's like new again.
Nearly all my recipes are for Misso
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I have a S&W Sigma 9 which is very Glock-like and I don't have a problem with the lead, either. But then I'm pretty religious about cleaning after every session and I usually fire a similar amount of rounds. I love cleaning firearms for some reason. I find it relaxing.
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I'm pretty good with the cleaning too, so maybe it wouldn't be an issue shooting lead. Pardon the pun, but one might say I am a little gun shy about taking any risks. I am probably being overly cautious.