You. Are. Er, Kidding. Me [1680 for 55$ a POUND!]

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Clearly, lots of new folks in the hobby field--and the buccaneers are trimming them apace.
 
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Hawk

North Central Texas
BIL trys to act like he is into guns.
Makes a fool of himself every time he opens his mouth. Our wife's are sisters, so I just have to bite my lip.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
Guys still ask if reloading is worth it .
I says "write off the first round as a $400 experiment or add a quarter each to the first 1000 and do the math , us old between droughts , make hay guys , load rifles for $12-16/100 and pistols under $6/100 plus your choice of bullet . Outside of bulk surplus , rifle is $85-500/100 and pistol is $40-90/100 . It's up to you and how you bill hobby time ."

I actually broke the 6.8 & 7×6.8 down and amortized the NOE moulds , dies and expander ball as well as replacement cost of powder , primers , brass , gas checks and the then cost of CB S&S ingots at $1# plus freight . Those came in right at $14/100 . 264 WM was $50/20 at the moment .

Nope not worth it at all .
 

Joshua

Taco Aficionado/Salish Sea Pirate/Part-Time Dragon
I was at the range just the other day. They have a, “You can keep your own brass, and you can give your own brass to your neighbor, but everything else belongs to the range” rule.

Well the folks with the AR-15 next to me kept hitting my feet with their brass. When I was done shooting I asked if I politely asked if I could keep their brass.

They were friendly and wanted to talk about my reloading. The father indicated to me that he was going to start reloading. I immediately offered him his brass back. He shrugged and said that he really didn’t have the time. He worked to much overtime.

How you live your day, is how you live your life.

I was in his shoes at one point, I’m glad I finally slowed down and made time to do the things I want to do.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I started reloading at age 15 (shotshells) and the cost savings were substantial. The downrange results on doves and quail were immediate, too--a noticeable performance uptick from those crummy "Dove & Quail" promotional loads sold in summer at sports stores. Hard shot makes a HUGE difference, and game-capable shot charges helped too.

Reloading has always made sense to me, shotshell or metallic. For most of my life--no matter how busy I was with work--there was always much more free time than there was free money.
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
Dad got me started in reloading in 1985.
Dad and I used to reload together.
We'd experiment with stuff, reload a bunch and then go shoot it.
I lost him in 2008. I think about him every day.
 

Rick H

Well-Known Member
My first experience with reloading was on a visit to step-cousins. They lived in a coulee outside of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. We reloaded shotgun shells with a Lee Whack-a-Mole outfit and shot clay pigeons tossed with a hand thrower, tin cans, rocks and most anything else that we could find that needed holes put in them. I was 14 or 15 and hooked. I guess I am a cheapskate, but the economy of being able to reload made all that shooting possible.
I was raised in a non shooting firearm-less home. When I was old enough to purchase my own shotgun, and rifles Lee Whack-a-Moles accompanied each one. Reloading never saved me a dime, but it sure helped me afford to shoot a lot more than I ever would have without it.
 
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L Ross

Well-Known Member
I started reloading at 12 with a Lee Whack-A-Mole in 20 ga. for me and 12 ga. for my brother a couple years later. My Uncle would buy our components if we'd keep some of the black birds out of his corn fields. I really fell for the ability to create ammo when needed because we were a one car rural family and money was vey tight. I used to wait until Dad wasn't around to use a big wooden mallet to crimp those damned shells as my right palm felt perpetually bruised. Dad was afraid the mallet was going to cause a discharge, never happened.

We couldn't hunt deer with rifles and Mom wouldn't allow a pistol in the house period. Eventually a Mec 600 Jr. showed up. Then I moved out, went to college, got married, turned 21 and started buying forbidden fruit, handguns, and quickly realized the road to financial ruin was paved with factory handgun ammo. Enter a RCBS Jr. a set of Lyman .44 Mag./Special dies, a .429215 mould, etc.

I have never amortized the cost, though many of my friends do. Money is only a medium of exchange of my labor or talents for stuff. Stockpiling my labor in the form of money for the future when I wanted to curtail laboring always made sense, but I also had hobby needs. Fishing, shooting, and hunting ate up a lot of money. Some folks use up their money standing in front of a urinal in some saloon. Some with a drug habit. Some marry women that like horses. To each his or her own.
 
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RBHarter

West Central AR
I just walked through the semi local Walmart they had about 20 boxes of White Box 7.62×51 FMJ and 30 assorted lead 12 ga all priced about $22-25 / box .

They had 3 bottles of Blackthorn BP on the shelf (seriously you need to be seated for this) $35/bottle ......... 10 oz per bottle at least the empty Pyro and T7 shelves at $38 were for full lbs . Never been so glad to be sooooo "over stocked" in my life .

I don't shoot a lot of BP but usually when I do I shoot most of a pound over a weekend at about 140 gr of ownself or 90 -180 gr of FFFg , 1858 44 cal and 50 cal Hawkens (wanna be's) it's as high a 300 gr (by volume of screened) in the Dragoon . The Dragoon sucks up about 42 gr by weight but by volume its closer to 55 gr in each of 6 ..........I have all the tools you'd think I'd be pucking and grinding the pixie dust by now .
 

BBerguson

Official Pennsyltuckian
Saw some 8 pounders today in a number of different rifle powders, $256 for the ones I paid attention to, like IMR 4198.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
So, $32/lb. in 8# caddies. That is on approach to "reasonable", but not cleared for final and DEFINITELY NOT cleared to land. I'll wait a bit. Plenty of fuel on board, we'll have the flight staff serve another round to the passengers.
 
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nanuk

Member
Up here, Varget is listing for $100/Lb
Most powders $60-70/#

I have seen primers advertised as high as $175/100

I doubt they sold any BUT there are very few available anywhere

ETA: I have seen some powder listed for $1000/8#keg

I doubt they sold any…. Yet
 
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glassparman

"OK, OK, I'm going as fast as I don't want to go!"
I've never paid more than $25 for AA 1680.

My local gun store has small rifle primers for $100 per 1000. That to me is CRAAAAAZY!

Good thing I hoarded reloading stuff three years ago. My wife would ask "when is it enough?". I always replied "Never".
 

glassparman

"OK, OK, I'm going as fast as I don't want to go!"
As far as powder goes, I need to work up data on Gevärsexerciskrut 1. Also known as Rifle Practice Powder #1. It is the flake powder you find in those Swedish red wood tipped blanks. They claim it is NOT flash powder but in fact a powder that works the same as unique when used in rifle lower velocity cast loads (per Doc AV and some others).

I have pulled down 12000 rounds of that stuff and have the powder saved. One day soon I may have a lifetime supply when I get it tested.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
I've never paid more than $25 for AA 1680.

My local gun store has small rifle primers for $100 per 1000. That to me is CRAAAAAZY!

Good thing I hoarded reloading stuff three years ago. My wife would ask "when is it enough?". I always replied "Never".
My wife would ask me things like. How are you fixed for .22 ammo? And how many primers do you have? When Olin put a rebate on primers in 2019 she asked me,"Are they going to get any cheaper?" How do you top love like that?
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Woulda, shoulda, coulda. The down side of procrastination! The one that really gets me is when I passed up thousands of 2.5" 410 #6 shells for something like $3.50 per box. "Oh! I don't want those little 2.5" 410's! I want 3 inchers!!!!!" To quote Bugs Bunny, "What a maroon!":headbang:
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
My wife would ask me things like. How are you fixed for .22 ammo? And how many primers do you have? When Olin put a rebate on primers in 2019 she asked me,"Are they going to get any cheaper?" How do you top love like that?
Cindy asks me every time, she gets a email from PV or Natchez. Lately, that's been daily.

BTW, PV currently has those Argentina SPP for $80/brick, for those in dire straits. I'm holding out for more sane pricing.
 

richhodg66

Well-Known Member
I got three bottles of 680 at a gun show a few months ago. Seems it is very similar to 1680 (?). Everybody raves about it as a powder for jacketed loads in .22 Hornet and .218 Bee, so I guess I need to find out.

Right now, I'm pretty well stocked with stuff for what I shoot, but I have more powder and lead than I'll likely ever have primers to use it all.