Anybody else reload?

As this evil crack epidemic took hold
errr I mean, as I got addicted to sporting clays, we found that we needed to start reloading.
having never reloaded anything before, we did a bunch of research and ended up with a MEC 9000G and all the goodies

We have two favorite receipes, one for STS hulls and one for AA's
both are 1oz loads and both are middle of the road and pretty soft shooting (7000 to 8000 psi)

It has COMPLETELY saved us tons of money

Although, you know you are hooked when you worry that you ONLY have 4000 rounds left loaded. :roll:

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Originally Posted by JohnTRourke

...ended up with a MEC 9000G and all the goodies

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Good choice....I have the same

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Originally Posted by JohnTRourke

one for STS hulls

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The STS is the same as the cheap "Black Beauty" Rem promo loads from Walmart and such.

I use Remington Figure 8 wads in 1 1/8th oz shot and burn Hodgdon Clays...its burns really, really clean.

Keep your chokes clean....when shooting clays you shoot a lot and the plastic from the wads start to build up after about 250 quick rounds. This will start to close up your pattern pretty quick.


Saving money reloading shotgun shells will pay off big time if you are a waterfowl hunter and reload steel.

My snap on dealer has been shooting clays for 10+ years and he quite reloading because he said you can buy the shells almost as cheap.

I priced it out and could not see any savings myself how much can you reload a flat for? I can buy a flat for $35 after pricing out primers, powder, shot and wads I didn't see any savings. If I am wrong by all means educate me and I might consider it.

I reload selectively if I can save a ton of money I do it other wise I don't unless I want some special load. For instance my 300 ultra mag costs $45 a box 20 rnds and I can reload it for $17.

I have about 20+ lbs of red dot that I use for my .38 special plinker loads and would love to find another use for it. At this rate I will be dead before I can even use half of it.

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Keep your chokes clean....when shooting clays you shoot a lot and the plastic from the wads start to build up after about 250 quick rounds. This will start to close up your pattern pretty quick.

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yep, found that out the hard way. Worse with ported barrels. Shooter choice wad and bore cleaner strips it right out with a rag on a brush.

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My snap on dealer has been shooting clays for 10+ years and he quite reloading because he said you can buy the shells almost as cheap.

I priced it out and could not see any savings myself how much can you reload a flat for? I can buy a flat for $35 after pricing out primers, powder, shot and wads I didn't see any savings. If I am wrong by all means educate me and I might consider it.

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well, first you can't compare cheap a$$ nasty estates to fine reloaded clean burning 1oz loads. Compare to AA or STS's at 5.50 a box.

But, first time I use the hulls, it costs about $3.25 a box
2nd time i reuse the hulls it's about $2.35 a box!!!!
I get 3 to 5 times out of AA's and 10+ out of STS's

But most importantly I get shells that work they way I want them to work. nice easy shooting 1 oz beautifully patterning shells with minimal recoil.

Also, our best record is 625 shells in an hour (machine unloaded to machine unloaded and all fully boxed)
We usually reload at the rate of 400 to 500 an hour.

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Originally Posted by JohnTRourke

....But most importantly I get shells that work they way I want them to work. nice easy shooting 1 oz beautifully patterning shells with minimal recoil.

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This is where bought shells and reloads really separate themselves.

Most cheap bought ammo uses the least expensive lead which will deform and cause holes in your pattern. Buying and using magnum (hard) shot will keep your pattern consistenst but is more expensive.

Cost (where I live) for cheapy promo loads $4/box or $40/flat or $0.16 per shell

Cost to reload 1000 rounds:
50# premium shot $35
2#'s premium powder $35 when bought in 8# kegs
Premium wads $7
CCI or Win Primers $30
Total Cost $107 or $0.11 per round
Again the big winner here is not cost savings but quality rounds that recoil less and have a better pattern.

Here is a real savings...steel duck loads
40# preium steel shot $70
powder $35
wads $10
Primers $30
Total cost of $145/1000 or $0.15 per round compared to almost a dollar a round for purchased ammo.

I could see saving on premium loads just not trap loads. As far as better performance I will have to pattern test some of them one of these days to see how much difference it makes in my gun.

Shot deformation can be caused by the gun also my gun has been tricked out by ballistic specialties. The barrel has been back bored with a diamond hone and the forcing cone lengthened out to 3". Those mods make a huge difference in how consistent the gun patterns.

Next time we get together for a day of clays Brian would you let me pattern test a couple of your loads? This way I can see the difference in my gun.

Thanks for the info guys might consider loading shot shells for clays if I see a huge performance difference in my gun.

no problem
I lend them out all the time

the other great thing is I have all kinds of shot sizes
the usual 7.5 and #8's
but I also load #8.5's (ha, find that anywhere in a commercial load) and #9's for skeet

I have found shot size to make more difference than choke size for most SC shots.

I'd love to learn to reload. I think you would learn alot about shooting in general. The only thing you guys didn't figure in is the cost of reloading your own shot shells is, Equipment & Labor costs. After all your time is worth something. Also you need to have the space for set up. If you figure that into the equation I'm not to sure it's worth it but, as a hobby and a labor of love yes it is worth it. Plus if the SHTF you'll be glad you have it. Just a thought. Wallary [usa]

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Originally Posted by Colorado Osprey

Here is a real savings...steel duck loads
40# preium steel shot $70
powder $35
wads $10
Primers $30
Total cost of $145/1000 or $0.15 per round compared to almost a dollar a round for purchased ammo.

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$0.85 per round...that's savings!

Time...depends where you live....it's easily an hour each way for me to go buy ammo.
I can reload 100-200 rounds in 15 minutes pretty easily. The reason I state a range in that time period is because I might need to refill primers, powder or shot. 15 minutes...I don't count that time as valuable time...I spend more than that cleaning the shotgun.

Let's see, cost of reloader...well you can get a single stage for $100, that means if you re-load steel shells it's paid for itself in just 4 boxes!

If you shoot anything over 1000 rounds a year it saves to reload shotgun shells.

[quote="Colorado Osprey"]

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Originally Posted by Colorado Osprey

Here is a real savings...steel duck loads
40# preium steel shot $70
powder $35
wads $10
Primers $30
Total cost of $145/1000 or $0.15 per round compared to almost a dollar a round for purchased ammo.

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$0.85 per round...that's savings!

We were talking about reloading for Sporting Clay Shooting weren't we? I think it would take several years of hunting Ducks to shoot up a 1000 rds. Besides that who wants to clean a 1000 ducks anyway [roll] If your a smart shopper and plan it just right you can grab some shells and get other stuff too (like food). j/k I have no doubt that reloads are better in everyway and the pleasure you get out of it is priceless. I'm just saying for me I can work overtime at something I'm good at and make some extra gravy money with my time. That way I can enjoy the convenience and afford to pay the extra cost for factory AA loads. Buy American, Keep Americans working, It's the American way. [usa]

I do a lot of shotshell reloading. I have a Dillon SL900.

As I shoot mainly 28 gauge, its an absolute must at $7-8 a box.

When I saw the prices of lead starting to creep up, I bought a ton of shot. 1K #9, 500 lbs #8 and 500 lbs of #7.5 for about $16 a bag. Last I saw it was close to $21.

I can get once fired AAs for .01 - .02 each and sometimes free.

Buying 8 lb jugs of Clays and Longshot and Claybuster or Duster AA clone wads, I figure I am spending around $3 a box.

I really like being able to load a nice 1 ounce load of #4 buck at 1200 fps for 3-Gun. You cant find that flavor in any catalog. Just flattens poppers that are 13-20 yards out. Inside that, 7.5s are fine. My normal IPSC load and hunting is 1 1/8 ounce of 7.5s at 1200. My skeet load being 7/8 – 1oz of #9 at 1200. If I were to play cowboy action, it would be ¾ oz going the speed of snail.

I have been toying with the thought of a hydraulic Spolar in 28 and 410 so I can leave the Dillon set up in 12. However my home skeet range on base might be closing in 2007, so my shotgun shooting may go down drastically. Its just too easy to shoot a round or two of skeet on my lunch hour.

I have a couple flats of steel for ducks and geese so I havent played with steel or any of the non-toxics, yet...