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I started reloading for some of the caliber's that I am
shooting. I've completely used up 3 - 1Lb cans of powder and have put a
good dent in another 2 cans, and need to go shopping for more, so I think
I'm just starting to get the hang of things. Most of my reloading has
been .308 Win or 7.62x51NATO for my M14, it eats ammo and is fun to plink
with. I have also started reloading for my collection of Enfield rifles,
I was given a sand bag half full of once fired Milspec .303 brass, IVI
headstamps, So with a source of cheap good quality brass I'll be able to
go out and do more shooting with my collection of enfield rifles. I have
not reloaded for the 7.62x54R Nagant, as the surplus ammo for the Nagant
is all berdan primed and metal cased so reloading them is more trouble
and expensive then just buying another crate of ammo. |
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For the 308 I started with Speer 150grn SPBT and Winchester 150grn Powerpoints, and either IMR 4895 or Winchester 760 as the propellant. I've been staying with the lighter projectiles because the M14 was designed for 168grn or 174grn NATO spec ammo. Loading heavier I've been told tends to put more stress on the gas blowback components of semi auto actions, better safe then sorry. I've recently added a long (26") heavy barrel bolt gun to my collection, so this changes things. I'm going to set aside some similar brass and load up for that rifle with a heavier projectile perhaps up to 200grn with a slower powder to make use of the longer barrel. I've tried a few different types of factory ammo allready, and it seems to like the heavy stuff. Updated.. Recently tried out a few new loads, the 180grn bullet with IMR4350 yielded fairly good results, but the 150grn bullets were all over the place again. The bullets must not be stabilizing, I'll have to check the barrel twist rate. I'll also need to borrow a Chrony next time I take it out shooting. With the .303 Ive been using Hornady 174grn RN and Speer 180grn PSP for projectiles and either IMR or Win Powders. I am also trying to duplicate the characteristics of military spec MkVII Ball ammo. For my other rifles particularly my tikka 25-06 I started using Nosler Ballistic Tips Spitzers for the 25-06 in 100grn, 115grn, and 120grn and IMR 4350 as the propellant, this is mostly for target shooting and shooting varmints at longer ranges. I have also loaded up a batch of 7mmRem Mag using 175Grn Speer Grand Slams, I have not tested this ammo yet but will have to before hunting season. I have also started getting together supplies to reload for my revolver. I have some 38 Special and .357 Mag brass decapped and cleaned. For powder I have gotten my hands on half a can of 231 Win, so all I need now is primers and some projectiles. I'm mostly reloading because it's a lot cheaper then having to buy boxes or crates of ammo everytime I want to go shooting. I was just doing some calculations the other day to figure out roughly what it cost to load rifle bullets.
So the math is fairly clear, For plinking ammo I'm saving aprox $20/100. For my basic hunting ammo it works out to $8/box ($40/100) and premium hunting ammo the savings are $12/box ($60/100) actually more if you buy the premium factory loads. For the really cheap Soviet Block Milsurp 7.62x39 and 7.62.54R, you can't reload for as cheap as it is. 7.62x39 worked out to .12/rd and the 7.62x54R was around .21/rd last time I bought a crate of each. I have not included the setup cost of reloading, the cost of the reloading press, dies, tumble, etc... in the calculation, the cost of which I estimate to be near $400 now. But If I shoot about 1000 rounds of Milsurp from my enfields and M14 over a year, and a few boxes of better grade Hunting ammo the savings add up quickly. I figure that the setup cost will be offest in savings within 2 years. Also for target shooting and, hunting reloads should be more consistent and therefore more accurate. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I shaded the powders that I am currently using. I am thinking that I need a slower powder for loading 25-06 and 7mm RemMag so I'm looking at getting either Reloader 19, or 22, or stick with the IMR line with either IMR4831 or IMR7828. But now that Hodgdon's has bought out IMR, perhaps I should be looking at Hodgdon H4831 or H4831 SC, they say that they will continue to supply IMR powders, but for how long? rumors are starting. I'll have to think about a new powder some more. | Back to top |
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I have not gotten into these links much yet but this is still a fairly new page, and there will be future updates on these links. Steve's Pages really good reloading information, Steve's apparently reloaded for many years. http://members.shaw.ca/cronhelm/BallisticsPage.html http://www.eskimo.com/~jbm/calculations/calculations.html http://www.huntingnut.com/pointblank.html http://www.precisionworkbench.com/6.htm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||