I'm Reloading Less Than I Had Planned

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The last 5 or 6 years I was working, I planned for my retirement both financially, as well as by stocking up on components for reloading. I retired 3 years ago, and figured by being on a fixed income, it would be smart to have as many components on hand as possible. So I could still shoot as much as I like.

Now that I'm 3 years into retirement, I have yet to reload a cartridge, in spite of shooting far more. (I usually average 2 trips a week to the range). I'm finding a couple of reasons for this. First, is the fact the more common calibers are really cheap since Trump and the Republicans were elected. I can find 9 MM FMJ for sale around me for as little as $ 9.00 to $ 9.50 a box. Even cheaper online. It just doesn't pay to reload at that price. Even if you buy the components in bulk. .45 ACP is $ 12.00 to $ 15.00 a box if you shop around online. I still save all the brass however.

As far as high powered rifle, I've found I have so much stockpiled it will be years before I need to reload for them. I'm also finding that I'm not shooting cartridges like .30-06, .300 Win. Mag., .300 Weatherby Magnum, and .375 H&H as much as I used to, now that I'm getting older. And when I do, I'm not shooting as much of them as I did 20 or 30 years ago. Let's face it, the older you get, the harder it is to take all that recoil without getting sore. And shooting should be fun, not painful.

Lastly was the very pleasant fact that I found that after I retired I have more money coming in than when I was working. My tax liabilities are far less, and many of my investments are paying far more than I thought they would. We have no children, and my wife is very frugal and doesn't buy much. So financially it's all working out better than I thought it would. Especially now that I'm on Medicare, and I don't have health insurance worries. (The last 2 years I was working it was costing us a fortune for good coverage).

Probably the one caliber I will eventually reload for is .223 / 5.56 MM, to keep all my AR-15's fed. I have a lot of brass and components. And I can buy ready to load brass for just $ 265.00 for 2,500 cases from here.

http://www.evergladesammo.com/popular-pr...500-pieces.html

For that price it's worth it not to have to mess with resizing, depriming, trimming, and cleaning. It can go straight from the box, right into the press. And .223 is still expensive, going around here for $ 6.00 to $ 7.00 a box of 20. Or $ 300.00 a case of 1,000. So that is still worth my time on a Dillon progressive to reload them. I'm happy about all of this, because the older I get the more I like shooting. And the bigger chore reloading becomes. It's not that I "hate" it. It's just far more fun to pull a trigger, than it is a reloading press handle.
 
Well at least you no longer have to ask yourself "what your time is worth"...it's zip...and the components are "free" having been paid for before your time was worth zip.
 
I see your point, it's hard to compete with commercially available ammo. Even so, having the reloading supplies is a great way to plan/prep for less favorable future conditions. Our friends in Cali have some restrictive new laws....
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
I see your point, it's hard to compete with commercially available ammo. Even so, having the reloading supplies is a great way to plan/prep for less favorable future conditions. Our friends in Cali have some restrictive new laws....
ya we do. And most of us have hoarded ammo. I have enough to support a small army lol
 
We are in a lull period that will not likely last long (reference the prior years and how the hint of "anything" caused prices to spike and availability to vanish). Now is the time to load up on supplies for the times when they will not be available in the future--we will most certainly return to that mindset in the future because with all things legislative, attitudes are cyclic.

With that said, I have not found ammunition cheap enough to cause me to stop reloading--particularity for .357 SIG and .40 S&W, but as always YMMV.
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
I see your point, it's hard to compete with commercially available ammo. Even so, having the reloading supplies is a great way to plan/prep for less favorable future conditions. Our friends in Cali have some restrictive new laws....


Well I've been reloading for about 40 years now. Yes I have saved money doing so. But the real issue has been accuracy. My hand loads on the average group at less than half that of the best factory ammo I've ever found. I don't feel like I'm wasting my time. Oh and you can't buy factory loads for a 6 PPC.

 
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD


With that said, I have not found ammunition cheap enough to cause me to stop reloading--particularity for .357 SIG and .40 S&W, but as always YMMV.


Same here. I load 357 Sig for the cost of 9mm. Even more common rounds like .380 and .45ACP are still cheaper to reload.
 
I'm still new to reloading, so it's still fun for me. Mostly got into reloading for the pricier 10mm rounds, but I reload the 9mm too. My plan is to keep shooting reloads whenever I can, and buying cheap factory ammo with the savings. Excluding brass, I calculate my 9mm reloads to be a little under $5 per 50rds. I still use factory stuff when shooting with other people, in case I mis-loaded something.
 
Originally Posted By: EdwardC
I'm still new to reloading, so it's still fun for me. Mostly got into reloading for the pricier 10mm rounds, but I reload the 9mm too. My plan is to keep shooting reloads whenever I can, and buying cheap factory ammo with the savings. Excluding brass, I calculate my 9mm reloads to be a little under $5 per 50rds. I still use factory stuff when shooting with other people, in case I mis-loaded something.


I case my own bullets I load 9mm for close to $6 a hundred.
 
Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson

I cast my own bullets I load 9mm for close to $6 a hundred.


Which pistols will run nicely on cast 9mm bullets?
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex

Which pistols will run nicely on cast 9mm bullets?


Glocks. Until they don't.
crazy.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex

Which pistols will run nicely on cast 9mm bullets?


Glocks. Until they don't.
crazy.gif


It's also not a bad time to buy firearms. The black gun glut dragged down the entire industry it seems.
 
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
It's also not a bad time to buy firearms. The black gun glut dragged down the entire industry it seems.


The industry in general, (especially in regards to semi auto pistols and rifles, along with the magazines they take), over produced like crazy in anticipation of a different election outcome. Everyone was all so sure of it. Now there is no political threat to the very weapons they were producing around the clock, and stockpiling into warehouses thinking they were going to make a big killing on.

So now most anything that takes a magazine can be had for a song. Bolt actions, along with everything else dropped in price right along with them. Ammunition followed. Along with most anything and everything shooting related. They had a good run for the last 8 years. It was bound to end, and it did.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson

I cast my own bullets I load 9mm for close to $6 a hundred.


Which pistols will run nicely on cast 9mm bullets?


My 9mm taurus 92, Sig 226 and my Springfield XD-9.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson

I cast my own bullets I load 9mm for close to $6 a hundred.


Which pistols will run nicely on cast 9mm bullets?


Lyman bullet die 356402
 
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Bill, Do you shoot at Ben Avery?


I used to. Now I'm a member at Phoenix Rod & Gun Club. It's up against South Mountain, right next to the Police Academy. I go early in the morning during the week, and I have the whole place to myself. They've got several different ranges. It's a nice set up.

http://www.phoenixrodandgun.org/
 
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