Every one should reload!

Serious question, how much does a guy need to shoot to make loading for rifles pay for itself? I shoot less than 100 rounds of centerfire rifle ammo a year at $1-2 per round. I see the advantages of being able to work up a load the rifle likes but to shoot "minute of deer" on 100 rounds I just don't see loading as all that profitable.

I have no idea where the break even point is these days with current prices. I can tell you my equipment had saved me 100x what it would have cost me to buy loaded ammo over the years. But I used to shoot thousands of rounds each year. So my stuff owes me nothing and still saves me $ with every pull of the trigger.

I don't shoot like I used to and components have been hard to get the last few years. I still have a nice stock of everything I need but fill sorry for those that don't.

You can get intry level single stages kits with everything you need tobget started for under a few hundred bucks. My first kit cost me 79$. Added dies, powder, bullets, and primers and I was off loading. Loaded over 20k rounds on that press before the linkage broke.

Honestly I don't think I ever saved a dime loading my own ammo. I was just able to shoot a lot more for the same price. It's fun and there is something about being able to experiment and get exactly what you want.

My first loads were for 270. My first group was 5/8 of an inch. Pure dumb luck of a load but it made a believer out of me.

2 hour trip...looks like a Maybeee road trip in the near future
Thanks

if it was just about killing deer , and not marketing , or silly state caliber restrictions most people would probably just run 308win in a lot of places.

stupid laws have created nearly as many calibers as marketing x , y , or z gains on distance , speed or trajectory gains

To me it was about availability. Is it cheaper to handload? No, can I have ammo available for me at any time I need it? Yes, provided I have, or can find the components...which are sometimes more readily available than factory ammo. I pulled the trigger 2 years ago, and am not sorry. We don't shoot very much either, but I can work up some rounds anytime I want.

My Favorite...and more importantly my Rifles and one pistol in .243
Prefer these




If I switch I buy several box's and check 3 shot groups for any point of impact changes. Which there usually are

Hornady used to make a "Light Magnum" load for 7x57 that was loaded with a 139 grain Interlock. I had an old Ruger 77 that loved them but then they quit making them. I would guess that was 25 years ago and possibly even longer.

I saw the first half of your sentence also true at a Runnings in Soo Foo. What sort of blew me away was that there was very little spread in bullet weights for those dozen+ offerings, running from 147 to 165 grain. Nobody had any 125 grain, although I've seen it at Scheels before.

I've been shooting .308 since 1981 for my deer/antelope rifle but quickly dumped the heavier 150 grain bullet for a lighter one for a little faster pop on open country, especially on moving targets. After some experimenting, settled in on a 125 gr Speer getting pushed by 43.5 grains of IMR 3031. That has been upgraded to a 125 Nosler. Supposedly, the round is doing about 2900 fps at the muzzle but I've never graphed it to be certain. I've had plenty of pile 'em up where they stand to only a few yards down the road sort of kills. Then again, I'm typically not hunting in the woods.

I haven't been deer/antelope hunting much over the past few years so decided to move my zeroed round to a fmj bullet and starting buying "white box" Winchester 147 grain 7.62x51. I was pleasantly surprised at my brother's "range" that the rifle sighted in for the 125 Nosler pretty much didn't need to be redialed for the WW 147 fmj. I was happy...

Local Wally-by-Golly had 3 chamberings in stock.

.350 Legend
.450 Bushmaster
.308 Win

I don't know a single soul that owns one of the first two.

It's how it is here x actly

Kinda looks like wide gates leading down a narrow path.

I know a guy who had a MAS-36 barreled in 450 bushmaster they use the same case head
he already had an AR in 450 IA guy , he loves his 450s its the hardest hitting strait wall he can use

Fortunately I have too many rifles chambered in: 22lr all the way to 450 lott; so having a alternative rifle to shoot isn't a problem. The past 5 years has led me to ensure that I have at least 100+ rounds in each chambering. The last couple years has really been expensive to maintain those levels of inventory, not to even talk about finding availability.

All across Wisconsin the .308 and 5.56 are widely available,. 30-06 if you can find some you better grab it. .22-250, .243, 7-08, and many others just aren't available on the shelves.

I dread the shortages that will occur if the government decrees that non-lead bullets must be used for all hunting.

If someone has a place that stocks LRPs I'm all ears.

My Wife and Sis n law were going east to Rice lake WI. Area I tagged along to buy ammo. One box of 7mm rem mag @ 75 bucks available...no .243win of any kind.

I'll have to go South to a place mentioned ^^^

I need to find some cheap 308 brass.

I only have 38 or 39 mixed brass .308 from my Shooting range. But if that would help you- send me your address. I'll mail them to you Scuba. NC

Cabelas has some .243 in stock, not the Federal, but Sig, Hornady, Sierra and some others and they ship to your house, have done it lots of times.

maybe not the cheapest but I have ordered from them before back in early 2020 there was more than 250 in a bag
they do free shipping and have a 15% off currently
https://bisonbrass.com/308-win-7-62-brass-pieces-500ct/