marlins and cheap reloading

[csatrustburg]

Well after getting into reloading 20 years ago to save money then last year into casting to save money I think somewhere I have lost my way got my first 44s last year casting for those killing my first pistol buck thanks to 44man I have been looking for a JM marlin in 357 or 44 cause you know I can save money loading for those found both this week already the 357 is shooting great with a lee 158 grain cowboy boolit the 44 some genius put the extracter spring in backwards so five minutes work shes working just loaded up some 432-265 Noe for test rounds and h110 both are micro groove and I can hold both rifles cause there so lite time for deer season sad thing I think the 357 loaded with tight group is cheaper than 22lr right now. Squirrels with 357 sounds fun casting is just as addictive as reloading I sounder how much we have all saved after getting into all this! But I do love shooting

[reddog81]

I'm sure i'll start saving eventually. I just need to buy a few more molds first...

[csatrustburg]

I hear you its bound to start some time or another or might need some more powder and primers too plus a Noe 358 mold with wfn cause I don't have it and a nice rifle it would work in!

[Walter Laich]

my problem is I enjoy reloading and casting as much as shooting.
Way I look at it--it's all fun and a few pence here and there is well worth it

[bangerjim]

Keeps me out of the bars and "wharehouses"!

banger

[Thumbcocker]

Lee 125 rnfp and red dot = lots of shooting in that .357 for cheap.

[csatrustburg]

Its all fun I enjoy casting as much as shooting just late getting in the game. But those two deer last year went down just as good as any I have shot with jwords! This is turning into a fun hobby I hope to get my daughter shooting this with some plinkers.

[Mk42gunner]

Keeps me out of the bars and "wharehouses"!

banger
Yes sir, it does.

When you start figuring on paper the money you save by loading or casting, if you start to come out with negative figures just add in the cost of a DUI or two. Everything comes up roses then.

Robert

[Blackwater]

Oh! Save money it DOES ..... well, if you consider how much it'd cost to shoot the number of shots reloaders usually shoot, at least. The outlay seems to actually increase, in stead of decrease, but oh my! Do we ever more shoot a LOT more for that! So "economy" is a two-tiered proposition. Even though we spend more, we shoot a LOT more in the process, and without all that shooting, we could never reach the pinnacle of becoming a real "shootist." So it's really a kind'a tradeoff. Spend a little more, but shoot a WHOLE lot more. And that's the kind of "economy" I can appreciate, because I love to shoot, and was gonna' DO it no matter how much it cost.

With the price of factory ammo today at about a dollar a pop for the CHEAP stuff, or close to it, I haven't shot a factory load in a long time, except for a bare few in my .380. AND, there's no way you can count on being able to FIND the same ammo you're sighted in with now, eihter, and when you change ammo, you need to spend some of that ammo to check your sights. It DOES matter, often if not almost always.

With reloads, you can make up any load any way you want or need it to be, so you don't waste any ammo re-sighting your guns. This lets your practice time go for developing and maintaining your accuracy and speed. Not an inconsequential side benefit of reloading. And with casting, we can choose our bullets for performance we need for any given purpose. That too, is a great benefit.

And too, if you carry a little mini-.380 like I do, most factory ammo is either RNFMC or HP's, and the RN's are notorious for not having any real shocking power or killing power, and show poor wounding potential. The JHP's either expand and llimit penetration on a really big aggressor, which might not end well for us. Good cast bullets with larger FP's penetrate plenty, have a good wounding effect, transmit as much shock via the flat points as there is available to transmit, and most importantly, no matter how big an aggressor may be, they'll penetrate to the vitals. Some of these hopped up 400 lb. monsters on the street can be awfully hard to stop when hopped up on drugs.

About the only thing I figure I really need Jacketed for these days is for top loads for long range in my bolt action deer rifles, or maybe for long range target shooting. Still, though, I find it more satisfying to shoot my 1885 Win. BPCR with real black and bullets I cast myself even then. Now THAT is FUN!!!

[runfiverun]

Banger must not have a sportsman's warehouse near him.
my truck starts swerving towards them on it's own volition.
the all have the same stuff but they have different same stuff.

[44man]

Some light plinkers in the .357 would be great squirrel fun. Back so long ago there were no dates on calendars I used a home made flint lock on them, .36 cal. Mostly head shots but when I made the gun I had nothing to look at so it was heavy. I could not hold it straight up with a fox squirrel 80' up a shag bark hickory. I had to lay on my back to shoot.
BOOM and branches falling from my tree trimming followed by the thump of the tree rat hitting the ground.
Now I can't even see the squirrel let alone the sights! Wish I could turn back time.
Watch a .44 Marlin with the funny twist. Good to about 50 on deer but it hurts to have all the equipment for the .44 so if you keep ranges short it will work. Even 100 can work but that depends on where the boolit decides to go.
SAVE MONEY? Darn right because equipment never wears out and pays it's way. I laugh at guys that come to shoot with $2 to $4 a shot stuff. I open my box for them and turn them loose with 10 cents a shot stuff that will out shoot any price.
Yet I started loading, NOT to save but because I could make better. It is still the same no matter how much work factories do and they do very well now. But cast can still shoot better.
I do not remember a time when I didn't have molds, powder, shot, primers and dies even before my gun arrived.
When I got my first .44's in 1956, there was no brass so I had to shoot factory first. Sad junk with super recoil.
Csatrustburg, you found a home. Funny name but a friend up the road has confederate flags all over and I love it to honor so many. I am a northerner from Ohio but all were Americans that lost all. I take it CSA is HONOR!
Now you can wag it but go into a ladies bathroom, my God what has happened to this country?

[Walter Laich]

... I do not remember a time when I didn't have molds, powder, shot, primers and dies even before my gun arrived...

and I thought I was the only one that did this.

can go you one better: have dies, brass and bullets for a caliber I don't plan on ever having.

[44man]

and I thought I was the only one that did this.

can go you one better: have dies, brass and bullets for a caliber I don't plan on ever having.
Who knows but a friend might have one. I have much I don't use myself too.

[csatrustburg]

44man its cs at rustburg nothing about being southern and yes I was hooked even before finding this site years ago my old plant manager helped me out getting started in loading. That's kind of before the computer thing everywhere after I had shot up two boxes of jwords was getting ready to give up talked to him he said have you got your bullet seating depth? Sure its in the book right? Well............ should have read a little more and my word this site has everything a newbe could ask for with the years of wisdom in here wish I could meet everyone!

[Three44s]

I figured out after about 2-3 months into handloading that saving money was not going to happen anytime soon ........

......... and going on 41 years later ....... I still haven't saved a buck at it ..............

But those that don't place value on being self-sufficient ........ just won't understand so why bother trying explaining much to them?

Best regards and good shooting!

Three 44s

[koehlerrk]

Squirrel plinker load - 2-4 grains of Bullseye, RedDot, or Clays in a 357 case, topped with a 36 cal muzzle loader round ball. Simple, quiet, and cheap! Primer is the most expensive part.

[Digital Dan]

Years ago a fella bought a Marlin '94 chambered in .25-20 Marlin, had a name plate installed on the stock and no tellin' where it traveled. Gun was manufactured in the early part of the 1900s. He used it to be sure, but did not take great care of the bore. Grandkids cleaned out his estate and put it up on consignment at a local store and I snagged it on the way out the door.

Barrel liner and chamber for the Winchester version and it runs pretty well these days. Target below was shot at 50 yards with a tang sight. Lot cheaper than .22 RF ammo...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/muddler/Guns/17f07848-f427-4fdd-ba1a-8d705824c926_zps8c020791.jpg


(http://smg.photobucket.com/user/muddler/media/Guns/17f07848-f427-4fdd-ba1a-8d705824c926_zps8c020791.jpg.html)

[csatrustburg]

I'm trying to talk myself out of a Noe 360-180wfn style I have a few brand new lee molds I don't even use just don't like gas checks 358-158 lswc gas check 429-240 68 clone cause I found a four cavity real HG. I like the 358-429 but to long to cycle in mag brass loaded some in 38 with 2400 to try but that 170 is a tack driver in the gp100 was hoping it would be the same in the marlin with mag brass but I never get that lucky. Might try to trade a few for a Noe if it works well in mag cases any thoughts?

[mac266]

Dude...do you punctuate????

[JohnH]

Well after getting into reloading 20 years ago to save money then last year into casting to save money I think somewhere I have lost my way got my first 44s last year casting for those killing my first pistol buck thanks to 44man I have been looking for a JM marlin in 357 or 44 cause you know I can save money loading for those found both this week already the 357 is shooting great with a lee 158 grain cowboy boolit the 44 some genius put the extracter spring in backwards so five minutes work shes working just loaded up some 432-265 Noe for test rounds and h110 both are micro groove and I can hold both rifles cause there so lite time for deer season sad thing I think the 357 loaded with tight group is cheaper than 22lr right now. Squirrels with 357 sounds fun casting is just as addictive as reloading I sounder how much we have all saved after getting into all this! But I do love shooting

You got into this to save money? Car and insurance salesmen must love you ;)

[csatrustburg]

Not really just love to shoot keep telling my wife I am saving though!