Post of the month.

[twocool4u]

The price of those big shells was exactly the reason I decided to start reloading brass cartridges.

So I bought my first press and then dies, then scales, then priming tools, then dippers, then started buying brass and powder and primers and bullets, and then another press.

So I found out how much fun that monster was to shoot with light loads at which point I became aware that I could do practically anything with it if I had the right equipment.

The price of bullets lead to casting which lead to multiple molds, buying wheel weights, buying linotype, buying pure pb, buying ladles, buying an electric casting furnace. Picking up ww out of parking lots while my wife looks at me like I am a nut.

I almost forgot the Lee push through sizers, but I did not care for them, so then came the lubrisizer with all the different dies.

Then I added a rifle caliber which lead to the cycle repeating, then I added another rifle caliber, then another pistol caliber, then another pistol caliber. All of those had to have their own powder, dies, primers, bullets, brass, and molds.

And now I am on the list for the 700 grain 500 S&W group buy... like anyone actually NEEDS a 700 grain boolit with a hollowpoint so big that a small child could fall into it!

ALL THIS because I bought one gun!! :groner:

Not to scare you, but you would be better off to throw that gun in the river.[smilie=l:

With all that said, have fun and enjoy the trip.






Look at what you're saving.

And I bet you typed that with a straight face...:lol:

[45nut]

Damn that's funny!

[oneokie]

Look at it this way.......

Anything over an ounce and a quarter in weight is considered an ingot.

So you are now a member of the ingot shooters fraternity.

[Bigjohn]

At an ounce and a quarter per shot I hope he has recovery rights to his projies from the berm. Plus anything else that is handy.[smilie=l:

[44fanatic]

My stomach hurts from laughing so hard.

[HABCAN]

What's to laugh at?? Why the fuss?? <Humph!!> Seems perfectly straightforwardly normal to me! A logical progression we have all traversed. Welcome, 2cool!!

[exile]

Still waiting for reloading to save me money. Seriously, that single-stage press was the best money I ever spent, I get so much enjoyment out of it. And I would not be shooting anything but .38 Special and 9mm if I did not reload. No .357 Sig, no .44 Special, no .327 Federal, no .41 magnum, no .32 ACP. I only wish I had started 30 years ago!

Post pics of that .500 hollow-point if you get a chance.

exile

[mold maker]

I have had to buy quiet a few guns to fit the boolits I cast. Does this vicious circle ever end.

[a.squibload]

At an ounce and a quarter per shot I hope he has recovery rights to his projies from the berm...

Easy to find at the bottom of the impact crater...

[mold maker]

That ain't funny. I can attest to all of that story.
I've saved so much money,,,, I'm broke.
The USPS delivers my mail addressed to Bakers Poor House.
Last month I saved money on 3 molds and over 200lbs of lead pipe to go with the 2 more molds, I have on order. Thats all to cast for the .41 mag Ruger I bought with all the savings.
Now where can I save money on brass to load for it??
Sure glad I'm retired so I have more time to devote to saving all that money.

[9.3X62AL]

Sure glad I'm retired so I have more time to devote to saving all that money.

Nothing like having a hobby to unfix living on a fixed income.

[a.squibload]

...
Not to scare you, but you would be better off to throw that gun in the river.[smilie=l:


Tie a line to it first, use it for a trotline weight, might supplement your diet...

[Boartooth]

The price of those big shells was exactly the reason I decided to start reloading brass cartridges.

So I bought my first press and then dies, then scales, then priming tools, then dippers, then started buying brass and powder and primers and bullets, and then another press.

So I found out how much fun that monster was to shoot with light loads at which point I became aware that I could do practically anything with it if I had the right equipment.

The price of bullets lead to casting which lead to multiple molds, buying wheel weights, buying linotype, buying pure pb, buying ladles, buying an electric casting furnace. Picking up ww out of parking lots while my wife looks at me like I am a nut.

I almost forgot the Lee push through sizers, but I did not care for them, so then came the lubrisizer with all the different dies.

Then I added a rifle caliber which lead to the cycle repeating, then I added another rifle caliber, then another pistol caliber, then another pistol caliber. All of those had to have their own powder, dies, primers, bullets, brass, and molds.

And now I am on the list for the 700 grain 500 S&W group buy... like anyone actually NEEDS a 700 grain boolit with a hollowpoint so big that a small child could fall into it!

ALL THIS because I bought one gun!! :groner:

Not to scare you, but you would be better off to throw that gun in the river.[smilie=l:

With all that said, have fun and enjoy the trip.







And I bet you typed that with a straight face...:lol:

SHHHHH!!!!,(covers screen with hands) don't say that in public!My wife still thinks this is a limited interest just to save money!

[firefly1957]

I save reloading save more casting some day maybe I will save enough to buy a gun!!!
All puns aside I could not afford to shoot my Sharps 50-3 1/4 if I bought ammo and then there is the .351 Winchester Self Load, 357-44 Brain and Davis, .221 fireball, .256 Winchester Mag, 45-70 with a .461 bore without reloading I could not shoot some of these at all.

And I would bet twocool4u scuba dives what do you think?

[Tommy Kelly]

Heck I've been saving money like this for over 40 years. And it works. Six years ago I decided I wanted a motorcycle. I hadn't worked in over a year so I sold some shotguns. Went and bought a new 1300 honda and have put close to 40000 miles on it so far. I paid cash for the bike and bought acc. for it and paid off a credit card and also paid off my 4 wheeler. After selling the shotguns I still had 10 left just shotguns so I really didn't need them all. We all could do with fewer guns than we have but it sure is fun to get another one every so often. I don't want them all just the ones I don't have.

[Crash Corrigan]

I started out with a pair of .38 revolvers for which I was tired of paying big bucks for ammo. I spend about a grand for pretty much everything I needed to smelt, mold and assemble good ammo for these guns.

Over the years I kept on buying better and more effficient tools, dies, molds and assorted sundries so I could save more money.

Then I started to buy more guns in different calibers. I am up to 22 now. All of these needed their own set of molds, dies and supporting cast of thousands of cartridge cases and such. But I am saving money.

Now I live in a small tin trailer in a Seniors Only trailer park and I am still going the range 2 or 3 times a week and reloading like mad in my living room. It is packed with gun related equipment. So is the kitchen. I even have a commercial shelf unit in the the bedroom that is 48" long and taller than me. It is loaded with primers and other reloading gear.

I keep on telling myself that I am saving money. I also fell into the black art of the Holy Black with a 50-90 Sharps rifle for which I make and shoot 695 grain boolits. I need to make a boolit trap to recover my lead to save more money.

It is like a disease for which there is no cure. I am saving so much money....but where is it?

[RP]

Reload to save money may work for some but not me I have to have more stuff then needed so my cost is always more then what I save. BUT I enjoy casting reloading swaging and even the boring stuff like prepping brass and cleaning it. I come home wifes at work TV is a waste most of the time I go to shop and tinker with my reloading stuff. I have more ammo loaded then I shoot in my life and still adding to it. Several hundreds of lbs of bullets cast and sitting in cans. Now I am hooked on swagging I have a few K swagged up and only shot about 50 of them so far but as soon as i get the rest of that 5 gal bucket of annealed brass turned into projectiles and loaded maybe I have time to shoot. Unless I get some more molds or dies for swagging in. So with out rambling on more it comes down to are you enjoying yourself I sure enjoy it.

[Bulltipper]

My buddy cliff, next door sold me his single stage rock crusher and MEC reloader with dies and shells and brass and wads...etc for $300. I thought this was great, I could really save some money loading for the shotguns, .45, .357, .44 right? Then i start loading for the rifles... Fine. Then I move to Orygun. I ask my buddy to bring 500 .45acp fmj up when he comes to visit. "oh, you should get into casting," he says, "you'll save money!" Yeah,... so he sends me an old dipping pot and a beat up .45 lee single cav and I'm off. "Saving money" Had to get a lee sizing kit right? sure. well that wasn't good enough so I had to have the Lyman 4500. OK fine. The lee mold? I don't think so. Went with a Mihec 452-200. Have 2 of those now and 7 other Mihec molds to load for everything I own. The Lyman 4500? Please! Had to have a Star,...with the air lube and the boolit feeder too. Thank you Lathesmith! How many dies did I get? Oh, That old RCBS Rock Crusher? Yeah. Sure. It is mounted right next to that Dillon 550 that looks so cool on my loading bench. Saving money? You bet, I sold over half my collection of firearms to finance the reloading project. I have over a ton of lead. Folgers plastic coffee containers full of more cast boolits than I will probably ever be able to shoot. Enough powder to Shoot the guns on the USS New Jersey at least twice, and a primer shortage. (you can never have enough primers) Would I do it all again? YES. Am I saving money? WHO CARES!
Man am I going to leave a lot of cool stuff for my kids when I die, I just hope they don't have to have to be in possesion of a HAZ-MAT license to move it out of here...Haha

[a.squibload]

...Enough powder to Shoot the guns on the USS New Jersey at least twice,...

Don't know if my tears are from sympathy for the addiction, or just laughing so hard!:lol:

[mold maker]

My Daughter ask if I could inventory and price everything, just in case.
My answer was nope, I'm taking it with me. If I can't do that call William, and he will take it with him.
They have no interest in my guns and tools. They can't stand the noise, and are politically incorrect. I've willed it all to those I've enjoyed shooting with.

[firefly1957]

I Do not know who would end up with my reloading equipment if I were to die but right now I would think My son in law would get the best use out of it. It would take more than a trip with the pickup to haul it all if he left the bench. The bench has a 1/2 inch thick by 30 wide and 50 inch long aluminum top.

[Longwood]

Looks like it is going to be a good day.

[Longwood]

Do you love thy neighbor?

[shamus2004]

Thanks for reminding me... I need another mould (seriously..check the WTB thread)

[Lead guy]

Nice.. I've been saving on reloading for awhile. I just started saving with casting. I hope I can continue to "save" and get my kids through college ha ha

[Boolseye]

Picking up ww out of parking lots while my wife looks at me like I am a nut.

YES! I grab them off the side of the road when I'm riding my bike.

[Armorer]

I found .21 Oz. worth of SOWW in the parking lot at work on Friday and was as tickled as if I found a $20 bill. This is definitely a disease.

My ¢2
Armorer

[SSGOldfart]

yep I'm saving money now hand over fist, my wife even picks up lead ww in the parking lots lol

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

You think you are saving now, wait until you graduate to things like 505 Gibbs and Double Rifles in 470 NE and larger calibers...
Then, there's the Ten Bore Double I am having built. The slugs are 960gr apiece.

pity this poor retiree on a fixed income...

[Rangefinder]

What I save in boolits I make up for in powder, primers, and propane. ;) I'm saving a fortune! LOL

[SSGOldfart]

Nice.. I've been saving on reloading for awhile. I just started saving with casting. I hope I can continue to "save" and get my kids through college ha ha

Same here I'm saving $500 to$600 this month maybe more right Blammer :kidding:

[1Shirt]

Ya know, there are times I wish I only had one rifle, one hand gun, and one shotgun. But then reality sets in! Need a rifle for deer, one for Bear/Elk/Moose etc, one for Africa, at least two for P-Dogs, and just can't do without a 22. Then there is the handgun: Well, could probably get along with a 357 and a 22, but the issue of revolver or auto in 22 would be a problem, and probably need both.
Do think I could get along with just one shotgun however, probably my side by side Browning 20g. Guess that totals up to about 7-8 which would probably be my minimum. And then there are the milsurps, andl the levers! Ahhhh-decisions, decisions!
1Shirt!!:coffee:

[DAFzipper]

I started reloading and casting so I could shoot more, not save money!! Now I shoot more and spend more. Life is good!

[Boolseye]

I think the answer is that those of us who cast are among the most avid shooters on the planet. Casting is simply a symptom of my condition:cbpour:

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Much like most politicians will say spending our tax dollars,
"I'm not spending, I'm investing"

Yeah, I'm investing in tools and supplies.
Jon

[bearcove]

Much like most politicians will say spending our tax dollars,
"I'm not spending, I'm investing"

Yeah, I'm investing in tools and supplies.
Jon

[smilie=l: Yeah!!!! I have 2 2car garages and a 400 sg ft shop full of investments!

And winters coming so now the stuff outside has to be put in too.[smilie=l:

[midnight]

I wasn't saving enough casting for a couple dozen cartridges so I started casting for the 50BMG. Now I'm saving so much I don'tknow what to do with it all. I'll be another Bill Gates before long. If I get that Anzio Ironworks 20mm I'll be the richest man in the world.

Bob

[Wheeler]

I wasn't saving enough casting for a couple dozen cartridges so I started casting for the 50BMG. Now I'm saving so much I don'tknow what to do with it all. I'll be another Bill Gates before long. If I get that Anzio Ironworks 20mm I'll be the richest man in the world.

Bob

I wanna see the mold for that one!

[SSGOldfart]

I wanna see the mold for that one!

Me too;)

[P.K.]

I wanna see the mold for that one!

This thread started with an "Ingot Slinger," wonder what we moved up to with a .50BMG? A muffin slinger?:shock:

[ghh3rd]

When I think of all of the casting, loading, lube making, and shooting stuff I've accumulated in the past few years, I'm amazed! All because I made a spreadsheet that showed me how much I would save by loading my own .38's and .40's :-) Latest gear is for my 45-70, latest mold for it is for 420 grain boolits.

[onesonek]

A reflection to the OP,,,, one can take solice in the fact, by remembering,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
no matter how bad it seems, it could always be worse!!!

[mold maker]

Yep,,,I've saved so much, I have to eat Romen Noodles at least twice a day, to keep up my strength for casting.
Now that the GB for 45-70 brass is in my hands, I too am casting those big ones.

[mooko]

I may actually have saved some money on reloading and casting. It's a matter of letting people know about your strange hobby. A friend who worked at one of the dams in Montana called me to say they had rewired a bunch of the site and replaced the underground wiring. Turns out the old wiring was enclosed in lead conduits. I got about 500 pounds there. Later, a guy calls me up to say he has a cubic foot of soft lead and did I want it. About another 500 pounds there. The local tire center call me whenever their ten gallon bucket gets full of wheelweights. A small local paper even called to say they were getting rid of their linotype machine and did I want the type. couple hundred pounds there. My pllumber calls when he gets lead pipe out of a job.
So, I'm fixed for casting into the 23rd century.
Had to go to a twenty pound pot when I started reloading for the 577 Nitro (750 gr.). Lucky I did becuase I was just given a three pounder Dalgren rifle from the Civil War by an archeologist buddy who retired. I even inherited a round ball mold with it. (8 oz. apiece)
http://www.youtube.com/user/kamasutraguy#p/a/u/2/zxgcBKbBb2w
I just need to do a lot more shooting and get a few more guns before I save so much that the IRS audits me.

[waksupi]

I may actually have saved some money on reloading and casting. It's a matter of letting people know about your strange hobby. A friend who worked at one of the dams in Montana called me to say they had rewired a bunch of the site and replaced the underground wiring. Turns out the old wiring was enclosed in lead conduits. I got about 500 pounds there. Later, a guy calls me up to say he has a cubic foot of soft lead and did I want it. About another 500 pounds there. The local tire center call me whenever their ten gallon bucket gets full of wheelweights. A small local paper even called to say they were getting rid of their linotype machine and did I want the type. couple hundred pounds there. My pllumber calls when he gets lead pipe out of a job.
So, I'm fixed for casting into the 23rd century.
Had to go to a twenty pound pot when I started reloading for the 577 Nitro (750 gr.). Lucky I did becuase I was just given a three pounder Dalgren rifle from the Civil War by an archeologist buddy who retired. I even inherited a round ball mold with it. (8 oz. apiece)
http://www.youtube.com/user/kamasutraguy#p/a/u/2/zxgcBKbBb2w
I just need to do a lot more shooting and get a few more guns before I save so much that the IRS audits me.

If you are saving money doing this, you are doing something wrong!

[Gee_Wizz01]

Years ago, I was attended a home owners association at one of the board members homes. During the meeting we could hear a constant hammering sound from upstairs. The lady was embarrassed by the noise and stated her husband was reloading ammo for his hunting trip the next day. After the meeting I went upstairs and talked to him. He was using a Lee loader for 30-06. He stated he was reloading to save money. I told him that if got tired of beating on that Lee loader, that he could come over to my house and use my Rockchucker. He indicated that he was fine with his Lee, and he was just saving money and did not need anything more complicated. About 1 month later he called and asked if he could see my setup. It turns out he got one of his neck sized rounds stuck in his rifle. He came over and used my setup to reload a couple of boxes. He was impressed by the ease of resizing and the fact that his ammo fit nicely in his rifle. A few weeks later he bought his own Rockchucker. Then I took him out to the local range and we had great day shooting. I talked to him afterwards and he stated that he usually shot less than 20 rds per year. He normally just sighted in his rifle and fired a few rounds hunting. Well he joined the gun club and became a regular. A few months later at a home owners assoc meeting his wife approached me and let me know that I was a bad influence on her husband. She tolerated his Lee loader because it saved money, but since I had talked to her husband he had spent over a $1000 with his new hobby. Then he ran into a couple of friends at the range who were bench rest shooters, and his hobby took a very expensive turn. Before it was over his wife would hardly talked to me. I told her that her husband would be spending twice as much money if he didn't reload.

G

[3006guns]

I may actually have saved some money on reloading and casting. It's a matter of letting people know about your strange hobby. A friend who worked at one of the dams in Montana called me to say they had rewired a bunch of the site and replaced the underground wiring. Turns out the old wiring was enclosed in lead conduits. I got about 500 pounds there. Later, a guy calls me up to say he has a cubic foot of soft lead and did I want it. About another 500 pounds there. The local tire center call me whenever their ten gallon bucket gets full of wheelweights. A small local paper even called to say they were getting rid of their linotype machine and did I want the type. couple hundred pounds there. My pllumber calls when he gets lead pipe out of a job.
So, I'm fixed for casting into the 23rd century.
Had to go to a twenty pound pot when I started reloading for the 577 Nitro (750 gr.). Lucky I did becuase I was just given a three pounder Dalgren rifle from the Civil War by an archeologist buddy who retired. I even inherited a round ball mold with it. (8 oz. apiece)
http://www.youtube.com/user/kamasutraguy#p/a/u/2/zxgcBKbBb2w
I just need to do a lot more shooting and get a few more guns before I save so much that the IRS audits me.

Man, I hope that's NOT your group around that cannon. I'm not criticizing/being a jerk, just pointing out several obvious safety problems:

One knowledgable person loads the gun.....always. No chit chat, no distractions. Too many cooks..........

Keep sightseers behind the gun......WAY behind it. A premature discharge from a spark could have badly injured several people.

Is that pickup actually that close, or is it just the camera angle? The concussion could easily dent the vehicle.

Finally, that's a cannon ball. What's behind those trees downrange...a house? Road? People? There was a highly publicized case a few years ago where a muzzle loading cannon shot a ball right through the neighbor's house, because the gunner "didn't think it would go that far.....".

I like the gun carriage, straightforward and highway towable. Bet it raises a few eyebrows on the road!

[NMLRA Guy]

Momma told me a MANY years ago about her friend. Her friend was given a rather nice but plain hat pin. Well, a hat pin is useless without a hat, so she shopped for a hat. Once in hand, she needed a pair of shoes to go with the hat. Then a cute dress was on sale that went rather exactly with the hat. When last heard from, her friend had not finished adding up the cost of that free hat pin. I usta think that was a funny story 'til I got to looking at this post and looking in the mirror!

[jabilli]

LOL

If anyone told me they were getting into reloading to save money I would tell them I'd do them a favor and save them money: I'd ask them to hand me about half of what they think they might spend on reloading gear. I'd then give them a swift kick in the babymaker and send them on their way. (Unless of course they are REALLY disciplined about their spending.) I say this in jest, really, I encourage my buddies to get into it all the time despite the costs.

Best buy for me was the Lee 50th Anniversary kit. $100. With this and a few other things, people CAN start reloading. It's just, after using the cheaper stuff, you look at the other goodies that make life easier on you and you go "OOO I WANT" :-p Examples- Lee kit came with priming system built into the press. Downside, slow. I bought an RCBS hand primer for 50$ and boy that thing really throws the primers into some brass. The scale/balance works very very accurately and I find very reliable...Again, slow. Electric? 40$. The whole single stage setup is great, and I still use it for my rifle rounds/small batches/ammo that I REALLY wanna make sure is accurate- but I eventually broke down and bought a progressive to crank out the handgun ammo. Sorting cases when all sorts of different calibers is very time consuming (especially when you buy it by the pound from a range)...By hand- Free. 30-40$ will get you a sorting setup (kinda looks like a gold panning system).

On the upside- It used to take me something like (when I began) an hour to do ALL of the processes necessary to start from the beginning and make maybe, oh, 100 cartridges ready to rock, often more. Now with all my goodies, not even half that.

[mold maker]

Well with all the empty shelves where ammo used to be, and the new prices, we really might save money.

[mpmarty]

Well for me it's a matter of independence. Having ammo is like having air to breathe. Ya don't miss it til its gone.

[dudits]

i am working on saving more money :)

[DRNurse1]

If this was only about the money, we should have quit digging in this hole a long time ago. I think most of us agree we started because of the lure of saving some cash, or to shoot more. Now, for me, it is a matter of pride in making my own ammo, being relatively safe from a short term (less than a couple of years) shortage of components, and keeping up my skill (at least in my mind). Turns out some of this stuff I have collected actually has some value to others. Most of the valuable stuff is in the form of information/ knowledge. Too bad we can't cash that in for lead or components.

[Crash Corrigan]

As I looked over this thread I found an earlier post of mine herein. At that time I had 22 weapons. Today I have over 27 but I lost count somewhere along the way.

My latest purchase is a Dillon XL650 with all the bells and whistles. I decided that was gonna be my dedicated 9 MM progressive press. My Dillon 550B was gonna work with the .41 Magnum, .44 Special, 7.62x39MM, .223 Rem and .38 Special/357 Magnum calibres. I have been using a Dillon SQuare DEal Press for .45 ACP's but I also have a spare (again with all bells and whisles) that I intended to use just for 9 MM's until I bought the XL650.

Noting the state of this country's economy and the unbelieveable lack of concern by Congress and our Executive branch in attempting to balance the budget I decided to invest in Gold. I had a recent influx of cash which I was going to invest.

Then I got to thinking: What would be more valuable than Gold in a WTSHTF scenario? Guns and ammo...especially Hi-Capacity 9 MM's and common ammo. What is more common than 9 MM and .38 Specials? Ergo I am stockpiling Sig Sauer SP 2022's in 9 MM and so far I have 6 of them. Along with those I bought another ten 17 rd magazines and 100,000 WSP primers and 80 lbs of Unique powder. I presently have 3 stockpiles of lead ingots and unprocessed range lead. The ingots amount to 2 cubic yards of smelted ingots (3'x3'x6' solid pile) and a dozen 5 gallon buckets of range lead. The lead has been washed with a high pressure sprayer and the rocks have been separated from the lead. They just need to be smelted when I find the time.

Now my problem is where to hide all this stuff? And wow am I saving money!

I figure I can make and stockpile enuf 9 MM and .38's to ensure a very good barter position for when the Dollar crashes and this country really falls down the sewer pipes. Ya can't eat Gold but with a weapon you can protect what you love and keep what you have.

[destrux]

I think I might have saved money... I have a Dillion Square Deal, RCBS single stage, Lyman Spar-T, Lyman case turner, Lyman scale, RCBS powder measure, all the other various basics, about a dozen die sets (mostly RCBS, a few Lee) and three caliber kits for the Dillon...

I only bought the four Lee die sets, the rest were given to me for free by some friends who were getting out of the hobby and were happy to see someone continue the legacy. I did offer money, but it was refused.

Oh, I did buy my Lee pot and my Lee molds though too.

[country gent]

Well this thread brings back alot of memories and Happy times. I have started several out reloading and one of the things I tell them is to get the wife/girlfriend and famly involved also. We shot high power rifle for years wife did prep work one Daughter chamfered another daughter did primer pockets son cleaned and inspected. I loaded. We all shot at one level or another. One friend s wife asked me to coach her and we would go to the local range and then dinner afterwards. Was a blast. She was always glad she got started shooting with her husband and us. Most dont think to involve the wife with them so this becomes a big dark secret to them, that they dont understand. My wife never got upset when I bought equipment or a firearm only when I didnt buy her what she wanted in a new firearm. LOL. She was an expert in high power rifle when she was killed. But we always shot loaded and competed as a family and really enjoyed the sport and company.

[Recaster]

[QUOTE=Crash Corrigan;2093542]
"Noting the state of this country's economy and the unbelieveable lack of concern by Congress and our Executive branch in attempting to balance the budget I decided to invest in Gold. I had a recent influx of cash which I was going to invest."

Precious metals seems like a good investment....brass & lead.