Just something to talk about

[KnotRight]

For you reloaders out there. When was the last time you shot factory rounds at the range? Or when was the last time you bought factory rounds besides 22?

For me, I have not bought factory rounds in he last 3 years. Those were 308 rounds when I got my first hi-power rifle. I think that I still half of the box of 20 that I bought. And those were probably the last factory rifle rounds that I shot. Most of my EDC hand gun carry rounds are factory Hydro-Shock, Silver Tip and some Winchester Lawmen that I have inherited and do not shoot them anymore. They we shot a bunch before I got back into reloading.
When 223 was hard to get about 3 years ago I bought a bunch of them in 20 to 500 round boxes. The only box that I have opened was some federal green tip and may shot 20 of the 15. I prefer my reloads in every day carry.

I have enough not to worry about reloading the gun for the few range outings.

Now how about you?

[waksupi]

Over 20 years.

[Reddirt62]

Yesterday. Purchased some 223 wssm but in my defense I just purchased the rifle and do not have dies for it....yet. 8)

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[Remiel]

Does surplus count? Other than that about 6 months ago when I got my first pistol

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[slownsteady22]

The only factory rounds I buy are 30/30 because they are cheap.

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[rondog]

Seems like I bought a box of .30-30 a few years ago because I didn't have all the components together yet.

[Rick Hodges]

I purchased some bulk 5.56 55 gr. fmj for a price that I couldn't reload them for. I also purchased a few hundred 64gr. Speer/CCI soft point 5.56 to have for ready use. When I bought my AR a couple of years ago.

I have a 7mm Remington Mag, that I purchased in '77 that has never seen a factory round. Same for my 6mm Model 788, also purchased new.

[54bore]

I bought a 7MM-08 for my wife and 2 boxes of factory ammo in hopes it would shoot them well, deer season was a week away, i didn't want to start working up a load for it in that time, turned out the rifle HATED the factory shells, The same day i found out it wouldn't shoot the factory ammo I ended up running over to a big sporting goods store and buying everything i needed to load for it. The VERY first load i turned out produced true 1" groups at 100 yards, BIG sigh of relief! She killed her first buck with that rifle out of the Bathroom window! LOL, TRUE STORY!

[725]

Two basic circumstances: Factory pistol ammo for my carry gun & when somebody gives me some factory for a rifle. All my hunting and target ammo is home rolled. Has been for decades.

[mold maker]

Every new gun I get, gets at least one box of factory first. I'm not going to have a problem and be told it was my reloads that were at fault.
Sometimes it's the most expedient way to get brass, as in the first .41 that I purchased.
In my lifetime I have anticipated shortages and bought some inventory to carry me through. There also have been times that I didn't have time to load and shoot. The alternative was to buy and shoot.
Since the money saving aspect is not my main reason to load, it isn't imperative that I shoot only hand loads.
There was a time when I couldn't possibly have single stage loaded, all I shot.

[rancher1913]

I use factory in the carry guns because it was advised that if you do shoot someone with reloads the lawyers can have a field day, and I still buy 223 in bulk for much the same reason. I have started loading 223 but still feel more confident in a life or death situation using factory stuff, not that I have had a single problem with my reloads other than early on with the 9mm. all the training ammo and plinking ammo is home rolled.

[JSnover]

.32 acp last week. I own two but don't shoot them often enough to buy dies.

[375supermag]

Hi...
I do shoot some factory ammunition in some of my guns.
My son buys and shoots 9mm and .223 in bulk cheaper than I can reload it, so for practice and plinking rounds at the range that is what we use. I also bought a few hundred rounds of factory ammunition in .40S&W when I bought my M&P a couple of years ago. I had no dies, no bullets and no cases for what was a new to me caliber at the time.
He and I both carry factory ammunition in our carry guns.
I will on some occasions buy factory ammunition for a quick trip to the range when I don't have time for a reloading session.
I shoot a lot of revolver in.357Mag, .41Magnum, .44Spl, .44Mag and 45Colt and haven't bought a factory cartridge in those calibers in at least 30 years. My son did buy some .357Mag in bulk last year while I was laid up in the hospital so he could shoot some of my revolvers.

My son buys some rifle ammunition for cartridges that I don't have dies for but as soon as he or I buy the dies I will be reloading those cartridges for him as well.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Factory ammo -- .22 L.R. when and where available, building up my supply for next time they disappear from the shelf.
9mm Luger, on the average two of the pricy little 20 round boxes per year to rotate/replace the ammo in my carry gun and extra mags with
fresh rounds and then expend the replaced rounds in practice.
Otherwise, it's been many years.

[Harter66]

Due to a lack of availability of brass regionally , combined with a couple of sales . I bought ;
100 45-70 , brass of course was almost immediately available after words .
200 222 Rem $11.73/box after tax , 1 lot , good brass , why not .
800 223 in 2 sealed cans , I question the source information but for $140 I couldn't load them so why not .

I've picked up a few boxes here and there but the round for round factory to hand load rates even with combined closeout seasonal sales since 1993 is probably very close to 5% factory , 95% handloads . I've bought 300 3033 Hornady , 200 270/120 SST , and 200 6.5 jacketed bullets since since 2007 . I have a 30 cal can full of gifted Hornady ,Speer and Sierra bullets in 6&7mm 25 and 30 cal and some 40 cal pistol bullets . If I hadn't kicked the can the other day I'd have forgotten them all together .

I do buy personal defense loads in 380 , 9mm , 38 Special +P & 40 just for CYA but Bush may have been in office when I bought the last of that .

A number that I'm 100% sure of is that since 1993 I've burned as many primers as I have on hand now and factory doesn't even come close to the to that , although it does make up about 50% of ammo on hand today . It includes 3 cases of shot shells and the best part of 2 more made up of leftover partials from assorted hunting trips of the last 10 yr . I set a goal for 1000 rounds per cartridge​ , I'm not there .

[daloper]

I bought 2 boxes of factory rounds for my Ruger .480. I buy them whenever I find them. Shoot them to empty the brass so that I have something to reload.

[LUBEDUDE]

I only buy ammo for my Concealed guns and only shoot that ammo for function testing and disposal when it gets old.

Other than that it's been 30-40 years more or less since shooting factory ammo. I just can't afford to shoot otherwise.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have no idea when the last time I bought factory ammo...if buying vintage factory ammo at a gunshow counts? I suppose I bought some last year.

Back in my league days (1990s), before I was a reloader, I'd buy 9mm by the case.
after I quit the league shooting, I still had quite the stash. I sold most of that to a co-worker during the first Obama buying crazy in 2009. I still have some. This Spring (March) when I was working up some new 9mm cast loads, I bought some factory stuff along to shoot for comparison...So that was 2 months ago, shootin factory ammo.

[Kraschenbirn]

Outside of .22 LR and some Privi (7.5x55 and 7.62.54R) purchased from Graf's in 2010 (to obtain boxer-primed brass for my 96/11 and MN 91/30), it's been, at least, 15 years since I purchased any over-the-counter factory ammunition. I do, however, have a cache of milsurp and assorted commercial stuff accumulated through trades and estate sales (which includes a bulk carton of Win .38 Spl +P JHPs marked "Law Enforcement Only" gifted by a friend upon his retirement as an instructor at a police training facility).

Bill

[RU shooter]

For my hunting rifles , never ! All my deer rifles were handed down from dad or my pap all came with brass and have never shot a factory round out of either my Rem 600 35 Rem or a 1920's era 1894 src in 32 spl. While I've had other rifles like an SKS or other milsurp types and have bought factory stuff just for the brass I usually reload for them . I have one handgun that's my every day carry pistol I don't shoot it enough to reload for it so I just buy factory ammo

[D Crockett]

Other than 22's it bee over 25 years D Crockett

[Tom W.]

I bought some aluminum cased 9mm about four years ago because they were dirt cheap. I have a few .45 acp cartridges laying around that I had to buy when I was renting some pistols to see how I liked them. Beyond that, I can't remember buying any factory loads.

[David2011]

I've fired centerfire factory loads twice in the past 10 years excluding shotgun. Most recently yesterday afternoon. Last visit to the eye doctor he didn't want to give me a prescription for handgun sight distance. (He's a shooter and we shoot trap together.) Said my eyes had shifted to a point that they were perfect for handgun sights. I was skeptical but had to try it to find out. I have a Glock 17 that always shot low for me but I suspected it was because of my glasses. I took it to the range and fired a magazine full of factory FMJ that was alt least 10 years old wearing safety glasses instead of my older prescription shooting glasses. The group was reasonably small and centered on the point of aim. I'll start loading jacketed and plated for it soon. I have a couple of high end target autoloaders but the Glock is enjoyable to shoot and plenty accurate.

The last time before that was about 5 years ago to verify a chamber problem in an AR-15. It was a good factory built rifle and wickedly accurate with my handloads but fired cases came out oversized near the base. Manufacturer replaced the upper with no argument when I sent it back with an expended factory cartridge. I still have the remainder of that box of 20 rounds. Fortunately the replacement seems to have the same accuracy as the original.

[robg]

I can't bear to use factory cartridges ,they cost way to much and don't shoot as well as my loads whether cast or jacketed ,haven't bought any factory ammo except 22 in twenty years.

[Big Boomer]

Around twenty years or more ago I gave all my rimfire rifles and handguns to my son and grandson. Have not purchased a single rifle round since. About the same time (or when first offered) I purchased 40 rounds of .45 ACP Speer Defense ammo for concealed carry that I still use off and on. Ten years ago I purchased 100 rounds of .38 Special for my wife's revolver that were on sale when she got her CCW. Have not purchased a single round of factory stuff since, rifle or handgun. Now use my own reloaded stuff for carry purposes in a smaller 9mm. The full size .45 just got too heavy to carry as I got older. My 9mm loads look just like factory stuff. Big Boomer

[HATCH]

besides 22lr, the only time I have shot factory pistol ammo in the past 20 years has been when I was developing a load.
Last factory ammo I shot was 22 TCM

[NoAngel]

The only factory ammo I buy is the occasional box of 7,62x54R. Winchester & especially PPU....it's about as cheap as buying brass. I look at it as buying brass that's already prepped for fireforming.

[FISH4BUGS]

I bought 20 Federal match when I got my 308 Rem PSS. I wanted a baseline to see how my reloads did.
That was about 5 years ago.

[rl69]

I bought some 9 mm mackarove a few moths back but now I have dies soooooo

The only guns I don't load for or 762x54 and 40 cal I realy don't like the beretta and the 762 x54 is easer to buy the ammo then to load it

[GhostHawk]

I like shooting my own stuff. But I also like having some factory loads in the house.

Currently sitting on a couple thousand .223, a thousand 7.62x39 and 500 left of a thousand FMJ 9mm federals I got a decent price on.

I also load shotgun and have some cheap federal 7.5's, and I also have a bunch of #1 buckshot and slugs loaded.

Options, IMO they are a good thing. But, I don't tend to pull the trigger on factory ammo much, unless I have a good reason. Economically speaking it makes more sense to use my own cast boolits, and a few grains of Red Dot and a primer than spend what seems like unreal amounts of money per round for rifle ammo.

You got to the store, or even walmart. You see how many boxes are 25$ for 20 rounds, or more? Not me, not as long as I can still cast and load.

I will admit I enjoy burning some .22lr through the ruger Mk III's 22/45 that my wife and I have. Both have truglo red dot sights on them and will put 10 into a pop bottle top on a good day. And at 6 cents a round I can afford to shoot a few.

[JWT]

I only buy factory to obtain brass for reloading.

[quack1]

Other than 22RF and a few boxes of steel shotshells when they first became mandatory to hunt ducks (as soon as I was able to get components, I loaded steel myself), I have never bought factory ammunition in my life. My father was reloading before I was born, so I grew up with it. I have shot some factory ammunition, though. I have bought a few used guns that came with some factory ammunition and have been gifted some from buddies that sold guns and later came across some ammunition for them that they had forgotten about. I'm 64 and have been shooting since I was big enough to hold a gun. That's a lot of reloading over the years, but I still enjoy every minute of it.

[bullet maker 57]

I buy factory ammo for the guns I carry. That lawyer thing. I just picked up 2000 rounds of 7.62x39 real cheap. Can't reload for less than I paid.

[WRideout]

When I acquired my 7.62 Romanian Tokarev three or four years ago, I bought factory ammo just to get brass. My 30-06 hasn't seen factory ammo in thirty years, and my Mod 19 Smith has only had a box or two of factory ammo through it, ever, in the thirty years I have had it.

Wayne

[Echo]

My son bought A 7mm Weatherby from a friend who had bought a collection and had sold all but the Weatherby. Son Jim wants to get into long-range (1000+) shooting, and thought the Weatherby would work for that (he also has a 50BMG McMillen). I figured, Heck, I'll get a 7mm mold and make him some lead boolits he can use to practice with, out to 200 yards, anyway, and did. Then - well - I had the mold, so I bought a Rem 783 in 7mm Rem Mag. Bought a box of Hornady condom bullets - and a box of Hornady ammo. First factory ammo I have shot in years. Shot them last year sighting in, but have had little time for more shooting, that will be done with my own 175-gr boolits.

[osteodoc08]

Been busy with life and had a new shooter. Duh out my 9mm M&P and bought 2 boxes of Remington fodder for $9/box including tax at the local range. I figured introducing a new shooter for $30 including range time and targets was well worth it

[Big Uke]

Last bought surplus commie ammo for my SKS last year, otherwise it's been about 10 years ago for my .32 ACP. I have dies and cast bullets for that caliber now though.

[Connelly47]

Only for my carry guns. Like others have said, that lawyer stuff.