The costs of a new caliber.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I recently traded an AR15 rifle for a new 2012 Vintage Bisley Blackhawk in 45 Colt. Outfitting this with casting and loading equipment added up.

Dies. $60
Mold. $140
Size/lube die. $27
Shell holder. $9
Expander plug. $7

In addition, i had some work to do on the revolver. Hone throats, chamfer chambers and reduce hammer pad $150. Trigger return spring $8 and some starline brass. $75

With tax and shipping I'm over $400 just to get up and running properly.

[corbinace]

Oh, and you forgot a couple of hundred brass...

Yes, it is definitely a factor in my decision to purchase a new caliber of firearm. Especially since none of my firearms are actually working guns at this time of my life.

[omgb]

I had a very similar experience when I bought a .348 Win.


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[Sig556r]

I'm the other way around, I usually have casting/reloading equipment & components due to deals I can't pass...so firearm is my consequent cost.

[cwtebay]

It is crazy what one can invest when adding another caliber!!
I actually enjoy that part, researching bullets and moulds and people's experience with that firearm or caliber.
I've been eyeing a Bisley in 480 Ruger lately, your post may have put me over the edge!

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[bimus]

Casting and reloading 45 colt is a bargain just look at factory sales for if you can find it . Once you have the brass and tools it's just lead primer and powder .

[dverna]

It works in reverse too.

I got rid of a bunch of "useless" (to me) calibers and freed up a lot of money that I invested in stocking components deep and cheap. BTW, one was the .45 Colt...LOL.

The .45 LC is a good old timer but I had no use for it. You will enjoy shooting it.

[pworley1]

I usually get a mold and set of dies first, then I feel obligated to get a rifle in that caliber to keep from wasting the money spent on the mold and dies.

[omgb]

I recently decided I needed to make 1860 Enfield cartridges with Pritchett type bullets. $400+ dollars later and a couple of different molds and now I can. It’s amazing how “stuff” accumulates. Kinda snowballs and takes on a life if it’s own.


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[rmark]

But think of all the money we’re saving casting our own

[fastdadio]

I recently traded an AR15 rifle for a new 2012 Vintage Bisley Blackhawk in 45 Colt. Outfitting this with casting and loading equipment added up.

Dies. $60
Mold. $140
Size/lube die. $27
Shell holder. $9
Expander plug. $7

In addition, i had some work to do on the revolver. Hone throats, chamfer chambers and reduce hammer pad $150. Trigger return spring $8 and some starline brass. $75

With tax and shipping I'm over $400 just to get up and running properly.

I just looked at 45 colt ammoes prices. $1.10/rd was the cheapest I could find for cowboy LRN. Add shipping etc. to that if you want.
400/1.10=363.63
Load up shoot 400 rounds and your 'investment' will be recovered. After that, you'll be saving $bux$ big time. Shoot a thousand rounds, and you have saved enough to buy a new gun and start saving even more!
Moar financial advice can be found at www.fastdadio/poorhouse.broke

[Silvercreek Farmer]

My Lee experiences haven’t been perfect, but Lee equipment has helped me get started with a new caliber for less money. Paid $21 plus shipping for a 2 cavity back in January. Good for 1.5 MOA at 1800 fps out of the 7mm mag, I can’t complain too much…. Die sets come with a shell holder as well.

[Randy Bohannon]

40-50 Sharps Bottle Neck a.k.a. Sharps 1 11/16ths. $190.00 for CH4D dies ,$155.00 for RCBS trim and form dies. $134.00 new case trimmer (Forster) as my little one wouldn’t do extra long 45-70 cases. New collet #7 $22.00 to hold 45-70 case.
New Shiloh 1874 Military Carbine, pack hardened with a patch box., bedded, 26” round barrel , Lawrence ladder sight along with MVA various soule sights. 18 month wait for the rifle.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Casting and reloading 45 colt is a bargain just look at factory sales for if you can find it . Once you have the brass and tools it's just lead primer and powder .

I have been alergic to the price of magnum and big bore pistol ammo for years. I would go broke shooting factory.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

My Lee experiences haven’t been perfect, but Lee equipment has helped me get started with a new caliber for less money. Paid $21 plus shipping for a 2 cavity back in January. Good for 1.5 MOA at 1800 fps out of the 7mm mag, I can’t complain too much…. Die sets come with a shell holder as well.

I have had mostly good luck with Lee products.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

But think of all the money we’re saving casting our own

Certainly!

[Duckiller]

$9.00 is way too much for a shell holder. Not sure what mold you purchased but there are cheaper molds to be had that work very well. I normally get my dies for about 1/2 price used at a gun show. Starting out I generally get by cheaper. Once I decide I like a caliber I may invest more money. Since I have moved to the Pacific Northwest I have not found a gun show to shop at. Covid -19 hasn't helped.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

It works in reverse too.

I got rid of a bunch of "useless" (to me) calibers and freed up a lot of money that I invested in stocking components deep and cheap. BTW, one was the .45 Colt...LOL.

The .45 LC is a good old timer but I had no use for it. You will enjoy shooting it.

My calibers are pretty vanilla, this 45 Colt is the most exotic to be truthful. .22 LR, .223, 30-30, 308,45-70, 9mm, 38, 357, 44 SPL, 44MAG, 45ACP, 20 gage,12 gage and now 45 Colt. From a practical stand point i did not need it, but this Ruger is a beautiful piece and should be a good shooter.

[M-Tecs]

My two newest calibers are a 460 Rowland and a 416 Rigby. I want the 450 Rowland for my Alaska trip this summer. Brass is impossible to find currently so I was forced to spend $150.00 on a hundred rounds of high performance loaded ammo.

I did find brass and a mold for the 416 Rigby. The current average for 416 Rigby factory ammo is $160 per twenty.

It will not take me only to recoup the die, shell holder and mold cost.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

$9.00 is way too much for a shell holder. Not sure what mold you purchased but there are cheaper molds to be had that work very well. I normally get my dies for about 1/2 price used at a gun show. Starting out I generally get by cheaper. Once I decide I like a caliber I may invest more money. Since I have moved to the Pacific Northwest I have not found a gun show to shop at. Covid -19 hasn't helped.

Because Midway ( was in a hurry) Mold is an RCBS cast iron 2 cav. and they are worth the money imho. Had to send a Lee 6 cav back because it dropped at .458" so i ordered the top shelf one.

[centershot]

Today though, the question is not "What's it gonna' cost to tool up?'. But rather, "Where in the world am I gonna' find it?"

[Hdskip]

Entertainment value........��! That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

[justindad]

My calibers are pretty vanilla, this 45 Colt is the most exotic to be truthful. .22 LR, .223, 30-30, 308,45-70, 9mm, 38, 357, 44 SPL, 44MAG, 45ACP, 20 gage,12 gage and now 45 Colt. From a practical stand point i did not need it, but this Ruger is a beautiful piece and should be a good shooter.

A revolver being beautiful is reason enough to buy it, in my book. That’s the number 2 reason I prefer revolvers. If Kimber ever makes a .41 Mag in the likes of their K6S line (except longer barrel), I’ll bring camping outside of Cabelas the night before it hits the shelves.

[Targa]

I recently traded an AR15 rifle for a new 2012 Vintage Bisley Blackhawk in 45 Colt. Outfitting this with casting and loading equipment added up.

Dies. $60
Mold. $140
Size/lube die. $27
Shell holder. $9
Expander plug. $7



And then you say to yourself I need a wad cutter, semi wad cutter, hollow point, 200 grain, 255 grain, 300 grain etc….etc… Ok, maybe I am the only one that keeps going down that rabbit with everything that I cast….but be careful..it can happen.:bigsmyl2:

[georgerkahn]

Because Midway ( was in a hurry) Mold is an RCBS cast iron 2 cav. and they are worth the money imho. Had to send a Lee 6 cav back because it dropped at .458" so i ordered the top shelf one.

I'm kind of one who wants the very best, and have had tooooo many regrets through the years buying "bargain" stuff -- ranging from hand tools to reloading/casting gear. I really took it to heart when, in (electronic) conversation with a sage on this site advised that if he bought junk -- he's generally stuck with it. On the other hand, pretty much all hi-quality (and $$$) stuff is both very quickly sold, and if not at a break-even or profit cost to him, then a quite small cost to him for the pleasure of having and using it!
A super-machinist at a local plant once professed that all shell-holders are not the same, but like most are made to SAAMI specs. Quite an OCD bench-rest shooter, he always professed that if one wanted an over-the-counter shell holder ONLY get RCBS as 1st choice; Redding as 2nd. Further, Al coloured the shell holder he used for loading with a Sharpie (as opposed to ones in priming tools and/or other operations) -- maintaining that this was important.
As an added note, my friend Hughie bought a .348 Win rifle, and had me purchase a brand new bag of brass, a new mould, shell holders, and a few more sundries in this calibre so he could load for it. Quite unfortunate for Hughie a sore leg put him in hospital where four days later he passed; slightly less ;) unfortunate for me, I still have all of these -- with nothing to use them on... BUT, had Hugh lived and gotten these from me -- I do not recall exact amount, but IIRC it was in the $150.00 USD range, if not more.
geo

[FISH4BUGS]

I did that for a gifted 25-20 Savage Sporter. Tooled up with moulds, brass, dies, caliber conversion, etc.
Then bought a 92 in 25-20.
Then had to do it again with 32-20 when I bought a pristine S&W HE 4th change.
But I will never have to buy them again.
Shoot cheap with cast lead bullets.

[Harter66]

I have mostly figured I'm going to , for a new caliber , need dies and at least a couple of moulds and probably a sizer .
Adventures in 6.5 . Dad bought a 264 WM which I fully expected to have a fair amount of wear in . Naturally I went with an over sized mould spent months looking for correct brass under $2 , stupid as the 7RM was like 40¢ at the time and the difference is .007 neck dia . About 4 days after I give up and buy the 7RM work up a load for the at that moment unfired rifle I find a guy shipping 250 for $60 ...... Great now I have enough brass to shoot out the throat and sell the dies and 4x brass and break even on next to all of the shooting . See I paid the full $34 for the RCBS dies and $6 for the shell holder , then a weird thing happened I bought a Forster Bench rest neck die and it's in line seater die for pennies on the dollar when I happened into 2 sets of dies for a 6.5 possibly Japanese maybe x 257 Roberts (another train wreck of its own) also very cheap . Then I bought 3-4 2664?? Single Lyman moulds and ended up paper patching the NOE 260-120 for the WM . I had about the same money in the Lyman's as the NOE 270-140 and at that time nothing to shoot it in .

For those keeping count .........
$110 for brass
$ 70. for dies , yea that cheap .
$ 50. for a 2 boxes of jackets .
$200 for moulds .
$ 75. for sizers , .258 ,.265 ,and .267 . 2 from Buckshot and a Lee .

The rifle has fired 33 jacketed loads . 5 for the work up , let's face it when the first group in a pencil barrel FN98 shoots 5 @ .264 at 100 and you can cover 5 holes not touching with a quarter there's not a lot of work left to do with a 26" barreled pack in rifle with 3 sets of sights mounted and a 3# trigger . 5 more to confirm the first 5 , 3 on a hunting trip to check sights , 3 on dead hogs and the balance with 16 gr Unique and the patched 260-120 .

Worth every penny . At the time blue box FC 140s were $50/20 .
I have 60 paper patch and the remaining Win Power points loaded and on hand I think maybe it will be my son in-laws Christmas present this yr , he killed 3 hogs with it on his very first hunting trip it seems fitting .

The Type 38 Arisaka .........
2 sets of dies 1 ea RCBS and Lyman
1 270 WSM sizer Hornady
1 custom bushing neck sizer with 3 bushings
2 custom expanders
2 custom bullet sizers at .2725 & .2728 Lee and Lyman H&I .
Brass ........ Yeah ok brass and money don't seem to be getting together but I have about 80 correct HS and 40+ from 243 .
I need to get a base sizer or a .460 to .450 tapered die that I can swage bases in and not have to turn the hump off. Then any 308/300 Savage family brass will do just fine for the 6.5×50SR that's closer to 6.8×51 SR ......

Just because you have dies , moulds , H&Is , push throughs , and checks for a cartridge doesn't mean it's going to be a "cheap" addition to the family enter the Rem 760 in 06' ....... The little darling has her own sizer set up , and almost forced me into a SB die , special shell holder , and a specific sizer die because who cuts a match chamber in a slide action , seriously .

On the other hand it's not as if most of us are having to start with a $400 kit to get the free die set for our first round .
Mostly we have long since paid for those tools . At the end of the last surge I was loading pistols from 380-45 S&W and Colts and 45-70 for about $6/100 and most of the rifles for $14-16/100 for solid hunting loads and only about 31-34/100 with jacketed . When I compare that to the now $35-40 per box rifles and upwards of $40-45 per box pistols and I think about the 1,000s of 06' , 38/357 , 45 Colts , 223 ,9mm and the 100s of 45-70 and so many others in the last 25 years , I have no remorse whatsoever about the ones that took 6 moulds , 3 sizers , 3 die sets , custom tools , and hours of "why won't this thing shoot" . They are more than off set by the few that delivered everything you could want with the 2-3 die basic set that only wanted for enough neck dia to not swage the bullet .

[Geezer in NH]

Buy the same amount of factory ammo spilt in both calibers. Shoot it up and come back.

[pjh421]

If you married a couple of losers in your youthful ignorance, spending almost 30 years in self-inflicted indigence you might scoff at today’s prices as you recall the wasted funds and missed opportunities of the past. Get what you’re after and enjoy it. None of us are getting any younger.

[Smoke4320]

buy what you can. Enjoy it as much as possible for as long as possible. rinse and repeat