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Yes 74 everything related to shooting seems to be going up – if you can actually find what you need. A few years back I stayed at the family home of a friend during a hunting excursion. I noticed the price on some of the powder on the reloading bench. It was under $3.00. At the time powder was going for much more than that. When I mentioned it to my host he said “yeah, I got a good deal when I bought it – in 1968″.
It seems that as soon as the US Congress passed the onerous and unconstitutional Gun laws of 1968 this gentleman bought enough powder, primers and bullets to last his lifetime – for hunting. Well it wasn’t a bad investment, dollar-wise he did better than money in the bank. I pulled out some of my poweder the other day and it had a price tag of $7 and another brand that had a price tag of $15. One of these has more than doubled in value since I purchased it and the other has gone up 60%. In each case I did better than if I had put my money in the bank. Powder, primers and loaded ammo will not go bad so long as you keep it dry and at a stable temperature. I started buying extra primers when I could back when Bill Clinton was president (because he was president). .22 rim-fire also.
I’m glad I did. While I could have made money by selling some of my stores at a nice profit recently, I did not. Except for helping out a few close friends and family I am content to keep the items in stock and keep shooting as much as I like – and keep an eye open for bargains and sales.
I received an ad today for 22LR. You had to buy 2k blocks but price was just at $ .10 per shot. I will not buy at that price but the supply is starting to loosen up.
RobinLocally we can get bricks of 500 for $25 when they are in stock. Some charge more but that is the most I have paid in the past year an a half. I have been able to get them about half the time I have tried by arriving a few minutes before the store opens in the morning after the delivery truck arrives. Knowing the schedule of your local stores is paramount, then being willing to adjust your schedule to theirs.
Also a good phone relay network is helpful. In the past year or so I have gotten calls from friends who discovered when a shipment had arrived at a local store and I have also passed on this information to friends when I discovered the same. By taking these steps we have all actually increased our stocks during the shortage. We have had .22 available at one store for $50 for a brick most any time.
This has been their regular price for this brand for years, the only thing that changed was limiting the number of brick per day – which ended a few months ago. The regular stores are still limiting purchase to one brick per visit or three boxes of 50 or 100 depending upon the brand. On line .22s have been available for $60 per brick and up (plus shipping) and I have seen them going for much more at gun shows, however, I have seen them sitting there, which would indicate they are priced above what the market will bear. Face it when the price per round gets near 9 cents each you can shoot 9mm reloads for less, something to keep in mind. On the other hand even at 10 cents per .22 through ($50 per 500) an AR-15 (with conversion or dedicated upper) is still cheaper than even reloaded .556 or .223 ammo and an awful lot of fun and very good practice.
Today I spent 2 hours futzing around with 250 reloaded 5.56 rounds I put together a few weeks ago. Everything was fine untill my son bought his AR. First day at the range with the new gun he has repeated FTF (failure to feed). I’m thinking it is a mag problem, but he’s looking at the brass. He’s shooting all reloads. This is all brass that has been shot several times, with mixed head stamps. Some of it has gone through my HK clone some through an AK and some through both.
The AK ejector really slams the rim bending it forward and puhes a small burr outward. I knew the defect was there but it didn’t present a problem with the other guns. The bolts picked the case up and slamed it home without any chambering issue.
I went through about 500 cases checking everyone of them in a Williams case gage, separating any case that was out of spec. I believed the rim was the only problem.
I started turning down the case rims to eliminate the burr. Some of the cases still held a little proud though. A closer examination revealed they had slight bulges in the case head. When I removed about 2 thousands from the head they fit perfectly into the gage. Oddly the primer pockets wete not stretched. I’m probably not going to reload many case fired though the AK in the future.Today 1000 once fired cases of Lake City 5.56 arrived. I tried 5 cases in the Williams gage and every case almost fit 100%. I’m really wondering what gun they were fired in, because that never happens.
I thought this was a important topic as it is one of the most important rules of reloading: do not use the wrong powder. Keep only one powder on the reloading bench at a time (the one you are using). The following pictures and post are from someone that used a pistol powder in a large rifle cartridge. The title of the article is misleading and should be about using the wrong powder and not about the scope.
http://loadoutroom.com/11059/vortex-scope-survives-explosion-saves-owner/
WOW! That was close!
Saw a video on youtube, the guy knows what he’s doing.
Takes a break action shotgun, takes a shotgun shell and cuts the plastic off. Knocks the spent primer out of it it, seats a new primer in it.
Inserts it in the gun. Muzzle Loads. Fires. Repeats.Personally I would think you could do that without cutting the plastic off, in which case you’ve got the powder, shot, and wads all self contained as if you HAD reloaded the shotgun shell. Because you essentially have, even if its a fairly crummy reload, because a break action shotgun is somewhat forgiving on that note.
Still I think even better would be to take a break action .45-70 and do the same thing. Because it’s rifled, and it’ll accept just about any kind of .45 slug or less.
A revolver is also good for muzzleloading/caseless use, because In the old days the colt cavalry revolver was reloaded that way. They used crisco to seal the bullet in (so you only need one wad, not two).
Ok that seems interesting, but think about his logically from a safety standpoint. All muzzle-loaders are loaded and them primed. If it is with a percussion cap, charging the frizzen on a flintlock or a 209 primer in an in line muzzle loader. There is a reason for that, Charges can go off unexpectedly with the gun is not expected if the rifle or musket is already primed! If you are tamping down on a load of shot or a bullet while the thing is already primed and it ignites for some reason (you do not need much of an imagination to think of a number of scenarios why this might happen) BOOM, you have lost your hand or worse. No I do not think this is a very good idea even if you might get away with it a time or two before catastrophe sets in. Remember Murphy is always watching and looking for an opportunity to mess you up, don’t give him any opportunity.
I wouldn’t reload with smokeless powder this way. And if you have the cases and other components why not assemble them before hand and reload the gun in the normal fashion?
I swaged primer pockets tonight. It’s right up there with trimming cases as far as my least favorite activities. I’m using an old RCBS “speedy primer pocket swager” it’s so slow but I don’t think a Dillon is any faster.
74, would you please explain “swager”, “primer crimp marks” and such for folks
that do not reload.
Thanks
RobinHere is a decent article with pictures for you Robin:
Crimped primers come from the military side of things – it helps to hold the primer in when headspace is deliberately loose or just got that way. Military ammo can get a rough ride and anything to hold it together – from crimps to tar bullet seals – helps.
But you find it in civvy ammo too – “NT” ammo, and just ammo.
The old primers push out, maybe reluctantly, then the new ones don’t want to go in. So you have to get the crimp out. But how? What’s the Best way?
Crimped Primer 5.56 NATO
Crimped, Primer out
Crimped primer, staked instead of circled
Primer Pocket types
Here are the ways I know of. Where you see “ihui”, it means “I Have Used It” – all else is gleaned from the web and talking to / observing fellow reloaders.
……………………….Rest on linked site…………………..
Hope that helps.
http://ageofdecadence.com
Thanks Sled. Can you find a few pictures of swagers?
Robin, The sawger expands the crimp using a tapered plug inserted into the pocket forcing the brass back to the original dimension.74…
That link shows everything from swagers to reamers. That is why I used it rather than trying to explain it… Pictures are good.
http://ageofdecadence.com
I’m on my phone so….I missed it. and yes the info on the link is very good, thanks again.
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