doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Anyone done the math reloading 28ga AA's?

Just wondering, because I am so disorganized and could never keep track of something like this for myself.. Has anyone ever calculated the cost of reloading aa 28 ga hulls? I use unique powder, 209 primers, and clay buster wads.

Have always wondered how much I am saving!

Thanks guys!

http://www.trapshooters.com/pages/reloadcalc/

Just plug in your numbers to figure your savings and there will be a lot of savings in the small bores. Less shot, less powder so cost per unit goes down. Best to me is the 800 loads per .410 in every bag of shot.

I came up with $4.89 +/- a little bit with a 3/4oz load. No hull cost.

I have not done the math in a while, but last time I did, it was still somewhat less costly to reload than buy good factory loads.
I use AAHS hulls, Win 209, Longshot, CB 5034 wads and 3/4 ounces #8.
I enjoy reloading and the satisfaction of breaking clays or busting doves with my own ammo, that I will reload, regardless. I suppose I shoot 10-12 boxes a year of 28s, not a great amount.

At $10.00 a box for factory ammo,
You are bound to save money no matter how you load them.

Actually, for the next two days it can be cheaper to buy new 28-ga. AA shells than it would cost you to load them. Academy Sports sells new 28-ga. AAs for $89.90/flat (10 boxes) with free delivery, that's $8.90/box -- let's round it up to $9/box. Couple that cost with the $2.00 rebate per box from Winchester (expires 8/13/16) your cost is ~ $7/box. You shoot these shells and then you can sell the once-fired empties for the going rate of $.15/hull or $3.75/box. $7.00 minus $3.75 nets you out at $3.25 cost per box.

Now you can see that if your reloading costs are ~ $5/box you can realize $1.75/box savings by buying new.

I still reload 28-ga AAs. I wonder why?

My cost is lower than most because I am using up the last super cheap shot I have. Bought more than 15 years ago, at 12.00 a bag. So with cheap shot it comes down to $2.66 a box. In the real world, with current shot prices it comes down to $3.60, when you buy stuff in volume or at wholesale prices.

The 28, .410, hunting and specialty loads are where the biggest savings are in reloading. 12 and 20 basic factory clay target loads are too cheap to reload and save much money. The ability to load low pressure loads makes loading of all gauges a good value. I like to load shells, which if factory, would run in the 10-11 plus dollars a box range. Most of the time you can save just under half that by reloading.

But there is always a down side. Loaders have to be bought and maintained, a diverse selection of powders, wads, primers and hulls all need to be maintained. I think last count I had 20 different powders and about the same number different of wads. You can tie up several thousands in stuff, just to save a few bucks a box. So you need a long term, high use type of reloading habit.

I have MEC 9000h's in 12-16-20-28 & .410's. All but one bought second hand on EBay to save about 50% of the normal cost, but still a lot of money tied up. With them I can load just about anything I want to load, in large volumes and quickly. I like shooting, not loading so much. So it only pays in volume loading or as a way to keep your old favorite gun going.

Another thing to think of is that you can adjust most machines to load shells not commonly available over the counter, at most gun shops. I load 2 3/4", 2 1/2" shells, 16's, low pressure loads in 12, 16 and 20 gauge. I can load lead, steel or bismuth shot, anything from 5/8 ounce up to flinch inducing loads of my youth. OK, I don't shoot anything much over 1 1/4 ounce anymore but I could if I needed it. And everything is much cheaper than factory. Plus hulls are cheap, free in most cases, and just last forever until you need them. I have Federal Papers from 25 years ago which I am just now getting around to using. All were free once fired. I have more empties than I will ever use up and still will take more if they are free and once fired. You just never know what you will need someday.

I have not compared the cost of Unique to 20/28 lately. However, if you're using Longshot, you can probably save $ by switching to 20/28. It's cheaper where I buy powder, and you use less of it.

Larry you have a little lower pressures with Longshot than 20/28 for a given velocity. Some of my favorite hunting loads you just can not make with 20/28. For clay target loads either will do fine. I have both on hand but tend to use Longshot more for higher velocity loads. They pattern well and when I can keep pressure down I tend to go that way. Another good similar powder is Proreach which has been hard to find until lately.

Jon, most of the 28's we're shooting are modern, which means less worry about pressure. Different story, of course, if you have something like a Brit 28ga. Or a vintage American 28ga. But not very many of either of those out there. Pro Reach gives low pressures, but you have to use a lot of it, and the velocities are quite high. If the goal is to protect old guns, it's going to result in an increase in recoil, which may not be what you want. I know that when I go from standard AA factory target loads to the sporting clays version, I have no trouble noticing a difference in recoil in my 5 1/2# Parker Reproduction.