doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shotshell Reloading Costs

I've got primers, hulls and powder on hand, but no shot. And a progressive loader just sitting there waiting.

It can sit and wait as long as I can buy WW AAs for the deal I got last week at Dick's. $8.99 less 15% in store discount, less the $2.00/box factory rebate, for up to 50 boxes, comes down to $5.64/box, plus tax. IMO AAs are as good as any I can reload, except for low pressure stuff.

SRH

Mikey, Winchester is currently offering a $2/box rebate on AA's. I bought a flat of 20's for $75. Makes them a pretty good deal at $5.50/box. The 28's in the same store were a bit under $90/flat.

I have had excellent luck reloading both STS and Gun Club 12's and 20's, but when I was reloading 28's, the STS was my 3rd choice--behind AAHS and Federal. Case mouths seem to crack very quickly.

I can't buy the 7/8 ounce load I practice trap with, nor the 3/4 ounce loads I practice sporting with in 20, 16 and 12ga. And I can't buy a better 1 ounce competition load than my $4/box handload....equal in quality (perhaps), but certainly not better and worth no premium. I honestly would not shoot 1 & 1/8 ounce if they were free. I'd sell or trade 2 boxes to get one box of 1 ounce loads. If (when) I have to pay $50/bag for shot, I will.

I thought I might never buy another box of factory shells again. Then I stumbled onto 30 flats of light Gun Clubs at $50 ea. That was attractive as it let me conserve some of my magnum #7.5 shot. Handloading is integral to my hobby and I don't charge my time for it anymore than I charge myself for watching a movie or reading a magazine.

On shotshell nomenclature:
box = 25 cartridges
[excepting some 'promotional ammo' sold in 20 cartridge boxes]
case = 20 boxes of cartridges
flat = 10 boxes of cartridges

Some of us use these terms correctly, but others do not, which can lead to some confusion.

Both flats & cases are sold in different markets. Here in the US, I believe only flats are now presently being marketed, but still frequently see cases when out of the country.

Spot market lead prices have fallen dramatically recently. There are no lead shortages, but there are wholesalers who bought at the higher prices; do not expect to see any immediate decline in the price of shot until those inventories have been sold. Business is normally reluctant to come off prices at retail as quickly as they fluctuate at wholesale. And that works in both directions, so some businesses confronted with rising wholesale costs let their margins be squeezed to avoid raising prices.

With the possible exception of .410 & 28ga. ammunition, at present RETAIL prices for shotshell components, it is difficult to beat or match quantity wholesale or promotional & discounted ammunition costs. That has been the norm for the last ten years, predicated on at the moment circumstance. The majority of shooters at my club no longer reload for that reason, inclusive of some high volume target shooters. A few years ago the majority of high volume target shooters were reloaders. Some of that trend has been driven by the increases in Sporting Clays where gas guns are prevalent & they do not lend themselves to hull retention. Some double gun shooters retain their hulls when shooting Sporting Clays, but the vast majority I see today do not. Virtually all of the Corporate & charity Sporting Clay shoots see nothing but factory ammunition being used and the hulls left behind for the clean-up crews.

I see no shortage of once fired hulls. I reload as much for the simple pleasure of it as for the control over intended application & use, but never pass up an opportunity to buy quantities of factory loaded ammunition when the price is sufficiently attractive or when it is better than I can produce.. 2.5" Winchester AA Sporting .410's w/1/2oz. #8.5 shot and 3" Fiocchi .410 w/11/16oz #7.5 being two examples that quickly come to mind where factory ammunition trumps my best efforts at reloading.

Generally 'economy in target shooting' simply means that one gets to shoot more for the money being spent. Pay less for the ammunition = shoot more targets. Become a better shot(?), perhaps;-)

addendum: Money spent for a good instructor can often prove the better investment rather than just shooting more.

TW: Are you really having trouble getting 1300+ out of the 2.5" 410?

I've used 296 with great success and they chrono 1340 out of my K-20 30".

No signs of high pressure and they seem to shoot just like the new ones. The crimps get ugly fairly quickly, but they hold closed (AAHS) through at least 6 cycles.

Shotgun,

I also use WW296 in the .410 [I don't have any w/30" bbls], but its more a matter of the pattern quality than velocity, for me. In truth, I don't have a lot of use for speeds much above 1220 fps, the old std. flyer load velocity and go to larger shot for more thump in the field rather than increased velocity. I do realize that the AA Sporting loads are generally higher velocity loadings.

Patterning at 30 yards, the two loads I noted simply outperform my hand loads in any of several dif .410's, so that's what I use for the ocassional day afield w/a .410 dove shooting. Otherwise, I am fine w/my reloads for targets at skeet ranges. I use #6 shot when hunting Cotton-tailed rabbits w/a shotgun & the .410 is always fun for that. FWIW, I like the Federal & older Remington Reiffenhauser 2.5" hulls the best; four reloads average, before they become ugly & most dead at five. I still use both Remington & Federal .410 primers.

3" .410's are somewhat akin to the 1oz 2&3/4" 20ga loads; always slower & generally higher perceived recoil at somewhat higher published pressures. I gave up reloading 3" .410's after patterning the Fiocchi's and since I only shoot them at dove here and occasionaly at that, the several flats I bought at that time are not gone yet.

I understand now.

I've not done extensive patterning with the 410, I'm just a target shooter and a pretty informal one at that.

I load 9's only, and they pop the targets on our five stand as well as factory loads in my subjective observations.

I've settled on .007 choke, 9's at 1300+, and it's surprising what the little cartridge can do.

TW, I think you can toss 16ga ammo in there, along with 28 and 410, as being more expensive to buy than reload. Unless you're lucky and catch 16ga shells on sale--and then no one ever seems to have many of them--even the promos run higher than the 12's and 20's. But then reloading is no picnic either, because there aren't any hulls as good as AA, STS, and GM in 12 and 20. Wads are also more expensive.

I reload for performance and reduced recoil. Favorite is the 3/4 oz "killer bee" load at 1520 fps and negligible recoil for doves. Hulls are free at the skeet range. My 2c

The greatest cost savings in reloading shotshells is the oft overlooked 2 7/8" 10ga. My reloads including the cost of new hulls is 70% less than the cost of factory ammo.