I was one who participated in Ted's thread, and wrote about my own Ugartechea Falcon and the advantage of being able to use "cheap shells". Most of my doubles are vintage American guns, and I use low pressure ammunition in them out of concern for old wood or Damascus barrels. While I can handload pretty economically, my stock of PB, for example, is limited. I don't want to waste it on shooting grackles.
But often over the years, I have been able to buy low brass promo loads at prices that compete with my costs of handloading, and don't take any time or effort. I have also bought many boxes of normally more expensive high brass, heavy dram equivalent factory loads with high velocities and large payloads of shot at similarly low prices. Usually, I have bought such loads at gun auctions, gun shows, or going out of business sales at sporting goods stores. When you can buy quality high pressure factory loads for less than the cost of the shot, wads, and primers in your handloads, you do it without blinking. Or you look back and say, "Should'a, would'a, could'a". I have an Ithaca SKB semi-auto 20 ga., a Rem. 870 pump 16 ga., and my 12 ga. Ugartechea that are perfectly suited to burn up these shells that I stockpiled at sometimes giveaway prices.
It pains me to see how much the cost of shooting has increased. I often wonder how young shooters who don't earn near as much as I do can afford to shoot very much when it costs them a dollar or more every time they pull the trigger for many guns. I also wonder how people who are being gouged and who complain about the high cost of shooting could keep going to the polls to vote for extreme anti-gunners like Obama who then try to destroy their passion and hobby, or at least price them out of it. I blame the current occupant of the White House and I also blame price gougers who buy up stockpiles of ammo and then profiteer from shortages and increased demand. I despise those guys who camp out at Gander Mtn., etc. every morning to buy up all of the .22LR at $19.00 a brick so they can sell it at a gun show for $50-$60 a brick. But it will continue as long as desperate fools keep paying those scalper's prices. So far, that has not personally affected me because I chose to lay in a very healthy supply of everything I shoot when prices were either low or crazy stupid low, and demand was weak. Last weekend, I bought a sealed 8 lb. jug of Hodgdon H-450 for $85.00 at a gun show. That was a no-brainer, but hundreds of guys walked right by it before I got there. A very wealthy old guy told me years ago, "When the ship docks, don't hesitate. Get on board."
