How I shoot for cheep.

[Deja vu]

I have been fortunate to have a good supply of 22LR but I have been thinking what I would do if that ran out? How can one shoot cheep ammo for practice or small game hunting.

I came up with this:

I load a 000 buckshot BB into a 38 special/357 magnum case. I then load it with 1 - 1.5 grains (depending on the bras used and the velocity wanted) of trail boss powder and a small pistol magnum primer.

I got a 70ish grain bullet going about 900-1200FPS depending on the load that groups about .75 - 1.25 inches at 50 yards if I take my time with my carbines. No its not the most accurate thing in the world but still pretty small game capable and cheep to load.

I was able to take 2 starlings and a ground squirrel with it this morning! The down side is I have to load thing 1 at a time because neither the marlin nor the Ruger 77 will feed them. Still a fun little plinking round. It is also very quiet if kept subsonic.

[Clark]

10 years ago i could handload 223 much cheaper than I could shoot 17HMR.
And 223 is much better.

Right now in 2015 there are lots of cartridges I can reload cheaper than 22LR.
380 comes to mind.

What does it all mean?
Don't fill your closet with 22LR ammo bricks until the cost gets back down to 3 cents a shot.
This 10 cent 22 ammo cost will not last forever.

[Bucksnort1]

Clark, you are right, this 10 cent per .22 LR won't last forever. The price will go up.

[serf 'rett]

depending on the bras used and the velocity wanted

Yep, using bras and buckshot would be cheap shooting....

...until the offended female party caught you.

And would one use an A cup for OOO buckshot?

Do you get higher velocity with the larger chest lengths?



Somebody had to comment on this one...

[zanemoseley]

Cast your own bullets. I shoot my own 45acp rounds for $.07.

[Clark]

I don't think the amount of 22 ammo being bought right now is balance with how much is being shot.
The manufacturers know that, and are not willing to tool up for more. All they do is run 3 shifts a day.

graph of 22LR price vs time

The increase was not due to inflation, but to panic demand.

[Tony Z]

Always cast my own 148 gr. wadcutter (.38 special) over 2.5 grains of Bullseye. Nice, easy shooting load.

Remember about 35 years ago, me and a chum were the "training bait" for the local county police training. We were staged to have robbed a bank and then we were to be tracked down. One of the local cops I knew, that was a reloader, got the bright idea of making rubber bullets out of what I don't know at the present and loading them over 3 grains of Bullseye. Claimed the trainees could shoot at us and not hurt us if we were hit. That lasted as long as I convinced him to shoot at a drum at about ten paces. Easily put a dent in the drum.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by Tony Z

One of the local cops I knew, that was a reloader, got the bright idea of making rubber bullets out of what I don't know at the present and loading them over 3 grains of Bullseye. Claimed the trainees could shoot at us and not hurt us if we were hit. That lasted as long as I convinced him to shoot at a drum at about ten paces. Easily put a dent in the drum.

Yep, a primer-only wax bullet will put a good dent in a steel exterior door, too.

You were kind not to have insisted that he allow you to shoot at him with his "training" ammo.

Lost Sheep

[MadDawg]

I find it hard to shoot cheaper than .22LR. Buy it cheap and stack it deep.. Just over two months ago, the LGS had some .22LR in for 6.1¢ a round- picked up just about 23K.. unlimited.. $20 for 325 Federal. He's now selling it limited at $25 for the same cans..

Reloading- .223 or perhaps some light .357 or .38 special

[reloader28]

I agree about casting your own.
I cast and shoot 100gr .243 for varmints cheaper than buying .22's and WAY more power, even loaded light. Shoots under an inch groups at 100yds at 1700 fps.
Hollow pointed is very explosive under 100yds. Almost as good as a v-max.

[skizzums]

cast you own....9mm costs me 3c for primer and 1.5c for powder, done. you could add a penny or two if you pay for retail for lead.

[Brotherbadger]

Cast your own bullets. I shoot my own 45acp rounds for $.07.

Hnnnnnnnggggg. I REALLY need to get off my butt and pick up some casting gear.

[Shootest]

Another vote for casting your own. I shoot 38 Spl and 9mm for $4.25 a box including replacing worn out/lost brass.

[mikld]

A few years ago I found a round ball mold that drops .432" balls. I cast up a bunch from scrap and range lead and load them in .44 Magnum brass with a few grains of Bullseye. I get good, accurate gallery loads (1"-2" at 10 yards from my Ruger SBH). no recoil, and fairly quiet. I don't count pennies for reloading so I have no idea what all this costs (how much is a 1989 CCI LP primer? or 3 gr. of Bullseye from 1992? ).

[Sevens]

Y'know what I think?

I think coming up with fun and interesting different loads at the load bench is probably half (or MORE than half) of the fun of handloading. I love to hear what other folks are making, what they shoot 'em out of, and what they shoot 'em at. The -WHY- of it all is very interesting as well.

However
None of this different stuff will ever be an alternative, a fix, a work-around, or a make-up for .22cal rimfire! It won't, it can't, I won't ask it to and it never will be.

I can't handload stuff that allows me to put my '52 Colt in to my hand and pop empty 12 gauge hulls with it. I can't craft something at the bench so that my daughter can shoot the SR-22 that she got for Christmas two years ago that she beams with pride about, or the Sig Trailside that she actually prefers because the trigger is exquisite.

Handloading doesn't get my KMK-512 running and making me grin every time I shoot it. Nothing I can load at the bench is going to let me try out the 1951 H&R Sportsman top-break that I just bought 10 days ago. I wanna crack that thing open after nine rounds and watch the brass fly all helter skelter!

My production at the bench thus far in 2015 is behind schedule, just cracked 3,500 rounds. Many, many, MANY more ahead. All of them will be fully enjoyed, but not a one of them is going to fix the dearth of .22LR.

[Tony Z]

I got to do some digging to find if I even have it anymore, but one of the very early "ABC's of Reloading", by Dean Grenell, had one of the best articles on shooting on the "cheep".

[LE-28]

I had a 25 lb bag of 00 buck in my garage that I found one day while looking for something else.
Don't forget about the slingshot. I got 9 squirrels, two black birds, and one possum with it in one month.

That was some of the most fun I've had in a long time. I finally broke my sling shot, melted down the rest of my buck shot, and moved on.

The thing I found out was that once you learn one sling shot and it breaks, then you buy another one, you can't hit anything with it, even the same brand.

The learning curve was to steep for me but I sure had a lot of fun with the original after about 200 misses and I learned how to shoot it.

A Bra??? , that would be a real challenge, Hmmm.

[RKG]

.32 S&W Long.

I fell into a large supply of Speer 98 grain HBWCs for $0. 2.1 grains of Bullseye works out to 0.75¢/ round. Primers are a bit under 3¢/ round. Brass lasts forever.

My 3" M31 shoots as accurately as my 4" M34 or 4" M18. Recoil is neglible. And HK even makes a speedloader for the J-frame .32!

I still have a bunch of .22 purchased for $115/5,000 (2.3¢/round). But if I were to go out and buy more today, it would cost at least twice as much as my .32 reloads.

[JeepHammer]

I don't think the squirrels are getting a free pass around here,
CCI Mini-Mag Hollow points are $7.99/100.

They limit you to 2 boxes a day, but I never shoot 200 rounds a day when I'm banging squirrels.

[g.willikers]

Modern airguns, especially the very realistic blowback models, are so much like .22 rimfire pistols, there's very little difference for target shooting.
For hunting small game, pellet rifles are about an accurate as rimfires and do the job nicely, too.

[mikld]

Sevens, I believe what we are sharing here is alternatives to shooting high priced/hard to find .22 ammo. Not a replacement. Nope, none of these ideas will help you shoot your vintage Colt, nor your favorite plinkers, but just allow us to have fun shooting without robbing the milk money. I'm very fortunate I have a lot of .22 rimfire ammo left 'cause I would buy a brick almost every time I went to the store, but I often get my Garand out instead of my 10-22 (about the same on the "fun meter", a 9.5!). Cost a bit more to have fun? Yep, but I'm worth it...

[Cheapshooter]

Don't fill your closet with 22LR ammo bricks until the cost gets back down to 3 cents a shot.

ROTFL!!!
And don't buy a new Chevy, Ford, or Ram truck until they are priced below ten grand either!
Aren't fantasies a wonderful thing!

Reloading, and casting your own booklets does help. Even if the powder, when you can find it, and primers, when you can find them cost at twice the price they were when 22 rimfire was three or four cents per round.

[849ACSO]

When .22LR ammo went stupid, I had a pile of 40 grain .223 rounds and several pounds of blue dot lying around. I wasn't using the BD for anything else that was going to use it up, so I started loading reduced velocity .223 rounds for squirrel hunting. Got some rounds that had the same bullet weight as 22LR running about 1000 FPS and brass that could be infinitely reloaded with better accuracy. When I checked, the squirrels didn't notice they were being shot with "budget" ammo, so I still do it today. I worked out the math once (and now I don't recall what it was costing me, but the BD was a gift from a friend who was moving and didn't want to take his powders, so it only cost me the primers and bullets), but it was WAY cheaper than I could buy .22 ammo for.

[wogpotter]

.32 round ball 15 Gr Unique in a .303.

*poot*

Great plinking / pest load. Sights might need a bit of adjusting for long range though