Reloading and other advice please. (My First Post) - Page 2

FloridaVeteran · September 5, 2012, 01:52 AM

Gaz - as for brass, I wouldn't pay much mind to what is common there or not. Assuming you will be collecting and reloading your own fired brass, I recommend without qualification that you buy Starline in 1,000 case quantities. It is great brass and will be much easier for you to identify as your own on the range, where most other shooters likely will be using other brands.

With all due respect to the other, much longer serving members of the forum, I recommend you consider the RCBS hand primer (the original one). The squeeze will remind you of youthful romances and the seating is always perfect, in my experience. There is a newer model, with a squarish primer tray IIRC, that is not so well received.

Gaz_in_NZ · September 5, 2012, 04:40 PM

Thanks for the info, very much appreciated.

I have been trying to locate some Starline Brass and am having trouble doing so and Starline do no longer export brass to private customers, they will only deliver brass to buyers in the USA.
All the distributors for NZ and Aus listed on their site are importers and they all appear to import lots of stuff... BUT... none of them sell to the public, not one of them ever answer the phone so I can't get a list of who sells Starline.
In Australia I did find places that sell it but it looks like a really big deal to get some sent to me, this type of thing is what I found on most of the Aussie sellers web sites who had it : -

The Australian Customs Service requires a export permit from the Defence Export Control Office for all orders that include firearms, telescopic sights, bullets, brass, and gun parts (rifles, actions, triggers, trigger guard assemblies, barrels, stocks, firing pins, firing pin springs, buttplates, etc.) shipping from Australia. We must apply for and receive these export permits through from the Australian Defence Export Control Office. This takes approximately 6 weeks for approval.

We must have an original or certified copy of your import permit along with an English translation of the permit and your signed order for approval. If your country does not require an Import Permit to bring these items into your country, please submit a letter stating this on your own letterhead and it must be signed by you. Your order must include your name, address, shipping address (if different) along with the description and cost of the permit items. These documents are to be sent through the mail as the Defence Export Control Office will not accept faxed or e-mailed documents.

Anyone would think I'm trying to import Anthrax or a Nuke not just bits of inert brass!!!... I notice that they don't need all this c**p to export their poisonous spiders over to NZ in packages, furniture, cars and other stuff they can send...

Sorry it's a bit of a rant but I am getting very frustrated with all this.

I am beginning to get the feeling that there is something about brass that is potentially dangerous that I am blissfully unaware of.

Cheers
G

Misssissippi Dave · September 5, 2012, 08:37 PM

When all else fails just buy some factory ammo with brass cases and not nickel plated and reload those. The nickel plated tend to not last as long for me. You may want to check with local shooters to find what are the best sources for brass. They may have a brand that equals anything normally found in Europe or the U.S. I have loaded Winchester, RWS, S&B, Remington, CCI, and Federal brass. There probably are a few others as well and they all worked. Some better than others. Starline may be one of the best companies producing brass, but you can get good results from others too. You should find .38 special and .357 mag. cases or ammo without too much trouble. You will probably want to make minor changes in your load with different cases. Here some people will load .38 special equivalents using .357 mag cases. It makes things simple when you load both and only need one case size. You also don't have to change your die settings either.

Just remember where you are going is not as restrictive as GB is. Some states here have laws I would not care to live under. Even the worst of them are better than the ones GB has now regarding guns and ammo.

Gaz_in_NZ · September 5, 2012, 09:14 PM

I'll give you an example of NZ factory ammo prices which is why I was looking to buy components and reload : -

Winchester 38 Special.
158 Gr lead round nose.
Box of 50
$87.99 + $20.00 2-3 day shipping = total nz$107.99
That is a total of US$86.05

That is the type of expense I can ill-afford and what I am trying to avoid if possible!

Would you pay that price for a box of 50?

Cheers
G

Misssissippi Dave · September 5, 2012, 09:36 PM

I'm loading 158 grain jacketed hollow point .38 specials for about $8.25 a box of 50. The last box of .357 Magnums I bought were 158 grain soft points and those cost me $28.90 for a box of 50 including the state tax. I can load them for much less. I just didn't have any with me when I wanted to shoot some of them. Your prices are way too high. With prices like that I'm surprised there isn't a huge black market for ammo.

Are you quite certain NZ is the place to move to? I know there are always other factors to consider when you are going to make a move to another country. If you are moving personal possessions will they allow you to bring in brass for your own personal use as part of your normal household items?

Gaz_in_NZ · September 5, 2012, 09:54 PM

Hi Dave,
You can see now why I want to reload

We have been in NZ for quite a while now so moving somewhere else isn't really on the cards.

Cheers
G

Misssissippi Dave · September 5, 2012, 11:14 PM

I'm not familiar with your laws. Do they have restrictions on bringing or shipping in brass? If you can bring back brass without a import permit, taking a trip to some place where an export permit isn't needed sounds like good idea. Travel light and bring back as much as you can. At those prices you can even afford to bring an additional bag and pay the extra baggage fee. Even if starline won't export to an individual have you checked on other companies. Winchester comes to mind.

I looked at a site in NZ and they want NZ$54.00 for 100 .38 special new Winchester cases. They are not even primed. They didn't even have a listing for 1000 at a time. I guess NZ is very similar to Europe when it comes to anything dealing with firearms. It is sad news indeed.

Gaz_in_NZ · September 6, 2012, 01:55 AM

Hi Dave, actually it's not a problem with the law, firearms or peoples attitude towards firearms, it's Kiwi shops trying to make a vast profit on every item. Where as you or I would move 10 units for $1 profit each to make $10 yer average Kiwi will try and sell 1 of those items for $10 profit rather than moving units to get the profit and leave it at a ludicrously high price rather than try and move units at reasonable price to make that same profit. I have (being a mainly retired amateur musician) seen new guitars in music shops at prices you wouldn't ever consider paying just hanging on the walls gathering dust year in, year out... my local music shop has new (well unsold actually) cymbals on a rack, all covered in dust and tarnished for nz$2000.00 each (just where did that price ever come from???) when the same can be bought new from FleaBay for an equivalent of nz$190.00+shipping. It's just the typical Kiwi mentality. Cars... Yer average Kiwi who buys a car for $5000 will try and sell it 10 years down the line (with enough mileage on it to get to the moon and halfway back) for $4995, with no service documentation whatsoever, never been cleaned properly, never seen polish etc... and people buy them(???), so they keep on selling them at these stupid prices!!!. Same with everything over here really.

I'll have to check on the "importing brass" laws, I'm sure there is a healthy and quick profit to be had selling decent brass to shooters at a very decent price and not trying to profiteer from them.

Cheers
G

Wyoredman · September 6, 2012, 01:24 PM

Quote:

I'll give you an example of NZ factory ammo prices which is why I was looking to buy components and reload : -

That explains it perfectly! When we went there last year to hunt, the outfitter asked us to bring 2 boxes of ammo each! We used his rifles, but supplied him with ammo, since we only each shot a few rounds! Good way for him to keep expenses down, I suppose!

Gaz_in_NZ · September 6, 2012, 03:13 PM

OK then... how do you reply with quotes?????

Sounds like a typical Kiwi thing to do... And I bet you didn't take the surplus ammo back with you either.

Lots of good hunting here so I'm told (I don't hunt) a visitors license is very cheap, nz$25 I think. Yep, and if it's got more than 2 legs or it's got wings then Kiwis will spend days in the bush (that would be tree type bush and not lady type bush!!) stalking and shooting it... They also do a lot of fishing... it's all basically free food if you nail it yourself.

Cheers
G

FloridaVeteran · September 6, 2012, 07:37 PM

Gaz - have you considered posting an advert at one or more shooting ranges in your area, offering to buy once-fired brass? At a busy range, there doubtless are a number of shooters who do not intend to reload and it is likely you can both offer a higher price than a professional reloader and buy for much less than any other way.

BTW, I recommend you buy at least a manual chamfer/deburring tool, so you can clean up the lip of the case before reloading. The more care you take of them, the more times you can use the cases. I checked the RCBS site and all their good machines, the Trim Mate Case Prep Center, the Chargemaster Combo powder measure and scale (both of which I use) and the "Vibratory Case Cleaner" (tumbler) are available in European 220-240-volt versions for either the same-as-US retail price or a tiny bit more.

I'm picky and carefully clean the primer pockets before I tumble. The Trim Mate makes easy work of that and also makes chamfering and deburring easy, though those two actions are more important on never-loaded brass.

You'll get there - just keep asking questions. You can e-mail RCBS and ask if all models of their electric reloading is 50/60 cycle (most modern motorized stuff like this, is). If it is, then you also have the option of looking for a good deal on a used 120v piece or two from the US and using a step-down transformer for the voltage.

Good luck - keep asking questions and try to find other reloaders over there and it will come together. Because of the volume that Cowboy Action Shooters fire, most of them in New Zealand must either be filthy rich or reloaders and many, possibly most, of those shoot .38. Here are the SASS clubs in New Zealand:

http://www.sassnet.com/clubs/Clubs_l...=New%20Zealand

If the link doesn't work, go to sassnet.com and look under "clubs."

Misssissippi Dave · September 6, 2012, 08:24 PM

To answer your question about how to add a quote, it is fairly easy to do. You must be in the reply part to do this. You click on the icon that looks kind of like a document or the bubble used for cartoons. It is near the pound sign. When you hold your mouse over it should tell you what it is for. Clicking it will put a start and end quote in brackets where ever your cursor was on your reply post. Then scroll down to find the text you want for a quote (you can also do this before you post a reply) You then do a copy and paste operation between the start and end quotes. The brackets will let you know where this is.

I hope this helps.

Gaz_in_NZ · September 7, 2012, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Gaz - have you considered posting an advert at one or more shooting ranges in your area, offering to buy once-fired brass? At a busy range, there doubtless are a number of shooters who do not intend to reload and it is likely you can both offer a higher price than a professional reloader and buy for much less than any other way.

Hi FloridaVeteran and thanks for the input, it's very much appreciated.
Ammo is that expensive over here that all shooters I know reload so the only ranges that has once shot brass, 'cause they get theirs for free and never reload anything, are the police ranges... only problem is that the NZ cops all get issued with Glocks. So it's excellent if you shoot 9x19 cases but no use at all if you use a revolver.
But nevertheless a very fine suggestion that I hadn't considered.

Thanks for the tip on the chamfer/deburring tool.

The link worked fine, thanks... looks like a whole lot of fun

I think that the SASS club shooters will ALL be re-loaders, dictated by the price of ammo over here.

Thanks Dave... it works

Cheers and many thanks,
G

September 5, 2012, 01:52 AM	#26
FloridaVeteran Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2012 Location: Central Florida Posts: 399	Gaz - as for brass, I wouldn't pay much mind to what is common there or not. Assuming you will be collecting and reloading your own fired brass, I recommend without qualification that you buy Starline in 1,000 case quantities. It is great brass and will be much easier for you to identify as your own on the range, where most other shooters likely will be using other brands. With all due respect to the other, much longer serving members of the forum, I recommend you consider the RCBS hand primer (the original one). The squeeze will remind you of youthful romances and the seating is always perfect, in my experience. There is a newer model, with a squarish primer tray IIRC, that is not so well received.

September 5, 2012, 04:40 PM	#27
Gaz_in_NZ Senior Member Join Date: September 3, 2012 Location: 40 miles North of Wellington, NZ Posts: 196	Thanks for the info, very much appreciated. I have been trying to locate some Starline Brass and am having trouble doing so and Starline do no longer export brass to private customers, they will only deliver brass to buyers in the USA. All the distributors for NZ and Aus listed on their site are importers and they all appear to import lots of stuff... BUT... none of them sell to the public, not one of them ever answer the phone so I can't get a list of who sells Starline. In Australia I did find places that sell it but it looks like a really big deal to get some sent to me, this type of thing is what I found on most of the Aussie sellers web sites who had it : - The Australian Customs Service requires a export permit from the Defence Export Control Office for all orders that include firearms, telescopic sights, bullets, brass, and gun parts (rifles, actions, triggers, trigger guard assemblies, barrels, stocks, firing pins, firing pin springs, buttplates, etc.) shipping from Australia. We must apply for and receive these export permits through from the Australian Defence Export Control Office. This takes approximately 6 weeks for approval. We must have an original or certified copy of your import permit along with an English translation of the permit and your signed order for approval. If your country does not require an Import Permit to bring these items into your country, please submit a letter stating this on your own letterhead and it must be signed by you. Your order must include your name, address, shipping address (if different) along with the description and cost of the permit items. These documents are to be sent through the mail as the Defence Export Control Office will not accept faxed or e-mailed documents. Anyone would think I'm trying to import Anthrax or a Nuke not just bits of inert brass!!!... I notice that they don't need all this c**p to export their poisonous spiders over to NZ in packages, furniture, cars and other stuff they can send... Sorry it's a bit of a rant but I am getting very frustrated with all this. I am beginning to get the feeling that there is something about brass that is potentially dangerous that I am blissfully unaware of. Cheers G

September 5, 2012, 08:37 PM	#28
Misssissippi Dave Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 2009 Posts: 1,411	When all else fails just buy some factory ammo with brass cases and not nickel plated and reload those. The nickel plated tend to not last as long for me. You may want to check with local shooters to find what are the best sources for brass. They may have a brand that equals anything normally found in Europe or the U.S. I have loaded Winchester, RWS, S&B, Remington, CCI, and Federal brass. There probably are a few others as well and they all worked. Some better than others. Starline may be one of the best companies producing brass, but you can get good results from others too. You should find .38 special and .357 mag. cases or ammo without too much trouble. You will probably want to make minor changes in your load with different cases. Here some people will load .38 special equivalents using .357 mag cases. It makes things simple when you load both and only need one case size. You also don't have to change your die settings either. Just remember where you are going is not as restrictive as GB is. Some states here have laws I would not care to live under. Even the worst of them are better than the ones GB has now regarding guns and ammo.

September 5, 2012, 09:14 PM	#29
Gaz_in_NZ Senior Member Join Date: September 3, 2012 Location: 40 miles North of Wellington, NZ Posts: 196	I'll give you an example of NZ factory ammo prices which is why I was looking to buy components and reload : - Winchester 38 Special. 158 Gr lead round nose. Box of 50 $87.99 + $20.00 2-3 day shipping = total nz$107.99 That is a total of US$86.05 That is the type of expense I can ill-afford and what I am trying to avoid if possible! Would you pay that price for a box of 50? Cheers G

September 5, 2012, 09:36 PM	#30
Misssissippi Dave Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 2009 Posts: 1,411	I'm loading 158 grain jacketed hollow point .38 specials for about $8.25 a box of 50. The last box of .357 Magnums I bought were 158 grain soft points and those cost me $28.90 for a box of 50 including the state tax. I can load them for much less. I just didn't have any with me when I wanted to shoot some of them. Your prices are way too high. With prices like that I'm surprised there isn't a huge black market for ammo. Are you quite certain NZ is the place to move to? I know there are always other factors to consider when you are going to make a move to another country. If you are moving personal possessions will they allow you to bring in brass for your own personal use as part of your normal household items?

September 5, 2012, 09:54 PM	#31
Gaz_in_NZ Senior Member Join Date: September 3, 2012 Location: 40 miles North of Wellington, NZ Posts: 196	Hi Dave, You can see now why I want to reload We have been in NZ for quite a while now so moving somewhere else isn't really on the cards. Cheers G

September 5, 2012, 11:14 PM	#32
Misssissippi Dave Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 2009 Posts: 1,411	I'm not familiar with your laws. Do they have restrictions on bringing or shipping in brass? If you can bring back brass without a import permit, taking a trip to some place where an export permit isn't needed sounds like good idea. Travel light and bring back as much as you can. At those prices you can even afford to bring an additional bag and pay the extra baggage fee. Even if starline won't export to an individual have you checked on other companies. Winchester comes to mind. I looked at a site in NZ and they want NZ$54.00 for 100 .38 special new Winchester cases. They are not even primed. They didn't even have a listing for 1000 at a time. I guess NZ is very similar to Europe when it comes to anything dealing with firearms. It is sad news indeed.

September 6, 2012, 01:55 AM	#33
Gaz_in_NZ Senior Member Join Date: September 3, 2012 Location: 40 miles North of Wellington, NZ Posts: 196	Hi Dave, actually it's not a problem with the law, firearms or peoples attitude towards firearms, it's Kiwi shops trying to make a vast profit on every item. Where as you or I would move 10 units for $1 profit each to make $10 yer average Kiwi will try and sell 1 of those items for $10 profit rather than moving units to get the profit and leave it at a ludicrously high price rather than try and move units at reasonable price to make that same profit. I have (being a mainly retired amateur musician) seen new guitars in music shops at prices you wouldn't ever consider paying just hanging on the walls gathering dust year in, year out... my local music shop has new (well unsold actually) cymbals on a rack, all covered in dust and tarnished for nz$2000.00 each (just where did that price ever come from???) when the same can be bought new from FleaBay for an equivalent of nz$190.00+shipping. It's just the typical Kiwi mentality. Cars... Yer average Kiwi who buys a car for $5000 will try and sell it 10 years down the line (with enough mileage on it to get to the moon and halfway back) for $4995, with no service documentation whatsoever, never been cleaned properly, never seen polish etc... and people buy them(???), so they keep on selling them at these stupid prices!!!. Same with everything over here really. I'll have to check on the "importing brass" laws, I'm sure there is a healthy and quick profit to be had selling decent brass to shooters at a very decent price and not trying to profiteer from them. Cheers G

September 6, 2012, 03:13 PM	#35
Gaz_in_NZ Senior Member Join Date: September 3, 2012 Location: 40 miles North of Wellington, NZ Posts: 196	OK then... how do you reply with quotes????? Sounds like a typical Kiwi thing to do... And I bet you didn't take the surplus ammo back with you either. Lots of good hunting here so I'm told (I don't hunt) a visitors license is very cheap, nz$25 I think. Yep, and if it's got more than 2 legs or it's got wings then Kiwis will spend days in the bush (that would be tree type bush and not lady type bush!!) stalking and shooting it... They also do a lot of fishing... it's all basically free food if you nail it yourself. Cheers G

September 6, 2012, 07:37 PM	#36
FloridaVeteran Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2012 Location: Central Florida Posts: 399	Gaz - have you considered posting an advert at one or more shooting ranges in your area, offering to buy once-fired brass? At a busy range, there doubtless are a number of shooters who do not intend to reload and it is likely you can both offer a higher price than a professional reloader and buy for much less than any other way. BTW, I recommend you buy at least a manual chamfer/deburring tool, so you can clean up the lip of the case before reloading. The more care you take of them, the more times you can use the cases. I checked the RCBS site and all their good machines, the Trim Mate Case Prep Center, the Chargemaster Combo powder measure and scale (both of which I use) and the "Vibratory Case Cleaner" (tumbler) are available in European 220-240-volt versions for either the same-as-US retail price or a tiny bit more. I'm picky and carefully clean the primer pockets before I tumble. The Trim Mate makes easy work of that and also makes chamfering and deburring easy, though those two actions are more important on never-loaded brass. You'll get there - just keep asking questions. You can e-mail RCBS and ask if all models of their electric reloading is 50/60 cycle (most modern motorized stuff like this, is). If it is, then you also have the option of looking for a good deal on a used 120v piece or two from the US and using a step-down transformer for the voltage. Good luck - keep asking questions and try to find other reloaders over there and it will come together. Because of the volume that Cowboy Action Shooters fire, most of them in New Zealand must either be filthy rich or reloaders and many, possibly most, of those shoot .38. Here are the SASS clubs in New Zealand: http://www.sassnet.com/clubs/Clubs_l...=New%20Zealand If the link doesn't work, go to sassnet.com and look under "clubs."

September 6, 2012, 08:24 PM	#37
Misssissippi Dave Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 2009 Posts: 1,411	To answer your question about how to add a quote, it is fairly easy to do. You must be in the reply part to do this. You click on the icon that looks kind of like a document or the bubble used for cartoons. It is near the pound sign. When you hold your mouse over it should tell you what it is for. Clicking it will put a start and end quote in brackets where ever your cursor was on your reply post. Then scroll down to find the text you want for a quote (you can also do this before you post a reply) You then do a copy and paste operation between the start and end quotes. The brackets will let you know where this is. I hope this helps.