View Single Post
Old July 3, 2000, 04:22 AM   #11
Hal
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 9, 1998
Location: Ohio USA
Posts: 8,563
Side benifits include:

Higher quality of ammuntion for plinker rates. Instead of, for example, PMC, you get Hydra-Shok's for less than the PMC.

Future gun buys are not constrained by high ammunition costs. .454 is a great claiber, but even .45LC rounds are expensive. Even though you don't own one, at some point you may want one, only to be turned off by the high cost of even "plinking".45LC ammo. Once setup for reloading, a caliber change is only a set of dies away.

The "ammo store", which is your reloading room, has the same "business hours" you do. You don't have to wait for a super special sale in order to get decent prices on ammo. The shelf is always full, provided you have the components on hand.

Less money is need up front for ammo. The best buys on ammo are by the case. In essence, you always pay case price for ammo. If I buy 500 rounds of factory ammo to get a case price I have to lay out (last time I did buy a case) $189.00. 500 lead bullets run $29.00. Cases are around $15 to $20 per hundred. Powder is , say $17.00 to $20.00 per pound, and primers are around $2.00 per hundred. These are pretty much off the shelf, not looking for any decent deal prices. Point is, I can buy a box of slugs this month, a pound of powder next month. or from last month, use the box of primers I pick up at a show or something and be on my merry way. The savings are still there long term, but I find it easier to have a spare $30.00 for slugs than I do to save up for a case of ammo.

Your shooting will improve. No doubt about it at all, and it has little to do with the better quality of ammo you will be using for this purpose. Once you work up a pet load, that load will give you confidence. Something no amount of money can buy. You will also find you are more relaxed since the unconcious thought of how much each pull of the trigger is costing is gone. A whole lot of the enjoyment of shooting a .22 comes from the relaxed feeling of not spending $.25 cents or more for each shot.

You can read a copy of "The Blue Press" and look at the pretty girls and not have to explain yourself.

You will know the difference between reloading and handloading. They are 2 different animals, and offer 2 different perspectives.

With the right equipment, consistancy is the norm, not the exception. IMNSH opinion, the second most important detriment where accuracy is concerned is shot to shot variation. (Flinch is number 1 if you wondered) S to S variation, and to a little lesser degree, flich are minimized with handloads. If you know what you made, you know what to expect. AND you can expect it with each pull of the trigger.

Safety. Should be number one. Instead of relying on someone elses bad day to determine QC, you are the master of your own fate. Sad to say, but in today's world mediocraty is the standard. Stuff that just shouldn't get out the door is regular business for some companys. I have real mixed results with commercial reloads. Some were outstanding, but others were just outright dangerous.
Hal is offline  
 
Page generated in 0.03662 seconds with 8 queries