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Old February 7, 2010, 05:37 PM   #1
DaveTrig
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Shotshell reloading worth the time?

Hi all,
I've been reloading my pistol rounds for a little while now, and am starting to get into trap shooting. Naturally, as a reloader, I assumed I would eventually roll my own shotshells as well. But after doing the math, I can't see how it's worth it. Perhaps my assumptions are incorrect, so I'm asking those who reload shot to check them.

I'm using approx. prices based on Midway and Cabelas.

For loading 1-1/8oz 7-1/2 shot, 1200fps.
Lead shot: 50lbs, $92. 1-1/8oz per shell = ~710 shells, ~$0.13/shell
Primer: $42/1000, $0.042/shell
Powder: ~19gr Clays/shell, $19/lb, ~$0.052/shell
Wads: $12/500 Winch. wads, $0.024/shell
-------------------
Total: $0.248/shell, $62/case.

Cabela's case price for Rem Gun Club equivalent = $69.99

I was expecting a much bigger savings than that by reloading. Am I missing something?

Thanks -
- Dave
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Old February 7, 2010, 05:51 PM   #2
rbf420
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yea nah i thought the same thing awhile back i can get shells from walmart for about 5 bucks per 25 so .20 per round... did my own math on it and from my very quick glance at it i would actually be spending more money reloading them... granted my own math could be wrong but even then i doubt if it was cheaper to reload it, the price difference would even be worth it
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Old February 7, 2010, 07:13 PM   #3
whitedogone
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The el cheapo loads are junk. For the less $ you can load hard shot and excellent wads. And you can load down or up as you please.
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Old February 7, 2010, 07:48 PM   #4
totemkopf
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You can buy shot for $35 a bag, last spring I purchased 500lbs for $400 I'm still loading my $20 a bag shot
Wads 1000 for $16
Green dot fo $14 a lb
Fiocchi primers $27 a 1000
Your box box cost will be around $4.50
If you shop around you can lower your load cost even more.
Shotting trap you can drop down to 1 oz. loads and save even more
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Old February 7, 2010, 07:56 PM   #5
VaFisher
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Quote:
For loading 1-1/8oz 7-1/2 shot, 1200fps.
Lead shot: 50lbs, $92. 1-1/8oz per shell = ~710 shells, ~$0.13/shell
Primer: $42/1000, $0.042/shell
Powder: ~19gr Clays/shell, $19/lb, ~$0.052/shell
Wads: $12/500 Winch. wads, $0.024/shell
Your numbers are off a bit, for example;
Lead shot is down depending on where you get it to about $39.00 now
Primers about $30.00 now
Powder about $18.00 per pound now
Wads about $6.50 to $9.00 per 500
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Old February 7, 2010, 07:57 PM   #6
rbernie
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Buy your shot from Wideners and you can get it delivered for $30/25lb bag. Buy the Claybuster clone wads from Ballistic Products and you can get 1000 wads for less than $20.
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Old February 7, 2010, 11:39 PM   #7
Magnum Mike
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First off you are spending to much for your shot. My buddy pays $25 on a group buy per bag. Wads seem a little high too. I still have 2 cases of wads left that I paid $55 a case for. As for shot, I load 1oz loads of homemade shot. Powder was $105 for 8 lbs. I can load far better shells for far less than that cheap stuff!!
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Old February 9, 2010, 09:03 AM   #8
DaveTrig
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Thanks all for the numbers corrections. That gets me down to about $0.15/shell, $38/case. That's a lot more like what I expected.

For the record, I'm not comparing to El Cheapo shells, but rather Remington Gun Club at a minimum. I just bought TomF's beautiful Rem 1100, and I'm not putting garbage through it.

Time to start saving all my RGC and WinAA hulls, I guess.
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Old February 9, 2010, 11:48 AM   #9
rbernie
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Any of the Remington promo hulls can be used with STS load data. I pick up the Rem hulls for free at my local ranges.

The following thread may prove of use: http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...d.php?t=397132

Keep in mind that there have been several variants of the AA hulls and you may want to keep them seperated. I dunno for sure on that, since I've been using STS and Remingtob promo hulls since I started reload shotshells a couple of years ago...
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Old February 9, 2010, 12:05 PM   #10
Nate1778
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I shoot roughly 500-1000 trap rounds a year which is light compared to most. For me a Lee Load All does the trick, Start up is cheap and the finished round is nice. I may be saving a bit of money but not near what I am on Pistol. What I am able to do is produce a round that I like and is effective for the way I shoot.

The other cool part about it is if you cast you can by a Sharpshooter mold and a slug mold and reload slugs and 00 buck for less than a trap round if your lead is free. I typically keep 200 00 buck around for the zombies or when we go plinking. That is a savings no doubt over store bought specialty shotgun ammo.
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Old February 9, 2010, 12:07 PM   #11
rc
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I'm like you

I did the math some time back and while I load rifle and pistol, I don't think it makes economic sense to load anything but 410, 28, 10 guage etc. Promo loads work fine for trap and skeet in my opinion and my time is worth something. I bought a fair amount of promotional ammo when it was still $16.25/100 that should last me a few years. You guys loading for $4.50/box because you bought $1000 in components now have to spend the time to load them and have lots invested in loose components. You can still find 1oz shells for $5/box and those are good enough for targets to me because I'm not a competitive trap shooter. I think if promotional shells were over $8/box then there might be some need to reevaluate my position, but sometimes reloading is like the dog chasing it's tail. So unless you are shooting something other than a 20 or 12 or want to make your own steel shot loads, I don't think it makes much sense to reload shotshells just to break clay targets. Even at today's component cost, there seems to be a much greater savings reloading rifle and pistol compared with shotguns.
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Old February 9, 2010, 01:31 PM   #12
snuffy
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Does loading shotshells make sense today?

Yes! Oh I know how wally world and the other big box stores have those economy packs of shotshells. But if you took one of those econo shells apart, you would find soft chilled shot, a small charge of very fast powder, and the cheapest thin wad they could find. Loaded inside a hull that’s NOT made to be reloaded, in some cases attempting to reload them could be dangerous.

Now take one or more of those cheapy shells to the pattern board. Ummm, you do pattern your shotgun,,,right? No? Then how do you really know how the chokes work? Anyway, the cheapo shells will have blotchy patterns, holes a bird, rabbit, or clays could sit in unharmed!

You can not reload shells cheaper than those econo shells. Can’t be done! Especially with what shot, powder, primers, and wads cost these days. Why would you WANT to?

What you want to load are shells that are as good as, or even better than the top of the line target shells put out by Winchester, Remington, and Federal. That would be the AA, STS and gold medal. To do that you must either buy the loaded shells, shoot them to get empties, or buy once fired empties. The new AA is no where near as good as the older compression formed AA. That leaves the STS and gold medal.

To duplicate the performance of the original loading, you need to buy all top of the line components. No skimping here. Magnum shot,(don’t let that name fool you), is high antimony shot. It’s harder than plain old chilled shot. The hardness translates into better patterns. It’s what the factory STS and others target shells have in them. Wads; The big 3 all sell their wads for reloading. They all work, but you can save some $ by buying claybuster wads. They’re made to the same dimensions as the wad they’re replacing, just cheaper. Some say the plastic isn’t as soft, but I’ve found them to work just fine. Powder; Just about any of the shotshell powders will work well. Just be sure of your recipe and follow it exactly. Primers; Again they all work well, be sure to match them to your recipe.
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Old February 9, 2010, 02:25 PM   #13
rbernie
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Quote:
Even at today's component cost, there seems to be a much greater savings reloading rifle and pistol compared with shotguns.
There is some truth to that, but keep in mind that the shotshell loads that I can assemble are far better than the promo loads. To get a load that is equivilent to my handloaded 7/8oz target load (which costs me less than $4/box to make) will require that I spend $8.50/box or more.

Locally, by the way, promo boxes are up to $5.50/box in WallyWorld and higher elsewhere.
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Old June 1, 2010, 10:28 PM   #14
DaveTrig
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Hey all... just to give you all a little closure.

I did make the decision to go ahead and reload. Found a 600 Jr. on eBay w/ the primer feeder and some extras for $90. Missing a few parts but a $10 order with MEC took care of that.

Turns out I just can't find lead cheaper than $38/bag around here. Even still, my cost is around $4.25/box. Decent savings since I've been shooting 7 to 10 boxes/week.

But more than the savings, of course, is the ability to tailor the load. I've been loading 1oz of 7 1/2 in front of Int'l Clays at around 1250fps - the load's been absolutely KILLER on the trap range, and nice and soft out my 1100. First day with those loads, I shot a 24 and 2 23's.

Anyway, thanks again for all the advice. It's working out great.

- D
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