Question for frugal reloaders

[Venus Pax]

I'm looking for a bit of knowledge from some of you that reload for the benefit of savings.

I'll be visiting my dad tomorrow to learn to use and test out my skills on his reloading equipment. If I decide to do this, I will be doing this primarily for savings.

Daddy told me to only order .45 bullets, .45 carbide dies, and a shellholder, as he has everything else there. He uses Midsouth, and gave me the product numbers, so I ordered what I needed.

When I received the package today, I was reviewing the cost, and thought it was rather high. I paid $37.53 for 250 .45 acp bullets. That's more than .15 per round, not including shipping. (I looked at the cost of primers, and they're only $.03 per round w/o shipping. Dad recommend I make primer & powder purchases at shops or gun shows to avoid haz mat fees.) The cost of powder & primers isn't too bad.
I did check the prices at Midway, even though they appear to be out of stock in many items. Their prices are a bit less.
Is there some bargain bullet shop that I don't know about?
Longtooth, I remember you posting within the last year that you were reloading for $.07. (I could be wrong.. just tell me if I am.)
I will likely be leaving my job within the next year or so, and I'm trying to arrange life so that I can continue current hobbies for as little money possible.

Any info will be appreciated.

[gregthehand]

Well I can tell you that your paying too much for bullets. I pay a little more for 500 bullets off of Midway.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.e ... mid=320934

[KRM45]

Are you using jacketed bullets? They can be more expensive. I normally practice with 185-200 grain Lead Semi Wadcutters (LSWC). I haven't bought for a few months, but the last batch of 1000 I ordered for around $65.

[Venus Pax]

Greg, I bookmarked Midway.
KRM, where did you get 1000 for $65?

[BobCat]

Try http://www.powdervalleyinc.com - I have no financial interest, just a very satisfied customer.

They are one of very few outfits that will ship primers and powder on one $20 HAZ MAT fee. It amortizes out real fast if you get friends together and each order e.g. 5,000 primers and a couple 5-lb jugs of powder.

Many people who shoot the 1911 like 185 grain or 200 grain lead semi wadcutters - the Bullseye shooters use these a lot. Some pistols will not feed them but for most it is not a problem.

The USPS has a flat-rate box that allows shipping something like 4,000 200g lswc bullets for $8.10 and Powder Valley uses it. You will still wind up paying on the close order of $50 per thousand I think. Oh - here it is: BUS45SWC2001000 BUSHWHACKER 45 200 SWC - Per 1000 $46.25

Metals prices make me sick - there was a guy in Halletsville (Lone Star Bullet Co.) who used to sell them for $36 / 1000 if you bought 10,000 (sounds like a lot, but get two friends together and it is not a lot).

OTOH save all your brass, even .22 brass. If it is no good to reload, it is still good to sell to the metal recycler, and you leave the range clean and nice. Make the best of outrageous metals prices.

I hope this helps.

[Mithras61]

I don't reload (yet) but I bookmarked Widener's and they seem to have prices comp[etetive to Powder Valley. I also recall seeing some Texas-based casting companies that did hard-cast lead bullets for pretty cheap discussed here (but strangely enough I didn't bookmark the page). The prices you quoted seem a bit high to me...

[longtooth]

bobcat has a really good summary. I cant add much to the above. I have tried to get friends to buy w/ me but have not had much luck there.
my comments will be to encourage rather than instruct since I cant add much to the above.

Yes, you can reload cheaper than that. You bought a premium bullet, pd hazmat fee on powder & primers, then freight. If I can get what I need, I use GRAF & Sons because their prices are freight included. Easier for the country boy to figure.
Cast lead round nose are much cheaper. They are also not near as clean to shoot.
I did load for about that .07 my 2006 ammo & just shot all that up. I just finished a 5000 rd batch & it came out to about 12cents now w/ the increase in bullet price but I bought the bullets last summer.
I will not be surprised if the next I load is closer to 15cents. Double.
Even lead bullets, you need to buy them by the 5,000 at least to get a really good price.
Like others, I buy powder at gunshows & will buy 5 or 6 lb. I got 1100 per lb out of my winchester 231 this last time. Primers by the case, & that is 10,000. Brass is free for me. Range pickup. It takes time to acquire. I can help there if you need some .45.

Do not get discouraged. I did the same thing when I first started loading. Count this a good learning experience.

[pistolchamp]

I have also noticed the cost of metals. With China and India both having emerging economies and over one billion people each, they have driven up the price of all petroleum products and metals as they build more buildings and houses, drive more cars, etc.

Watch for the cost of autos and guns to go up a lot as they use a lot of steel and aluminum, the price of ammo and components will continue to rise and there is absolutely nothing you can do except get some friends together and buy bulk. Picking up range brass helps if you are willing to understand the possible concerns of split brass that may have been reloaded too many times. I've used it for years without problems and will continue to pick it up when its easy to do.

I am a dealer and I go to my local gun club and offer to buy bulk at cost to help and often we purchase over 100,000 bullets and enough powder and primers in large containers to get free freight.

It is an expensive hobby that we MUST continue or the liberal mental cases will simply price us out of business and all gun rights will dissappear because we no longer want to pay for those rights.

[Smokewagon]

$8.10 shipping/$46 per 1000. Hardcast lead round nose .45acp

http://www.twoalphabullets.com

This guy doesn't do credit cards or anything. You send him a check and he ships. He has a rather dry personallity when you talk to him on the phone but he has a good product and ships fast.

I've had good luck with him.

[Venus Pax]

I've bookmarked all of the sites posted. Thanks so much for the info.

I'll probably buy primers & powder at gun shows like Dad does.
I may see if he wants to split bullet orders with me in the future to save on shipping. Compared to the businesses that some of you posted, Midsouth is expensive. I'm not sure if Dad is aware of that. (He tends to do business where he's familiar with the operation.)

[DMG]

Venus:

You might try Berrys Bullets [www.berrysmfg.com]. Their 230 gr. are 250 for 25.34, 1,000 for 84.94, with free shipping. I use them for my .38.

David G.

[stroo]

I have bought bullets from both Graf and Midway. Graf is generally a little more expensive but you don't have shipping charges. I found generally those two are about even when you take everything into consideration. I have also found that sometimes I can get bullets at Sportsman's Warehouse cheaper that either Graf or Midway. You just need to keep watching. I also buy primers and powder there.

[Jeremae]

VP

Generally you have to buy in bulk to get real savings on bullets( as in multiple 1000s at a time)

There are three basic types of bullets used in the 1911:

1. Jacketed: This was the original intended bullet design specified by the Army and JMB. My current store of bullets are all Complete Metal jacketed rounds from Montana Gold (bottom does NOT have exposed lead) and I purchased 3 cases at once (2 of 45 in 230 CMJ count 2000 and 1 of 9mm in 115 CMJ count 4000) to get the 3 case discount and comes down to almost exactly .10 per bullet. SRVA coordinates group buys at tts that get a little better price. If you check websites like Midway (or subscribe to their eMail services) you can occasionally find specials on jacketed bullets from the major name manufacturers like Winchester, Remington, Speer, etc that bring price down into the same range. Last year I hit a Winchester deal on 45 230 fmj that allowed me to buy them for only .09 per round and in quantaties as low as 500.

2. Plated: This design just plates the lead with a thin layer of copper(or brass). Advantage is less jacket material so generally cheaper. Disadvantage is you need to be a little more careful during reloading to not dent or shear the plating and in some cases you need to use a different powder charge than you would for Jacketed. A LOT of IDPA shooters use plated with the most common brands being Berry's and Ranier. T's guns and ammo carries Berry's.

3. Lead: This design uses NO plating. Advantage is much cheaper as in from .03 to .05 per round. Disadvantages include requires lube during reloading (messy), more airborne lead micro-particles and leading of the bore (requiring additional barrel cleaning).

I generally buy my powder and primers from 10ring to support a local business (and I never seem to be ready to order powder/primers when a group buy is organized plus am to lazy to go to gunshow just for powder/primers)so my cost per round is about .015 for powder and .025 for primer for an estimated cost of .14 per completed round.

[longtooth]

VP,
After rereading your original I really hope you do not fret over the expense you went too. You got plenty to see if you will like it. You dont need all the bug #s of supplies to start with. You need enough to see if you are going to like it.
You have not done a bad thing.
LT

[Charles L. Cotton]

The last large quantity of 230 gr. FMJ .45ACP I got from Montana Gold cost $66/1,000 with shipping. To reorder now would be $99/1,000! I'm going to try Precision's "black" bullet. At $68.85/1,000 delivered (in quantities of 25,000), that's a pretty good deal currently. This is a cast bullet with a coating on it that makes it much cleaner to load, no leading of the barrel and less smoke when shooting, than "regular" cast bullets. I'm also going to try them in 155 gr. .40 S&W and 125 gr. .38 Super.

Obviously, an order of 25,000 is a lot, so I'm considering getting a bulk order deal going for people on the forum. I'm also going to try to see if we can get a bigger discount with a bigger order. I thought you could get 20% off with 100,000 or more, but that deal may not be available now.

We can also save a bunch of money on shipping, if we pick it up. They are located southeast of Dallas in Kemp, TX. We'd sure have to have a big truck though!

I'll post a separate thread on a bulk purchase.

Chas.