Reloading Components

Diver43

I decided it was time to take the step.  Went to BPS and three local shops that usually have reloading supplies.  BPS had empty shelves.  They had one container of powder for shotguns.  Next stop was was a small shop that was always well stocked.  There was two bolt guns, one high end 1911 and reloading supplies he said sold out two weeks ago and he cant get anymore until?
Primers seem to be non existent. Guess I picked the wrong time.  Its OK, I have a few books on order and will pick things up as they become available.
My timing sucks

CHIRO1989

Garage sales are an OK place to look, open cans of powder should be avoided though, but I have scored full cans before

Antonio

Can´t believe the big BPS near you is out of reloading components. Can remember when in a rush of foolish enthusiasm I filled my shopping cart with powder, primers, cases and all the other reloading components available only to have the Mrs. pulling them out in the check-out line since it would have not been funny to get caught in the airport with 2 suitcases packed with all that stuff.

What about ordering what you need online? have seen most factory ammo labeled as "out of stock" (and grossly overpriced too) in most vendors but haven't checked reloading components.

earlyagain

Hopefully this coming spring will see some normalcy return.

Diver43

Antonio said:

Can´t believe the big BPS near you is out of reloading components. Can remember when in a rush of foolish enthusiasm I filled my shopping cart with powder, primers, cases and all the other reloading components available only to have the Mrs. pulling them out in the check-out line since it would have not been funny to get caught in the airport with 2 suitcases packed with all that stuff.

What about ordering what you need online? have seen most factory ammo labeled as "out of stock" (and grossly overpriced too) in most vendors but haven't checked reloading components.

Yes, that entire row of shelves had nothing but a couple items.  Only thing really available was new brass.

Just like a few years ago when .22 ammo was nonexistent, it will come back.  I will just pick stuff up as i find it

ilove22s

welcome,

Yes, your timing sucks.

But you may feel comfort in that you are not the ONLY person late to the party and the next time this happens, and it will, there will be someone else late. Forever more.

But the good part is that you have TIME to research/read and figure out what you want and how to do it, if you want. 

If you havent bought any reloading manuals, i would and read them from front to back.  Its not like you MUST understand every word, but get a feel for the type of equipment thats out there, brands, lingo, and if you want, make a shopping list and costs. That way you can figure out how much to set aside.

good luck

Antonio

Diver43 said:

Antonio said:

Can´t believe the big BPS near you is out of reloading components. Can remember when in a rush of foolish enthusiasm I filled my shopping cart with powder, primers, cases and all the other reloading components available only to have the Mrs. pulling them out in the check-out line since it would have not been funny to get caught in the airport with 2 suitcases packed with all that stuff.

What about ordering what you need online? have seen most factory ammo labeled as "out of stock" (and grossly overpriced too) in most vendors but haven't checked reloading components.

Yes, that entire row of shelves had nothing but a couple items.  Only thing really available was new brass.

Just like a few years ago when .22 ammo was nonexistent, it will come back.  I will just pick stuff up as i find it

Witnessed in awe that situation when we were there last time in '14. Only .22 ammo in what were the previous year bins packed with all brands & types were a few 100-round boxes of CCI, although most centerfire rounds & reloading stuff were in stock. Went back in '17 and the 3 big outdoor retailers we visited in Colorado were again properly supplied.

At least you know that once this turmoil of impulsive buying/pandemic/election is through things will return to pretty much normal situation like the last time. Not depending of importations for ammo production is VERY important!

Fortunately other than centerfire handgun ammo that anyway I don't use a lot, my stash of rimfire and rifle ammo is good for at least 1 ½ years of my average consumption rate, and way things are going down here, probably won't care what happens later. 

kansashunter

I know how you feel Diver, I started reloading just before the last shortage and I had some components but no primers. I just checked Powder Valley and they don't have any primers but they do have some powder. If we were only closer I could help you out. I did look the other day at Missouri bullet and they were letting people order bullets on backorder. 

gunner81

I decided to start casting my own bullets around the first of the year bad move on my part like you my timing sucks I did manage to score a few things a friend of mine goes to all the auctions so he had a lot of extra stuff then I just keep my eyes open for stuff that pops up just keep plugging along like me and you'll get what you need

Rafterman

Diver, just out of curiosity what are you thinking of reloading for your first project?

Diver43

Rafterman said:

Diver, just out of curiosity what are you thinking of reloading for your first project?

Well I have Brass for  357 mag. So that will be it.  Never reloading before I always gave my brass away or left it at the range. I also have some  45 colt, but very few saved yet.  

You can get I will be saving 9mm  40sw, 45acp, 45colt and  32h&r mag from now on.
Luckily I have a good supply if factory ammo 

Rafterman

I think that is a smart first choice. Straight wall cases are much easier to load (in my opinion) compared to bottle necks. It's also large enough to handle easily without fumbling. 38 Special is what I started with if I remember correctly.

ilove22s

something else.

Not sure what you want to do or how you want to do it.

But again, if you want, you can buy what equipment you can.  Im sure not every press is bought up and you can mail order if you want.   

And again, what i would do is to get some reloading books and readup on the process.

then if you can get the equipment, set it up and do the prep work on what brass you have.  If you dont have alot, then do what you want to get more if you want.  If you do shoot at a range and if you can grab whats on the ground do so, if you want.  If you want to buy some brass once-fired or virgin brass, you can do that too.

Its your choice on how you want to do things.

good luck

Diver43

ilove22s said:

something else.

Not sure what you want to do or how you want to do it.

But again, if you want, you can buy what equipment you can.  Im sure not every press is bought up and you can mail order if you want.   

And again, what i would do is to get some reloading books and readup on the process.

then if you can get the equipment, set it up and do the prep work on what brass you have.  If you dont have alot, then do what you want to get more if you want.  If you do shoot at a range and if you can grab whats on the ground do so, if you want.  If you want to buy some brass once-fired or virgin brass, you can do that too.

Its your choice on how you want to do things.

good luck

Thank You
Situation is forcing me to take this slow, instead if making a plan and just doing it.  A fellow forum member has offered a few items starting with a basic Lee loader, which is not only generous but also will make me go slow, again a good thing.  The Tennmike 357 rifle is a single shot, so I will shoot just like making the ammo one at a time.
Presses are available, the high end ones anyway.  Some brass is available and I have some.  What I can not find locally is powder and primers.  As soon as I see either I will grab it.  Bullets also seem to be difficult but have some waiting on a notification 
A couple books are on the way also.

Spk

Yup, reloading is a lot of fun and can be stress reliving at times... but not always.

I agree, right now online might be your best bet.

A good general purpose .357 powder is Hodgdon Longshot and it's available right now.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/00034ls4/hodgdon-longshot-smokeless-powder-4-lb

If you're trying to make fire-breather loads shop around for some H110 or 4227 but for good General Purpose,  light to moderately heavy loads in .357, Longshot is my own go to powder.

Primers, I like CCI the best but I often buy whatever is on sale which is often Winchester.

https://reloadingeverything.com/primers/

One more thing, don't count out eBay. I've gotten ridiculous deals on there for everything reloading. So sometimes you can get what you want, when can't find anywhere else --> on eBay.

Linefinder

Don't know about availability, but in my experience H110 is the "fire breathing" .357 Mag powder. If I'm out of that, I just load .38 Spl with something else and bide my time.

Mike

Diver43

Spk said:

Yup, reloading is a lot of fun and can be stress reliving at times... but not always.

I agree, right now online might be your best bet.

A good general purpose .357 powder is Hodgdon Longshot and it's available right now.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/00034ls4/hodgdon-longshot-smokeless-powder-4-lb

If you're trying to make fire-breather loads shop around for some H110 or 4227 but for good General Purpose,  light to moderately heavy loads in .357, Longshot is my own go to powder.

Primers, I like CCI the best but I often buy whatever is on sale which is often Winchester.

https://reloadingeverything.com/primers/

One more thing, don't count out eBay. I've gotten ridiculous deals on there for everything reloading. So sometimes you can get what you want, when can't find anywhere else --> on eBay.

Thanks for the links, I had not seen that site before. Think I will wait until I can get a one pound can to get started though.

ilove22s

Diver43 said:

ilove22s said:

something else.

Not sure what you want to do or how you want to do it.

But again, if you want, you can buy what equipment you can.  Im sure not every press is bought up and you can mail order if you want.   

And again, what i would do is to get some reloading books and readup on the process.

then if you can get the equipment, set it up and do the prep work on what brass you have.  If you dont have alot, then do what you want to get more if you want.  If you do shoot at a range and if you can grab whats on the ground do so, if you want.  If you want to buy some brass once-fired or virgin brass, you can do that too.

Its your choice on how you want to do things.

good luck

Thank You
Situation is forcing me to take this slow, instead if making a plan and just doing it.  A fellow forum member has offered a few items starting with a basic Lee loader, which is not only generous but also will make me go slow, again a good thing.  The Tennmike 357 rifle is a single shot, so I will shoot just like making the ammo one at a time.
Presses are available, the high end ones anyway.  Some brass is available and I have some.  What I can not find locally is powder and primers.  As soon as I see either I will grab it.  Bullets also seem to be difficult but have some waiting on a notification 
A couple books are on the way also.

Awesome,

Theres nothing wrong with doing things at your own speed. Its just the some people dont see it that way and some can get caught up with the fun.

If you can get your hands on a single stage press, that would be an option.  you can find them used, but unless you know something about them or the make/model, some parts maybe missing or damaged and then you have to find replacements.

The Lee loader is cool IMO and ive always wanted 1 and the tong tool.  But once i got my presses, they  were never needed.  

also, imo,  a single stage press can always be used somewhere, someplace and i think others will agree.   I have an older Lee  3 hole Turret, no indexing and 3 Pro 1000s.  i started with the older turret press and its always used.  I think i got it in early 80s and its still going strong.   I use the Pro 1000 for batch processing my brass - deprime/size/flare.  I use the old turret to load rounds 1 at a time.  

good luck

ilove22s

incoming PM

Diver43

Thanks Paul, good info

Rafterman

Online look at Powder Valley. They often have some of the most reasonable prices. Of course that doesn't mean what you want is in stock right now.

Diver43

Rafterman said:

Online look at Powder Valley. They often have some of the most reasonable prices. Of course that doesn't mean what you want is in stock right now.

Thanks
Finding that one pound cans of powder are sold out

tennmike

My favorite haunts for finding reloading components are nothing but bare shelves. If you can find it, I like IMR4227 and H4227 for .357 Mag. loads for heavy bullets. It's a good powder that consistently gives higher velocity than most others. Well worth hunting around the net powder sellers to find if you can't find it locally.
I can't get the Hodgdon site to come up. My internet connection today is slower than a snail crawling up a wall. If you can get into the sites look up both Hodgdon and IMR for the 4227 data.

Diver43

Thanks Mike

bellcat

Picked up a case of small pistol primers at Sodak sports in Aberdeen yesterday. They also had 9mm ammo....Federal 100 packs, but did buy any as I’ve been turning out quite a few on press.

CHIRO1989

bellcat said:

Picked up a case of small pistol primers at Sodak sports in Aberdeen yesterday. They also had 9mm ammo....Federal 100 packs, but did buy any as I’ve been turning out quite a few on press.

How much were the 100 packs just out of curiosity?

Diver43

Modern Reloading by Richard Lee arrived today.  Talk about full of information!!!!!

Uncle Fester

I haven’t used them on any straight walled case, but Hornady Custom grade dies come 100 bullets 

Linefinder

While pdog hunting I always kept a "few" components (read that as you may) on hand, as an average session of that might cost you 500-800 rnds a day. 2-3 days of good weather with cooperative dogs and good light could put you into the hole PDQ, and long nights of reloading after 14 hrs over a rifle and 4 hrs of driving were often the norm. Days were long, and nights were short.

So I always kept an obscene qty of components on hand. Just the nature of serious popping (eradication)  of P'dogs. I bought a few extra before O'bama's Inaguration, though I certainly didn't cause the primer shortage.

Haven't bought much in the way of components since then , but the $4K I had on hand in '08....is pretty much priceless at this time.

Well-kept components gain value way faster than the firearms themselves in this day and time.

Mike

Diver43

I found where all the primers went.  They are for sale on gunbroker for obnoxious prices.  Just like all the .22 ammo a few years ago.  I hope the price gougers choke on them

Linefinder

Although my inventory hasn't changed much in the past few years, this thread gave me the bug to check it again, and apply todays prices to the results. I've gotten through powder, bullets, and primers so far, and the $$ amount I'm at is jaw-dropping. If I continue and include factory rounds, handloads, and NIB brass......I might be tempted to sell it and buy a new truck. 

Who am I kidding......there will always be trucks for sale.

Mike