do y'all reload??

primers are scarce but do show up from time to time, glad I was prepared

 

Midway had some small rifle primers today. After hazmat and ship would have been about $100 for a brick

 

I'll not be buying until the prices come back to more or less normal. I bought a brick of large pistol at the Bend Sportsmans Wearhouse back in March for $29 and 200 Small Pistol magnum at another SW in Bozeman MT for $2.90/100

 

I hope I’m wrong, but you might be waiting awhile.

 

I used to reload a lot back in the mid 90's. I shot a 38 super Colt racegun in IPSC competition. Those days are gone....too old and slow and most of the local clubs and ranges are disbanded. Too much liability I suppose. I sit and wonder about cranking my old Dillon press up...still have brass, primers and powder but I just don't know if any of the components have lost any reliability. Powder has all been sealed but none of it has been in much climate control. Hot and cold garage but out of any moisture. Anyone have any suggestions? All I know to do is load a few and try....only problem is we all over loaded these 38 super rounds to get the compensators to work efficiently and used barrels with supported heavy chambers. Brass didn't last but a few reloads since it was super hot loads.

 

The brass should be fine on a straight walled case if the rim and the mouth are still intact and no bulging. Usually the primer pockets are what are first to fail. So that would be what to check.

I use to count tics and burn some time fuse when we had to be precise about explosive charges. By knowing how long it took to burn through x amount of tics we could math how much we need for a specific task. This was because it was hydroscopic and time fuse would burn differently. Gun Power is the same way. Best case scenario is it’s the same as you last used it and all your old loads will be the same. Worst case scenario, some vaper got to it and the burn rate is a little slower. Just start a little above minimum load and work your way up like any other load development and you should be fine. A good chrono helps. Initially I might check for squibs if you don’t see rounds on target, but I doubt you’ll have any problems.

The powder isn’t volatile.

 

Nope.

I regret not getting into reloading way more than I regret buying this gun or selling that gun.

 

I thought the same but after reading so many primer manufacturers saying that all their effort is being directed toward supplying manufactured ammo, I think we'll be waiting... and waiting... and waiting.

Just a few years ago, I thought having 100 rounds for each gun I owned was being pretty well stocked. After getting into reloading, I bumped that up to 500. After really getting interested in politics, I again bumped it up to 1k. Now, seeing how things are going, I wish I'd have bought 10-20 times that.

I'm down to my last several hundred pistol and rifle primers and paying .30/per vs. .03 is something I still can't quite fathom...

 

I bought five 1 pound jugs of Goex FF black powder and have been shooting my muzzle loader and black powder pistol. I had plenty of caps and lead balls so I’m set.

 

I'm good. I bought a few reloading supplies & 22 every month at BiMart so no issues or slowdowns with shooting. I've got 100 pounds or so of .45acp and .357.
We are lucky that the BLM is only a few miles away and tey to get out to shoot & campfire weekly. We shoot a few mags

 

I wish I had some 357. I have a Ruger Blackhawk 3 screw from 1966. It’s so much fun to shoot.

 

And me to the "wish I'd started when things were still reasonable" crowd . I'm down to about 1k rounds in every caliber except 22, so that's the only thing I'm currently shooting.

 

If you are in the PNW I have plenty avail