Are many of you interested in reloading?  I ve found that the only way I can shoot as much as I like is to reload.  I enjoy it and am able to reload for pennies a round for hand gun. 

 

I found a toyota dealer that had about 700 pounds of tire wieghts he just gave me.  I melted them down, cleaning up the lead and poured it into a cupcake mold.  These cupcakes weigh about two pounds each and fit into my melter.  Great source of fairly hard lead.

 

I bought a cheap double mold (230 gr) and cast about a thousand bullets at a time.  Total cost so far, just my time.

 

I love to use other peoples brass that they leave at the range.  In a .45 the brass just holds everything together.  I bought a fair set of dies and even reload Wolf steel cases.  I ve found they tend to crack faster than actuall brass, but if their free, the price is right.

 

I have a single stage press so it takes a while to reload a thousand rounds, but I can shoot as much as I want on a trip to the range.

 

I got into reloading when I bought my M-1.  It took a while, but after a few months, I reload 5.56, 9mm, 45 and 30-06.  The key is uniformity.  After I found the round that preformed the way I wanted, I try to make them all the same.

 

Safety is a key factor.  I used a wrong powder chart and overloaded about a 100 rounds of .45.  My 1911 shot them fine, but it buldged the barrel of my Ruger P-90 (ever so slightly, but the slide would stick back).  Counting shipping it was almost a two hundred dollar mistake.

 

I ve about talked myself into getting a progressive press.  It will speed things up, but like I said, I am cheap.

 

I use Bullseye for both my pistol loads and IMR 3031 for both rifle loads.  That keeps it simple. 

 

I bought a Tarus .45 and found that it has real lite primer strike.  I kept getting missfires with Federal Large Pistol primers so I switched to CCI.  I havn't had one since.

 

I would love to hear your experiences and see what your faviorate loads are.

 

Thanks,

 

Jim