I am lucky to have a friend that reloads rifle and pistol ammo and another that does shotgun (if needed). I'd say about 60 percent of my ammo is handloads. What we've done on the rifle and pistol calibers is to settle on a "standardized" load for a given caliber and that's what gets loaded. For a .45 ACP it's a 230 grain bullet in either lead or JHP.
Standardization of primers, powders, and projectiles has simplified things and allows purchase in bulk. Many years ago there was a primer scare -- Clinton was going to issue and executive order banning the sale of them -- so I stocked up with 40,000 (10,000 each of small and large rifle and small and large pistol). We're still using this batch.
Likewise, I found a great deal on 10,000 bullets and purchased 5,000 147 grain .308 and 5,000 62 grain .224 bullets. They have lasted quite a while.
An 8 pound can of powder for pistols will last a long time. Rifles, will eat up that 8 pound can pretty quickly in the larger calibers, so the last time we got a deal on four 8 pound cans (mixed pistol and rifle powders -- 1 for pistol, 1 for small rifle, 2 for large rifle calibers -- that have lasted us well. Reloading costs (labor included) are still running about $0.10 a round. I provide all the powder, bullets, brass, and primers. The price beats both surplus and factory loads.
For practice, we load either .30-06 or .308 Winchester caliber with 147 grain or 150 grain FMJ bullets and for precision shooting we'll use the Sierra 168 or 175 grain Match Kings. In .223 Remington it's 62 grain bullets. For experimental purposes, we tried some 77 grain Match King loads and they were not stable through the AR's; we went back to the 62 grain bullets.
For precision work in the factory load department, it's hard to beat Federal Gold Medal Match. The .308 Winchester and .223 Remington are extremely accurate. However, the factory fodder has gotten very expensive and I've shot only a few rounds. The rest is part of the stockpile.
If you have just a few calibers to feed, it is easy to gear-up to load them. You'll need a manual, a press, dies and shell holders for your calibers, a powder measure, case lubricant, and a scale. The powder cans don't take up much space, nor do cases, or bullets, or primers. You can store everything in a steel 20mm ammo can (except perhaps for the powder cans).
Smokeless powder is very stable and very safe in its steel or plastic containers. Primers need careful handling but are easily and safely stored in G.I. ammo cans. Bullets and cases don't take up much space. If you have cases in-process -- fired, deprimed, cleaned and primed -- they should be stored separately to avoid confusion.
Your entire loading bench can be mounted on a folding table that can be set up just about anywhere -- garage, corner of the basement, etc. Make sure your reloading area is cool and dry. Smoking is a big NO, NO, NO when around reloading components such as exposed primers and powder. Smoke outside.
Two other things. First, keep records of the stuff you load -- type and kind of primer, cases used, powder used, bullets used. Why? Because sometimes you run into loadings that certain guns shoot really well or won't shoot at all well. You may also have some functioning problems with some loads. In these cases, your records provide clues to the fixes.
Second, if you have two or more rifles in the same caliber -- say, .223 Remington -- make sure you full-length size the cases. Full-length sizing restores the case to the way it was prior to firing. A full-length sized case can be reloaded for any firearm for that caliber. Neck sizing only (as some match shooters do) means you can only shoot that reloaded ammo in one particular gun with that chamber. Firearms, even in the same caliber, have different dimensioned chambers. A full-length sized case will fit all. A neck sized case will fit only one. Pistols aren't affected because they are always full-length sized by their reloading dies.
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