45 acp Ammo

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I've been shooting Georgia Arms ammo for over 15 years with no problems. Yes, they load their own in a factory in Villa Rica, GA. The "Canned Heat" specials used to be obvious reloads years ago, but the last few times I bought some it all looked like new brass to me.
 
Damon555 said:
I love a huge pile of freshly loaded 45 ACP.......

1000 rounds for $150. Not the cheapest possible but still much cheaper than buying loaded ammo.

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That comes to .15 per round, and you're shooting 230 FMJ, from the looks of it. I'm reloading with 230 LRN, and I can't get my price down below .18 per round. Where are you buying your components?

I'm getting bulk lead from midway, and then primers and powder from cabela's (buying these online entails a hazmat fee that costs a ton).
 
0to60,

Your bulk lead bullets from Midway is one thing that is keeping your price up...Have you give Missouri Bullet Co a look? I loaded 2k lead 200 SWC and 2k 230 LR this winter. Savy shopping got my cost down to around .12 a round.
 
20 years ago before I started reloading, I used a now defunct company named National Bullet Company to load for me. I could get 1k .38 158 gr LSWC loaded and shipped back to me for a little over 60 bucks. I shot many thousand of them.....The also sold some really nice lead bullets. Matter of fact, I've got 750 of their bullets left that I plan to load tomorrow....At any rate, if I didn't load now I'd probably have Mastercast do it for me.
 
I don't know, I'm kinda of the same opinion as rellascout on reloads - I'm not sure I want to pack my own shoot...I want ammo to go boom, but I've always been the type that wanted the lead to go down range.

You guys that shoot reloads, or reload your own...what experience have you had? Have you ever had problems? How long till you're proficient at it?

...I ask these questions because if we're headed where I think we're headed, I probably need to think about it - but to be honest, I'm concerned about safety.
 
I dumped S&W .45Auto. Now I shoot S&W Model 17. Ammo is $1.99 per 50 at local store and with proper cleaning the gun will last forever. I don't have to pay outrageous prices for factory ammo or spend valuable time at the reloading bench just to make holes in paper at local indoor range. Life is grand!
 
The White Tiger said:
I don't know, I'm kinda of the same opinion as rellascout on reloads - I'm not sure I want to pack my own shoot...I want ammo to go boom, but I've always been the type that wanted the lead to go down range.

You guys that shoot reloads, or reload your own...what experience have you had? Have you ever had problems? How long till you're proficient at it?

...I ask these questions because if we're headed where I think we're headed, I probably need to think about it - but to be honest, I'm concerned about safety.
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I've been reloading for about 6 years now and have NEVER loaded a bad round, they have all shot and performed as they should. It seems that people who don't reload think it is some magical art that is really difficult to perform. I started with a single stage Lee kit that cost a whopping $70 and I was loading perfectly functioning cartridges within an hour of unboxing the press. Really the only two steps that you can go dangerously wrong on are dropping the wrong amount of powder or seating the bullet too deep. Both of these potential hazards are easily addressed by weighing powder charges frequently (a powder cop die is another precaution some choose to take) and using a set of calipers to measure the length of the cartridge after loading. I have had several factory new rounds that have been duds or have shown signs of being loaded too hot and have NEVER had a problem with one of my reloads, so I trust my reloads more than factory ammo. Just follow directions and use common sense and reloading will not be an issue.
 
The White Tiger said:
I don't know, I'm kinda of the same opinion as rellascout on reloads - I'm not sure I want to pack my own shoot...I want ammo to go boom, but I've always been the type that wanted the lead to go down range.

You guys that shoot reloads, or reload your own...what experience have you had? Have you ever had problems? How long till you're proficient at it?

...I ask these questions because if we're headed where I think we're headed, I probably need to think about it - but to be honest, I'm concerned about safety.
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I've only been reloading for about a year now and 45ACP is the only caliber I reload. I've sent around 1,000 rounds of my own reloads downrange with 0 problems. Very simple and safe as long as you can follow basic guidelines and pay attention.

I really enjoy it because I can hand load different charges to find and use what shoots best in my guns. It's really a hobby within a hobby.
 
not just 45acp

bulk 22's have gone from $9.89 to $18.00 +$ in just 2 years.

the writing was on the wall 2 years back. this is why i have bought bulk packs of 22's every few weeks for over 2 years now.

another reason i started reloading 30+ years ago. zero trouble except an occasional new bullet i might try and find my gun does not care for it , if i stay with some kind of round nose there is no problems at all
just shot up some 1990 stuff last week and all went down range.
 
CHEVELLE427 said:
not just 45acp

bulk 22's have gone from $9.89 to $18.00 +$ in just 2 years.

the writing was on the wall 2 years back. this is why i have bought bulk packs of 22's every few weeks for over 2 years now.
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No doubt about that, ammo prices have gone up across the board every few months over the last few years. I remember like it was yesterday walmart selling brass-cased 9mm $4/50, .45acp $9/50, .223 $3/20, .22lr $8/550, etc. I was ordering 1,000 round cases of brass .223 online for about $100. .45 acp was the first round I started reloading because I was tired of paying prices that would now be a steal!
 
The White Tiger said:
What books/reference materials would you reloaders receommend...should I decide to look into this?
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Lee modern reloading edition 2 is a good book to start with, it has loads for just about every caliber out there and also has a large section that covers a large range of reloading topics like casting bullets. Honestly the only literature I used for a while was the instruction manuals that came with the reloading kit and dies.
 
Most recently, I started reloading with the Forster Co-Ax 18 years ago and that's over the 50k round mark. No signs of wear, and with no testosterone poisoning I'm meticulous, patient. No problems (no squibs, no over-crimps, not even a dud primer). When I chose to buy a progressive I bought a Dillon 650 and it's only run about 24K. It just needs to be kept clean and it cranks out reloads very nicely. Paying attention has kept me from blithely boxing up a round that didn't seat a primer perfectly - but I come awfully close to OCD.

I know my amunition. I carry mint, virgin components that are matched to under .2 grain and .002" OAL as personal defensive loads. Twice a year I replace the ammunition and box it up, dating it, and wait a couple years to chrono it to check for consistency and function. I haven't yet broken +/- 15fps, ever.

The results depend on the individual, hon.

If it doesn't interest you, move on and stay safe.
 
speer is good but you will find some books wont have the same info on min and max loads, so a few books are good to have,

most data is free on line or some gun shops have free handouts from powder companies.

my 2 to go to books are lee and speer. i have 5 or 6 books and a lot of hand outs along with marked sites on the INTERNET.
 
x2 on the Lee book for good reading material. I enjoyed the book just as one to read. I also like the Speer manuals and usually use them for data.......IMO, it is good to have two different sources of reloading data to cross reference to each other in a way to double check recommended powder charges.
 
Honestly I look at doing it all the time but when I factor in the cost of equipment, time and the space which might be the biggest issue of all never pull the trigger. I do not have a room I can dedicate to it at this time.

There are some cost savings but when I question a lot of reloaders and they are honest it is not that they spend less they just shoot more which is a good thing. :D

What I have found is that most people have a $$$ amount they can spend on shooting. Lets say its $150 a month. If you buy NIB in bulk that means about 500 rounds of 45 a month. Once they start reloading they are still spending $150 but they are now shooting 1000 rounds a month. Again not a bad thing but it does not really end up putting money back in your pocket.... :evil:
 
Absolutely!

I love to bake, cinnamon rolls from scratch with the best ingredients; a pan doesn't live to see 48 hours pass and I haven't been a size 8 in a long time!

I reload, so of course "the savings" don't go into my purse! If I started buying components in bulk again the cost/round of 230gr ball FMJ (not plated) would be just about exactly $.07/round per 1000. Go plated, or hard cast and it drops another two cents/round easily.

We're talkin a boatload of downrange goodness here!
 
What brand is the "canned heat" 45acp 230 grain special? Wonder if the company is reloading and selling their reloads...
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Canned Heat is Georgia Arms bulk ammo. Excellent ammo and generally new or almost new brass, it reloads just fine.

By the way, GA updates their website pretty much daily. Just last week I checked every morning for several days and found "out of stock" then the next morning there it was, got my order in. The next day I went back to check and "out of stock" again.

So I am assuming it's a fairly realtime notification, keep checking back. Also, they have the note they are out of metal ammo cans but that's only the .30 cal size. If you order 1000 rounds they still ship in the metal .50 can.
 
No, I don't think I would do it for a cost savings, I think I would do it for the same reason I just bought a years worth of food for everyone in my family...
 
Trisha said:
If I started buying components in bulk again the cost/round of 230gr ball FMJ (not plated) would be just about exactly $.07/round per 1000. Go plated, or hard cast and it drops another two cents/round easily.
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How??

The cheapest way I can buy powder is at Cabela's (at least, where I live). 1# of Win 231 costs $20, before tax. There are 7000 grains in a pound, and my load is 5 grains. So that means I use 70% of a 1# container of Win 231. 1000 cast 230 grain bullets costs me $93 shipped, that's through Missouri Bullet Company. 1000 primers is around $30, again at Cabela's. I have to pay sales tax of 9.5% there, but its cheaper than paying shipping + hazmat fee if I buy online (that goes for powder too).

So excluding the price of brass, that all comes to .14 a round. How are you doing this for .07 a round? Heck, the price of the lead alone comes to .09 a round.
 
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