I've been reloading rifle and pistol for a few years. I like doing it and I can generally do it cheaper than the cheap store stuff by about 50%. And it's a great wintertime hobby. But, I only shoot probably less than 5,000 rounds of pistol a year, and probably less than 500 rounds in my .308 bolt gun a year.
What I shoot a lot more of is 12 ga.
However, when I look into reloading shotgun, it seems like it's difficult to beat regular #8 boxes of Winchester, Federal or Remington at Walmart. I can get them about $.25 or less a round and even buying in bulk, it seems like the best I could do would be $.30 a round for reloads. If I can get hulls for free, I can get the cost down to about $.22 a shell. I'm not sure the minimal savings (if any!) is worth my time, although I do like reloading. But I like shooting more.
I'm only looking for shells that go bang and break the round orange birds. I don't need some super awesome recipe. For you shotgunners, are you saving money by reloading? And if so, do you mind sharing your cost and how you are doing it? It seems that it's easy to save when reloading metallic cartridge but I can't see how to save with shotshells.
(By the way, I'm not factoring in the cost of the equipment, the numbers above are strictly the component prices. I'm fine with buying the equipment if I can substantially save on each shell.)
Thanks!
What I shoot a lot more of is 12 ga.
However, when I look into reloading shotgun, it seems like it's difficult to beat regular #8 boxes of Winchester, Federal or Remington at Walmart. I can get them about $.25 or less a round and even buying in bulk, it seems like the best I could do would be $.30 a round for reloads. If I can get hulls for free, I can get the cost down to about $.22 a shell. I'm not sure the minimal savings (if any!) is worth my time, although I do like reloading. But I like shooting more.
I'm only looking for shells that go bang and break the round orange birds. I don't need some super awesome recipe. For you shotgunners, are you saving money by reloading? And if so, do you mind sharing your cost and how you are doing it? It seems that it's easy to save when reloading metallic cartridge but I can't see how to save with shotshells.
(By the way, I'm not factoring in the cost of the equipment, the numbers above are strictly the component prices. I'm fine with buying the equipment if I can substantially save on each shell.)
Thanks!