Worth it to reload shotgun right now?

[Pickin]

Hello All

 

With the current state of the economy and not able to find primers or if you do you'll need an arm and a leg I pose this question. 

 

Is it worth it to reload shotgun?  I am an avid 3 gunner and use the federal top gun round for practice and matches. Local store $13 a box. I'll need a complete setup for shotgun. Have plenty of hulls and podwer. I reload on a Dillon 750 9, 40, and 223. 

 

Ideas, thoughts, let me know.  I am on the fence now. 

[twodownzero]

I would love to reload for SASS, but I can't find any shot to buy.  I was going to get started and primers are available again, but without shot, what's the point?  It is absolutely cost effective to reload shotgun even at $100 a thou for primers.

[Farmer]

2 hours ago, twodownzero said:

I would love to reload for SASS, but I can't find any shot to buy.  I was going to get started and primers are available again, but without shot, what's the point?  It is absolutely cost effective to reload shotgun even at $100 a thou for primers.

Rotometals has some but it’s $$. Have you tried stopping by a local gun club/trap house? I know a fellow who shoots trap and he got me 2 bags of re-claim and a bag of re-dropped. If you use Rem Gun clubs and AA’s it’s easy to build a 1 oz or 7/8 oz load with little powder. Clays, E3, Tghtwad ect. The top guns will work but they just take a bit more powder and getting a good crimp with 1 oz is a bit more challenging. Using scrounged hulls from the trap house I can assemble a 1 oz 1175 fps load for around $5 a box. Now that’s with primers that we’re $35 per K but you can do the math to figure out if it’s worth it to you. If you just need a couple hundred a MEC loader would work. Just my 2 cents. 

Edited Thursday at 01:01 AM by Farmer

[AHI]

My current cost to load a 1 ounce 12 gauge. Is $6.80.  You have to buy everything in bulk. To get that price. I buy components at least a year in advance.

Edited Thursday at 02:32 AM by AHI

[Chills1994]

I just bought a brand new Citori 725 in 20gauge.

 

Since I am starting with brand new Winchester AA factory ammo, and saving those hulls, I am also kinda starting from scratch with 20 gauge wads and 20 gauge powder (572 or International Clays).

 

so if I can get this screenshot to load, you will see my cost for a box of 25 is 7 dollars and some change:

 

 

I had just bought my Mec 9000 GN in 20 gauge used off a guy on FB marketplace.  It was $450.  Factory Winchester AA’s in 20 when I can find them are $13 a box.

 

I do have the ability to make my own birdshot which drops my per box cost for 12 gauge down to $2 and some change.

 

which is kind of an accounting glitch.  It does take electricity to melt the lead.  It also takes electricity to graphite the shot in my old vibratory tumbler.

 

 

[Chills1994]

Here is the link to that reloading cost calculator:

 

http://www.anycalculator.com/ShotgunReloading.html

[Farmer]

For 20ga if your not too proud do do a little digging at the trap house most people just leave the hulls lay. I’ve gotten several K after a weekend shoot. 

[Chills1994]

I am local to the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, IL.

 

so I went “dumpster diving” a couple of Fridays back:

 

 

soooo ….come about August 5th or so this year, when the ATA is having their Grand, I’ll wind up with more and varied 12 gauge hulls than I will know what to do with.

 

20 gauge hulls…. Not so much.

 

Maybe if I went over to the sporting clays or 5 stand range.

 

 

[Farmer]

17 minutes ago, Chills1994 said:

I am local to the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, IL.

 

so I went “dumpster diving” a couple of Fridays back:

 

 

soooo ….come about August 5th or so this year, when the ATA is having their Grand, I’ll wind up with more and varied 12 gauge hulls than I will know what to do with.

 

20 gauge hulls…. Not so much.

 

Maybe if I went over to the sporting clays or 5 stand range.

 

 

Many at sporting use 28g but there should be more 20’s there too. I got a mess of 20g Top Guns after a youth shoot that my cousin grabbed for me. There was a bunch of the Winchester el-cheapo’s too and they will work too, just a little more challenging to load.   Just a little info on hulls is that Fiocchi, Rio, Cheddite and some Herters (Cheddite) have a bit larger primer hole. Those brand primers are also a smidge larger so if you use them in a Fed, Rem or WW hull it can stretch the pocket and make a US primer loose.  If you use Cheddite’s in everything then it’s not a problem. I think Fiocchi is the largest. Just what everyone needs now that components are difficult to get. 

[Chills1994]

I have only ever used Cheddite 209’s.

 

I bought my first brick last year at the Grand from Gamaliel.  That was 40 bucks.

 

A local reloading store has them in consistently.

 

But the price is now $60 a brick.

 

I am saving the translucent Fiocchi’s for my hunting buddy who is thinking about reloading some buckshot rounds.

 

It makes it real easy to identify whats inside:

 

 

I have buckets and buckets of the red AA’s and the grey AA’s .

 

FWIW, I have not seen Winchester 209’s on the shelf in 3 years.  I was at the US Open about 3 weeks ago.  I stopped by the Winchester booth and asked the rep “Where are the primers?”

 

He gave this weird smirk/smile and gave me this line that sound too well practiced, “All our primers are going into fully loaded ammunition.”

 

The dude was wearing a baseball style cap.

 

call me a “boomer”, but his bill was entirely too flat.

[warpspeed]

I reload for trap and in my O/U, they are just fine. Cost these days using new shot is still at $ 10 / box but at least I can make ammo to shoot.

 

To make shotgun reloads that will run 100% in an autoloader I think would be a challenge.  Not impossible but I think out of 25 there may be 4 or 5 that I wouldn't trust on the clock. 

 

Where I can save $ is on practice loads in which I use reclaimed shot that's half the price of new and get the box price down to $ 7 with the current cot of oprimers, wads & powder.

 

I'm still using up stuff I bought years ago so technically I'm around 4 but sooner or later I will need to buy new stuff.

[Chills1994]

The last station in my Mec 9000’s is a taper crimp.  (Of course, the first station is the collet resizer and depriming)

 

My 870 and 1100 had ZERO issues with my 12 gauge reloads.  

 

This is my one local Walmarts price per flat of 12ga AA’s:

 

[Farmer]

Brownells has Top Gun 12g for $99. At least the prices seem to be coming down a bit. 
https://www.brownells.com/ammunition/shotgun-ammo/12-gauge-2-3-4-1oz-8-250-case-sku105054057-88372-260373.aspx?trk_msg=KO9LT1BIRSR414V52QQ1CDE5LS&trk_contact=22B8U0J2G817SJESAUNGIOTJAK&trk_sid=D87COQHNQGD7INPL4JH3MRKVNO&trk_link=CJS5CGMQBQ943DUMHRNGNEBJ38&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=View+product+recommended+for+you&utm_campaign=Ammunition&utm_content=2022_06_25_OnSale