JD45 Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Our club used to get it cheap. We all complained when it went from 13.80 to over 15.00 a bag three years ago. Today the price jumped seven dollars to 26 bucks a bag! Primers are also out of sight. If you have the cash now would be the time to buy all of the cheap factory loads left in the country. It just doesn't pay to reload light 12ga. shells anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Well then I'm happy I picked up 500# of #9's a few years ago, I just wish now that I picked up 7.5's in the same order as I use those more these days. I guess I'll be stocking up on another few hundred pounds this week if the price is reasonable. Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Yes, I quit reloading 12 gauge a few years ago because the cost of lead got so high. I have been buying 12 gauge Remington 1 oz game loads for about $3.18 a box on sale at Dick's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 So what you are saying is that those few bags of #7 I bought five years ago to use as weights for my wife's halloween props are now worth real money? Hot damn, we are eating steak tonite!!! Seriously though, I always thought that shotgun reloading had the least financial return and with current prices buying your ammo at Dicks or somesuch makes a lot of sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mscott Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Lately I've been loading wy 12ga with 7/8oz of shot for skeet. That makes the loading a little more economical and shooting a "minor" 12ga load is pretty nice also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sslav Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 So what you are saying is that those few bags of #7 I bought five years ago to use as weights for my wife's halloween props are now worth real money? Hot damn, we are eating steak tonite!!!Seriously though, I always thought that shotgun reloading had the least financial return and with current prices buying your ammo at Dicks or somesuch makes a lot of sense. I was away from shooting sports for about 15 years untill my recent return. Back then I used to shoot trap and loaded my own shells. I was a poor college student and it did make financial sense. Once I started shooting again I looked at reloading shotgun shells and it simply did not make any sense at all. By my accounting it would actually cost me more to reload than to buy ammo on sale at Dicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 The thing about shotshell reloading is, I don't load to be economical anymore, I load because they don't offer what I want. It's tough to find a 1 ounce load of 4's for 12 gauge that'll do 1300 fps. It's difficult to find a 12 gauge 7/8 oz load of 7 1/2's that'll do 1400 fps locally. I have recently found that S&B makes a 3 1/4 dram - 1 1/8 - 7.5 load that I like for 3-gunning. I picked up a couple cases. The other side of the coin is most of the cheapy ammo utilizes soft shot. Soft shot = inconsistent patterns. The other thing is, I'm in deep as far as shotshell loading goes. I have all the components for thousands of rounds, I may as well use em up. I still wish I'd bought 7.5's instead of 9's. I did pick up 100# of 7.5's over the summer. I got the harder high quality shot, and intend to use it for my 20 gauge 870. If I have the time, I'll reload. If I don't and I don't need anything special, I'll pick up a case of Rio's or S&B's. I was happily surprised to find a local place that had an ounce of 6's in 20 gauge that cost the same as 7/8 ounce of 7.5's. Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENE S Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Vince Can you reload 20 ga with 9 pellet buck shot.? Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intel6 Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 The thing about shotshell reloading is, I don't load to be economical anymore, I load because they don't offer what I want. Vince I hear you vince. I load a reduced recoil 12 pellet OO buck load that I can't buy. I also cast and reload my own slugs and OO buckshot and load it for much cheaper than it costs to buy it. Another thing I load for blasting steel plates is reclaimed shot which I got really cheap. I figure it it a waste to use nice new shot when I am blasting steel. Neal in AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 (edited) 9 pellet buckshot of what size? In the 20 gauge, you can't load 9 pellets of 00 in a 2 3/4" shell. The largest Buck size I've ever seen loaded commercially in a 20 gauge has been #2 buck and more commonly #4 buck. I can and have loaded 00, 0, 1, and 4 buck in the 12 gauge. Ballistic Products has a Slug and Buckshot manual in which they have tailored loads for the specified sizes and shells. I tend to like #1 buck as I can load 12 of those using the same data as 9 - 00's. They are the same weight and the 1's aren't that different (ok, 33 cal down to .30 cal). I can do some research if you like. I've not done any 20 gauge buck loads, but I can certainly see what loads could be utilized with what I have in stock. I used to be able to get reclaimed lead shot locally, it was good for powdering close range rabbit targets in sporting clays where the flat surfaces of the shot made for erratic and thereby more open patterns. Almost a spreader without the spreader wads in use. But that too has gone the way of the Dodo in recent years in my area. I remember paying $10 a bag for it. Vince Edited December 23, 2006 by sargenv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Murphy Posted December 29, 2006 Share Posted December 29, 2006 Did a plumbing job for a guy had this 6' high shot tower in his basement. He used recovered shot and melted it down. Neat little bugger. I hate the muss and fuss of casting anymore but maybe that could work for you. Ted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doggorloader Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 Just got home from picking up another 3 months worth of components to be equally distributed around the clays course. #7 1/2 and #8 magnum hard shot was $23.49 a bag up from $18.50 in August. Win 209 primers at $22.99 a 1000. I won't (I say I won't) shoot promo shells but even they are over $40.00 a flat so.......... Shoot less rounds of clays? Just like I drive less at $3.00 / gallon ? Probably at some point ya gotta start thinkin that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Freeman Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 I am about a half keyboard stroke from buying a Littleton shotmaker. I have unlimited access to almost free lead... Beats well over a buck a pound. Might even be fun. And hell, most of it would be for 3-gun. Its not like its for 60 yard crossers. I still have about 1600 lbs of factory shot for shots like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 I am about a half keyboard stroke from buying a Littleton shotmaker. I have unlimited access to almost free lead... I've heard both good and bad things about them. I can't remember where but one guy said he could never get it to work. Someone else said it was the ticket. I guess as they say, YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straightshooter1 Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 I have heard more bad than good about the shotmaker. Apparently it is a real messy operation as well as being kinda unsatisfactory. I considered it, then decided to pass. Sadly, the sporting clays/skeet/5 stand bug has bitten hard and I now have a 12, 20 and 28 to feed. Not to mention the Model 42 410 Deluxe. I think I will just have to suck up the price because, just like $3.00 gas didn't make me drive less, $30 shot and primers will not make me shoot less (at least as long as the bug has its teeth in me). Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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