Reloading: Rolling your own Ammo

We’ve all probably encountered this negative reaction at our gun club. The favourite seems to be, ‘making ammo cheaper and better than factory stuff? Yeah, but how much did all your bloody kit cost, and where the hell would I put it?’ Let’s face it; some shooters will never be convinced. Good luck to them.

For the rest of us there are combinations of really good reasons to learn and apply reloading skills. Whilst saving money may be the most obvious, the most necessary is the assembly of calibres that are no longer commercially listed. Improved accuracy and greater range of performance from a given cartridge are the other two popular candidates. An oblique reason is the resulting improvement in the understanding of ballistics, particularly exterior; perhaps making for better marksmanship. My reasons are pleasure, curiosity/ experimentation, improved accuracy and the acquisition of knowledge; in short I’m an anorak!

BANGS FOR YOUR BUCKS

Let’s do some numbers with a selection of common calibres. In the rifle corner we’ll put .243 Win (£27.50/20 rd box average) with .223 Rem (£21.50/20 rd box average) in the middle and good old .38 Special (£16.50/50rd box average) in the LBR/ Action corner. For calculation purposes we’ll assume annual burns of 500, 1000 and 2500 rounds respectively. Taking our ‘typical’ prices that’s an annual spend of £687.50, £1075.00 and £825.00. So, what about home brew factory duplication?
Ignoring the cost of our labour and any shipping costs, we arrive at the following ball-park numbers. Our .243 price comprises a 30p V-MAX bullet, 27p of IMR 4831 powder, a 4p primer and a 10p allowance for brass. That’s £14.20 per box equivalent = half price. The .223 V-MAX costs 25p, 12.6p for the IMR 4198, 4p for the primer and a 6p allowance for the brass, making a £9.52 equivalent. That’s just under half price. As for the .38 Special, we spent 16p on the 158gn LRN pill, 1.7p on the Red Dot powder, 4p for the primer and a case allowance of 2 pence. An equivalent of £11.85 per box, two thirds of the retail price.

Taking our assumed usage we’ll get annual savings of between £275 and £550.

GETTING KITTED OUT

In order to construct our money saving ammo we must buy a suite of tools. A loading manual, O- frame press, die set, shell holder, powder measure, scales, case lube/pad and priming tool would complete the basic assemblage. All this could be yours for as little as £275 based upon the Lee Challenger Kit or, say, £535 for the excellent RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit. You’ll need to get the correct die set and shell holder separately but I’ve included them in the typical price. Bear in mind that there are scalable savings with each additional calibre that you propose to reload. After all, you only need one press, one powder measure, one priming tool and many shell holders will handle other calibres using the same case head. You get the idea?

There are a few important additions to consider, such as safety and location. Safety glasses and fire extinguisher must be at the top of the list, along with a good Vernier calliper and cloth or nitrile gloves. Start your record book or spreadsheet at day one, even if you are only using factory duplication loads. A permanent or semi permanent location is desirable, preferably away from open fires and distractions such as TV or ankle biters. A robust timber (NOT metal) workbench is essential. It should be anchored to either the wall or floor to provide sufficient stability to withstand the operation of the press. The small German Jago bench is under £100 and provides a decent starting point. Larger and more rugged designs are available from Sjobergs and Axminster. Alternatively, there are plenty of DIY plans on the web. Shelves and a lockable cabinet will help to keep the propellants and primers away from juvenile attention. Remember that black powder storage is subject to specific legal controls.

FORWARD PLANNING

A total ‘getting started’ budget of around £700 to safely assemble your first calibre would be reasonable, but the cost of adding each successive calibre could be less than £100, the economies of scale again. Based upon our assumed levels of use this represents a payback period of less than three years for the start-up, and a year for each additional calibre.

However, there is an important question to ask before rushing to your local store. What will your future requirements include? If you’re only going to load your current calibre and in similar annual quantities, then whatever meets your needs today will suffice. But if you fancy adding .50 BMG or .338 Lap Mag at a later date, or expanding your production to include swaging lead or jacketed bullets (especially if you’re reviving calibres that are no longer commercially available), or just a dramatic increase in quantities, then plan and buy your kit accordingly.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

Having established and equipped your reloading bench it is likely that you will want to evolve the loads that you produce. Accurising and tuning will involve additional expense – from a chronograph to specialist gauges and tools – too many to itemise this month…. but that’s where future editions of this column become relevant.

There are some legal and practical hoops to jump through. In order to acquire primers or primed cases you will be required to show your FAC to the vendor. The purchase of ‘expanding’ bullets is conditional upon your authority to possess expanding ammunition, usually in the form of a condition on your FAC. Make sure that you bring your local firearms department up to speed with your new obsession! It will explain the absence of ammo purchases at the time of renewal. Don’t enter your ammo production on your ticket; you have no authority to do so.

However, you may give (but not sell) ammo to a shooting colleague providing that he has the appropriate authority for calibre, type and quantity on his ticket. In this instance you must make an entry on his FAC. Check that the venues at which you shoot permit the use of reloaded ammo and that you have suitable third party insurance cover… some Association memberships include such cover.