paying the price for the bump fire stock

[Lloyd Smale]

started the reloading process for the .223 i blasted this summer. Ive got the lnl set up with a sb die in the first station priming in the second and my dillon case trimmer on the third. I gone through about half the brass now and have used 1600 primers. Ill probaly do the next bunch over two days as its a boring job and i cant take it for more then a hour or two. Then i have to turn around and run them through again to charge and seat bullets. tell you what though it would sure be an overwelming task without a progressive with a case feeder and a dillion power trimmer!!

[drdougrx]

I have a couple thousand 223 cases as well....I dread the thoughts of prepping them.   Found a company that will deprime, resize, trim, chamfer, deburr, size primer pockets and polish for $30/k.  Going to try them out after the holidays.

[Lloyd Smale]

thats probably a steal! Your probably paying less then 10 bucks an hour to have it done figuring on time spend even with the right equiptment like i have. If your trimming any other way the time is probably double. Nice thing is this time all the primer pockets are swadged so its just a matter of running them through the press once to size prime and trim and a second time to charge and seat bullets. The case feeder and dillon trimmer are god sent in this project though.

[Lloyd Smale]

finished up today. Ended up doing 2300 and am about to pitch the hornady case feeder in the garbage. Its about impossible to get running and keep running with 223 cases. They either dont go in right or tip when they go in.

[bikerbeans]

lloyd,
Gotta love technology!  In the last 6 weeks I have processed about 2,000 once fired military crimped brass for my Wife's M4 & my son's AR.  I will probably do another 2,000 cases before the weather warms up.  They are both into the 3-gun shoots.  All this processing was done with a hand drill and lee shell holder/case trimmer & a homemade drill press mounted primer pocket reamer.  If I wasn't retired I would never spend this much time on a project.  Will the electric case trimmer setup work, or make any sense, with a Dillon 550?    I don't not have a case feeder for the 550.  BTW, I "steal" some of their loaded ammo and run some through my mini-14 from time to time.
thanks,
BB

[rdmallory]

With the price of .223 coming down I really have to look at the cost of reloading.

Primers $30
Powder $90 (23gn per round)
Brass    $50 (What I could sell 1000 for)
Bullets  $110

So your looking at $280 for 1000 rounds.

Not much more than what you can buy surplus for now.

http://palmettostatearmory.com/2516.php
http://www.surplusammo.com/223-55-grain-fmj-bt-pmc-bronze-1000-rounds/
http://www.sgammo.com/product/remington/1000-rds-223-remington-umc-55gr-fmj-ammo-l223r3


Might be able to save a couple bucks buying in bulk but you will still close to $250. This is not including hazmat fees.

Doug

[bikerbeans]

doug,
The last 2,000 I loaded was for just under $400.  Half the brass was free range pickup, got a good deal on a 8lb jug of powder.  Found FMJBT, 55 grainers, lead core for $80/1,000 delivered.  It is a bit cheaper than factory, just don't do the math on what your labor is worth per hour you might sell reloading equipment.
BB
 

[rdmallory]

You have to add the $100 to that price for what you could of sold the brass for.
So that bring the total the $250 per 100 about what you can buy them for.

I enjoy reloading but I have been spending my time lately reloading the rounds I can't buy for what I can reload for. 9mm is another one that is very cost to what you can buy them for.

5.7x28
30-40 Krag

I just purchased a 300 whisper upper and I can buy them for $11 a box of 20. Which is less than what the brass and bullets would cost me.

Doug

[Lloyd Smale]

It will work fine on a 550. What i do is set up my press with a small base die in the first step and prime in the second and trim in the third. Then i take them and tumble them to clean off the lube and then run them through a second time to charge and seat bullets. I like to sb size all my ar brass and i also trim them about every time. Brass grows fast in the ars. Another reason is both sb dies and trimming insures reliablility in all of my ars. Reliablility is my first consern in an ar. Threres nothing faster to trim brass then the dillon setup. As fast as you can stroke your handle the brass is trimmed and the cutter head is shapped to give a champer so you can skip that procedure as well. The case feeder is going to be faster. even the pos hornady with all the fooling around is proabably faster then hand feeding cases but the dillon trimmer will work well without it and still save you ALOT of time. It isnt cheap but its well worth it to me and id never go back to doing it any other way. I shoot alot of .223 and 308s in the ars and would be lost without it. I still do the rest of my brass on a rcbs power trimmer. I dont shoot enough of the other calibers to justify setting it up.

lloyd,
Gotta love technology!  In the last 6 weeks I have processed about 2,000 once fired military crimped brass for my Wife's M4 & my son's AR.  I will probably do another 2,000 cases before the weather warms up.  They are both into the 3-gun shoots.  All this processing was done with a hand drill and lee shell holder/case trimmer & a homemade drill press mounted primer pocket reamer.  If I wasn't retired I would never spend this much time on a project.  Will the electric case trimmer setup work, or make any sense, with a Dillon 550?    I don't not have a case feeder for the 550.  BTW, I "steal" some of their loaded ammo and run some through my mini-14 from time to time.
thanks,
BB

[bikerbeans]

Lloyd,
thanks for your input. 
BB

[jlwilliams]

  The bumpfire stock does look like a good way to convert currency into grins.  I'm hoping they make it for something like a 10-22 soon.  That way I convert smaller currency into grins.

[Lloyd Smale]

I buy in bulk and still can get primers for a 20 bucks a 1000 and got the ones i have now for closer to 15. For powder i still have about 5 kegs of surplus that i bought a couple years ago for 75 bucks a keg. Brass i dont have a clue as ive accumulated it over the years at differnt prices but alot came from just picking it up at the range. the local POs shoot at my range and leave there brass for me. Bullets i buy most from rocky mountain sales and i think the last ones were about 80 bucks a thousand so if a guy buys smart and scronges he can about cut your costs in half. Also you have to factor in that in that your brass cost is got to be split up over many shootings as there reuseable. Id be actual cost isnt much over a 100 bucks a 1000.

With the price of .223 coming down I really have to look at the cost of reloading.

Primers $30
Powder $90 (23gn per round)
Brass    $50 (What I could sell 1000 for)
Bullets  $110

So your looking at $280 for 1000 rounds.

Not much more than what you can buy surplus for now.

http://palmettostatearmory.com/2516.php
http://www.surplusammo.com/223-55-grain-fmj-bt-pmc-bronze-1000-rounds/
http://www.sgammo.com/product/remington/1000-rds-223-remington-umc-55gr-fmj-ammo-l223r3


Might be able to save a couple bucks buying in bulk but you will still close to $250. This is not including hazmat fees.

Doug

[Lloyd Smale]

spent the yesterday with the wifes help loading 5k onto stripper clips. Now thats a tedious job. Cool thing is that my ammo cans hold about twice as many rounds that way. Sure makes them heavy though.

[454Puma]

   Lloyd Smale
  Quite whinning I load for two AR's on a single stage press!    Then again I load for all my firearms on a single stage press.   Then again I don't do a thousand in one sitting either!  I do 20 here 50 there on bad weather days to pass the time. Alway do the case prep after I shoot.    I bought a couple thousand rounds of XM193/IMI193 when I first got into the AR scene and between that and reloading always have couple thousand rounds on hand.

[mcwoodduck]

started the reloading process for the .223 i blasted this summer. Ive got the lnl set up with a sb die in the first station priming in the second and my dillon case trimmer on the third. I gone through about half the brass now and have used 1600 primers. Ill probaly do the next bunch over two days as its a boring job and i cant take it for more then a hour or two. Then i have to turn around and run them through again to charge and seat bullets. tell you what though it would sure be an overwelming task without a progressive with a case feeder and a dillion power trimmer!!

I have a bunch of books on tape / CD that I listen to while reloading.  Each tape or disk is about an hour.  Most books are multiple CDs or tapes and when you get up to change the Disk you reload powder, primers, projectiles and cases. Also allows me time to load ammo into the boxes. 
Once before imoved I reloaded every shotgun hull I had.  While still shooting. But it took me three years to reshoot all of them.

[Lloyd Smale]

id rather be shot in the head 

   Lloyd Smale
  Quite whinning I load for two AR's on a single stage press!    Then again I load for all my firearms on a single stage press.   Then again I don't do a thousand in one sitting either!  I do 20 here 50 there on bad weather days to pass the time. Alway do the case prep after I shoot.    I bought a couple thousand rounds of XM193/IMI193 when I first got into the AR scene and between that and reloading always have couple thousand rounds on hand.

[bikerbeans]

what's a single stage press?    I luv my progressive press, I can even load 45-120 with it, however I think I spend a lot more time in setup and case prep than i do loading.
BB

[454Puma]

 Lloyd Smale
 Yea I know, just found how much fun it was when some yocal left me a couple hundred empty brass at the range.  Spent about a day depriming and case prep!!   But thats the price you pay for free brass.
bikerbeans
 You youngins kill me!  Haven't done a days work unless you loaded a couple hundred using a hand press!
 

[Lloyd Smale]

back before i had progressives to load 223s i used to sit and watch tv and size .223s on a hand press. Id size about 500 of them then prime them with a lee tool sitting in the living room and then go to the reloading room and charge and seat bullets. It was about the only way to keep up for me. But back then i sure wasnt as likely to go and shoot 500 in a day as i knew how much work it would take to recover. I wore three of those lee hand presses right out.