Guys, if you have been on the fence about getting into shotgun reloading BUT buying slug ammo for your 12-ga is really eating into your budget I'm here to say that for an initial outlay of about $195 you can get equipped with the hardware to be making your own. And it will shoot just as well, or better, than the general use slug ammo we purchase for practice/range use!
For the cost of forty 5-rd boxes of store bought slugs (presuming that you can scrounge up some scrap lead) it's very possible that you can sever your need to go to a store to get the ammo you need.
All you need to get started is a $12 hot plate and an old stainless steel (or cast iron) deep sauce pan.
And a $35 Lee slug mould.
Add a Lee Load-All press for under $100 (used) plus a $15 Lee or Lyman or RCBS pouring ladle.
Should run you under $200.
Okay, I didn't include the consummables such as buying a big 500-ct bag of wads for about ten bucks. Or Smokeless Powder that might run $25, and of course primers that will go $50 for a thousand.
But heck, it's like golf. Like the "hardware" to reload ammo, it takes a bit of money to initially get clubs and shoes. The balls and greens fees are totally up to you depending on your interest and drive to play! Or fishing equipment: having rods and reels is good but to keep fishing you need hooks and line and bait, right?
A very good friend of mine has been loading his own 1-0z slugs for a while and I was able to borrow his slug mould recently. I found it very easy to make good slugs with just a pouring ladle and a pot of molten lead. These took me less than an hour to make while enjoying the morning on my front porch....
Thank You, oli~~~
Of course, if you've acquired the hardware and powder and wads and primers, then instead of pouring your 1-oz slugs you can just buy a bag of chilled shot and make hunting loads instead of slug rounds! Granted, the 100-rd Value packs at the store are going to be just as cheap as your reloaded pellet rounds would be, but you would have some independence from the shortages on the store shelves that befall us every now and then!
And if you move away from the cheap Value Pack #8 or #7.5 dove loads and instead buy a 25# bag of #6 or #5 shot to stuff in your picked up hulls for rabbit or pheasant then you won't have to buy those $12/25 high-brass boxes at Wal-mart or BassPro or Cabelas or your LGS. And you're saving money all over again!
For the cost of forty 5-rd boxes of store bought slugs (presuming that you can scrounge up some scrap lead) it's very possible that you can sever your need to go to a store to get the ammo you need.
All you need to get started is a $12 hot plate and an old stainless steel (or cast iron) deep sauce pan.
And a $35 Lee slug mould.
Add a Lee Load-All press for under $100 (used) plus a $15 Lee or Lyman or RCBS pouring ladle.
Should run you under $200.
Okay, I didn't include the consummables such as buying a big 500-ct bag of wads for about ten bucks. Or Smokeless Powder that might run $25, and of course primers that will go $50 for a thousand.
But heck, it's like golf. Like the "hardware" to reload ammo, it takes a bit of money to initially get clubs and shoes. The balls and greens fees are totally up to you depending on your interest and drive to play! Or fishing equipment: having rods and reels is good but to keep fishing you need hooks and line and bait, right?
A very good friend of mine has been loading his own 1-0z slugs for a while and I was able to borrow his slug mould recently. I found it very easy to make good slugs with just a pouring ladle and a pot of molten lead. These took me less than an hour to make while enjoying the morning on my front porch....
Thank You, oli~~~
Of course, if you've acquired the hardware and powder and wads and primers, then instead of pouring your 1-oz slugs you can just buy a bag of chilled shot and make hunting loads instead of slug rounds! Granted, the 100-rd Value packs at the store are going to be just as cheap as your reloaded pellet rounds would be, but you would have some independence from the shortages on the store shelves that befall us every now and then!
And if you move away from the cheap Value Pack #8 or #7.5 dove loads and instead buy a 25# bag of #6 or #5 shot to stuff in your picked up hulls for rabbit or pheasant then you won't have to buy those $12/25 high-brass boxes at Wal-mart or BassPro or Cabelas or your LGS. And you're saving money all over again!
