# I'm no Al Hansen...



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

... but I am nearly ready for spring

I am nearly dialed in for a new 243 load using 95gr Ballistic Tips, one more refinement session shooting and I'll load up 1-200 of those to add to the pile. BTs are currently one of the few 6mm bullets you are readily able to find... and they are among the cheapest currently. I bought alot of boxes of them over the past couple months.

I also started some test loads for my wifes new 7mm08 using 140gr BTs, initial results were promising, sub-1". Lots more load development to do with that gun though.

500 custom 5.56, both 55gr and 65gr. These are really accurate hunting loads.
200 40 S&W target loads
100 380 ACP target loads
97 7MM-08 w/ 140gr Accubonds (IDK where the missing 4 brass went... lol)










I had too many primers, brass and powder sitting around. Figured it was time to put it to good use.

Site note, while cleaning up the bench, reloading these, I found another 200 empty 7mm08 brass including two new unopened bags of Remington brand brass, I found another 300 tumbled and stored 243, another 200 tumbled and stored 7STW brass (that stuff is hella-expensive and hard to find right now) and maybe 600-700 empty 22-250 brass.

Yikes.

I really need to get out the old #1V 22-250 and show it some love. That rifle has around 3200-3300'ish rounds through it. Getting slightly tired, riflings are etched way deep down the bore. Most accurate load has the bullets less than 1/16" in the case mouth to reach them. Terrible for hunting as you can bump them loose but off the bench you can play connect the dots.

-DallanC


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## Firehawk (Sep 30, 2007)

I should do something similar. Really take stock of what I have. But I know I have enough 325WSM brass and bullets to load up ALOT (Thousands of $$$$ worth), Lots of stuff for our 7mm-08s, but turn the kids loose at the range with that stuff, and I could be out in a hurry. No understanding of the difficulties getting 140 Btips/Accubonds and Varget powder. Dang kids. 

And I have a bunch of stuff for my 7mm Remington Magnum, but I haven't played with it much for far too long now. 

I was mounting a scope on my new CVA Accura and wanted my scope level. It is somewhere in that "man cave" reloading bench area, but I can't find it for nothing. Being magnetic, it is probably stuck to something after falling. Must clean, must clean, must clean. Thank you for the motivation Dallan.


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

Wow! That is a lot of work! Nice job. Just curious, what kind of bullet did you use for 65 gr. 5.56 hunting load?


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

AF CYN said:


> Wow! That is a lot of work! Nice job.


Yea, 900 and counting. I'm soooo happy I upgraded to a turret press, its so much easier than the old single stage. Still, eventually I'll get a progressive... just need to pick up more lotto tickets 



AF CYN said:


> Just curious, what kind of bullet did you use for 65 gr. 5.56 hunting load?


Oh, I love that 65gr Sierra Gameking. Its super stable and really accurate. I've had a couple groups in the .39" out of my Stag AR15 (22" heavy barrel), quite impressive for a semi-auto. They used to be really cheap not long ago... now they want as much for some gamekings as the premium bullets used to be. 

I think I have 3 boxes of the 65s left so I'm gtg for quite a while. I think I have 1200 of the normal 55gr sp's left. They're good plinkers, and in bulk reasonably cheap. I loaded up all of the FMJs I had to ring steel when we go out, I doubt I'll ever buy more. I like the SPs much more, and you can hunt with them in a pinch. My first few deer were with a .22-250 and thats really all my dad ever hunted deer with, put in the right spot they drop like they've been pole-axed between the eyes. 65's are better for hunting, and I've found much more accurate than the 55s.

Rifle ammo usually lasts me quite a while. Pistol ammo though, I tend to burn that quicker and reload more often. Brother in law is trying to get me to goto Front Site with him one of these days. That place is hella expensive though.

-DallanC


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

DallanC said:


> . Brother in law is trying to get me to goto Front Site with him one of these days. That place is hella expensive though.
> 
> -DallanC


 Cheaper to enlist and they pay for the ammo LOL.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

DallanC said:


> Brother in law is trying to get me to goto Front Site with him one of these days. That place is hella expensive though.
> 
> -DallanC


Big changes at Front Sight this year, my any course for life is now going to cost at least $150 per day and they have instituted a $50 per month membership fee to keep your membership. I will probably let my membership go and just go the the ones in Utah or Gunsight.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

My BIL was gifted a lifetime membership. Wonder how this will affect him.

-DallanC


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

DallanC said:


> My BIL was gifted a lifetime membership. Wonder how this will affect him.
> 
> -DallanC


Mine was too, I had it upgraded to Diamond, I have till Feb 28 to decide, if your $50 per month fees are not paid by then you lose your membership.

It does not bode well for Front Sight. I haven't gone enough in the last few years to pay for it. Also I am thinking that there may be law suits.

I should say that it does say if you pay your $50 monthly fee they will put it in your account as Front Sight bucks and you can use that for the daily fees.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

My Diamond membership was upgraded to a "All Inclusive Founder Membership" Which included the following.

*LIFETIME FREE ACCESS to ALL Front Sight Courses delivered directly to your home through the FrontSight.TV. Handgun, Shotgun, Rifle Submachine Gun, Empty Hand Defense, and Edged Weapons Courses, from entry level through intermediate and advanced training, ALL available to you free of charge on FrontSight.TV so you can keep your skills fresh in the event you must use your weapons to defend yourself or others and also prepare yourself to get the most out of your on-site training when you visit Front Sight Las Vegas and move up faster through Graduate and Distinguished Graduate levels in all our courses!*
*As a Front Sight Founder Lifetime Member you can attend ANY and ALL regularly scheduled Front Sight Courses Free of any Course Fees...*


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

LOL. I think you have the bug. I'm afraid to even think how much $$$$$ is wrapped up in all this.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

DallanC said:


> My BIL was gifted a lifetime membership. Wonder how this will affect him.
> 
> -DallanC


Looks like he backed off, the new email said everything was back to the way it was before. Piazza wants to do a survey of membership before he tries this again..


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Al Hansen said:


> LOL. I think you have the bug. I'm afraid to even think how much $$$$$ is wrapped up in all this.


Nah, you gotta re-adjust your thinking. See, I'm using powder / primers / bullets that I bought alot of years back... when it was cheap. The expensive stuff I'm buying now to replace that stuff... I'll be loading up many years down the road. THEN that stuff will seem cheap compared to the prices 8-10 years from now.

Thats how I justify it to my wife anyway 

But yea, if I were to sell it all I'd pocket some good $$$. I have thousands of .224 bullets left to load (I was buying bulk 55gr Hornady SP's off gunbroker for the same price as FMJ bullets locally). If I had it to do over, I would have just bought the 6000 bullet bulk box vs 1000 at a time. I never would have imagined shooting that much... then I got a couple ARs and a son who loves to shoot... well you can guess the burn rate .

Just as covid was hitting and things going sideways for components, I bought a 1000 box of Berrys 180gr's for the 40s&w (than you Scheels! I got the last box in the country at the time ... they shipped it for free from back east to local store for pick up). That box was $89 ... rofls!!! seems so cheap now. Scheels also had pistol powders for a couple months for the "old prices" while everyone else was out. I bought a couple bottles per month there for 3 months give or take. Figured I'd let others have a chance at it... but they either had a ton of it, or people didnt really want it. I actually have too much pistol powder. 

Now they somehow have a incredible amount of Nosler Ballistic Tips... I've been buying a few boxes per month. Really like Scheels! You can place an order online and they will have it ready to pick up within 15-20 min. 

-DallanC


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

Yup. I'm doing the same thing. Shooting stuff I've loaded 3-4 years ago. And buying components online for as cheap as I can find it. Looking for powders to replace powders that you just can't get and staying the h3ll away from KSL. I have found a online source for pistol bullets that has been very good (cheap).


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## jlofthouse16 (Oct 18, 2021)

....... and here I am still going along with the ol Herters single stage press. I do cast my own pistol bullets, usually using wheel weights. Here I am getting rather old. will hit 82 in September. Don't do as much shooting now as I did when younger.

I don't reckon I will need any more reloading equipment.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

I used to use a old RCBS "Partner" single stage press I saved my money and bought for my self back in 1985. No where near the quality of say, a rock-chucker... but it was plenty good enough to load up a few thousand .22-250 over the decades since. The Lee Turret was actually a Christmas present form my wife about 8-9 years ago. I had a drop measure that fit the press fine, but I recently bought a newer upgraded one.

Boy, its a whole new world coming from a single state. Some day after I win the lottery, I'll move to a full blown Dillon Progressive.

But, for my needs, the Lee Turret is really nice. Once you get your rhythm down, you can load alot of rounds quickly.

-DallanC


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I have a old Lyman T press with the rotating head where you can place 6 dies into. 

I used it for quite a while with 3 dies loading pistol rounds but after a few years I found that I could load just as fast using it as a single stage press. 

I drooled over some of Dillion's progressive presses but never did pull the trigger on one. I did like looking at their quarterly or monthly catalog but that was as far as it went. Even when I was shooting 1000 rounds a week I found it more enjoyable to use my old Lyman press as a single stage one. I also did most of my reloading during the winter when there really wasn't much else to do unless you wanted to go play in the snow.


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## jlofthouse16 (Oct 18, 2021)

Critter, You mention winter. My friend and I used to go load up about 300 rounds then head out West to hunt rabbits. They would bunch up out there and sometimes you might have six to ten rabbits within shooting range. We would keep count and holler out the number when we got one. You would hear "Boom Splat, then 78" It was not unusual for each hunter to kill over 100 rabbits on one of those trips. I shot a 222 Rem and my friend had a 218 B. We also carried pistols and sometimes when we ran out of rifle ammo we would kill a few more with the pistols. Ah those were the days.......


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I'm saying that we didn't get out shooting, but we would pick the better days to do so. 

Bad days were reserved for ice fishing and loading up the empties.

I remember lots of days sitting on a hillside and spotting rabbits to pick off with the 22-250 and or the deer rifles.

Sent from my SM-A426U using Tapatalk


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