Where are my Gun Owners?

[Shyster]

Just pulled the trigger on a new safe to replace my current Stack-On cabinet. I ordered a 36-gun Cannon Series Safe from Cabela's, 60"H x 40"W x 24"D and 730 lbs. It has Cannon's new EMP lock that offers both electronic pushbutton opening and a regular dial backup. Cabela's regular price for that model is $1,849.99, but coupling a substantial sale being run at the moment with more than $900 in Cabela's points on my credit card (I've been saving them up for years), I got it for less than $1,000 even with around $100 in tax and about $250 in freight.

[dodint]

Nice, way fancier than my setup. I've had mine for about three years, think it is a 12 gun unit that has an electronic keypad and a keyed backup in case of unit/power failure. It's good enough for us, just want to keep kids out of it during parties and thieves out if they B&E while we're away. If they make off undetected with the whole safe without my neighbor noticing, they can keep it.

Good work on the points, I bought a nice Craftsman tool chest doing something similar.

[mac5155]

My new toy, compliments of the great night I had at the casino.

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DPMS A3 lite.

[Shyster]

That was one heckuva birthday you had, mac. Great looking gun.

[yubb]

My new toy, compliments of the great night I had at the casino.

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DPMS A3 lite.

Is that an island perhaps purchased at Ikea? Or, are you in my house?

[mac5155]

That was a pier one kitchen table, purchased at the yard sale 3 blocks over in 2009. Lol

[yubb]

Hah. Looks just like my fake butcher block island that Ikea scammed me for.

[mac5155]

That was one heckuva birthday you had, mac. Great looking gun.

I should also mention, that I had enough left over to buy a Ridgid Drill and Impact Driver combo. <Insert tim taylor grunt here>

[mac5155]

Shot my AR-15 on Saturday. Thing shoots like a dream. But I quickly realized I dumped $100 worth of ammo through it in about all of 20 minutes. lol

[DelPen]

Shot my AR-15 on Saturday. Thing shoots like a dream. But I quickly realized I dumped $100 worth of ammo through it in about all of 20 minutes. lol

That's the one thing that just kills me about .22 LR being impossible to find still, can shoot all day for like $20.

[mac5155]

Admittedly I paid a little premium because I wanted to shoot that day, but Palmetto state armory usually has 5.56 available for like 35 cents a round. I think the stuff I got at walmart was about 45 cents per. My mother-in-law's friend reloads though, so I might have found a cheaper alternative.

[Digitalgypsy66]

Admittedly I paid a little premium because I wanted to shoot that day, but Palmetto state armory usually has 5.56 available for like 35 cents a round.

Huh, my gun enthusiasts love that place....always going there and buying stuff that gets them in trouble with their wives. Good to hear they spread the joy out of state....

[ffemtreed]

Admittedly I paid a little premium because I wanted to shoot that day, but Palmetto state armory usually has 5.56 available for like 35 cents a round. I think the stuff I got at walmart was about 45 cents per. My mother-in-law's friend reloads though, so I might have found a cheaper alternative.

I personally wouldn't shoot anyone else's reloads. The only reloads I shoot are the ones I reloaded myself.

If you do shoot reloads be especially alert for squib loads. They can really ruin your day if you don't catch it.

[yubb]

I'd probably only shoot someone else's reloads. But I buy the cheap ammo that you usually can't reload.

[mac5155]

Whats reloading cost, really? Is it substantially less per round than buying in bulk for say 35 cents a round?

[yubb]

That's a good question. I assume part of it may be the "I change my own oil" mentality where the savings are minimmal, but old timers can't bear the thought of spending money they don't have to, however small the amount may be. "Old timers" in this case is anyone older than me, so 35 and up.

[mac5155]

Yeah. Not to mention I dont have the equipment either. Maybe I'll just save my brass and give it to the guy without expecting anything in return. I dont know if you can even reload this stuff since it's so cheap (Federal)

[BuckintheLou]

Reloading for AR shooting (where you're essentially just putting rounds downrange) doesn't really get you anything. There are exceptions, of course.
IF you have a good progressive press where you can pound out round after round in minimal time, sure. Otherwise, you'd wear yourself out trying to load 100 rounds that will be spent in just a few minutes at the range. Most shooters (I don't know if you're in this camp or not) aren't necessarily looking for extreme accuracy out or their AR's. Some, yes. But most of the AR cano is about getting a lot of rounds downrange with the quickness. Predator hunters excluded. My opinion only.

[dodint]

I'll happy spend hours of my time working on my car to do stuff a mechanic could do in a half hour. But reloading ammo sounds like the most tedious thing in the world and would suck any enjoyment out of the shooting hobby for me. I have a friend that swears by it, but I'll happily pay the premium just to open a case of ammo and be done with it.

[ffemtreed]

Whats reloading cost, really? Is it substantially less per round than buying in bulk for say 35 cents a round?

If you save your brass casings you can save a lot by reloading. Remember reloading is also for accuracy/consistency as well. Finding that perfect load for what your specific firearm likes it great!

You need a primer (about 35 dollars per 1000) Casing (free if reusing) Powder (about $20 lb) and a bullet about $119 per 1000 (for .223).

With an AR .223 load you can get about 250 rounds out of a lb of powder.

So for 1000 rounds 35 + 80 + 119 = $234 dollars in base material. so that's about 23 cents per round for good ammo. About a 30% savings over buying junk ammo.

About the only thing you lose is your time ,which is dependent on how much you spend up front for your press.

Sidenote -- there are some other costs such as case lube,brass cleaner and etc. But those costs are offset by having to go to the store or pay for shipping online. The costs are really non significant when you look at the overall picture.

PS -- for the most part, all brass cases (in good condition) can be reloaded but you can NOT reload any steel (light grey) cases typically used in cheap ammo.

[Shyster]

Most of the reloaders I know (and I plan on joining their ranks eventually) do not save any money by doing so, since all of them have told me that they just ended up shooting more, which offsets the savings. But they do have more ammo to shoot for the same money. It saves a lot more if you shoot rarer or oddball cartridges. Companies all over the world make massive quantities of 9mm, for example, and its hard to squeeze savings over those huge economies of scale. But reloading for something like 10mm or .357 SIG or rarer rifle cartridges like .35 Whelen or .257 Roberts can result in greater savings versus factory ammo. And if you're all into shooting tiny groups with a rifle, it's possible to fiddle for months with different bullets, powder, primers, etc. to get that perfect load your rifle will love.

[Shyster]

Shot my AR-15 on Saturday. Thing shoots like a dream. But I quickly realized I dumped $100 worth of ammo through it in about all of 20 minutes. lol

That's the one thing that just kills me about .22 LR being impossible to find still, can shoot all day for like $20.

I've actually been looking at air guns, just to have something cheap to shoot. Plus, there are some squirrels that are still somehow managing to get past the baffles on my bird feeders. Where I live theoretically has a discharge ordinance that is so broad as to ban even slingshots, but I think I might pretend that I'm ignorant of it. And to quote Johnny Cash singing The Long Black Veil, "Nobody knows, nobody sees; Nobody knows, but me."

[mac5155]

I totally would've bought a 10/22 takedown if I could find ammo for it.

[dodint]

I have a functional cap and ball 1851 Navy .36 replica and I have no idea where to even find something to load it. I know they make kits where the cap and ball are basically one piece so it loads like a cartridge but I've never actually dug up somewhere to buy it. Everything else I have is 9mm.

[Shyster]

I don't think they offer those for blackpowder handguns. Loading is not complicated. You'll need .36 round balls, suitable blackpowder or a substitute like Pyrodex (make sure it's the right size for handguns!), and grease meant for blackpowder guns. Load the cylinders with black powder using a measure. Place a round ball in the opening of the chamber and use the loading lever built into the gun to ram it down on top of the powder. Some people add wads before the ball. Fill the remainder of the chamber flush with grease. Put a percussion cap on the nipple for each loaded chamber and you're ready to do. It's traditional to only load 5 of six so that the hammer never rests on a loaded cap, since those guns don't have transfer bars or any other safety mechanisms.

Cabela's sells measures, balls, wads, grease, and other supplies for blackpowder guns, as to many other places online. Black Power is really expensive to ship, so it would probably be cheaper to find it locally.