Reloading is just a fun hobby for me, and can sometimes save on the cost per round, but if you are saving money per round you’ll just shoot more to reload more and therefore spend more money
The one thing no one takes into account: time. Reloading takes up a lot of time, which for me and many others is more valuable than the money you would save reloading.
Time is all relative, for some, reloading may be an enjoyable hobby that is relaxing and therapeutic in terms of the stress reduction doing something they enjoy. So, for them the cost savings goes beyond just the savings on the ammo, but also into the savings of doctor bills.
1200 rounds an hour saves me $65. That's a pretty lucrative savings. Dillon 1050 is legit. I've loaded 10's of thousands of 9mm. so easy, and it's literally minimal effort for me. Not for everyone though.
The best thing to do is to purchase 3 fully automated bullet factories. It takes as input iron ore, pigs, etc and on the output you have bullets. If one factory breaks down you have two more as a back up.
The best idea is buying and stockpiling ammo. keep 100 boxes of 100 for each weapon size in a cool dry place preferably not known to anyone. If you have 2 or 3 different weapons it will last you well into the Apocalypse.
Is it that difficult? Do you have a book that you can recommend to me or some online resources, here in Europe we do not have guns and with the current situation, i think a war might start in the near future.
An astronaut could have trouble changing an oil filter on a car. Not sure how chemical engineering plays into casting metal. You would probably have far less trouble if you worked in a foundry or as a black smith.
@@deaconwest That's a great start mate and much cheaper. I've used both for my daughters to learn on too. They have more kick than a .22 though lol! Still you have shoot real ammo on the main gun your going to use to actually get used to it and be accurate on it.
Well this is about reloading not manufacturing your ammo ( extruding shell casing, making primer, making the gunpowder and finally making the slug ). better of making bows and arrows in a survival situation.
I learned how to reload 15 years ago for custom loads for my .308 pistol. I needed to load a fast burning powder, and 125gr bullets. Now that there is starting to get components back on the shelves I’m reloading 9mm too. I don’t reload for a future survival situation, I reload for my ammo needs and so it gets me through the times of ammo shortages. I buy reloading supplies and save for the next ammo shortage. And the next shortage is just a election, riot, social unrest, gun law restriction or disaster away. Oh and yes, I save a ton of money reloading 9mm, $.25 a round, or $12.5 a box of 50. For .308 it is $.58 a round or $11.60 for a 20 box.
Just for shits and giggles, I'm currently teaching my self how to MAKE ammo. Make the propellant, cast the bullets, reload the primers, etc. Because I've got too much time on my hands.
Funny because I watched a video where this guy showed all these rounds to the media and told them what to pick out they thought was an acceptable round for civilians they all picked the 5.56 and said the 30-06 round was too big. It’s funny they have no idea what there talking about they just think the “guns” are scary.
I mean in a post-apocalyptic society berdan primedammunition and steel cased ammunition would be loaded as well. They do that in afganistan and other poor countries. Also, Black powder can be made at home, and as you said you could cast slugs. So you could just re use primers and such in combination with manufacturing new brass. This would all work with manual action firearms. So pump-shotguns, leverguns, revolvers, etc.
Karl... I've been reloading for at least 40 years now. Where the big savings comes from is in the use of primers that I only paid $10.00/1000 and using powder that only costs 14-16 bucks per pound (when it was purchased. My philosophy is to shoot factory ammo when it's readily available and moderately-to-low priced. I shoot reloads when circumstances make factory ammo hard to find or uber-expensive (like currently). If one stores their components "properly", the reloaded ammo is just as good as factory ammo, despite components age... I train a lot and would not be able to maintain my regimen given current shortage/prices...!!!
Well put my friend. All this crazy end of the world crap, and someone thinks if he can make ammo he will be untouchable. I was thinking primers the whole time. So, I’m happy you brought that up. Very good video.
And don’t get me wrong. I have my own setup and can make superior rounds to what I can buy (my Grandfather taught me well before he passed). So I’m not half bad. But pumping these out in some type of Zombie-Chinese-Russian-Water Turning to Blood-Vampires-Werewolves or whatever other end of days scenario someone can think up... I would rather stock up. And This won’t save you in the long run or keep you valuable, unless you plan on using muskets. Haha. Keep up the work guys!
The Red Frost it's not just primers look at all the shit u would have to carry everyone likes to forget about weight so not even talking size the weight of carrying all that shit will get your ass killed hahaha
Thanks Ranger Buddy! This was Hella Helpful, and thank you for your honest advice on the absolute need to reload vs buy... you're right, knowledge is power!
It all depends on who is doing the reloading and what their procedures are. 32 years so far. I trust my precision handloads for self defense but I've seen a lot of handloading stupidity. And BTW with bullet casting you can load pistol ammo for pennies a round. All you need is brass, primers and powder and scrap lead plus tooling. Primers can be remanufactured if you have the raw chemicals, and blackpowder can be used for revolvers. Percussion caps can be remanufactured with toy cap gun caps, which are super cheap. It's all about being prepared
PCP Large Bore Air rifles is where its at in a survival situation. All you need in a air compressor that can get up to 3000-4500 psi and a molded slug/pellet. .357, 45, 50 cal
You can reuse anvils, and make primer cups, but you need machining skills. You can punch out brass cases, and make old French smokeless powder with basic chemistry, but you NEED to figure out how to source the machines, raw materials, and many other factors. You can, but it's probably not worth the hassle for most people.
Very good point bringing up assembling ammunition vs making it from scratch. The hardest part is going to be making the casings from melted brass and steel above all. But none of this is rocket science. Learn how to smelt, learn how to metal mold/copycat brass etc. learn how to make primary and secondary explosives. Improvising with stuff like tinfoil for blasting caps does work. There are plenty of videos online on how to do this. Black powder does work. Not the best but it's easy to make. But this is why I like the shotgun... Much easier to work with...
You can never know when u need to make bullets....or remake them to another wepon you got ...but yeah why not just have them already made ...both dont hurt
that point about the supplies issue is why i personally think modern guns are gonna fall out of use quickly if something kills the supply lines like in most projected SHTF scenarios. Your best option for actual firearms is to go back to things like flintlock if theres not going to ever be a restock on manufactured components. You can make everything you need to fire a flintlock shot right in the woods, from the powder (pioneers often used powedered charcoal which was less powerful but still did the job well enough for hunting), to the paper (making paper is alot easier than people think it is if you actually know what the process is), to the rounds themselves which can be anything spherical and hard enough to withstand the blast. Theoretically you might even be able to make traditional pointed slugs for a flintlock, though i havent seen anything on the practical aspects of such a thing. And given how few people know how to operate a flintlock rifle, let alone where to get one, bows and crossbows become far more obvious of a solution to the long term issue of ammunition, as its fairly straight forward to make bolts and arrows with a bit of time and common materials found in the woods, and making a bow is likewise not the hardest thing to make if you have the time to do it right. Still in a situation where you think the breakdown is only going to last say... a few years, then reloading might be a great solution if you stock up on components ahead of time. I can definitely see advantages to it if you plan ahead with supplies and are just trying to wait it out rather than survive independently for the longhaul. At the end of the day every prep plan has its advantages and disadvantages depending on what scenario you apply it to, as none are truly universal to all scenarios and one that might work for one scenario might be utterly useless against another. The best plans are ones with either lots of diverse supplies so that you have at least something for everything, or they are plans built around you getting supplies after the fact based on what the scenario is, such as buggout bags with planned resource spots like warehouses and such.
Having the akill set to reload ammo is good only when you have the knowledge to craft saltpeter and know where to get sulfur. Also another note is for primer you need to know the formulation of the primer which i know how to craft the compound that makes primer. Thats where only a small percentage of people know how to make these chemical including me.
Yes I completely agree - it will be difficult to find primers and gun powder after SHTF/apocalypse. However, it will still be very easy to cast bullets/pellets for powerful air gun. So good air gun has it all over powder burners after SHTF.
You make some good points in your arguement. However reloading has gotten me through the last several ammo shortages since Y2K. Of course I didnt wait for the shortage to hit to go and buy my components, I got them when there was ammo on the shelf still and availability of reloading components were good knowing the day would come when there is another shortage. I bought in bulk and stacked it deep cuz I know the next shortage is just around the corner and it seems to take longer before ammo comes back on line each time!!!
In making an amo especially when you are served to the military the best is the ionized carbon steel coated with brass sledge to achieved it's penetrating application
Been reloading on a DIllon RL550B for over 25 years. Reloading is great for accuracy, also good for relaxing. Trick is, reload your empty brass and keep the store bought stuff for emergencies. As long as you have stocked up on powder and primers and cast your own heads, shortages (Like now) are not a issue. Sort of fun listening to guys gripe about lack of 45 or 38 ammo then going home and reloading a few hundred from old brass and comps on hand. Brass can be recycled to an extent, using molds you can cast your own pistol heads (and rifle if you have a supply of gas checks on hand). SO all you really need to have stockpiled is powder and primers and if you plan right they can be used for more then one caliber. Getting into reloading during a shortage is a exercise in frustration, you need to have gotten your stock built during good times.
Tumi reloading is very therapeutic I'll spend sometimes up to 8 hours every couple of days reloading the different types of calibers especially Oddball calibers that you cannot find such as the old 45 110 or 8 mm Mauser or my favorite big game round is the Winchester 405 but other than that I do reload modern calibers and I have been doing this and never look back for about 50 years when you start out it gets a little hard but after awhile it just gets easier and easier so you people out there who are complaining about the high cost of ammunition all I can say is listen to what this gentleman says in the video and let the fun begin. PS here's an important message to you beginner reloaderz out there if you smoke now is the time to give it up.
I’m actually trying to learn how to make primers. I already have the recipe for black powder although I’m curious as to the performance difference in say an uzi or stamp metal grease gun with bp instead of rp or pp. I’m sure the cleaning situation would be a nightmare but I am currently trying to make myself completely self reliant and able to stay armed in spite of the limit of available bullets and supplies to make them.
Probably wouldn't be able to get semi autos or fully autos to cycle. Black powder is nowhere near smokeless in energy. I've only seen BP hold up well in bolt guns (which was ironically the peak of black powder right before smokeless took over)
@@PlayingWithFireOutdoors yup, Faster than a bolt action and no gas ports to foul. You still need to clean them but even though they're an old design they're a very well thought out design. A bullet mould and some gas checks will keep it fed for a long time as well as long as you can source or stock up on components.👍
Reloading CAN save you money on ammo, depending on the cartridge. After running the numbers, for .45acp here in Canada I can save about 40% by reloading brass instead of buying cheap aluminum case ammo. More precisely it was 44% savings, but I did not consider the "cost" of sourcing brass in my calculations (I generally buy cheap brass case ammo and reload it after). Given that you can reload brass many many times, rounding down to 40% savings is a conservative number to settle on. If you cast your own projectiles, reloading can be significantly cheaper even for something like 9mm. I project over 50% savings by reloading cast bullets instead of buying aluminum case ammo. Of course, what seems to happen to most people is that they don't really "save" money... they just shoot way more than they used to for the same expense. Take your pick, it's a win/win if you enjoy the process.
If it happens, all of us will eventually run out of ammo. What do you think of having something like a crossbow as a backup weapon? Making a crude arrow would be easier than trying to manufacture primers.
Actually, a modern crossbow fires with so much force that it will shatter wooden bolts/arrows. So, making them isn’t as easy as it sounds. In the space a crossbow takes, you could store about 10,000 rounds of 22lr.
Glad you took a much more realistic look at reloading rather than being one of those “reloading is the best and if you don’t do it you’re an idiot” or “why would you ever do that it’s so convenient to just buy it” people. Good call on that, I got a similar lesson/lecture from my buddy whose been into guns much longer than I. Still seems like it will be useful to have the ability to do so to avoid falling victim to future ammo shortages/logistics upsets, but still purchase by the box when able to do so. Diversify your supply chains, even on an individual basis.
When times are good and components available, creating your own loads can be an enjoyable experience and pastime but there are limitations. Addressing the part about a Zombie Apocalypse or external (or even internal) invasion or government upheaval, one must consider several important aspects. One is your location. Zombie Apocalypse notwithstanding, you must address if you'll be able to stay static in ONE place where you can set up all the gear required to construct your ammo. Two, if you are forced to relocate for any reason, will you have transportation to get there as well as packing up all the equipment you'll NEED? Chances are the answer is no. But not always, so you can't discount those possibilities. In that case, having ammo already constructed beats the other options hands down. But even if you DO have a LOT of ammo, how much can you realistically expect to haul on your back or even in some means of conveyance? It's all relative and not to be taken lightly. As I said, you MUST be realistic in your expectations. All that aside, IF you have a place to hunker down (we all HOPE we will have that option) then a HUGE stockpile would be of great importance. And along those same lines, even if you DO have a home base that is secure (and is it REALLY secure after all??) having an appropriate place to set your gear up will take up valuable real estate, too. But either pre-made ammo or components aren't going to be something that you just leave laying about without appropriate security and safe storage. So as has been previously discussed, rolling your own ammo CAN be cost effective once you amoratize the equipment factor but when it is all boiled down, crafting rounds to optimize your shooting platform for the accuracy and end result, needs must be factored in. It's a case of Chevy vs Ford. Glock vs Colt, etc. You either LOVE one or you LOVE the other, so reloading is more about personal choice, need and expectations. As for ME, I bought a LOT of supplies years ago when prices were MUCH cheaper than the same materials are priced in today's environment. To that end, MY pre-made ammo in virtually EVERY caliber is a LOT cheaper than if I had to buy ammo at current prices. One example is loading generic AP rounds for my .50BMG rifle. When I was buying components, I could get AP projo's much cheaper than Ball projo's so I stocked up. Using my stockpiled components allows me to create one loaded AP .50BMG round for right st $0.85 each. I couldn't (CAN'T!) achieve that price for ONE of my .300 Win Mag rounds with a decent projo for either hunting or "target" shooting. Try to source factory ammo of similar parts for those and you'll be broke before long. One last item before I shut up: When it comes to reloading, one of the most important parts to have is the expended (new?) cartridge case. If you don't stop to pick up every expended case, your supply will dwindle very quickly. And who amongst us is going to be standing around and scrounging up fired brass if you should have the misfortune to engage in a protracted battle with some unknown adversary? Not THIS guy! Those expended rounds, and more importantly, the brass is gone FOREVER. That is unless you plan to return to the scene at a later time to pick up all the brass you can find. Just my $0.02 worth on the subject. And, Karl, as always, THANK YOU for your videos, time and expense in bringing us your insight in some very valuable subject matter. God Bless and Keep Your Powder Dry!!
>If you don't stop to pick up every expended case, your supply will dwindle very quickly. >the brass is gone FOREVER. That is unless you plan to return to the scene at a later time to pick up all the brass you can find. Not if you attach a brass catcher and/or invest in a metal detector... >>But even if you DO have a LOT of ammo, how much can you realistically expect to haul on your back or even in some means of conveyance? One could stockpile ammo and strategically hide/bury it in various bugout locations in the vicinity or throughout the country...
Well that's why you learn all aspects of reloading and have manuals. 200g speer fmjs 45acp bullet will work with all 200g 45acp fmj data regardless of manufacturing.
love reloading , or ammo making! I load for my guns only and I do it as a hobby. Now for 25 years , I have been doing this , I have spent a bit of time reaching and doing my thing with many calibers via rifle or pistol, and have found it to be Rewarding . every gun I have has ammo for it tailored for that gun. best shooting , cleanest burning powder and best bullet. my latest project, was my black hawk in 44 spl it shoots like no gun I have ever had, but it took a month to develop a round just for this gun. shoots flat clean and point of aim out to 100 , and then some. be it cast or jacketed. no leading or copper fouling anymore. 240 gr hp at 1100 fps Is a good load for this gun , with pressures just over published pressures of 15500 at 16300 brass falls out of the cylinder with no assistance. no factory ammo can do this . I have pushed it to just under mag pressures and still had no problem but it shoots best where it is at 16300. and my hand and arm lilkes it also .
For reloading in a survival or post apocalyptic world, look into using Lee Loaders. There are lots of videos on Lee Loaders on UA-cam. They are available in practically every caliber for pistol, rifle, and shotgun. A Lee Loader is a plastic box about the size of a U.S Postal Service Small Fixed Rate Priority Mail Box. It contains several tools and instructions on how to reload a cartridge. Lee still makes them and until the recent unpleasantness they were readily available new from several sporting suppliers on line and used on ebay. The Lee retail price for a Lee Loader in a single caliber is less than $ 50. Let's say you want to reload 9mm. Buy a Lee Loader in 9mm for $ 50, 1,000 small pistol primers for $ 40, a pound of smokeless powder, say Unique, Bullseye, or another popular pistol powder for $ 35, and 1,000 9mm projectiles for $ 20. Now for less than $ 150 you have everything needed to reload 1,000 9mm. The cases will be the previously shot brass that you have collected. The limiting factors on how many times you can reload the same brass are 1) the life of the brass (maybe 10 times plus or minus), 2) the availability of primers, 3) the availability of smokeless powder, and 4) the availability of projectiles or bullets. We can eliminate the scarcity of two of those, brass and bullets. You can scrounge shot brass from the ground at the range. Start doing that now and building up a supply of brass. You can cast your own bullets. You will need a bullet mold in 9mm. Lee and many other reloading equipment manufacturers make them and until COVID they were readily available new and used for under $ 50. Next, you will need lead. Common source for lead in the composition good for casting bullets is automotive wheel weights. Check local tire shops and mechanics. They usually collect the old weights and sell them to recyclers. Offer to buy a 5 gallon bucket for more than what recycler pays them, it won't be expensive. I have also bought used wheel weights from recyclers. In a survival situation you could collect them off of the wheels of abandoned vehicles. You have to be careful as many of the newer wheel weights today are not lead, but some other composition. UA-cam has many videos on how to tell the difference. To melt the lead use an old cast iron frying pan over a burner, can even be a wood camp fire. Check UA-cam videos on how to do it. Once the commercial supply of primers runs out, it is possible to reload used primers with wooden matches, (save the old primers as you reload now to build up a supply). While reloading primers is possible, it is a slow, tedious process and there is always the question of reliability, will they go bang. Again, multiple videos on UA-cam on the process. It would be best to shoot reloaded ammunition with reloaded primers in a revolver or bolt action rifle rather than a semiautomatic because if it doesn't go bang, keep pulling the trigger on a revolver until one in the cylinder does. Similarly, in a rifle, work the bolt until one fires. Good luck.
for the survival argument you can manufacture your own primers and bullets and even powder you would move off smokeless to black powder for cost and ease but a part of reason of manfacturing anything is taking less tecnicall larger raw materials and converting it to smaller advanced materials thats why a table costs more then the boards to make the table
Also yes you actually can make your own primers theirs videos all over the internet for casings its a bit tricker you would probally need to cnc meachine them from raw metal very inefficient I suppose you could stamp them but I dont have the tooling for that
Make me primers. There’s lots of talk on the internet of making primers. Reliable primers aren’t gonna happen. Again, shit me some primers and then I’ll take you seriously . Thanks for watching, TR
The only reason I started reloading was because I have one antique rifle you can't find ammo for but you can find or reform brass from a parent cartridge. Then I branched out to about 8 other calibers and I make my own BP. It's all fun but it rarely saves any money.
I personally want to reload so I can make custom loads. I'll buy like a box of federal FMJ 9mm for target practice and then take the brass home to use in my custom loads
This video is a little dated because of the circumstances in August 2020. Can you please make an updated video? The ammo shortage is making availability rare. Making our own ammo from used shells is now a necessity. Maybe review the most cost effective way? Or maybe review a few different methods? GG🇺🇸🙌
ha! My brother does this and he refers to it as "making", not "reloading". He's not creating his own gunpowder from scratch, slugs, primers. None of that... For the quantity of ammo he goes thru in the training he does, it pays off but, as you said, it won't help him a bit in an apocalypse situation. You can either stock up on all the components or the assembled ammo itself.
I love reloading, my father and grandfather were great teachers. When its cold and snowing in the middle of winter my son and I sit at the bench and make bullets all day. It gives me a chance to talk to him and spend some quality time with him. I was lucky to have my reloading equipment given to me. I also found an old Dillon 450 RL and a Lyman American with dies at tag sales for under 50.00 so stop and look you never know what you will find. Ebay has some good deals for people who are just starting out also.
The problem I have when I clean the brass, is that there is always some corn cob stuck in the flash hole. How do you deal with that problem? Why don’t you do a video about what happens when you reload a rifle round and tumbling media remains/lodged in the brass. How it effects pressure, accuracy, and how likely it is to blow up the gun. You make awesome videos and I'm most grateful for all the work you do.
95% of online stores won’t ship ammo, gun powder and primers outside the contiguous US due to those items being hazardous materials unless you pay a pricey hazmat fee. I once paid $80 to have 5 small boxes of ammo shipped to my house. So people in Alaska, Hawaii (me), Guam etc have no choice but to buy those items from local gun stores. Due to markup, ammo can be more expensive than online. If you reload, you can save a _shit ton_ over a long period of time. Just a small rant to show that the argument “Reloading can save you money!” _does_ hold a lot of water for certain individuals.
Look up the Georgia guidestones there a stone with instructions on how to rebuild society after an apocalypse no joke I’m serious it’s creepy af look it up
I started reloading because I was all about .357 SIG....These days I can't for the life of me find 125gr flat point projectiles. I've tried using round nose to no avail, just can't get a good crimp and set back is a real issue 😁😢
You are a good guy. Thanks for the video. End to end the survivalists are talking about the entire engineering process. Also worthwhile adventures are complex and hard. You are right you are just an assembler but that is not the point they made. It does hold water.
I do it because you can't buy the ammo I shoot in competition. No, it's not cheap. But I do feed my pistol very carefully loaded perfect ammo. Limcat, open. Uspsa.
This is more for like emergencies. I guess I’d buy ammo as long as it’s available but since corona lockdown ammo is sold out. Reloading components I have not checked out. That’s y I’m here.
I have plenty of factory ammo. What's plenty? Good question...I doubt that I will ever need 1000 per caliber rounds for self defense. I reload for the joy of working with my hands, comparative studies regarding loads that vary, Just trying to have fun trying to find the better round ( combinations of components) to get the most accurate shots on paper at different distances...its a little science for an old guy to have as a hobby. I'm not a high precision benchrest shooter...I shoot leverguns and single action revolvers... You want to " survive?" Store water, food, medical supplies, know how to use them...find trustworthy neighbors. Pray alot... Lots of skill sets to simply survive outside of reloading..keep a decent shotgun and a store of ammo for it and that's practically all that you will need in that regard.... Thanks for the video.. God bless.
I'll tell you who has more ammo than any of us. Did you guess it?.. yup the government. Military, the police. All I can say is be safe out there. We are in some crazy times brother.
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I cast, reload etc and I do it because I enjoy the hobby of it and also for lr shooting. But as this video says, if shit hits the fan you better already have your stuff.
Thanks for watching. Most miss the point of this video. As you said, reloading is great for accuracy and some cost savings (and because it is fun). However, as a post-grid down trade, better to stick to farming.
do as my buddy did (and i call him crazy for it) his bought him self a dillion xl650 with a autodrive. and is currently cranking out 1500rnd an hr and he does that watch tv and drink beer if he ever runs out he just makes more.. hes up to i think 150k rounds of 9mm and 60k of 5.56
I'm no expert in handloading, but I do know that you can pop the spent primers out of shell casings, tap the bottom of the primer flat and "reprime(?)" them with match powder, but I do know that it's corrosive
I'm going to buy a reloader because as of July 1st in 2019 they are going to do background checks in California every time I buy ammo. It's bullshit, but there's no background checks on the reloading equipments.
I think he was kidding - and more specifically referring to dudes in 3-gun competition who compete using the “lighter” 5.56 vs. his .308. I didn’t take his comment as denigrating the 5.56 caliber itself as far as being an ineffective combat round. He was more commenting about recoil - and how he lightens his .308 to the point that his recoil is almost like 5.56. 🤔 I don’t think that guy served - thus, has never had to carry a load-out of 7.62 vs. 5.56
I don't expect to be able to reload for long after SHTF but I stock up on factory ammo and my Reloads plus buy bulk components to get them cheaper. Here in Australia it's been hard to get some things but not impossible.
Trailboss is the shit for subsonic rounds or to blow cases out in fire forming wildcat cases. I told my wife I wanted to reload to cut costs on ammo as well. But it didn't go down that way. Berger's, Eldx before long im making $60 a box 3006ai ammo. But like you said you will never find anything on the shelf that can run with what you can make and tune to your rifle.
A better way to acquire ammo after SHTF is to be proficient at attacking supply lines of your enemies. Says me, a real life tacticool internet ninja warrior commando.
Real neccessary skills would be hunting, farming, archery and arrow making is honestly more practical (sticks and stones are everywhere), logging, construction, fishing, and hell even blacksmithing and fabrication using hand tools are all more practical and time worthy shtf skills than reloading because worst case scenario it's like he said the materials would be hard to find d and eventually be altogether non existent
Karl, in your professional opinion would you rather carry a glock 33 (.357sig) or a glock 19 (9mm) . I would be using the weapon as a back up and off duty carry gun. What's your opinion on the Ballistics? Shot placement? penetration ? ammo availability is not an issue for me. Again as always thank you for your time and efforts they are greatly appreciated. Respectfully, a quiet professional.
Off Subject for this video, but always happy to help when I have time to type. I prefer 9mm, as it is available everywhere, as opposed to the .357sig. As for ammo for killing humans; I used to think all hollow-points were the same. Not True. There are a million different opinions out there, so here is mine... Certain military units ran tests, not saying who, using every type of round they could find. Barnes TacXP 9mm outperformed 40cal and 45acp ball. It was much more effective than other hollow points. I carry Barnes TacXP. Hope this helps, TR.
Tactical Rifleman I will look into the Barnes 9mm TacXP I've never heard of the round. I've always typically used Federal and Hornady . I know it is a bit off topic for this video but again as always thank you for your time.
It would be arguably better to stock up on primers and gunpowder in bulk than factory rounds simply b/c spent shells can be reused and bullets can be poured diy. Tactical Rifleman's argument ultimately hinged on the potential scarcity of primers and gunpowder. Although it's true that if generally ammo became scarce or regulated off the market, then its constituent parts (primers and gunpowder) would also become scarce, it doesn't follow that buying in bulk beforehand of factory rounds were superior to that of primers and gunpowder. TR's argument of saving space actually disproves his point in that in the long run you would be storing in bulk only the primers and gunpowder. It's true at some point you'd run out of primers and gunpowder, but it would be arguably easier to store those things in bulk than factory rounds, not to mention cheaper. At some point you're either going to have so many spent shells it would be wantonly wasteful to continue buying factory rounds or under economically-induced shortage conditions you will have been able to acquire much more of primers and gunpowder in bulk than complete rounds. Fundamentally it seems TR doesn't believe a systemic economic collapse possible, let alone probable. But if it truly were to come about, ammo would surely be among the most precious goods to own, and the means of its assembly included.
But Mr. Erickson sir, isn't reloading ammo a good idea, for prepping an ammo stash off your own? I saw some youtubers who cast bullets and collect used brass shells. Cleaning and reshaping and all that you have to do, to prepare cartridges before handloading. Then after that, they cleaned up the handloaded ammo with some cleaning solution like degreaser or alcohol. And some seal it on plastic bags, some even vacuum seal it. And put them on old used ammo boxes date marked and seal the box. And if the apocalypse came then you should have a decent ammo stash, ready to use and some for trade. Right?
Let's see, if you go to a range you'll find 6.5 creedmoor brass all over the ground. I get 20 - 50 every time. 1000 primers=$30 1000 hornady 140 gr edl $290 Ramshot hunter 8 lbs $169 So for $489 =1000 rounds of 6.5 creedmoor. Or go to the store= Hornady 6.5 143gr edl, 20 rds per box for $33, getting 14 boxes (280 rds) for $462. Or go cheap, Federal 140 gr $17 a box 560 rds =$476. If you're shooting steel for fun, reloading is the cheapest way to go.
Couldn't the brass be made from home somehow? I would think a machine could be made that is similar to large mass production ones but on a smaller scale. It's 1800s technology I would think it would be possible.
My two cents: reloading makes sense if you got some obscure or old mil-surp gun they don’t make ammo for or you want to make gentle loads that won’t blow up. Or you have the space, time, and money to set up an operation because you’re going through that much ammo a week. But if you’re joe lunch pail who maybe hits the range once a month and even then is only going between 1 to 4 boxes of ammo you bought at Walmart, then learn some other skills first
Lol who's here after the crazy ammo prices, espically after the election.
"Raises hand"
No I'm here because 7.92x57 is rare the only ammo I find are 100 year old surplus ammo
Ammo prices are high because of of scalpers hoarding ammo and reselling on the secondary market. It has absolutely nothing to do with any election.
@@bigyea50 🤣😂🤣😂
Crazy ammo prices? I can't even find ammo for my M1 Garand, or my 9mm pistol...
Dad said the best part about reloading was that it gave him an excuse to hide in the garage away from my mom
Agreed
Lol that's the only reason I do half of the stuff I do
XDDDD
Probably cheaper and more fun than a divorce too. But that's not a great sign for the quality of the marriage.
Cheaper to keep her.
Reloading is just a fun hobby for me, and can sometimes save on the cost per round, but if you are saving money per round you’ll just shoot more to reload more and therefore spend more money
That’s the point
The one thing no one takes into account: time. Reloading takes up a lot of time, which for me and many others is more valuable than the money you would save reloading.
Well said!
Cristian Navarro you a lawyer or a doctor?
Why are you watching this video? If reloading makes no sense to you, why watch and comment.
Time is all relative, for some, reloading may be an enjoyable hobby that is relaxing and therapeutic in terms of the stress reduction doing something they enjoy. So, for them the cost savings goes beyond just the savings on the ammo, but also into the savings of doctor bills.
1200 rounds an hour saves me $65. That's a pretty lucrative savings. Dillon 1050 is legit. I've loaded 10's of thousands of 9mm. so easy, and it's literally minimal effort for me. Not for everyone though.
4 years later...... reloading ammo seems like a good idea.
Exactly. I thought his mockery of “society “ crumbling was foolish. We are stupid if we think we can’t crumble.
22 here, most popular elected representative in history is doing amazing. Social media says fake laptop real, misinformation.
The best thing to do is to purchase 3 fully automated bullet factories. It takes as input iron ore, pigs, etc and on the output you have bullets. If one factory breaks down you have two more as a back up.
The best idea is buying and stockpiling ammo. keep 100 boxes of 100 for each weapon size in a cool dry place preferably not known to anyone. If you have 2 or 3 different weapons it will last you well into the Apocalypse.
@@reasonerenlightened2456 literally Factorio lol.
I’m a chemical engineer. Completely making ammo from scratch is a good challenge for me
Is it that difficult? Do you have a book that you can recommend to me or some online resources, here in Europe we do not have guns and with the current situation, i think a war might start in the near future.
An astronaut could have trouble changing an oil filter on a car. Not sure how chemical engineering plays into casting metal. You would probably have far less trouble if you worked in a foundry or as a black smith.
@@spencer6104 how about you know, making the gun powder?
@@ivant5054 I know how to make gunpowder use sulphur, potassium nitrate and charcoal. And @Spencer is right, chemistry does not include metal casting.
Casting is basically physical chemistry - I’m a materials engineer and know that it’s briefly covered in Chem eng. courses as well.
Well said, " YOU ARE NOT MAKING IT, YOU ARE ASSEMBLING IT " when the components run out, you are SOL !
By that time I'm still doing better than most everyone around me
@@PlayingWithFireOutdoors either you go to traps and bows. Or some society forms running manufacturing
@@tearex8688 that's once you run out of everything, for me that will probably be about 30 +years😀
you didnt hear blacksmiths talking about lack of steel in medieval times. When they ran out they killed for it. That is the point.
Thanks to Corona I can't buy ammo anywhere where I live. Seems like being able to make ammo is a great survival skills to me.
Yeah... not holding up well with the times.
.
I bought a pellet gun and BB gun to teach my wife to shoot so we don't waste ammo training.
@@deaconwest That's a great start mate and much cheaper. I've used both for my daughters to learn on too. They have more kick than a .22 though lol! Still you have shoot real ammo on the main gun your going to use to actually get used to it and be accurate on it.
Well this is about reloading not manufacturing your ammo ( extruding shell casing, making primer, making the gunpowder and finally making the slug ). better of making bows and arrows in a survival situation.
UPDATE THIS FOR 2021 WITH RIDICULOUS AMMO PRICES
I came here to say this!
I learned how to reload 15 years ago for custom loads for my .308 pistol. I needed to load a fast burning powder, and 125gr bullets. Now that there is starting to get components back on the shelves I’m reloading 9mm too. I don’t reload for a future survival situation, I reload for my ammo needs and so it gets me through the times of ammo shortages. I buy reloading supplies and save for the next ammo shortage. And the next shortage is just a election, riot, social unrest, gun law restriction or disaster away. Oh and yes, I save a ton of money reloading 9mm, $.25 a round, or $12.5 a box of 50. For .308 it is $.58 a round or $11.60 for a 20 box.
Best make your own ammo video ever! Thank you for not going into the apocalypse talk venue. Down to earth, love it!
I agree with everything you said. That's why I still practice with my Flint Lock too. I can actually make all the components 😁
Just for shits and giggles, I'm currently teaching my self how to MAKE ammo. Make the propellant, cast the bullets, reload the primers, etc. Because I've got too much time on my hands.
Poor guy. I'd take up making whiskey.
Don’t shoot you’re eye out kid
You need a girl friend
Primers are rhe real issue specifically when using Hg stufd
Sounds good but I wouldn’t skimp on primers depending on how you make your mix it can go off prematurely
Sissy 5.56 guns, please tell that to the media😂
Sissy low 556
One year later and they still don't get what the problem is
Funny because I watched a video where this guy showed all these rounds to the media and told them what to pick out they thought was an acceptable round for civilians they all picked the 5.56 and said the 30-06 round was too big. It’s funny they have no idea what there talking about they just think the “guns” are scary.
Or all the dead people they're reporting on.
They just make shit up about the "shootings" and the Mediaganda slaves parrot it back without thinking about it.
I mean in a post-apocalyptic society berdan primedammunition and steel cased ammunition would be loaded as well. They do that in afganistan and other poor countries. Also, Black powder can be made at home, and as you said you could cast slugs. So you could just re use primers and such in combination with manufacturing new brass. This would all work with manual action firearms. So pump-shotguns, leverguns, revolvers, etc.
Karl... I've been reloading for at least 40 years now. Where the big savings comes from is in the use of primers that I only paid $10.00/1000 and using powder that only costs 14-16 bucks per pound (when it was purchased. My philosophy is to shoot factory ammo when it's readily available and moderately-to-low priced. I shoot reloads when circumstances make factory ammo hard to find or uber-expensive (like currently). If one stores their components "properly", the reloaded ammo is just as good as factory ammo, despite components age...
I train a lot and would not be able to maintain my regimen given current shortage/prices...!!!
Agree 100 %
Well put my friend. All this crazy end of the world crap, and someone thinks if he can make ammo he will be untouchable. I was thinking primers the whole time. So, I’m happy you brought that up. Very good video.
And don’t get me wrong. I have my own setup and can make superior rounds to what I can buy (my Grandfather taught me well before he passed). So I’m not half bad. But pumping these out in some type of Zombie-Chinese-Russian-Water Turning to Blood-Vampires-Werewolves or whatever other end of days scenario someone can think up... I would rather stock up. And This won’t save you in the long run or keep you valuable, unless you plan on using muskets. Haha. Keep up the work guys!
The Red Frost it's not just primers look at all the shit u would have to carry everyone likes to forget about weight so not even talking size the weight of carrying all that shit will get your ass killed hahaha
You call it crazy until it happens. Then you were the crazy one all along.
This is the EXACT information I was looking for and I did not need to sift through bs. Straight to the point. Thank you.
Thanks Ranger Buddy! This was Hella Helpful, and thank you for your honest advice on the absolute need to reload vs buy... you're right, knowledge is power!
It all depends on who is doing the reloading and what their procedures are. 32 years so far. I trust my precision handloads for self defense but I've seen a lot of handloading stupidity. And BTW with bullet casting you can load pistol ammo for pennies a round. All you need is brass, primers and powder and scrap lead plus tooling. Primers can be remanufactured if you have the raw chemicals, and blackpowder can be used for revolvers. Percussion caps can be remanufactured with toy cap gun caps, which are super cheap. It's all about being prepared
Do have any books or links to learn more about making bullets.
Yeah bro..where did you get this knowledge. I need 1-on-1 counseling with you bra
PCP Large Bore Air rifles is where its at in a survival situation. All you need in a air compressor that can get up to 3000-4500 psi and a molded slug/pellet. .357, 45, 50 cal
I agree with you 100%. I go to war with my dad on this topic of reloading at least once a month. Stock up on cheap ammo in common calibers.
You can reuse anvils, and make primer cups, but you need machining skills. You can punch out brass cases, and make old French smokeless powder with basic chemistry, but you NEED to figure out how to source the machines, raw materials, and many other factors. You can, but it's probably not worth the hassle for most people.
That is unless something happens and it is the only option
Very good point bringing up assembling ammunition vs making it from scratch. The hardest part is going to be making the casings from melted brass and steel above all.
But none of this is rocket science. Learn how to smelt, learn how to metal mold/copycat brass etc. learn how to make primary and secondary explosives. Improvising with stuff like tinfoil for blasting caps does work. There are plenty of videos online on how to do this. Black powder does work. Not the best but it's easy to make.
But this is why I like the shotgun... Much easier to work with...
I went here to know how to make my own ammo, instead I was given an preaching 😂 amen to you my good sir!
You can never know when u need to make bullets....or remake them to another wepon you got ...but yeah why not just have them already made ...both dont hurt
that point about the supplies issue is why i personally think modern guns are gonna fall out of use quickly if something kills the supply lines like in most projected SHTF scenarios.
Your best option for actual firearms is to go back to things like flintlock if theres not going to ever be a restock on manufactured components. You can make everything you need to fire a flintlock shot right in the woods, from the powder (pioneers often used powedered charcoal which was less powerful but still did the job well enough for hunting), to the paper (making paper is alot easier than people think it is if you actually know what the process is), to the rounds themselves which can be anything spherical and hard enough to withstand the blast. Theoretically you might even be able to make traditional pointed slugs for a flintlock, though i havent seen anything on the practical aspects of such a thing.
And given how few people know how to operate a flintlock rifle, let alone where to get one, bows and crossbows become far more obvious of a solution to the long term issue of ammunition, as its fairly straight forward to make bolts and arrows with a bit of time and common materials found in the woods, and making a bow is likewise not the hardest thing to make if you have the time to do it right.
Still in a situation where you think the breakdown is only going to last say... a few years, then reloading might be a great solution if you stock up on components ahead of time. I can definitely see advantages to it if you plan ahead with supplies and are just trying to wait it out rather than survive independently for the longhaul.
At the end of the day every prep plan has its advantages and disadvantages depending on what scenario you apply it to, as none are truly universal to all scenarios and one that might work for one scenario might be utterly useless against another. The best plans are ones with either lots of diverse supplies so that you have at least something for everything, or they are plans built around you getting supplies after the fact based on what the scenario is, such as buggout bags with planned resource spots like warehouses and such.
Having the akill set to reload ammo is good only when you have the knowledge to craft saltpeter and know where to get sulfur. Also another note is for primer you need to know the formulation of the primer which i know how to craft the compound that makes primer. Thats where only a small percentage of people know how to make these chemical including me.
Who is here because of the coronavirus? Oh just me guess they are to worried about hoarding toilet paper
Hard to belive it's been 9 months.
Who needs toilet paper when you can wipe with a 5.56 round...
I’ll take ammo over toilet paper any day. LOTS of leafs out there. Shirts/ socks/ sky’s the limit lol
@@jordansilver4629 till you grab a poison ivy leaf in the dark.
@@supercomputer0448 don't use leafs on foliage you don't know. Play it safe and use a tree.
Yes I completely agree - it will be difficult to find primers and gun powder after SHTF/apocalypse. However, it will still be very easy to cast bullets/pellets for powerful air gun. So good air gun has it all over powder burners after SHTF.
Solid plan but you better source .22 and .177 bullet casts now. Thanks for watching, TR
You make some good points in your arguement. However reloading has gotten me through the last several ammo shortages since Y2K. Of course I didnt wait for the shortage to hit to go and buy my components, I got them when there was ammo on the shelf still and availability of reloading components were good knowing the day would come when there is another shortage. I bought in bulk and stacked it deep cuz I know the next shortage is just around the corner and it seems to take longer before ammo comes back on line each time!!!
Thank you for helping me save my money and, even more importantly, my time. I will stick with store-bought for now.
Good choice!
My question is..... when did Christopher Walken start reloading?
haha, I reckon he'd do a great "Christopher Walken, Lion speech"? ua-cam.com/video/cfHAiIq-Yeo/v-deo.html
You're a douche.
Need more cowbells
Smoke USMVMC 🐮 🔔
🤣😂🤣
In making an amo especially when you are served to the military the best is the ionized carbon steel coated with brass sledge to achieved it's penetrating application
Been reloading on a DIllon RL550B for over 25 years. Reloading is great for accuracy, also good for relaxing. Trick is, reload your empty brass and keep the store bought stuff for emergencies. As long as you have stocked up on powder and primers and cast your own heads, shortages (Like now) are not a issue.
Sort of fun listening to guys gripe about lack of 45 or 38 ammo then going home and reloading a few hundred from old brass and comps on hand. Brass can be recycled to an extent, using molds you can cast your own pistol heads (and rifle if you have a supply of gas checks on hand). SO all you really need to have stockpiled is powder and primers and if you plan right they can be used for more then one caliber.
Getting into reloading during a shortage is a exercise in frustration, you need to have gotten your stock built during good times.
I reload and I have stashed a lot of ammo for my firearms. I think it is a good thing to learn my 2cents
I agree
Tumi reloading is very therapeutic I'll spend sometimes up to 8 hours every couple of days reloading the different types of calibers especially Oddball calibers that you cannot find such as the old 45 110 or 8 mm Mauser or my favorite big game round is the Winchester 405 but other than that I do reload modern calibers and I have been doing this and never look back for about 50 years when you start out it gets a little hard but after awhile it just gets easier and easier so you people out there who are complaining about the high cost of ammunition all I can say is listen to what this gentleman says in the video and let the fun begin. PS here's an important message to you beginner reloaderz out there if you smoke now is the time to give it up.
I’m actually trying to learn how to make primers. I already have the recipe for black powder although I’m curious as to the performance difference in say an uzi or stamp metal grease gun with bp instead of rp or pp. I’m sure the cleaning situation would be a nightmare but I am currently trying to make myself completely self reliant and able to stay armed in spite of the limit of available bullets and supplies to make them.
Probably wouldn't be able to get semi autos or fully autos to cycle. Black powder is nowhere near smokeless in energy. I've only seen BP hold up well in bolt guns (which was ironically the peak of black powder right before smokeless took over)
Will not get the performance out of BP vs smokeless, then fouling needs to be thought about.
30-30 lever was black powder before it was smokeless.
Just some FFT.
@Al N/A and there was a gain in performance when switching to smokeless. But yea 30 grains of BP was it's charge weight.
@@PlayingWithFireOutdoors yup, Faster than a bolt action and no gas ports to foul.
You still need to clean them but even though they're an old design they're a very well thought out design.
A bullet mould and some gas checks will keep it fed for a long time as well as long as you can source or stock up on components.👍
Reloading CAN save you money on ammo, depending on the cartridge. After running the numbers, for .45acp here in Canada I can save about 40% by reloading brass instead of buying cheap aluminum case ammo. More precisely it was 44% savings, but I did not consider the "cost" of sourcing brass in my calculations (I generally buy cheap brass case ammo and reload it after). Given that you can reload brass many many times, rounding down to 40% savings is a conservative number to settle on.
If you cast your own projectiles, reloading can be significantly cheaper even for something like 9mm. I project over 50% savings by reloading cast bullets instead of buying aluminum case ammo.
Of course, what seems to happen to most people is that they don't really "save" money... they just shoot way more than they used to for the same expense. Take your pick, it's a win/win if you enjoy the process.
If it happens, all of us will eventually run out of ammo. What do you think of having something like a crossbow as a backup weapon? Making a crude arrow would be easier than trying to manufacture primers.
Actually, a modern crossbow fires with so much force that it will shatter wooden bolts/arrows. So, making them isn’t as easy as it sounds. In the space a crossbow takes, you could store about 10,000 rounds of 22lr.
Something tells me you are telling us this so that you end up being the only post-apocalypse ammo merchant. lol
Glad you took a much more realistic look at reloading rather than being one of those “reloading is the best and if you don’t do it you’re an idiot” or “why would you ever do that it’s so convenient to just buy it” people. Good call on that, I got a similar lesson/lecture from my buddy whose been into guns much longer than I. Still seems like it will be useful to have the ability to do so to avoid falling victim to future ammo shortages/logistics upsets, but still purchase by the box when able to do so. Diversify your supply chains, even on an individual basis.
*who's (= who is/has) been, not whose (possessive)
When times are good and components available, creating your own loads can be an enjoyable experience and pastime but there are limitations.
Addressing the part about a Zombie Apocalypse or external (or even internal) invasion or government upheaval, one must consider several important aspects.
One is your location. Zombie Apocalypse notwithstanding, you must address if you'll be able to stay static in ONE place where you can set up all the gear required to construct your ammo.
Two, if you are forced to relocate for any reason, will you have transportation to get there as well as packing up all the equipment you'll NEED?
Chances are the answer is no. But not always, so you can't discount those possibilities.
In that case, having ammo already constructed beats the other options hands down. But even if you DO have a LOT of ammo, how much can you realistically expect to haul on your back or even in some means of conveyance?
It's all relative and not to be taken lightly.
As I said, you MUST be realistic in your expectations.
All that aside, IF you have a place to hunker down (we all HOPE we will have that option) then a HUGE stockpile would be of great importance. And along those same lines, even if you DO have a home base that is secure (and is it REALLY secure after all??) having an appropriate place to set your gear up will take up valuable real estate, too. But either pre-made ammo or components aren't going to be something that you just leave laying about without appropriate security and safe storage.
So as has been previously discussed, rolling your own ammo CAN be cost effective once you amoratize the equipment factor but when it is all boiled down, crafting rounds to optimize your shooting platform for the accuracy and end result, needs must be factored in.
It's a case of Chevy vs Ford. Glock vs Colt, etc.
You either LOVE one or you LOVE the other, so reloading is more about personal choice, need and expectations.
As for ME, I bought a LOT of supplies years ago when prices were MUCH cheaper than the same materials are priced in today's environment. To that end, MY pre-made ammo in virtually EVERY caliber is a LOT cheaper than if I had to buy ammo at current prices.
One example is loading generic AP rounds for my .50BMG rifle. When I was buying components, I could get AP projo's much cheaper than Ball projo's so I stocked up.
Using my stockpiled components allows me to create one loaded AP .50BMG round for right st $0.85 each. I couldn't (CAN'T!) achieve that price for ONE of my
.300 Win Mag rounds with a decent projo for either hunting or "target" shooting.
Try to source factory ammo of similar parts for those and you'll be broke before long.
One last item before I shut up:
When it comes to reloading, one of the most important parts to have is the expended (new?) cartridge case.
If you don't stop to pick up every expended case, your supply will dwindle very quickly. And who amongst us is going to be standing around and scrounging up fired brass if you should have the misfortune to engage in a protracted battle with some unknown adversary? Not THIS guy!
Those expended rounds, and more importantly, the brass is gone FOREVER. That is unless you plan to return to the scene at a later time to pick up all the brass you can find.
Just my $0.02 worth on the subject.
And, Karl, as always, THANK YOU for your videos, time and expense in bringing us your insight in some very valuable subject matter.
God Bless and Keep Your Powder Dry!!
>If you don't stop to pick up every expended case, your supply will dwindle very quickly.
>the brass is gone FOREVER. That is unless you plan to return to the scene at a later time to pick up all the brass you can find.
Not if you attach a brass catcher and/or invest in a metal detector...
>>But even if you DO have a LOT of ammo, how much can you realistically expect to haul on your back or even in some means of conveyance?
One could stockpile ammo and strategically hide/bury it in various bugout locations in the vicinity or throughout the country...
Fastforward to 2020 in California where you now have to pay a dollar for a background check so you can buy a 50 round box of 9mm.
yeah and the ammo is $1/round.
Well that's why you learn all aspects of reloading and have manuals. 200g speer fmjs 45acp bullet will work with all 200g 45acp fmj data regardless of manufacturing.
love reloading , or ammo making! I load for my guns only and I do it as a hobby. Now for 25 years , I have been doing this , I have spent a bit of time reaching and doing my thing with many calibers via rifle or pistol, and have found it to be Rewarding . every gun I have has ammo for it tailored for that gun. best shooting , cleanest burning powder and best bullet. my latest project, was my black hawk in 44 spl it shoots like no gun I have ever had, but it took a month to develop a round just for this gun. shoots flat clean and point of aim out to 100 , and then some. be it cast or jacketed. no leading or copper fouling anymore. 240 gr hp at 1100 fps Is a good load for this gun , with pressures just over published pressures of 15500 at 16300 brass falls out of the cylinder with no assistance. no factory ammo can do this . I have pushed it to just under mag pressures and still had no problem but it shoots best where it is at 16300. and my hand and arm lilkes it also .
For reloading in a survival or post apocalyptic world, look into using Lee Loaders. There are lots of videos on Lee Loaders on UA-cam. They are available in practically every caliber for pistol, rifle, and shotgun. A Lee Loader is a plastic box about the size of a U.S Postal Service Small Fixed Rate Priority Mail Box. It contains several tools and instructions on how to reload a cartridge. Lee still makes them and until the recent unpleasantness they were readily available new from several sporting suppliers on line and used on ebay. The Lee retail price for a Lee Loader in a single caliber is less than $ 50. Let's say you want to reload 9mm. Buy a Lee Loader in 9mm for $ 50, 1,000 small pistol primers for $ 40, a pound of smokeless powder, say Unique, Bullseye, or another popular pistol powder for $ 35, and 1,000 9mm projectiles for $ 20. Now for less than $ 150 you have everything needed to reload 1,000 9mm. The cases will be the previously shot brass that you have collected. The limiting factors on how many times you can reload the same brass are 1) the life of the brass (maybe 10 times plus or minus), 2) the availability of primers, 3) the availability of smokeless powder, and 4) the availability of projectiles or bullets. We can eliminate the scarcity of two of those, brass and bullets. You can scrounge shot brass from the ground at the range. Start doing that now and building up a supply of brass. You can cast your own bullets. You will need a bullet mold in 9mm. Lee and many other reloading equipment manufacturers make them and until COVID they were readily available new and used for under $ 50. Next, you will need lead. Common source for lead in the composition good for casting bullets is automotive wheel weights. Check local tire shops and mechanics. They usually collect the old weights and sell them to recyclers. Offer to buy a 5 gallon bucket for more than what recycler pays them, it won't be expensive. I have also bought used wheel weights from recyclers. In a survival situation you could collect them off of the wheels of abandoned vehicles. You have to be careful as many of the newer wheel weights today are not lead, but some other composition. UA-cam has many videos on how to tell the difference. To melt the lead use an old cast iron frying pan over a burner, can even be a wood camp fire. Check UA-cam videos on how to do it. Once the commercial supply of primers runs out, it is possible to reload used primers with wooden matches, (save the old primers as you reload now to build up a supply). While reloading primers is possible, it is a slow, tedious process and there is always the question of reliability, will they go bang. Again, multiple videos on UA-cam on the process. It would be best to shoot reloaded ammunition with reloaded primers in a revolver or bolt action rifle rather than a semiautomatic because if it doesn't go bang, keep pulling the trigger on a revolver until one in the cylinder does. Similarly, in a rifle, work the bolt until one fires. Good luck.
I use a Dillon 550, and I churn out ammo when ever I need it. I get bored I can produce 200+ rounds in 1/2 hour including setup.
for the survival argument you can manufacture your own primers and bullets and even powder you would move off smokeless to black powder for cost and ease but a part of reason of manfacturing anything is taking less tecnicall larger raw materials and converting it to smaller advanced materials thats why a table costs more then the boards to make the table
Also yes you actually can make your own primers theirs videos all over the internet for casings its a bit tricker you would probally need to cnc meachine them from raw metal very inefficient I suppose you could stamp them but I dont have the tooling for that
Make me primers. There’s lots of talk on the internet of making primers. Reliable primers aren’t gonna happen. Again, shit me some primers and then I’ll take you seriously .
Thanks for watching, TR
Get on my level: I'm hand-loading ammo because I can't buy it legally.
The only reason I started reloading was because I have one antique rifle you can't find ammo for but you can find or reform brass from a parent cartridge. Then I branched out to about 8 other calibers and I make my own BP. It's all fun but it rarely saves any money.
Reloading it’s a great therapy. Being a cop either reloading or getting drunk! I miss the older days
I personally want to reload so I can make custom loads. I'll buy like a box of federal FMJ 9mm for target practice and then take the brass home to use in my custom loads
Me too.
This video is a little dated because of the circumstances in August 2020. Can you please make an updated video? The ammo shortage is making availability rare. Making our own ammo from used shells is now a necessity. Maybe review the most cost effective way? Or maybe review a few different methods? GG🇺🇸🙌
ha! My brother does this and he refers to it as "making", not "reloading". He's not creating his own gunpowder from scratch, slugs, primers. None of that... For the quantity of ammo he goes thru in the training he does, it pays off but, as you said, it won't help him a bit in an apocalypse situation. You can either stock up on all the components or the assembled ammo itself.
I love reloading, my father and grandfather were great teachers. When its cold and snowing in the middle of winter my son and I sit at the bench and make bullets all day. It gives me a chance to talk to him and spend some quality time with him. I was lucky to have my reloading equipment given to me. I also found an old Dillon 450 RL and a Lyman American with dies at tag sales for under 50.00 so stop and look you never know what you will find. Ebay has some good deals for people who are just starting out also.
The problem I have when I clean the brass, is that there is always some corn cob stuck in the flash hole. How do you deal with that problem? Why don’t you do a video about what happens when you reload a rifle round and tumbling media remains/lodged in the brass. How it effects pressure, accuracy, and how likely it is to blow up the gun. You make awesome videos and I'm most grateful for all the work you do.
I’ll add it to the video idea list.
95% of online stores won’t ship ammo, gun powder and primers outside the contiguous US due to those items being hazardous materials unless you pay a pricey hazmat fee.
I once paid $80 to have 5 small boxes of ammo shipped to my house.
So people in Alaska, Hawaii (me), Guam etc have no choice but to buy those items from local gun stores.
Due to markup, ammo can be more expensive than online. If you reload, you can save a _shit ton_ over a long period of time.
Just a small rant to show that the argument “Reloading can save you money!” _does_ hold a lot of water for certain individuals.
Amen. Thanks for sharing. TR
Who else here cause of corona?😂
😅
Sound off
Look up the Georgia guidestones there a stone with instructions on how to rebuild society after an apocalypse no joke I’m serious it’s creepy af look it up
Here
Negative
Good video from a fellow patriot and reloaded.
I'm new to this, but I found the shade against 5.56 right off the bat funny. That's all I know. haha
Reloading is therapeutic for me.
im stickin w this guy when all hell breaks loose
I'm dumb af cause I didn't realize by "reloading" he meant reusing brass. Was wondering why you don't use a speed loader lmao
I started reloading because I was all about .357 SIG....These days I can't for the life of me find 125gr flat point projectiles. I've tried using round nose to no avail, just can't get a good crimp and set back is a real issue 😁😢
You are a good guy. Thanks for the video. End to end the survivalists are talking about the entire engineering process. Also worthwhile adventures are complex and hard. You are right you are just an assembler but that is not the point they made. It does hold water.
This guy just saved me SO MUCH MONEY
I do it because you can't buy the ammo I shoot in competition. No, it's not cheap. But I do feed my pistol very carefully loaded perfect ammo. Limcat, open. Uspsa.
This is more for like emergencies. I guess I’d buy ammo as long as it’s available but since corona lockdown ammo is sold out. Reloading components I have not checked out. That’s y I’m here.
I have plenty of factory ammo. What's plenty?
Good question...I doubt that I will ever need 1000 per caliber rounds for self defense.
I reload for the joy of working with my hands, comparative studies regarding loads that vary,
Just trying to have fun trying to find the better round ( combinations of components) to get the most accurate shots on paper at different distances...its a little science for an old guy to have as a hobby. I'm not a high precision benchrest shooter...I shoot leverguns and single action revolvers...
You want to " survive?"
Store water, food, medical supplies, know how to use them...find trustworthy neighbors.
Pray alot...
Lots of skill sets to simply survive outside of reloading..keep a decent shotgun and a store of ammo for it and that's practically all that you will need in that regard....
Thanks for the video..
God bless.
Amen. Thanks for sharing. Strength and Honor, TR
I'll tell you who has more ammo than any of us. Did you guess it?.. yup the government. Military, the police. All I can say is be safe out there. We are in some crazy times brother.
I cast, reload etc and I do it because I enjoy the hobby of it and also for lr shooting. But as this video says, if shit hits the fan you better already have your stuff.
Thanks for watching. Most miss the point of this video. As you said, reloading is great for accuracy and some cost savings (and because it is fun). However, as a post-grid down trade, better to stick to farming.
do as my buddy did (and i call him crazy for it) his bought him self a dillion xl650 with a autodrive. and is currently cranking out 1500rnd an hr and he does that watch tv and drink beer if he ever runs out he just makes more.. hes up to i think 150k rounds of 9mm and 60k of 5.56
I'm no expert in handloading, but I do know that you can pop the spent primers out of shell casings, tap the bottom of the primer flat and "reprime(?)" them with match powder, but I do know that it's corrosive
Yes, it is possible to reload primers with crushed "strike-anywhere matches." Now, where do you source the "Strike Anywhere" matches? See my point?
Tactical Rifleman: you could also use safety matches by combining the crushed up match head and scrape the red phosphorus off of the striker
I'm going to buy a reloader because as of July 1st in 2019 they are going to do background checks in California every time I buy ammo. It's bullshit, but there's no background checks on the reloading equipments.
That’s too bad.
Modern problems require modern solutions
I carried one of those "sissy" 5.56 in combat. I would bet my life on it.
ur a lil sissy
I think he was kidding - and more specifically referring to dudes in 3-gun competition who compete using the “lighter” 5.56 vs. his .308. I didn’t take his comment as denigrating the 5.56 caliber itself as far as being an ineffective combat round. He was more commenting about recoil - and how he lightens his .308 to the point that his recoil is almost like 5.56. 🤔
I don’t think that guy served - thus, has never had to carry a load-out of 7.62 vs. 5.56
Justbootstuff
Eh buy ammo and keep it on hand but having the ability to reload your ammo helps a lot of you can’t find it.
I'm from the future. Ammo is expensive as f***. Even more so where I'm from (Argentina). So reload is the way to go. Future proved you wrong hehe
Interested in this because all the ammo stores have been cleaned out to the military
It is hard to find primers right now
I don't expect to be able to reload for long after SHTF but I stock up on factory ammo and my Reloads plus buy bulk components to get them cheaper. Here in Australia it's been hard to get some things but not impossible.
Trailboss is the shit for subsonic rounds or to blow cases out in fire forming wildcat cases.
I told my wife I wanted to reload to cut costs on ammo as well. But it didn't go down that way. Berger's, Eldx before long im making $60 a box 3006ai ammo. But like you said you will never find anything on the shelf that can run with what you can make and tune to your rifle.
It would just be better for those preppers to get a flint lock and a bullet mold. Can make the gun powder and don’t have to worry about the primers
Wow dude! Some of your best videos live way back on your channel!!!!!!!100%.🤜🤛🇺🇲🇺🇲
I try
This guy read my mind because the reason I’m here is to figure out how to make ammo for the apocalypse.
Get into reloading for 338WM or 338 Lapua, the expensive stuff. But get dies, primers and powder for ammo shortages like were in now
A better way to acquire ammo after SHTF is to be proficient at attacking supply lines of your enemies. Says me, a real life tacticool internet ninja warrior commando.
Real neccessary skills would be hunting, farming, archery and arrow making is honestly more practical (sticks and stones are everywhere), logging, construction, fishing, and hell even blacksmithing and fabrication using hand tools are all more practical and time worthy shtf skills than reloading because worst case scenario it's like he said the materials would be hard to find d and eventually be altogether non existent
Exactly. Thanks for watching, TR
Karl, in your professional opinion would you rather carry a glock 33 (.357sig) or a glock 19 (9mm) . I would be using the weapon as a back up and off duty carry gun. What's your opinion on the Ballistics? Shot placement? penetration ? ammo availability is not an issue for me. Again as always thank you for your time and efforts they are greatly appreciated. Respectfully,
a quiet professional.
Off Subject for this video, but always happy to help when I have time to type. I prefer 9mm, as it is available everywhere, as opposed to the .357sig. As for ammo for killing humans; I used to think all hollow-points were the same. Not True. There are a million different opinions out there, so here is mine... Certain military units ran tests, not saying who, using every type of round they could find. Barnes TacXP 9mm outperformed 40cal and 45acp ball. It was much more effective than other hollow points. I carry Barnes TacXP. Hope this helps, TR.
Tactical Rifleman I will look into the Barnes 9mm TacXP I've never heard of the round. I've always typically used Federal and Hornady . I know it is a bit off topic for this video but again as always thank you for your time.
Stock up in ammunition while you still can, if you wish to survive what may be beyond the horison
Or under your feet for that matter
It would be arguably better to stock up on primers and gunpowder in bulk than factory rounds simply b/c spent shells can be reused and bullets can be poured diy. Tactical Rifleman's argument ultimately hinged on the potential scarcity of primers and gunpowder. Although it's true that if generally ammo became scarce or regulated off the market, then its constituent parts (primers and gunpowder) would also become scarce, it doesn't follow that buying in bulk beforehand of factory rounds were superior to that of primers and gunpowder. TR's argument of saving space actually disproves his point in that in the long run you would be storing in bulk only the primers and gunpowder. It's true at some point you'd run out of primers and gunpowder, but it would be arguably easier to store those things in bulk than factory rounds, not to mention cheaper. At some point you're either going to have so many spent shells it would be wantonly wasteful to continue buying factory rounds or under economically-induced shortage conditions you will have been able to acquire much more of primers and gunpowder in bulk than complete rounds. Fundamentally it seems TR doesn't believe a systemic economic collapse possible, let alone probable. But if it truly were to come about, ammo would surely be among the most precious goods to own, and the means of its assembly included.
But Mr. Erickson sir, isn't reloading ammo a good idea, for prepping an ammo stash off your own?
I saw some youtubers who cast bullets and collect used brass shells. Cleaning and reshaping and all that you have to do, to prepare cartridges before handloading.
Then after that, they cleaned up the handloaded ammo with some cleaning solution like degreaser or alcohol. And some seal it on plastic bags, some even vacuum seal it. And put them on old used ammo boxes date marked and seal the box.
And if the apocalypse came then you should have a decent ammo stash, ready to use and some for trade. Right?
Makes a lot more sense for post SHTF Prepping
Let's see, if you go to a range you'll find 6.5 creedmoor brass all over the ground. I get 20 - 50 every time. 1000 primers=$30
1000 hornady 140 gr edl $290
Ramshot hunter 8 lbs $169
So for $489 =1000 rounds of 6.5 creedmoor.
Or go to the store=
Hornady 6.5 143gr edl, 20 rds per box for $33, getting 14 boxes (280 rds) for $462.
Or go cheap, Federal 140 gr $17 a box 560 rds =$476.
If you're shooting steel for fun, reloading is the cheapest way to go.
Agreed
I buy ammo and I reload, best of both worlds.
You can get the sodium nitrate from the farmer
I'm considering buying a black powder arsenal and casting my own ammunition. I just want to shoot again but I can't afford or find ammo anymore haha
Zombie apocalypse is what brought me here 🤣
Couldn't the brass be made from home somehow? I would think a machine could be made that is similar to large mass production ones but on a smaller scale. It's 1800s technology I would think it would be possible.
All the gun stores were picked clean on ammo, only thing left was 3 inch shotgun shells 🐚.
Mostly cause we're short primers
My two cents: reloading makes sense if you got some obscure or old mil-surp gun they don’t make ammo for or you want to make gentle loads that won’t blow up. Or you have the space, time, and money to set up an operation because you’re going through that much ammo a week. But if you’re joe lunch pail who maybe hits the range once a month and even then is only going between 1 to 4 boxes of ammo you bought at Walmart, then learn some other skills first
Bullets? no... Shotgun shells? YES!