Loading out this year failed

[volshooter]

I honestly tried to load every thing I have this year, worked for months. Still got lots of brass, primers, powder and projectiles. I loaded 250 rounds of 25-06 today, last of the brass I had. I have more rounds than I would ever be able to fire. There are 600 .44 mag cases ready for powder sitting on my reloading bench waiting. I have all the components as I am a hoarder.
Neither of my children are into reloading. Someone is going to get mucho stuff when I'm gone. Probably some friend at church.
My dumb behind is loading rounds that will probably not be shot until I am dust.
Still, reloading makes me happy. I hope whomever ends up with my stuff enjoys it and appreciates the love I put in to it.
I almost loaded out the rifle cartridges I use (.243, .308, 25/06 and 45/70). It will take many more months to load the pistol brass.
I have too much stuff. I still have 600+ .25 calber projectles in unopened boxes.
I should live so long........

 

[contender]

I had the same mentality several years ago. I figured to get all my brass loaded so as to have plenty of ammo at all times.
Then,,, after seeing estates of a couple of friends being sold,, with the reloads being GIVEN away, and many times,,, to just be pulled apart,,, I decided to stop & just stock up on supplies.
As such,,, I have a fair supply of stuff my boys can use or sell if Miss Penny isn't around.
Reloading is fun, and has it's own way of making us happy. But I hate waste & I saw the waste of $$$ that the widows could have used in the thousands of rounds I saw given away.
Properly stored,,, the bullets, brass, primers & powder can be worth more after I'm gone than what I spend now. I load now when I'm getting low or need a certain type of ammo. I still have a long way to go to empty a lot of my cases.

 

[SweetWilliam]

I thought I was the only one that hates to see empty brass.

 

[gster]

I don't feel alone now either. Good to know that I'm not the only fanatic hoarder out here. Ammo boxes full of every caliber and I can't stop...I just can't do it!. Gotta go. I cast 500-210gr swc for my 1911 and the cases need primed........

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I'm with Contender, keep the stuff separate. I have plastic jugs full of brass, boxes and bags of bullets and shelves of powder and primers.

 

[volshooter]

Great posts! Had not thought of how valuable components could be. Some of the power i am trying to use is dated 94. Got 2 kegs of Unique given to me. Dirty but shoots good.
Went to a shoot today, ran 400+ rounds of 9mm and 200 .45ACP. Right now I can buy 1000 rounds of 9mm brass loaded for $167. Just doesn't make sense to reload when these prices are so low for 9mm.
Still, I love to reload and will continue to try to load out all rifle and .44mag, these are specific to my firearms, and they work. So what that I might have 4-5 hundred rounds for a hunting rifle.
Just want to at least use up the older powder.

 

[375supermag]

I honestly tried to load every thing I have this year, worked for months. Still got lots of brass, primers, powder and projectiles. I loaded 250 rounds of 25-06 today, last of the brass I had. I have more rounds than I would ever be able to fire. There are 600 .44 mag cases ready for powder sitting on my reloading bench waiting. I have all the components as I am a hoarder.
Neither of my children are into reloading. Someone is going to get mucho stuff when I'm gone. Probably some friend at church.
My dumb behind is loading rounds that will probably not be shot until I am dust.
Still, reloading makes me happy. I hope whomever ends up with my stuff enjoys it and appreciates the love I put in to it.
I almost loaded out the rifle cartridges I use (.243, .308, 25/06 and 45/70). It will take many more months to load the pistol brass.
I have too much stuff. I still have 600+ .25 calber projectles in unopened boxes.
I should live so long........

I don't have that problem...my son and a friend I load for shoot up my reloads faster than I can crank them out. I do help some. :lol:

Lately my son has been buying bulk ammo on line to keep a ready supply on hand.

All that does is add to the brass supply I need to process.

I just finished cleaning about 2500 pieces of brass in 9mm, 40S&W, 10mm, 45ACP, 38Special and 45Colt, plus a few odds and ends to throw in the mixed brass plinking loads brass supply. I still have well over 1500 rifle cases to clean in .308, .223, .25/06, .30/06, 7mmMag, 7x57 30/30 and 303Brit.

I have containers of brass (500+ each)that are primed and ready to load in just about every pistol caliber mentioned above plus .41Mag, 45AutoRim, 44Special, 44Mag and .357Mag.

January is here now and I will be busy reloading pretty much non-stop until the spring shooting season begins sometime in March(depending on the weather).

I just went down in the reloading room and noticed I have well over 1000 primed case ready to load in .45ACP, 357Mag and .38Special.
Inventory levels of bullets are barely sufficient to cover just those cases. Powder supplies are excellent as are primers, at least for handguns.

I need to buy some more commercial-cast lead bullets and Hornady HP/XTPs to get me through the winter reloading sessions (adding the new 10mm into the mix at Christmas isn't helping my reloading schedule or supply situation).

Rifle powders and primers need to be re-stocked, as do bullet supplies.
I am going to be a busy old man (61) the next couple of months. My right arm is getting tired just thinking about it.

The thing is no matter how much I reload between now and the start of the shooting season, I know by June I will be staring at thousands and thousands of pieces of brass that will need to be reloaded to finish out the summer shooting season.

It's good to be needed , I guess. One thing is certain...as long as my son and friend continue to shoot, I will never have to worry about what will happen to any of my reloaded ammunition after I die. There won't be any left.

 

[volshooter]

Stopped by a friend of mine's place the other day. He shoots mostly 9mm and .223. This dude has a dillion press for each and cleans his brass in an inexpensive modified plastic barrel concrete mixer. It looked like a small commercial outfit. Looked real nice but didn't look fun.

 

[RSIno1]

I've been trying to impliment a good exit strategy since I'm in my mid 60s now. I've collected from 50 (458mag) to 1000+ (9mm & 223) of each caliber I shoot. I've got 1000s of bullets and 25+ lbs of powder. I've thinned the collection to one gun of each caliber I load for and was going to sell those guns when the ammo was gone. Looking at the ammo supply and my limited shooting time the grandson is going to end up with a lot of guns and stuff. He's 7 in March and I've got a new Norinco Browning auto rifle knock off and real nice OM Bearcat set aside for him. I figure when he's 10 I'll start teaching him to reload. Hopefully it'll be a hobby he'll enjoy and .gov won't ban everything.

 

[volshooter]

Sure wish I had someone young to teach reloading to. I started late 70's to get better ammo, and I did. I got addicted to having the best ammo I could have, not to mention the process.
Just another art/love that will be lost and missed, hope I'm not around by then.

At least I know the firearms and worked ammo I leave will please someone. The love and work put into each firearm ammo combination was pure joy. I tried so many powders, charges, bullets and got the best each could shoot.

 

[Mobuck]

I agree that components stay "fresher" in their original containers.
I loaded a LOT of .223 when I was stuck in the house after surgery in 2009. Stored in air tight containers, it will be good for decades. I probably have between 5 and 10K of once fired brass waiting to be processed if weather or health locks me down for a while.
9mm? I have loaded 9mm by the bucketful-same storage, same expectation. Again, I have an unknown amount of OF brass bought when it was $12-15/K.
38SP? Almost all my 38 brass is loaded but I don't expect to lose much revolver brass.
44SP/mag? More than I'll likely EVER shoot with only a few hundred empty brass in case I decide I need something special.
Bullets? Don't even want to think about that. It seems I've created a challenge to see how much weight my super-duty loading platform will support.
My hunting ammo is slightly different. I usually load 100-200 rounds at a time which lasts for several years but not decades. I've been buying some factory ammo when I find a smoking deal and shooting the older stuff I've had around for years.

 

[volshooter]

Several years ago I got the idea to vacuum seal (foodsaver) some pistol rounds. My thought was to throw them in the truck and forget them. Ammo put in my vehicle always ended up with crushed boxes and rounds rolling around. I still vac seal 5 emergency rounds to keep in my hunting pack. I have no idea if this extends life but it sure keeps them clean and dry. I was asked once if vac sealing removed air in the cartridge and would keep them from firing, I don't know.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

. I was asked once if vac sealing removed air in the cartridge and would keep them from firing, I don't know.

Cartridges don't need air inside to fire. There is an oxidizing agent in the gunpowder formula that produces enough O2 to supply the burning agent. You can even fire a gun under water or in outer space. Wana think about that?

 

[volshooter]

Never thought about that Jimbo! Thanks. Now that is got my little head thinking. Thanks again!

 

[LAH]

I bulk load my bulk shooters but others I load only a little to keep on hand.

 

[volshooter]

Congrats for me! Today I finally used up the first keg of Unique I was given. Started on it in November. I have another sealed 94 dated keg to go (4 pounds?).
It is the old dirty burning formula but performs well. I have run out of .45LC to be loaded and getting short on 9mm and .45acp to load. I really hate to waste this fine powder. I am going to ask a couple of shooting buddies if they would like a pound or two. I have 3 pounds of the newer burning formula unopened. I know some folks hate Unique, but it does shoot well.
All the 9mm and .45ACP's will be quickly shot up within the next 4 months, at our shooting gatherings.
I have stopped reloading 9mm due to being able to buy cheaper. Got a 1000 rounds of MagTec 9mm for 200$ today.
I am going to concentrate on the .380's and rifle brass still waiting.