Just purchased .38 cal 148gr dewc and .45 cal 200gr swc lead bullets from Mastercast in Pennsylvania. The 38's were $65 per thousand and the 45's were $80 per thousand. This is the first time I've dealt with this company and supposed to receive the bullets today or tomorrow. I didn't compare prices with other suppliers so I have no idea is these prices are considered good or not. The shipping was $15 for a post office "if it fits, it ships box". I also purchased once fired brass from Colorado Brass Wholesale. Maybe this was a deal and maybe not. The brass is said to be once fired, picked over for bad cases, not cleaned and not de-capped. I bought 1750 each of .38 Special and .45 ACP. Both were nickel cases. The .38 were definitely once fired and required de-capping. The .45's however, at least in this shipment, were all de-capped and at least 3/4 of the brass was brand new never fired. The cases were clean and the primer pockets appeared to be new (no scratches from primer removal) Total cost for these was $280 shipped. Again, don't know what kind of "deal" this was but I bought what I needed. With brass though, as many times as it can be reloaded, the cost per shot is minimal. Tell me if I got hosed.

My last order of bullets, several years ago (I'm a hoarder) was the same as what you paid.Not bad.

"Tell me if I got hosed......"?

You found bullets and they are on their way.
Nothing BAD about that.

Some primers and powder and you will be sitting pretty.

Those of us that are still "Finding/looking" are jumping over a hose.

UPDATE:
I received them today. As stated, they came in a flat rate box (postage $15). The dumb *** mailman left the box in our central mailbox area at the end of the block. The box weighed approx 50 lbs so I got my little dolly to go roll it home. He could have just driven up the street and dropped it at my door. Checked the bullets and they look good as far as cast bullets go. Now if I could just find some suitable powder...........

The only powder I'm seeing is at the gun shows.

Look at the loading references and make yourself a list of the powders that you can use (might not be your preferred powder) and then look at this site many times a day. Pistol powder does show up but it doesn't last very long so you have to be quick on the trigger (pun intended) GunBot powder reloading

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Minimize the variables

Grafs have International Clays - should work in 45 acp

Many Shotgun powders are suitable for use in handguns. I've found Red Dot to work particularly well for 45. As others have suggested make a list of powders that you can get loading data for and use that as a reference when hunting.

Alliant also makes Promo which can be used as a substitute for Red Dot on a weight basis. It is currently in stock at Natchez.

http://www.natchezss.com/brand.cfm?c...r%208%20Pounds

They also have some primers in stock right now so you can save a little on the haz mat and shipping by getting the primers with your powder.

Thanks for that info. Do you have any load specs for .38 and 45? In the meantime I'll look up what I can find. If it's close to red dot I'll manage.

Sounds like you did fine especially since components are hard to find these days.

Mastercast Bullet Co. in PA, Mastercast Bullets in IL, Missouri Bullets, Tennessee Valley Bullets (in no order) and a few others produce a very good product and at a fair price.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

The pricing on cast bullets is fairly standard but the brass is what varies and is the most expensive component. If you feel you did ok there, then you did fine.

All of the powder brands make fast, slow and medium powders with similar capabilities. I made a list of EVERY suitable powder for what I was shooting and I grabbed those when I saw them. I've used most Alliant in the past but I've picked up some Hodgdon's Titegroup and Accurate #7 as well as finding 2 lb. (the limit) of my usual 2400

Krell1, you seem to be starting to reload about from scratch. PLEASE buy at least one or two good reloading handbooks such as the ones from Lyman, and Hodgden. Read what they say about the use of different powders for various applications and follow published load recommendations (preferably duplicated in more than one source) TO THE LETTER until you have enough experience to begin to experiment. Try to use minimum, starting loads until you see what works for you with your gun, etc. Reloading is a great pastime, but should not be commenced based on a few posts on the Internet. Good luck and enjoy.

Green Frog

I reloaded for many years and just exhausted my supply. I quit shooting for a while (right shoulder problems) and am just getting back into it. I had to replenish everything (sold a lot of what I had) and trying to get everything you need to reload can be very frustrating. I've been sizing and priming brass while looking for powder. My supply of powder (bullseye) ran out but still had plenty of everything else (bought empty cases just cause I could I guess). I had numerous alternate powders I could use to replace the bullseye and this is the first I've heard of Promo. I have load data on almost all the stuff I've been looking for and the load data I have been able to find on the Promo appears to be the same (weight for weight) as Red Dot. I'm very careful when I reload especially for my Model 52 which is a little finicky if you get bullet seat depth wrong. I'm old enough to probably have loaded more then most on this forum.

Alliant makes both Red Dot and Promo. They do not have any specs for Promo because their own literature states to load it the same as Red Dot on a weight basis. Promo evidently is a little more dense than Red Dot so make sure that you make the appropriate adjustment if you throw your charges on a volume basis.

As is always the case when using a new powder, start low and work your weigh up, but I'm certain you already knew that.

Here is the link for Alliant's reloading guide:
Alliant Powder - Reloader's Guide

Meant to post that the Promo they had at Natchez must have been the last container they had. After I bought it, the site said out of stock.