I HAVE FINALLY RAISED THE SURRENDER FLAG IN RELOADING 45ACP

[Baltimoreed11754]

I don’t know if spp/srp is cheaper than lpp but I adjusted years ago and swapped 7 lbs of lpp 45acp for spp/srp brass just because of the primer availability. Swapped out my spp for lpp way back when fools wanted 120.00/ brick for lpp. So now I do a mix of both sized cases. I had my uberti 1873 converted to 45acp so I can shoot a complete cas match with srp 45acp. I alwsys scrounge up my fired 45 brass at every match. I would suggest though that if you scrounge range 45acp you invest in a Lee Bulge buster die to run your loads through. Reconditions the bottom and head of the case without touching the bullet or mouth.

 

[gjgalligan]

there's no such thing as too much ammo unless you have a fire.

I will respectfully disagree with that statement. I have an awful lot of reloads that I most likely will never be able to shoot up due to health reasons. Fair amount of factory ammo just sitting on the shelf also.

Separate story: My cousin (same age as me) died 3 years ago and had a fair amount of ammo. Most was factory but there was a lot of it that was either re-manufacture or reloads. I was tasked with dealing with the ammo as nobody else in the family was a "gun person". Not many people want to trust reloads so it was a pain to find buyers that would buy the re-manufacture/reload ammo. It turned into almost giving it away.

My opinion, yours may vary, is older or poor health shooters may want to limit how much reloaded ammo they have on hand. Components will be easier for your heirs to sell then reloads.

 

[GypsmJim]

I will respectfully disagree with that statement. I have an awful lot of reloads that I most likely will never be able to shoot up due to health reasons. Fair amount of factory ammo just sitting on the shelf also.

Separate story: My cousin (same age as me) died 3 years ago and had a fair amount of ammo. Most was factory but there was a lot of it that was either re-manufacture or reloads. I was tasked with dealing with the ammo as nobody else in the family was a "gun person". Not many people want to trust reloads so it was a pain to find buyers that would buy the re-manufacture/reload ammo. It turned into almost giving it away.

My opinion, yours may vary, is older or poor health shooters may want to limit how much reloaded ammo they have on hand. Components will be easier for your heirs to sell then reloads.

Other than factory rimfire ammo, 100% of my ammo is reloaded. I chose to stockpile loaded ammo and components based on what I guessed to be a lifetime supply. Why? Because with the way things are going politically, I may not get another chance.

Is it too much, or not enough? I dunno. What I DO know is that my son can have whatever he wants for his firearms. All his current ammo was made by me, so I guess he won't be hesitant to get more reloads. Whatever excess there might be, I would happily endorse taking it to my gun club (I have been a member there for over 50 years), laying it out on the table in the Ready Room, and let all my old buddies have it.

I get the fire issue about having too much, but I'll take my chances with a good security system and a fine local Fire Department.

So, all I can say is that if any of y'all think you have too much, bring it on over to my house...

 

[robertrwalsh]

I separate out my SPP .45 acp and use it in situations where I suspect it will be difficult or impossible to retrieve my brass. I don't mind losing that stuff all that much.

 

[Reloader Fred]

I've never loaded SP .45 brass. Is there a difference in velocity or accuracy between LP and SP primers when using the same powder charge? I assume loads are completely interchangeable but don't know this for sure.

In my experience, there was a 25-50 fps difference in velocity between SP and LP primed .45 acp brass, using the same bullet and powder charge, with the SP being the lesser of the two. The point of impact remained basically the same. A dedicated Bullseye shooter may be able to tell the difference, or someone testing in a Ransom Rest, but the average shooter probably won't see any definable difference.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Baltimoreed11754]

I see no purpose to load thousands of rounds ahead and tie up all those components. I reload after a shoot [ a monthly cas/150 rds or a 2gun/ 250 rds] adding some for splits, damaged or lost brass enough to replace what I shoot. I reload for 6 different .45 cases, .455- C45S- .45Colt- .45S&W- .45acp- .45AR. All my small primer cases are reloaded with small rifle primers [traded off my spp for lpp]. The only problem I've had was with my too light gamer mainsprings on Ruger Vaqueros. Worked fine for CCI lpp but not for CCI srp.

 

[GypsmJim]

I see no purpose to load thousands of rounds ahead and tie up all those components. I reload after a shoot [ a monthly cas/150 rds or a 2gun/ 250 rds] adding some for splits, damaged or lost brass enough to replace what I shoot. I reload for 6 different .45 cases. All my small primer cases are reloaded with small rifle primers [traded off my spp for lpp]. The only problem I've had was with my too light mainsprings on Ruger Vaqueros. Worked fine for CCI lpp but not for CCI srp.

Before I retired I traveled a lot and thus had little time to reload. My regimen was to save all the cases and then have a marathon reloading session around Christmastime, when it was snowing and I didn't have a lot of other pressing chores.

I load 26 different calibers and maintain a box or 2 of each one. However, for rounds I shoot the most (like .38, .45, 9mm, .223) I keep a minimum of 500 rounds, and some up to 1000. Of course, .22 rimfire must have a lifetime supply because of frequent availability issues.

 

[Dan W. Cady]

I've never loaded SP .45 brass. Is there a difference in velocity or accuracy between LP and SP primers when using the same powder charge? I assume loads are completely interchangeable but don't know this for sure.

Completely Interchangeable and much less pressure required to prime. Fantastic in Dillon 550.

 

[Crazywader]

OMG help me out here.

In March of 2020, when the 6:00 news uttered the word "Pandemic", the very next day I cashed in 2 SS checks and put an order in for primers at $0.04 apiece. I'm still using some of them, but in the last year I had to replenish my supply.

The Covid years saw them to be almost unobtainium, but only if you paid up to 15 cents. Now they are down to about 8 cents, and I figure that is where they will stay.

I would ask you to tell us where you get them for 4 cents, but I figure you won't because if you did they would probably be sold out in a few hours.

Do a search on ammoseek.com
I got scammed during the pandemic but have found the places on this site to be reputable. I only go with places I've ordered from before so not always the lowest price per item listed. YMMV.

 

[cowboy94916]

I have 50 yr acccumulation of 45 acp LPP brass, it has been reloaded, I know not how many times. The SPP 45 brass was a pain in the ass to sort for and had me pulling my hair out, what little I have left.
Then one day, a friend showed up with a few 1000 spp brass and said, here take this crap. Between us, we had accumulatd enough to load up a large batch. I had dillion 550"s one for large PP the other for small and two sets of dies so we set to work.
Where there is limited or no recovery , primarily for our autos in match's, we use SPP.. For easy recovery (practice at local range), we use LPP.
For revolvers, we load with round nose or jacketed, for use in full moon clips, with LPP. My friend still drops off all SPP brass he sorts out of his range recovery. Then when we have enough to make it worthwhile, we get together and load them all.

 

[rockquarry]

I have 50 yr acccumulation of 45 acp LPP brass, it has been reloaded, I know not how many times. The SPP 45 brass was a pain in the ass to sort for and had me pulling my hair out, what little I have left.
Then one day, a friend showed up with a few 1000 spp brass and said, here take this crap. Between us, we had accumulatd enough to load up a large batch. I had dillion 550"s one for large PP the other for small and two sets of dies so we set to work.
Where there is limited or no recovery , primarily for our autos in match's, we use SPP.. For easy recovery (practice at local range), we use LPP.
For revolvers, we load with round nose or jacketed, for use in full moon clips, with LPP. My friend still drops off all SPP brass he sorts out of his range recovery. Then when we have enough to make it worthwhile, we get together and load them all.

Looks like a pretty good use of brass.