What caliber do you use that you've never bought commercially?

[CH4]

Only the .500 S&W

 

[Engineer1911]

Purchased center fire ammo

I've shot thousands of rounds of center fire ammo but have bought the following:

1 box 30-06 150 gr spire point in 1971 when I bought my Rem 700 30-06

1 box Federal Gold Medal Match 308, 168 gr BTHP, 12 rounds remain

1 box Federal American Eagle 223 when I traded for Remington XP-100 in 223, 8 rounds remain

1 box Remington 38 Spl HB wadcutters to compare to my reloads for my S&W M52-2

1 box 38 Spl 158 gr lead RN at Camp Perry because 38 Spl wadcutters weren't allowed.

4 boxes of factory 25-06 that was priced at $8 per box, normal price ~$22 per box.

All the rest of my brass is range pickup or once fired I bought from ranges.

I have never bought a box of factory .30 Herrett, 357 mag, 9 MM, 40 S&W, 380 ACP, 45 ACP, 44 mag or 45-70.

 

[schutzen-jager]

.38 S&W only

 

[memtb]

.223 Rem., 30-30 Win., .44 mag., 270Win., 30-06 Spring., .330 WM., .375 H&H, .375 AI, .357 mag., .44 special, 6.5/284 Norma, 45-70 govt., 460 S&W mag......maybe others, this requires too much thought! There are 2 or 3 of those mentioned, that have shot some factory rounds that were given to me! memtb

 

[SMSgt]

.30 Herrett and 6mm Mongoose, both wildcats and no commercial ammo ever made.

 

[fredj338]

41 & 44mag, 45AR then a few wildcat & rifles:
7mm dakota
338-06
338x74K
404jeffery
375h&h
7tcu
260ai
30-06 in my M1

 

[old tanker]

.32-20, .41 Colt, 577-450 Martini-Henry and .577 Snider

 

[mtgianni]

32 Long, 44 special, 45 Colt, 222 Remington, 17 Remington, 7 TCU, 7/30 Waters, 280 Remington, 7 Remington Mag, 357 Maximum, 35 Remington, 358 Winchester, 35 Whelen.
As a related note I have never bought jacketed bullets for 32 long, 40 S&W and 44 Special. I also have 3 38's and 2 357, 2 357 Max and a 30 wildcat that have never seen a jacketed bullet in my ownership.

 

[MyDads38]

I've never bought any 38 Spec factory ammo. When I got my first Centerfire handgun (Ruger Security Six, 6" 357) I got a Lee Loader and supplies with the deal. Been a long trip down that rabbit hole!! :-o

 

[HKSmith]

I've never bought any .44 Special, .44 Magnum, or .45 Auto Rim ammo and only 100 rounds of .45 Colt, 20 rounds of .455 Webley, and 20 rounds of.454 Casull. I have bought tons of factory 9 mm and .45 Auto over the last few years because of the low prices. Now that I'm stuck at home and prices have gone up, I will start reloading 9 mm and .45 Auto again.

 

[andy52]

.308
.223
30/30
9mm
.38spl
.44spl
.44 mag
.357 mag

 

[andyo5]

45 Colt, 8mm Mauser, and .308.

 

[monsai52]

Shoot but never purchase:
22 Jet
32-20 (32WCF)
38 Special
357 Mag (can't remember for sure, maybe bought a box 40+ years ago)
44 Special
44-40 (44WCF)
45 Colt (can't remember for sure, maybe bought a box 40+ years ago)
45-70

Purchase only:
22 LR
22 Magnum
9mm
222
223/5.56 (will start to reload at some point)
30 Carbine (maybe start to reload at some point)
12 ga.

Reload and purchase:
45 ACP
30-06

Best regards,

 

[nbedford]

Very thought provoking thread. Trimming a bit - I bought a box of 38 Special lead round nose when Wally World went lefty because I was going to pull the bullets for 38 S&W loads - seems like a box was $6 or so. I may have bought 38 Special factory reloaded SWC's back when I used to shoot with the local S.O. at pistol shoots, but that's been 25 or 30 years. Never have bought 44 Magnum ammo, and very little 44 Special as one feller said to go bang and get the brass. For sure no 38S&W store bought.

 

[keith44spl]

Since I've been a handloader for over a half century....
I've only purchased a very small amount of factory ammunition. (not excluding rimfire)

Back before the turn of the last century, I purchased 10 of thousands of
new primed cartridge cases in just about all the pistol calibers.

As a matter of fact, I just finished loading the last of the 45 acp brass.

The cartridges I have never bought commercially,
in the last two decades, that I shoot regularly,

22 Remington Jet / Super Jet
38 Special / 357 Magnum
44 Special / 44 Magnum
45 ACP / 45 Long Colt

Handload all my center-fire rifle rounds,

45-70 Gov't
340 Wby / 338 Win.
300 Win. / 300 Wby. / 300 WSM / 308 Win.
270 Win. /264 Win.
257 Roberts
22-250 Remington

.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

After staying up all night thinking about this,
It's got to be 218 Bee and 22 Jet.
Have reloaded a bunch of 38, 357, 44, 270, 30-06, 7 Mag, 338 Mag, etc.
But I have also bought them.
When I had my 218 I don't think I ever bought any cause for one thing, it's always been hard to find,
With the 2 Jets I had, they came with ammo and brass so I just reloaded and pressed on in brass setback frustration!

 

[walnutred]

I used to own an 7mm Ackley Improved and I used to fire a 105mm howitzer. Some might say that the 105 used commercial ammo, but you loaded the powder, projectile and fuse for each shot so it was ALMOST like reloading.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

A while back I saw some SASS folks shooting a cannon.
The Announcer said their Ammo was home loaded.
Hard to get obsolete cannon shells,
Especially when you are shooting blanks!

 

[STORMINORMAN]

I'm easy: I load for everything I own (+ a couple calibers for friends) with the exceptions of 22lr & 22wmr, but never have I purchased any 44 Special, 44 Magnum or 45 Colt factory ammunition. I did buy 2 boxes (100 rounds) of 357 SIG, but only for SD and comparative purposes.

I have purchased factory ammunition for rifle calibers because the incremental cost for loaded ammo vs. reloadable brass was virtually negligible!

 

[Fishslayer]

.454 Casull. I also have yet to put a commercial round through my 1076 but I bought two boxes of range ammo when I picked up the gun.