How much do I have to shoot before i can start saving?

>>31972316
A lot.

The only reason to reload 9mm or .223 is if you're shooting competitively and want to control your own load.

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>>31972316
you can reload 9mm for about $6/50rd box and 223 for $3.60/box. rifle cartridges are a bit of a pain to reload as you have to lube cases before resizing, tumble, then trim to length before reloading. Reloading 223 and 9mm will save you the least amount of money of any caliber out there but it's still half the price of factory brass case ammo.

plus reloading is a great hobby that allows you to shoot calibers you could never afford to shoot otherwise. I cast bullets for everything I shoot. 500 magnum $0.18/rd($2.50/rd factory), 300blk $0.07/rd($0.55/rd factory)

>>31972383
What makes a hollowpoint work or not? That one looks like it would deform but it expanded really well. I've also seen ones that look like they should work but didn't expand at all.

>>31972423
Uniformity of the cavity. If you have one thicker wall than the other, you're going to get it folding to one side. Path of least resistance. Also keep a steady taper down into your cavity.

My pro 1000 "paid for itself" after 4000 rounds...

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>>31972423
For cast hollow points, a bullet of the proper hardness for the velocity and bullet construction. Harder bullets will expand less than soft bullets. Go too soft with your lead for the intended velocity and the bullet will start to fragment.

Jacketed bullets usually use dead soft lead with a copper jacket. cuts are made to assist in evenly opening up the bullet. For magnum handgun calibers, sometimes a jacketed soft point is ideal or special thick jacketed bullets with a harder lead core like the hornady XTP-MAG. Or a smaller hollow point cavity like the not so common hornady FP-XTP.

that 645gr bullet in the picture only lost about 5 grains of total weight which I suspect is what the bullet lube weighed.

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>>31972509
.357 fpxtp vs xtp

>>31972509
What is your powder coat method?

>>31972559
I do the shake n bake method with harbor freight red powder coat and black crossman airsoft bb's for most of my bullets. heavy bullets like the lee 440gr 50 cal bullet dont tumble coat well so I have to use an electrostatic powder coat gun which is messy and generally a big pain in the butt. However at only a penny or two a piece, they sure beat 80 cent hornady bullets for general plinking.

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>>31972359
>Control your load
Glock ring?

>>31972668
I think shake and bake will be my method when I get around to finally casting for the 300blk.

Also if you know of a boat junkyard sailboats use huge blocks of lead in the keel for a ballast.

>>31972770
Not many sailboats in Ohio lol. I have a ton(literally) of wheel weight ingots I casted up from my big lead roundup a year or so back. I should be good on lead for atleast 5 years lol. I cast the 230gr lee 300blk bullet. It coats well with the tumble coat method. its a boat tail design and with their weight/length, you just cant stand em up on your baking tray, they will fall over when you pick up the tray. Some people just bake them in a big ol heap but I dont. Best method is to crumble up your nonstick foil in a big ball then flatten it out on your baking tray. This way it provides a bunch of points to reduce contact and keep bullets from rolling around and touching eachother. Just lay em down on their sides and they come out real nice.

>>31972707
Top Kek

Oregon is original

Buddy is just starting reloading.
The range we go to is super chill and lets us clean up all 10 lanes.
Shoot 200, pick up 500 brass.
Any caliber we don't shoot we sell to bitethebullet.
We're almost going to break even at this rate.