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Expensive Calibers

7K views 57 replies 37 participants last post by  howlnmad 
#1 ·
I have a 300 H&H mag and I spend about $2.75 per shot or $57 per box of 20. I don't shoot it much but it sure is fun.
What calibers do you guys have that you enjoy shooting but don't do so often because it cost to much?
 
#2 ·
Mine is a .300 Weatherby magnum. The ammo that I shoot is $80 a box on sale when it's in stock or $90 from Weatherby who always has it in stock. Needless to say, it's not something I go out and shoot a few boxes of ammo just for fun.
 
#3 ·
Is there any caliber that's cheap to shoot these days? With the exception of the daggum 223 I don't think there are many. I personally don't buy commercial ammo but if I did a few I would shoot less are, 308 Norma mag. $60 for 20 rounds IF you can find it.
338 win mag. Starting at about $50 for 20 rounds.
The build isn't done yet but 338 RUM. I've seen it from $70ish up to about $100 for 20 rounds.
 
#4 ·
The highest price rifle to feed in my collection is an old Remington 81 in .30Rem. Can't buy off the shelf ammo for it except from a couple of custom-ammo specialty shops.
Haven't figured out prices since I bought my last bunch of brass for it about 10 years ago. They were around .70 per case then and being a semi-auto you do occasionally loose one. The dies cost just over $100 back in '96 when I bought em.

The 6.5RemMag is probably my next most expensive. I reload for it and have never put a factory loaded round through it.
 
#7 ·
If you reload then the cost of reloading any of these expensive ammo cartridges is only pennies more than reloading 30-06 for rifles or 357Mag for handguns.

All ammo and components for reloading are more expensive today because of the hoarding that is taking place. But once that settles down you would be surprised at how inexpensive it is to reload any cartridge. It is typically less that 50% of regular ammo prices (before the ammo and reloading component hoarding started when Obama was re-elected). If you take up casting lead bullets (not a good idea for rifle cartridges like 300 Weatherby Mag) the costs are lower still.

Owning one of the expensive ammo guns is a good reason to start reloading.

LDBennett
 
#34 ·
All ammo and components for reloading are more expensive today because of the hoarding that is taking place. But once that settles down you would be surprised at how inexpensive it is to reload any cartridge.

LDBennett
uh, ummm. Goofy and I are still reeling at the cost of 50 Boewulf. I just ordered another 50 count box of BULLETS, 68 cents each. I really gotta look into casting for this
 
#9 ·
My .375 H&H magnums are probably the most expensive I have to shoot but, mainly due to how much powder they consume per shot. I still shoot them plenty though because of the fact I am loading for them, which makes it truly affordable.
 
#12 ·
Definitely 20x102mm and .50BMG but the labor and expense is shared between at least twenty of us as the range. For me alone, it's a 7mm Remington Magnum, the only thing I shoot that I don't load for.
 
#16 ·
It has to go to my 338 Lapua Mag, off the shelf is around $120 a box of 20. Kind of expensive so I reload to get the cost's down. Now it cost me around $1.50 a pop. Only thing is to try to find powder right now is almost impossible, I got lucky and scored a few pounds of H1000 last week.
You might try calling Alliant, Grizz. Right now their Power Pro 4000MR is fairly easy to find, and it's a slow powder made for big magnums. But it's new, and the website lists only about a dozen calibers so far. It might be that they've done some testing for your Lapua by now, but haven't published it.
 
#18 ·
.45-120

$99 to $130 depending on whether you want smokeless or blackpowder loads.

Fortunately I roll my own for smoking groundhogs. :D ...we're fresh out of bison, mammoths, and tyrannosaurus rex's here in PA, so I use my '120 to rid the fields of woodchuck.
 
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#22 ·
I have yet to purchase a reloading press so all the reloading I do is done with a Lee Classic Loader and as far as I know they don't make one in 300 H&H. So until I invest in a press I am stuck paying for factory ammo.
 
#26 ·
The only RCBS press that works for 50 BMG (or the California legal 50 caliber 50 DTC made from 50 BMG cases) is this mammoth, the Ammo Master 2:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...e-stage-press-50-bmg-kit?cm_vc=ProductFinding

Dillion also makes a special press big enough for 50 BMG, BFR:

http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25686/catid/1/Dillon_BFR_50BMG_Reloading_Machine

50 BMG (or 50 DTC) takes huge amounts of powder (200+ grains), huge bullets (600+ grains), and is a mammoth case (the case alone is nearly 4 inches long). It is no wonder most presses will not reload it.

Over the last couple years I reloaded for 50 DTC and the "rules" you learn for other cartridges often don't apply. Things like primer seating depth for normal sized cartridges don't apply (think deeper), for example.

LDBennett
 
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