Anyone Reload their own ammo in San Antonio?

[Sparsky]

Where are you finding the best price for powder / primers?

I was informed recently that Academy will price match and 5% off internet price of competitors, so I may get primers from them soon.

But I don't really find many choices on powder around town.

 

[unicom]

I want to get into reloading. Just need someone to help point me in the right direction as far as equipment goes ( what to buy and what isnt wurth spending the money on and what not )and some does and don't's.

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[rp-]

There are many complete sets you can find reasonably priced. They typically include everything you need to get started. Dies not included.

Just add dies for whatever caliber youd like and youre ready to go. Then you need to gather brass. Make a choice on powder, primers, and bullets. Then start loading away.

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[rp-]

Also, if you guys are really into it and you are near north east side youre welcome to stop by this weekend and i can walk you through it

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[shortround]

If you live in Dirty 'Ol SA, the best place to find reloading stuff ...

Try Bass Pro Shops, Powder Horn, Nagel's, Bexar Community Shooting Range.

Academy is hit or miss, and the price-match has to be an advertised price of an in-stock item.

Next, take a short drive up to Buda to Cabela's. Their powder selection is the best in over ten years!

If you want to save gas, check out the great on-line retailers like MidwayUSA, Graf & Son's, Brownell's, and some others.

Shipping powder and primers will cost lots of $$.

Components, not so much.

Be well & happy hunting.

 

[unicom]

Also, if you guys are really into it and you are near north east side youre welcome to stop by this weekend and i can walk you through it

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I live north of sa. Should be back in town this weekend from Colorado. If not mabey set up another time to stop by. What am I looking at ballpark figure to get set up as far as reload machine and powder. I'll figure out the caliber.

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[unicom]

My apologies to the OP. I kinda hijacked your thread. Sorry.

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[rp-]

Either way, good info for the OP too. Im still willing to help out though for both of you or anyone that needs help. Ive been loading for almost 2 years now. Ive started casting and im trying to start powder coating my own cast bullets right now as well... I had a pretty good teacher (runs a company that reloads commercially).



Personally, i have found midsouth to have the best prices, MOST of the time.

www.midsouthshooterssupply.com


Presses and press kits are available in all sorts of combinations. Lee, hornady, RCBS, redding, lyman, dillon,..... All of these companies sell kits and presses. Kind of lowest to highest price with lee being lowest and dillon probably the highest.

Personally, i recommend starting with a lee kit. They cost less but are more than capable. I started with a lee challenger breech lock press and had to buy the rest of the pieces. I recommend this type of setup

www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/0000690030/breech-lock-challenger-single

Ill post more in a little bit. Gotta put the baby to sleep.

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[unicom]

Either way, good info for the OP too. Im still willing to help out though for both of you or anyone that needs help. Ive been loading for almost 2 years now. Ive started casting and im trying to start powder coating my own cast bullets right now as well... I had a pretty good teacher (runs a company that reloads commercially).



Personally, i have found midsouth to have the best prices, MOST of the time.

www.midsouthshooterssupply.com


Presses and press kits are available in all sorts of combinations. Lee, hornady, RCBS, redding, lyman, dillon,..... All of these companies sell kits and presses. Kind of lowest to highest price with lee being lowest and dillon probably the highest.

Personally, i recommend starting with a lee kit. They cost less but are more than capable. I started with a lee challenger breech lock press and had to buy the rest of the pieces. I recommend this type of setup

www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/0000690030/breech-lock-challenger-single

Ill post more in a little bit. Gotta put the baby to sleep.

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Ok appreciate all your help

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[Sparsky]

I'll check out midsouth in a bit to compare prices. I was going to put in an order to powdervalley in a week or two to after I price shopped locally. They usually run $22 a lb $160/8lb without shipping.

FYI on Academy, from their web page:

"If you find a lower price somewhere else on an identical, in-stock item – currently advertised in print or online - show us the ad and we’ll not only match it, we’ll beat it by 5%."

​

http://www.academy.com/shop/en/store/returns

Unicom, no worries. I live on the west side of town and the same offer applies as rp-. If u need help with setting up your press or have question just let me know.

Thanks for the input, I'll hit the local places to see what they average or even carry my powders before I order.

 

[jpatm2]

For powders in the San Antonio area, you really cannot beat Bexar Community Shooting Range. They are a powder distributer and have the vast majority in stock, and at great prices. Give them a call before you order from Powder Valley.

 

[hubertus.matt]

Reloading in San Antonio.
The Powderhorn Guns.
410 west just north of hwy 90.

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[rp-]

Never heard of that one. Personally, i have bought some powder from academy and some from Cabela's. I was surprised to find titegroup powder was more at Cabela's though. Academy seems to be at or about market price on powder. As for a seller that sells at $xx/pound, fir one or 2 powders sure, but 2 i use most are titegroup (for 9mm and other pistol) and h4895 (universal rifle powder). Titegroup is usually less than $20/# where i have never found h4895 less than $28/# locally. I refuse to buy powder online and pay a 30 dollar fee plus shipping. I just dont need enough powder to justify that cost.


The kit i linked to includes a press, case prep tools, a priming tool, another kind of priming tool, and some instructions for setup. You will still need to get dies for whatever caliber you're looking to load for. You should also buy a reloading manual. Read it.

Basically the steps go as follows after you shoot your rounds and collect your brass (or buy it)

-Clean the brass, usually using a tumbler or ultra sonic cleaner but there are ways to do it without a tumbler.
-deprime/size the brass. Usually done at the same time. Knocks out the old primer and squeezes the brass back down to size.
-trim the brass. Typically only for rifle brass or bottle neck pistols. Some people trim all of their straight wall pistol brass though.
-reprime. The kit i linked includes a hand priming tool with a box of shell holders. It will work for most calibers. There is also a tool to prime with your press. You have to individually load each primer into the lever. Can be upgraded though to feed primers by the hundred.
-straight wall cartridges need to expand the neck to allow a bullet to fit back in case. (some dies have a powder funnel on top to charge the round while expanding but it ot really useful on this press as it is a single stage press)
-charge the case with the powder dropper
-seat a bullet. Set a bullet on the case and run it through the seat die.
-crimp the round. This is optional and most dies can crimp while seating the bullets. If the dies are adjusted right you shouldn't have to crimp but some people still want to.


Setting up dies can take a few minutes but once done you shouldn't have to mess with it again. In the kit i linked to, "breech-lock" refers to a locking bushing that the die seats into. Once you get it set you can remove the die with the bushing locked on. Then it stays set fir next time. Hornady also has a system like this i think.

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[Governors20]

I have been reloading for 30 + years. For rifle I use a single stage, and for pistol I use a Hornady progressive. I buy powder online mostly because I buy it 16ish pounds at a time. After going through 2 panic hoarding times, I learned to keep enough components on hand to last a few years. it doesn't go bad, and only goes up in price. The saying "buy it cheap and stack it deep" goes a long way. I found 230gr 45ACP plated bullets at the beginning of the year for $65.00 a thousand shipped. I bought 4 thousand, and loaded 500 last night. American reloading has some smoking deals at times on powder and bullets. With so many powder selections out there, I narrowed it down to 2 for pistol. Winchester WST for my target 45ACP, and Ramshot True Blue for 9mm and 45acp loads that need a higher velocity. When selecting powder look at the charge and the velocity. Some powders require a lot more powder to get the same velocity as others (less powder less cost) WST is great for plinking and target loads, where I don't need a lot of speed. True Blue can give me about 250+ FPS on the high end for hunting or defense loads. For Rifle, I really like the Ramshot powders. I also use AR Comp for 308.

 

[rp-]

As for bullets, primers, and powder....

I have only used hodgdon powders and they list load data on their website here

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com

Basically go there, click a caliber, pick a bullet weight, and pick a powder. OR you can plug in caliber info and bullet weight, then hit search. This will tell you what powders you can use. OR you can enter caliber info and what powder you have & hit search. It will tell you what weights of bullet you can use with that powder.

For bullet selection you have many, many, many,.... maaaany choices. If youre looking for pistol plinking try fmj or plated. For rifle plinking try fmj or soft point. These tend to be cheaper. Start cheap when youre learning. Trust me. Screwing up with a $.05 bullet is much easier than screwing up a $1.00 bullet... And you will screw up a couple and loose a few in the process.

As for powder, there are several "universal" type powders available. For pistol there are titegroup, win231, power pistol, hiskor. For rifle theres h4895, h335. These are only a few im familiar with but they will each cover a broad range of calibers. If youre looking to load a magnum pistol h110 seems to be a go to.

For primers there are large pistol, large rifle, small pistol and small rifle. There are magnum primers for magnum loads as well. I know winchester makes primers that say "suitable for standard and magnum loads". There are also benchrest, match, military, and several other variations but generally those tend to cost more as well. For the sake of simplicity, lets just say stick to the primers right for the load. Below are some of the common ones. There are exceptions for some though.

Small pistol: 9mm, 40, 38, 357,
Large pistol: 10mm, 45,
Small rifle: 223
Larege rifle: 30.06 family, 308 family, 7.62x39,

This should help. Ask away with your questions and ill try to answer as best as i can.

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[studenygreg]

I buy my powder and primers at academy. My bullets at bass pro.

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[namanc6]

Also interested.


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[beenut]

I buy my powder at Bexar shooting range best price for powder ,primers at gun shows then I order bullets on line. This way no extra shipping fees. Have fun ,I run 2 Dillon ,1 rcbs and an old Texan presses,been loading since 66. Have fun.

 

[beenut]

We really need to know what you are going to load to help on selection of a press and how much shoot you do.

 

[Sparsky]

I haven't started pricing local yet, but I still have AA2230 1lb canister from 2008 at $20lb and another on from 2010 at $29lb, CCI primers at $3.95/100, three 1lb canisters of H110 marked $26, $29, $30 all from local gun stores.
Just to throw some old numbers out there.