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Think I'll Stop for a While
Dec. 31st, 2009 11:29 amI have a little over five thousand rounds of .40 S&W. A bit over half of those are my handloads. That's enough, for now, I think.
I've been shooting a lot of .40 lately, and so have others. People who just leave their empty brass lying around after they finish. This born packrat can't stand the thought of all that shiny brass left to corrode or even (Gasp!) be picked up by someone else.
I find reloading fun and relaxing. It requires just enough attention that I have to focus, but I can do it well while listening to news or music. Even if I never shoot all these rounds - and those I've reloaded in other calibers - the money I spent on components and the time spent on the process were worth the result. And the size of my right bicep. :-)
I still have over a gallon of empty .40 brass, but I have more for other calibers. I'm currently out of 10mm bullets to use in reloading the .40 cartridges, and components are still hard to find. That's fine; even shooting twice a week I'd need a year to use what I have. (Fifty rounds, twice a week, times fifty-two weeks equals 5,200 rounds. More than I actually have. Of course, I don't shoot .40 ever time I go to the range, and I don't usually go twice a week. I average a bit more than once a week through a year. So, say I have a two year supply, without buying or reloading more.)
I've been reloading for nearly three decades, and even during the past couple of years - when I was doing so much .40 S&W - I was reloading other calibers. My favorite recipe for the .327 Federal Magnum uses the same powder charge as my usual .40 load, so I didn't even need to change the powder measure. I focused on reloading .40 because I was new to the cartridge and didn't have a stock on hand. Given the ammunition shortage and subsequent price rise over the past couple of years, reloading the .40 (and other calibers) not only saved money, at times it was the only way to get ammo for practice.
So I'm focusing on other calibers, now. I'm not buying more factory .40 or more bullets for rolling my own.
Unless I see a really good deal. ;-)
I've been shooting a lot of .40 lately, and so have others. People who just leave their empty brass lying around after they finish. This born packrat can't stand the thought of all that shiny brass left to corrode or even (Gasp!) be picked up by someone else.
I find reloading fun and relaxing. It requires just enough attention that I have to focus, but I can do it well while listening to news or music. Even if I never shoot all these rounds - and those I've reloaded in other calibers - the money I spent on components and the time spent on the process were worth the result. And the size of my right bicep. :-)
I still have over a gallon of empty .40 brass, but I have more for other calibers. I'm currently out of 10mm bullets to use in reloading the .40 cartridges, and components are still hard to find. That's fine; even shooting twice a week I'd need a year to use what I have. (Fifty rounds, twice a week, times fifty-two weeks equals 5,200 rounds. More than I actually have. Of course, I don't shoot .40 ever time I go to the range, and I don't usually go twice a week. I average a bit more than once a week through a year. So, say I have a two year supply, without buying or reloading more.)
I've been reloading for nearly three decades, and even during the past couple of years - when I was doing so much .40 S&W - I was reloading other calibers. My favorite recipe for the .327 Federal Magnum uses the same powder charge as my usual .40 load, so I didn't even need to change the powder measure. I focused on reloading .40 because I was new to the cartridge and didn't have a stock on hand. Given the ammunition shortage and subsequent price rise over the past couple of years, reloading the .40 (and other calibers) not only saved money, at times it was the only way to get ammo for practice.
So I'm focusing on other calibers, now. I'm not buying more factory .40 or more bullets for rolling my own.
Unless I see a really good deal. ;-)
