Reloading match ammo a good option right now?

[Wake27]

I hate buying ammo. The one-time use of it is kind of frustrating to me, even though all of the guns and skills in the world are obviously useless without it. I also am having trouble finding a mix between high quality ammo and value. For a while, the 62gr Win OTM stuff looked damn good for the price, but it went out of stock before I got some back pay that could be allocated towards a good amount of it. I was sold on reloading and about to jump in right before sandy hook, but we all know what happened there. Various reasons ever since have kept me away but now, I’m not sure what to buy and it’s pushing me towards once again wondering about reloading.

My current mindset is to have three different rounds on hand, though I have considered dropping to two.

1. HD round which is 75gr Gold Dot for reasons. This stuff is obviously expensive and seems to be out of stock more than not, but I have like 2-3 mags of it on hand, after having grouped and zeroed a few of my ARs with it.

2. Middle ground. The idea is a round of good quality and consistency with reasonable intermediate and terminal ballistics but at a price that wouldn’t dissuade me from buying. Something that is decent at stopping people but I could use at an LPVO class or longer three gun match out to 400 is really the goal (the latter being more likely, therefore of more concern). I wanted the Win 62gr OTM for this role but when it sold out, was looking towards the CBC 77gr 262 clone. I have repeatedly considered using this category of ammo to replace my HD round because I’m open to the trade off of barrier penetration for having one round that all of my guns are zeroed with and is capable whether it’s shooting armed home invaders at 10m inside the house, taking a 350m shot at a competition/class, or taking a 200m head shot from one of my boogaloo stash mags. I’ve got about 10 of those, which is part of the reason I’m not trying to spend Gold Dot money for that many mags.

3. Training/plinking/short range competition ammo. I bought a few cases of AE MSR with the rebate and was content with that choice until I shot my first three gun match and realized they don’t allow 5.56 in lighter than 68gr because the ranges are short and the steel is at 100m max. So standard .223 it is.

So, all that being said, I’m having trouble finding that middle ground ammo. CBC SMK is the cheapest 262 clone that seems favored, but Sam’s last email said that it’s being discontinued so that’s a bummer. It’s also more than I want to pay. I know asking 262ish performance at about 35 cents per round isn’t very realistic from factory ammo, so I’m wondering if anyone has an idea of how expensive it’d be to handload it or something similar, right now.

Tax for the thesis wall of text is the two rifles that would shoot it the most. The BCM w/ MK16 will get a Viper 1-6 or identical Razor JM-1 once I have a shorty upper to put the EOTech on.

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[ggammell]

If your looking for something heavy weight but affordable and capable, check out the 75gr AE .223. Itll be very close to your 75gr Speer. It’s accurate and reliable. I’ve been using it for zeroing (also stocking 75gr Speer as defensive) and for matches. I’ve been able to hit steel at 475 with a 1-4x pretty easy.

[lsllc]

Reloading is both economical and produces superior results. The 75 gr Hornady bullets are affordable. I typically use them or 77 gr SMKs that I pick up at the factory as seconds.

The important part of making good economical match ammo is process. If your process sucks, your ammo sucks no matter how good the components.

Additionally, it’s time consuming. Often I can make more ammo by buying it and working an hour of OT than just spending my time reloading. I’m a busy dude and loading is time away from the family.

That said, I feel I’ve perfected my process and can share it with you if you’d like. It’ll take me some time to respond with a large post like that. Right now I can load 400 rounds an hour of sub-MOA ammo assuming initial brass prep has been front loaded.


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[Wake27]

If your looking for something heavy weight but affordable and capable, check out the 75gr AE .223. Itll be very close to your 75gr Speer. It’s accurate and reliable. I’ve been using it for zeroing (also stocking 75gr Speer as defensive) and for matches. I’ve been able to hit steel at 475 with a 1-4x pretty easy.

Huh, I'd never seen that before. I can't imagine its as good as the Magtech 77gr stuff, but its also $0.39 per round instead of $0.55 and any similarities with the HD round would be a huge plus. I'll see if I can add a few boxes to the order I just placed.


Reloading is both economical and produces superior results. The 75 gr Hornady bullets are affordable. I typically use them or 77 gr SMKs that I pick up at the factory as seconds.

The important part of making good economical match ammo is process. If your process sucks, your ammo sucks no matter how good the components.

Additionally, it’s time consuming. Often I can make more ammo by buying it and working an hour of OT than just spending my time reloading. I’m a busy dude and loading is time away from the family.

That said, I feel I’ve perfected my process and can share it with you if you’d like. It’ll take me some time to respond with a large post like that. Right now I can load 400 rounds an hour of sub-MOA ammo assuming initial brass prep has been front loaded.


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The time is a concern for me. I already don't have a ton, and my next job will more than likely leave me with less. But if I can reload some solid ammo at close to 55gr plinking ammo prices, I'd at least be willing to try it out.

[yellowfin]

I also am a fan of 75gr Hornady with XBR powder. It's a great match load as well as HD load. Hornady's 68gr BTHP is also excellent and I load that for my Recce/3 gun rifle. It's absolutely cost effective and I know it does involve time but the results are worth it, so I load up on opportunity such as winter or multiple rainy days.

[lsllc]

If time is a big concern, as it is for me, consider you’re going to have to buy quality equipment to maintain quality and speed.

Think progressive press, auto-trickler, and a quality trimmer. Good dies are also a must.


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[markm]

We chug out our precision .223 ammo on a 550b, fed with primed brass. Brass prep is the lengthiest part of the deal. But it's a good way to have gobbs of good stuff.

I run a micro adjustable competition seating die so I can easily set the seater for bullet swaps.

The 62 cr HPBT w/c from hornady via Midsouth is our medium range, economy load. Rarely will we mess with anything 55 gr FMJ any longer. 77 gr OTM and TMKs are the longer range stuff.

It's just a matter of prepping the brass, and feeding it whatever bullet/powder combo I want.

[Pappabear]

And that 62 grain bullet is about .10 if I remember correctly. And its good to 750 yards. Easy hits to 500 yards. After I bought about a bazillion rounds, it almost makes no sense to load 55 grain crappy ammo. We have the bullets, so we use them but when they are gone, Im happy to always have 62 gr BTHP as my low low end stuff that is not low end performance.

PB

[Aaron_B]

We chug out our precision .223 ammo on a 550b, fed with primed brass. Brass prep is the lengthiest part of the deal. But it's a good way to have gobbs of good stuff.

I run a micro adjustable competition seating die so I can easily set the seater for bullet swaps.

The 62 cr HPBT w/c from hornady via Midsouth is our medium range, economy load. Rarely will we mess with anything 55 gr FMJ any longer. 77 gr OTM and TMKs are the longer range stuff.

It's just a matter of prepping the brass, and feeding it whatever bullet/powder combo I want.

Markm, Do you mind sharing your info for the 62gr HPBT?

[opngrnd]

I can second MarkM's 62gr load.

The biggest issue most people have is jumping around from load to load. Once you've set up around a load, for just a few minutes a day you can stay well ahead of the typical shooter's ammo diet. Especially if you use a progressive press.

Using a single stage and hand priming, with all steps included (and each step rounded up to 10 min), brings me to a net of about 90 minutes from start to finish for every hundred rounds loaded, not including cleeaning/tumbling time. This ammo usually shoots about MOA, and costs .26-.45 per round based of bullet selection.

Time would easily be cut in half or more on a progressive. For 20 minutes of my time when I first arrive home each evening, I effectively never run out of economical, accurate ammo.

[duece71]

Just about to start reloading for rifle......good thread for info. Thanks.

[markm]

Markm, Do you mind sharing your info for the 62gr HPBT?

I really having nailed down a load. Any amounts of the Benchrest extrudeds (H322, XBR) have shot fine. Other guys have gotten more accuracy out of this bullet than we have, and they posted their load info in the 62 gr HPBT thread in this forum.

[Aaron_B]

Sounds good. I plan on picking up some of the 62HPBT and have a good bit of ar-comp and XBR powder on hand. My plan is to do similar 62gr for low cost stuff and 69gr or 77gr for longer ranges.

This will be my starting point in reloading .223

[shadowrider]

I've not had great luck with XBR powder for light weight pills. Accuracy wasn't horrible but it shines with the heavier weight bullets. I just couldn't get the velocity with the lightweight loads.

A powder that nobody seems to use is old school H4895. I've seen some killer groups with it and for pure precision work it's hard to beat, but I load on a progressive and other powders meter much better.

O/P if you are serious and shooting big matches handloading is definitely the way to go. You get control and can tailor your loads if you choose to at modest cost. Not so much with factory.