Geoff is a shooting and reloading enthusiast who would rather be at the range, but is content to write about it. He is a member of Waiuku Pistol Club, and shoots rifle, pistol and shotgun in various disciplines, occasionally, managing to get out for a hunt.
It’s been a while since I’ve written a ‘where to shoot‘ post, possibly because I haven’t really been anywhere too exciting in the last little bit. However, that could be because I’m quite spoiled as a member of Waiuku Pistol Club.
At the beginning of the year I was tossing up joining one of three pistol clubs, to get my B Cat licence and start getting into 3 Gun comps. I was looking at Howick Pistol Club, Auckland Pistol Club and Waiuku Pistol Club.
Not many ranges are set up for rifle, shotgun and pistol use.
I have shot pistol at Howick and Waiuku, and done an induction at Auckland Pistol Club. I quickly eliminated APC, because even though the facilities were excellent, only pistols or pistol carbines could be shot there. Since I shoot a lot of centrefire rifle, and a smidgen of shotgun, I didn’t want to shell out for a pistol membership and still have to pay range fees when I wanted to shoot long guns.
Howick was eliminated for the same reason, but also because the indoor range with specific target zones means most competitive pistol matches need to be shot in a modified format. This was disappointing as the range is only 5 minutes from my house!
So in the end, even though it’s the furthest of the three from where I live, I ended up joining WPC so that I could shoot long guns as well as learn pistol. The club was also enticing because it had the best range availability. With shooting allowed between 10 am and 4 pm, Wednesday through Sunday, there’s plenty of time to practice and shoot competitions. If you’re a visitor, don’t just rock up – you will be turned away! Visitors can shoot long guns after 12 pm on Saturday or pistols after 10 am on Sunday.
This ensures there is space on the range for you, and also that there are people around who can unlock the ranges and show you around. If you want to head down for a few hours to try before you buy, or just want to sight in your hunting rifle, make sure to follow the WPC visitor’s instructions for an easier experience.
What’s available?
For the princely sum of $20 (cash), you’ll have access to a couple hundred metre ranges and several smaller ranges. There are steel silhouettes for rimfire, falling plates for pistols and shooting tunnels for you guys with magnumitis or particularly short, noisy, braked or ported barrels. If you want to find out more about the ranges, click here.
The range is in Otaua, just south of Waiuku, and is about 45 – 50 mins drive from Manukau. If you’re anywhere south of the Auckland CBD, it’s a very driveable distance for regular trips. I head down just about every Sunday from East Auckland, stopping at the BP service station before the Drury offramp for a healthy breakfast of a pie and coffee.
You and everyone else around you will be glad for the shooting tunnels when big guns like this .300 WSM are on the range. Also great for when there’s a bit of rain!
Once you’re there, the club house is warm and dry, and sheltered from the wind if it’s howling. Unlike some ranges in the wider Auckland region, you don’t have to use a long (or short) drop if you’re busting. The club house has ‘facilities’ as well as a safe area for cleaning/maintaining pistols, a well-equipped first aid area and a large seating area for courses, meetings or just having a bite of lunch.
Whatever you need in terms of food and drink, take with you, as there aren’t any shops nearby. Also, you’ll be juuuuust out of cellphone reception for the duration of your visit to the range. Which – let’s face it – is probably a good thing!
Club culture
I’ve heard some people say that they found Waiuku members a bit stand-offish when they visited. This wasn’t encouraging when I was looking at joining. However, this hasn’t been my experience. At least not any more so than other ranges.
When you’re an unknown person at a shooting event or visitor’s day and have access to some pretty powerful hardware, it’s natural for regulars at any range to treat you with a bit of a keen eye until they’re certain you’re someone who is safe and capable.
This is quickly overcome by being sensible and practical (courteous as well), and also asking questions if you don’t know the procedures.
There are plenty of members around who are keen to help you have a good time, and will share their knowledge with you if you ask (sometimes even if you don’t!).
You’ll also sometimes see groups of scouts or Adventure Girls come through – a further testament to the openness of the club towards education and furthering people’s experience with firearms.
If you’re looking for a spot to spend some hours putting lead down range this summer, I’d highly recommend checking out WPC. Also, as we’ve just started a new quarter, it’s a great time to sign up as a member, as you won’t have to pay a full year’s fees.
If you’ve got any questions, pop them in the comments section below or get in touch with the club via their website or Facebook page.
The Vortex Viper isn’t exactly the new kid on the block. In 2016 Vortex Optics have released some high-end scopes, namely the Razor HD AMG and the Golden Eagle HD, and some more functional optics, such as the Crossfire II Scout scope and some new AR red dot sights.
Between those two ends of the spectrum the Viper PST is fulfilling a role that it has had for a while – excellent features, fantastic glass quality and a reasonable price tag.
Price tag
Now, when it comes to scopes, reasonable is a relative term, so let’s define this at the offset. It’s often been said that if you put a $200 scope on a $1000 rifle, you have a $200 rifle. In fact, the saying is so old, the prices don’t make sense anymore. Anyway, the price range on these is around NZ$1500 – NZ$1750, depending on who your local is. So let’s say we’re probably considering a Viper PST for a Tikka T3x, Browning X-Bolt, Remington 700, Winchester M70, etc.
My Viper PST is paired with precision matched 30 mm rings and accessorised with flip caps and a sunshade. A quick throw lever can also be added for fast magnification transitions.
These rifles are all hunting mainstays, and definitely see plenty of use in long-range competition, whether in their standard, or highly modified guises. I wouldn’t bother putting such a nice scope on a rifle of lesser quality than those mentioned above, and I personally think it would be just at home on rifles double the price – regardless of the old saying!
Intended use
If you’re looking at scopes like the PST, it’s pretty likely that you have a specific purpose in mind for your rifle, rather than just looking around for something that simply does the job of magnifying things downrange.
So, who should be looking at this version of the Viper? Well, PST stands for Precision Shooting Tactical, so that’s a fairly good hint. If there’s anything that I despise in gun-related marketing, it’s the overuse of the word ‘tactical’. Apparently everything is tactical these days. But, the Viper PST is suited to tactical-style long range matches, where precision and conservation of movement/thought/energy/time is of the essence.
Consistent groups around 0.2 – 0.25 MOA showed the efficacy of the T3 and PST combo. The above was shot off of a bipod and rear bag at 100 metres. The load was a 142 gr SMK sitting on top of 40 gr of AR2208 (Varget).
It’s not a scope that’s tactical just because it packs a million features and a corkscrew to boot. No, it’s tactical because the features and controls are perfectly suited to making precise and quick decisions, regardless of shooting conditions. The end-user was clearly present in the minds of the designers at every stage.
What makes the PST great?
This scope got my attention for a few reasons. There’s a focus on clarity (pun not intended), fast decision making and incredible tactile response.
Keeping it clear
The glass on the Viper is certainly streets ahead of just about everything in the price range, and certainly on par or slightly ahead of its closest competitors. I’ve spent hours looking through this scope at 24x magnification, even just at 100 metres, and damn it’s clear. No muddiness at max magnification, and crisp images with brilliant light transmission.
Helping gather the light, is not only a 50 mm objective lens, but a 30 mm tube, ensuring optimum amounts of precious lumens reach your eyes.
My shooting buddy putting together an easy 18 mm group at 100 metres with the Tikka and Viper PST on his first go with this rifle.
A shooting friend of mine had a crack with my Tikka T3 in 6.5×55 topped with the PST and shot a 0.68 MOA 3-shot group (first time on that rifle – not bad for a pistol shooter!). His grouping was spread out vertically, indicating breathing was likely the culprit behind what could have been an even tighter group.
Anyway, he said that he’d read military snipers talking about timing shots between heartbeats, and thought it was a bunch of BS. However, after sitting behind the Viper PST at 24x he noticed his heartbeat, breathing and everything else his body was doing.
When your glass is so clear it highlights not only what’s happening downrange, but what’s happening behind the rifle, you know you’re onto a winner.
Shoot a little later
Well, we all know that some of the best hunting is done at dawn and dusk, when it’s cool and animals venture out of the bush or towards more exposed areas on the hill tops.
If you are doing some long range hunting, you’ll be pleased to know that not only are the light gathering properties of this scope fantastic, but that the illuminated reticle comes in ten different intensities to help you focus on your crosshair against darker targets in failing light.
Excuse the poor resolution – that’s me trying to take a picture through the scope with my cell phone. But, these shots do illustrate how much light you get in the evening, as well as how clear the illuminated reticle is. The first image is 5 minutes before sunset, the second is 25 minutes after sunset.
There’s also an ‘off’ position between each brightness setting, so you don’t have to crank the turret all the way around each time you want to turn off the illumination.
Take that shot!
This particular Vortex is not super lightweight, so you’re unlikely to be taking snapshots with it. At 23.4 ounces (0.66 kg) for the heaviest and most specced out of the range you’re probably planning on using it at precision rifle matches, F-Class or even tops hunting off a bipod or rest. Although, having said that, I got the 3rd highest snap score at the recent NZDA Prize shoot with this scope and a heavy suppressor – so maybe ignore what I just said. Either way, it’s still not as heavy as the top of the line Razor HD AMG, which is a third of a pound (about 150 grams) heavier.
Anyway… The Viper PST is geared towards quick thinking. The CRS Zero Stop means you can crank up your elevation and return to your rifle’s zero with no further thought. The elevation turret also has a bright red fibre optic radius bar, to quickly gauge your adjustments. Gradations are also clearly visible from the shooter’s position on the tactical style turrets.
Every part of the reticle is useful for ranging or windage and is deliberate in its construction. Image courtesy of Vortex.
The face end of the scope has a fast focus eyepiece, which is quite standard on most scopes now, let alone highly specced ones. But just beyond this is another piece of fibre optic genius, this time in the magnification ring, meaning you don’t have to lift your head to see what your mag setting is.
Why would you need this? Well, with the EBR-1 reticle (which I have), you have 1 MOA hashmarks for elevation and windage. If this was the FFP model, these would be 1 MOA at all magnification settings. However, considering it’s the SFP model, these readings are only true at max zoom. That means at 12x you’re looking at 2 MOA hashes, at 6x they’re 4 MOA, etc, etc.
Vortex makes this pretty simple for you by only having numbers on the magnification ring that easily multiply to give you round MOA numbers. This means with minimal mathematics, you can still use the EBR-1 MOA reticle to range, correct for wind or lead a target. This makes the decision between FFP and SFP a little easier for those who aren’t ready to make the leap.
If you’re unsure of how First Focal Plane and Second Focal Plane scopes work, check out this pretty cool article which summarises the concept well.
The controls are easily seen and reached from the shooting position without compromising your stance, cheek weld or eye relief.
One last thing about the reticle! The laser-etched EBR reticle is well thought out, and has plenty of useful subtensions, aside from the obvious. What I really like about it is that the thick post edges still draw your eye in like a duplex reticle, while you have the benefit of the finer hash marks in the middle for more precise work.
On the muzzle end of the scope, you’ll find… wait, no you won’t find the parralax adjustment there, because it’s on the left hand side of the scope as a third turret. This means adjustments for range are not only easier to do (those objective bell ones can be pretty tight to turn), but also don’t require you to leave the shooting position.
In case you haven’t noticed, every adjustable part of this scope is easily visible from the shooter’s position without breaking your stance or losing your eye relief. Wow, they’re really making your life easy!
Feel the quality
Well, at this point it probably sounds like all I’ve had to say about the PST is fantastic this, and excellent that, but don’t worry, for those that don’t know me – I’ll cover the downsides too (minimal as they are).
So, for now, we’re still on the good points. One of the greatest indicators of quality to me is the “feel”. This is a unit that I feel confident taking out into the field. The hard anodized finish on the exterior surfaces, along with Vortex’s ArmorTek coating on the lenses makes for one sturdy optic.
My particular scope has been subjected to a fair bit of exposure to all sorts of solvents and chemicals as well, as it is on a fully suppressed Tikka T3, which I take out of the stock to clean after every shoot, but I don’t take the scope off. So, when the barrel gets a clean, the scope gets covered in Hoppes, Shooter’s Choice, CLP, or whatever, and a ton of fouling and crud – which all wipes off nicely.
But when I talk about tactile features, I’m not just talking about the obvious feel of the scope. The mechanical feel is also a major selling point. The gearing is fine enough to be high quality and suitable for minor adjustments, but smooth enough for quick adjustments. The only area where this could be improved is the magnification ring, but a quick throw lever will sort that out.
The adjustments feel very positive and when I experimented tracking clicks along a 1 MOA grid at the range, they corresponded perfectly, as did the reticle. Thankfully, gone are the days when manufacturers thought they could get away with mismatched turrets and reticles (well, most of them), but in case you were wondering, the Viper does have MOA/MOA or Milrad/Milrad, depending on your preference.
What makes the PST not-so-great?
Okay, as promised, I’ll cover the negatives too. I’ve got to admit, they’re pretty minor.
The tube diameter is great for gathering light, but 30mm tubes are still not the most common. They’re more expensive to make, and are still a premium feature. This means if this is your first 30 mm scope, you’ll need to buy new 30 mm rings to match. To my mind, this is not a major sacrifice. Considering you’ve spent a bit on your new scope and rifle, you may as well invest in a quality pair of matched rings.
My scope came with a sunshade, which not only adds a cool factor (the puns keep on coming), but reduces glare on the lens during the brightest periods of the day, as well as mitigating some barrel mirage as well. However, it irked me, just slightly, that the branding on the sunshade wasn’t indexed to the 12 or 3 O’Clock position. Timing an accessory sunshade is such a pedantic thing, but that’s the perfectionist in me coming out, and this obviously has zero effect on the function of the optic.
If you compare this scope to the most expensive Vortex scopes on offer (or others for that matter), you’ll never be happy. But, if you compare and contrast with any other scope in the same price bracket, you’ll be overjoyed with your new purchase.
The Vortex Viper PST is not the lightest of scopes, so you’ll probably make good use of a bipod or rest.
The quality is there, the advanced features and thoughtful concessions are there – it just seems like the perfect scope for venturing into long range. In fact, as I dip my toe into the waters of F-Class this season, this scope will be the one I rely on to deliver consistent performance, clear images and perfect holdover/dial-up. Of all the scopes I have tested in this price range, I would say the Vortex Viper PST offers best-in-class value for money.
If you’re wondering how it can offer the same features and quality as more expensive optics, and don’t think it will live it up to the hype, the Vortex VIP Unconditional Lifetime Warranty will set your mind at ease. The same warranty the company has on all its optics means they’ll replace or repair your product, no questions asked, if it is faulty in any way or becomes damaged while you are using it. That shows real confidence in their product and commitment to their customers (i.e. you). The fact that I don’t know anyone who’s had to make use of this warranty is probably even more more convincing for me.
If you’re just getting into reloading, or perhaps you’ve decided to look at reloading a second calibre, you may have come across a decapping die and wondered if there should be one on your reloading bench. Well… maybe. Full length sizing dies (the ones you probably will start with) and neck sizing dies will deprime your brass as you size the case. But there are a few situations where you may want a decapping die.
Cleaning or tumbling brass
Very quickly, there are two reasons to clean your brass with either an ultrasonic cleaner or a media tumbler. Firstly, this adds another step to your reload process, but it does mean your primer pockets will get a clean (more likely with an ultrasonic cleaner), as well as the inside of the case, reducing powder residue build up at the neck. Secondly, cleaning the gunk off the outside of your case will keep your sizing dies in better condition for longer.
So, how do you decap without actually sizing the case? Well, it’s obvious now, but a universal decapping die is the answer to that question. Because the die body is oversized, it will not contact the walls or neck of the case, meaning you don’t have to apply any lubrication and the case shape won’t be changed.
It’s a quick process and I can deprime hundreds of 9mm cases in an hour. Chuck that lot in the cleaner, deprime some more, and start resizing the cleaned cases once they’re dry. It just becomes part of your routine.
Keeping your case shape
Sometimes you want to do something different with your brass. For example, if you slug your old 303 SMLE and find it’s got an oversize bore (surprise surprise), you may want to load it with oversize cast lead projectiles, with a .314 or even .316 diameter if you’re really trying to save an old mate.
In cases like these (no pun intended), you may not even want to resize your brass. You could simply trim your brass to length and flare the case mouth if necessary (that’s another die you’ll need), or it may fit just fine. There’s nothing to say you have to rezise a case again to shoot it, which is the basic principle behind neck sizing. If it’s fired in the same rifle it should chamber easily.
I’m sure there are other scenarios where you might want to keep case shape, but that’s the first that springs to mind. Otherwise, if you’re a cartridge collector, wildcatter, or ammunition hobbyist of some sort, I’m sure you already have a decapping die on hand. You could even be using one of these dies if you want to use spent cases to make jewelry or art, or if you want to modify a case to be a case-length gauge. All sorts of things you can do…
Types of decapping die
I’m sure there are many out there, but the two that I have tried have been Lyman and Lee. The Lyman is a one-piece hardened steel decapping rod, which they claim is “virtually unbreakable” and is suited to all calibres between .22 and .45, excluding .378 and .460 Weatherby. They even say it’s suitable for crimped in military primers (I haven’t tried).
The Lyman die’s use case seems pretty clear!
The Lee universal decapping die is based on a collet design, and if the decapping rod is subjected to too much force/resistance, it will simply slide up and you can reset it with a couple of spanners. Both designs work fine and neither die is too expensive. The Lee universal decapping die is available from Gunworks for $30 and if you can’t find the Lyman die at a local store, you can order directly from their website.
The Lee is spartan in presentation, but clever in its implementation.
Other things you will need
You will need a case holder for all the different rounds you intend to decap. This sounds obvious, but, for example, if you’ve decided to get a head start and begin cleaning cases you’ll be reloading in the future, you may not have thought to buy a case holder yet. Thankfully these only cost about $13 or $15, and you’ll need one anyway. Or, you can get a bunch of various common sizes in one of the Lee case holder sets (make sure they’re not for the autoprime).
Of course you’ll need a press and a bench, etc, etc, but you knew that already.
I recently heard a quote that went something like ‘if everyone gave more than they took, the world would be at peace.’ Well, while we can’t claim to be tackling world peace, it’s a fact of shooting sports that many take a lot and give very little.
This is why I was very impressed with an initiative by Kerry Adams of The Bloke to implement a hunter education and deer processing course. It’s something that our community is increasingly missing – those that give back, and also those that know what they’re doing.
For many hunters in their 20s and 30s, they didn’t grow up in a hunting family, or their dad or uncle didn’t pass on what they had learnt from their dad. And with an increasingly globalised Aotearoa, many come from countries where they either didn’t have access to hunting environments, or had very different sorts of hunting available to them.
Two at a time makes the day go quicker. And yup, that’s yours truly elbow deep in a deer carcass. Photo credit – Kerry Adams
The 6th deer processing course
So the course I attended was Kerry’s 6th, and you can see that all the kinks have been worked out of the event, as everything ran as smoothly as you could want. No doubt Kerry will aim to continuously improve the experience, but I certainly enjoyed my time at Balnagown Hunting and learnt a lot from Richard, the land owner and proprietor.
I heard rumours on the day of the next course being in October, so keep an eye on The Bloke’s FB page, or check out updates at The Gearlocker website.
The format of the day
Even though we had spots of heavy rain, sideways rain, and even frozen rain, the afternoon was well coordinated and followed a pretty good timeline to get you back on track with your weekend by just after lunchtime.
After arriving and parking up near the main house and sheds, we carpooled in a few 4-wheel drives to get to the hunting hut and Richard’s new meat-hanging ‘gallows’ and barbecue area.
Equipment
We started out with some basics on equipment, having a look at a few different rifles and their various accessories. Hunter and writer Dougie kindly provided us with some of our fresh meet for the day, and we got to check out her rifle as well.
After looking at things that go bang for a while, we looked at small, sharp, pointy bits. The knives in Kerry’s box of toys were awesome, but also told a story of trying everything under the sun to come to the conclusion that, generally speaking, less is more. If you’re wondering what knife to buy for your first hunt, I’d wait a sec and hop on this course and actually have a go with some different knives on an animal. So, armed with an insight into which knives to avoid and which ones are suited to small game such as fallow, we commenced with the processing part of the day.
Richard was great at explaining what he wanted us to do, but also let us make some mistakes along the way.
Dressing
First up, Richard gave us a very good introduction to his land and what he does. After that it was all pretty hands on as Richard took us through skinning and gutting a deer. Most people volunteered at some point and had a crack. With my lack of experience, I took all the opportunity I could to be the guy with the knife. Speaking of knives, there were a couple giveaways too, so a fair few us walked away with a new knife as well.
After the first dear was completely skinned and gutted, we tackled another, but this time field dressed it.
Getting me some backstrap. Photo credit – Kerry Adams
Breaking the animal down
The two fresh animals were taken away and a couple that were a a few days old and already dressed came back on the quad. This is where the lads from Country Meat Processors jumped in, showing us how to cut off backstrap, spare ribs, etc.
After breaking down the animal we wondered over to the bench and everyone had a crack at butchering a bit of deer, producing their own steaks for the bbq. It was amazing to figure out the different cuts and what really goes on if you usually just send a carcass to the butcher for processing.
Overall impression
After we’d all cleaned up and enjoyed a healthy bbq of venison steak sammies, accompanied by warm coffee, everyone stuck around for a bit of a yarn. There was a vast range of experience among the attendees, with a couple never having put a deer down, to experienced hunters looking to learn some new tricks (like punching out the skin – you’ll find out what that means!).
The banter was good and there was plenty of food. To be honest there was plenty of time to talk and have a cuppa throughout the day as well, it wasn’t like a classroom setting. It was a very relaxed atmosphere in which it was okay to learn and even make mistakes.
Richard was an absolute master at communicating the skills he’s picked up over the years, and if you’re ever in the market for a fallow meat hunt, or even your first ever hunt, a trip to Balnagown may be in order. Kerry was the consummate host, ensuring everyone benefited from the event, and again, it was great to see someone giving back to the hunting/shooting community by taking on such a big task and organising a day that many people benefited from.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Whether you’re trying to figure out what to do after you shoot your first game animal, or you’re experienced and trying to find out better ways to do what you’re already doing, there’s plenty to take in throughout the day, and it’s a perfect excuse to spend some time outdoors, talking crap and enjoying the company of fellow shooters.
For a reasonable cost of $80 per person for just over half a day of education, food, great bush scenery and good mates, you really can’t pass it up! I’m even thinking of going again just to cement what I learned the first time.
Good question – glad you asked! There’s a lot of stuff you could buy if you wanted to start reloading, but actually only a few essential things to start your first load and get hooked with the reloading addiction. This is a quick list of the bits and pieces you’ll need to get going.
Beware – any loads mentioned in this article are my own, and are not to be taken as gospel! Use a reloading manual or manufacturer’s instructions to find the right load for your firearm and application.
Okay, before we get straight into the list – why reload? Ammunition is expensive. Each time you pull the trigger on a rifle, you’re sending $2 – $5 downrange, depending on your calibre and ammo preference. My 6.5×55 reloads cost $1.27 to shoot, roughly. But it’s not just about cheap and cheerful. I could cut that almost in half if I bought cheap projectiles. No, that’s $1.27 for ammo that I would call “match grade”. The results speak for themselves – see below:
Aside from being economical, reloading allows you to fine tune your ammunition depending on your rifle and intended application. I have two identical loads for my Tikka T3, one for target shooting and one for hunting – the only difference is the projectile and COAL (cartridge overall length).
There’s a lot you can do with reloading, so take the time and get stuck in – you’ll save some money, improve your accuracy/performance, and develop what is really a whole new hobby.
If you’re going to sight in and hunt once a year, then no worries, a pack of factory ammo will last you plenty of trips!
What are the essentials?
Obviously you need a firearm to shoot the ammo in! You also need safety glasses for while your reload (primers are explosives!). You need yourself, a solid reloading bench, some basic maths skills, and a whole bunch of other really obvious stuff. But, I’ll be splitting what you need into materials and tools. This is part one on materials.
Even if you aren’t reloading yet – start saving your brass now!
Brass
This is what makes reloading economical. You can reuse your brass many times over, which turns into a considerable saving. If you neck size and reload for one rifle only, reusing your brass will also increase accuracy. Where to get brass? You can buy it online, or from stores such as Reloaders Supplies or Serious Shooters. Or, what I do is buy ammo, shoot it, and reuse the brass.
I shoot and reload PPU or Sellier & Bellot for cheap plinking ammo (.303, 7.62×39, etc.). For my 7mm-08 and .308 I use a mixture of Hornady, Remington and Winchester. For my “match” 6.5×55 ammo, I shoot and reload Norma ammo. Lapua is also a good candidate. For 9mm pistol rounds I use whatever I have at hand.
Using brass from factory ammo also means you have a base line to start with, figuring out what your gun does and doesn’t like.
Cost example:
ADI 300 Blackout brass x 100 – $69 from Reloaders Supplies. That’s 69 cents each, and anecdotally you’ll be getting around 10 loads per, so call it 7 cents per round.
Federal American Eagle loaded 300 BLK ammo x 20 – $55 from Serious Shooters. That’s $2.75 per round if that was that. But if you plan on getting another 9 loads (at least) out of the brass, then call it 27.5 cents per round (including your first, loaded shot). It’s not as cheap, but you do get that first shot, and you get to experiment with different weight projectiles without buying a bunch of different types.
Projectiles
Projectiles (bullets) are likely to be your biggest expense if you’re aiming to make quality ammo. My most expensive pills are about $1.03 each, depending where you buy em. There are plenty more expensive out there. Plenty! But if you shoot a cheap/common/small calibre, like .223, you’ll be able to pick up bullets for much, much cheaper. Have a look at your usual stores and you’ll see what I mean.
Different projectiles will enable you to experiment with your firearm and produce application-specific ammunition.
You can get cheaper still with cast lead or plated projectiles, but these come with their own challenges and idiosyncrasies. Stick with copper jacketed bullets as you start out and life will be simpler.
Make sure you choose a projectile specific to your needs. Manufacturer websites are pretty clear, otherwise, read up on your calibre in Nathan Foster’s knowledge base, or ask your local gun store staff. A good example is, Sierra Matchkings (SMK) are super accurate, but dicey performers on game. Hornady ELD-X is great on game, and pretty accurate to boot. Prvi Partisan .31 calibre lead-tipped projectiles are actually great for effective wounding on game, but certainly not match accurate.
Cost example:
Prvi Partisan 6.5mm (.264) 139 gr projectiles x 100 – $60 from Gunworks. That’s 60 cents per round.
Berger VLD Target 6.5 mm (.264) 140 gr x 100 – $106.95 from Workshop Innovations. Looking at $1.07 per round. As you can see, there is a vast difference, but these two projectiles are for vastly different applications.
For comparison, a bag of 500 ADI 22 calibre 62 gr projectiles would set you back $100. That’s 20 cents a round for cheap AR-15 plinking ammo.
Powder
Powder is a big expense up front, but lasts for ages. It’s good to have a few varieties on hand for different loads and applications, but once you find one that you definitely will use a lot, buy in bulk to save even more money. Also, buying in bulk eliminates the variance you can get between batches of powder, as you’ll be working from the same batch for longer.
As I’ve said before, I’m a big fan of ADI powder. ADI (based in Australia) produces a bunch of powders for other brands, so if you find Americans talking about Varget, it’s fine because you can buy ADI AR2208, which is the same thing. But, where it becomes awesome is ADI powders are sold in 500 gram containers for around the same price of an American or European brand 1 pound container, which is about 454 grams. Immediate savings!
Different powder for different uses, but ADI is always a safe bet. Buy in bulk to make your reloading $ go further!
There are many good powder brands, and if you will end up reloading for multiple calibres, try and find loads that like the same powder to save on cost even more. My 6.5×55, .303, .308 and 7mm-08 are all fed a steady diet of 2208. Funnily enough, they’re all similar charge weights as well. This leads to multiple efficiencies.
You should definitely get yourself a reloading manual, but if you do decide to stick to ADI, they provide some awesome reloading data on their website.
Cost example:
ADI AR2208 500 g – $65 from Broncos. I use around 40 grains for most loads with this powder, so let’s call it 34 cents per round. If you bought the 4 kg container, your cost per round would drop to 30 cents.
IMR 4198 1 lb – $69 from Reloaders. I use 26.5 grains of this for my 7.62×39 loads. That’s 264 rounds, so 26 cents per round.
Primers
The things that go bang! I won’t spend too much time on primers except to say that they are actually different. It’s good to experiment, but when you start loading in volume, try and stick to one type of primer, otherwise you should realistically back off your load and work up again as the reaction inside the chamber will be different. Better yet, buy in bulk. I have found all of my loads requiring a large rifle primer tend to like Federal Gold Medal match primers. So I buy boxes of 1000 at a time.
Again, not only are you saving more dollar dollar bills y’all, but you’re keeping consistent by staying in the same batch of primers. Primers are quite cheap, so buying in bulk is not such a big deal.
Primers are another area where buying in bulk saves a little bit of cash, but also improves consistency.
What will my first lot of materials cost me?
Let’s use the common 308 as an example. Using the ADI Powders load data and some prices from NZ shops, let’s figure out the minimum you would have to spend to load your first 100 rounds, as well as how economical you can get by buying in bulk.
Cost per round for first 100 only (will have left over powder)
$2.65
Cost per round with bulk buying and 10 loads from each case
$1.34
Cost per round of equivalent factory load low end manufacturer
$3.00
Cost per round of equivalent factory load high end manufacturer
$3.40
As you can see, depending on the life of your brass, you can half the cost of your ammo and produce some excellent results. Especially when you consider that you can set your seating depth and a host of other things that will increase your accuracy from a given load.
Having said that, there’s more to getting started than bullets and brass. The cost of reloading equipment will factor into your decision to start loading your own ammo or not. Make sure to check back for Part Two in this series, in which we will look at the easiest equipment to get started with.
You may have heard of steel challenge. The competitive test of a pistol shooter’s accuracy and speed, involving lead and copper tipping over steel plates at a rapid rate of knots.
Quick reloads are half the battle won! Photo credit: Chris Watt
So, what’s cardboard challenge? That’s what you do when you don’t have steel! Legitimate steel challenge involves eight standard courses of fire, shooting at steel plates ranging between dinner-plate size to double that. It’s scored only by the time it takes you to complete each stage. If you’d like to learn more about, you can check out the official page here.
However, what I really wanted to talk about after shooting this mocked-up, strung-together course of fire, is the importance of being part of a club that is willing to try new things. Although we didn’t have the necessary targets available a couple weeks ago, people at the Waiuku Pistol Club were willing to put in the time and effort for everyone to have a go and see if it’s a sport that could have a home at the club.
Last weekend there was an FBI qualification shoot (not an actual one – obviously! But the same one the FBI does). Once a month the 3 gunners take over range one and the Cowboy Action Shooters take over range five. Not to mention service pistol, IPSC and all of the rifle and shotgun disciplines available.
If you’re shooting competitions, get ready to burn through a lot of ammo!
In New Zealand shooting sports aren’t nearly as developed as they are in the States, however with clubs providing adequate facilities and plenty of interest from organisers and participants alike, there’s no reason it can’t get that way. The important bit is that we all play our own part and get involved – without people to take part, arrange events and even just clean up afterwards, it just wouldn’t happen.
Make sure you’re giving your local club plenty of love!
