So I broke down and bought a Do All White Wing pigeon thrower on sale at Cabelas this week. They had some cheap 12 gauge shells for $15/100 rds. Actually 1 1/8 oz shells that fed well in my semi auto, unlike other cheap shells that you hear about not cycling the action. At $3.75/box, these aren't reloadable due to the silver case.

How much does it cost to reload as compared to just stocking up on these cheaper shells? Any recs of a good reloader, if I go that route? Where do you buy your supplies?

How long does it take to reload 100 rounds? Also, how many times can you get away with reloading the same case?

Thanks!

I'd be curious on that to. I love my 16ga shotguns, but hate buying the ammo for them...

We used to reload all of our shotgun ammo. As cheap as 12 ga. shells are today, I do not think that you save any money especially if you factor in the time that you spend doing it. If you shoot anything other than a 20 ga. or a 12 ga., it may be more economical since you pay a premium for those shells.

The only advantage that I can see is that you can make your own custom "hot" loads if you like.

As my life has gotten busier, I have not made the time to reload anymore. I pretty much only use my shotgun for dove hunting and I do not have any problem hitting them with the $3.75/box heavy dove load.

If you think that the cheap shells will not kill doves, you are wrong. You just need to practice more and become a better shot.

We bought most of our supplies at Academy, Bass Pro or our local gun shop. We could reload probably 20 boxes an hour easy. As for brands, any name brand is fine such as Mec, RCBS or Hornaday. We mostly used AA hulls and it seems like we usually got 4 or 5 reloads out of each hull.

I use the cheap stuff for everything. I know if you factor in time, reloading may not pay off, but I was just curious as to what the hard costs are.

I have Mec Versa Mec reloaders for my 20 and 12 ga. Prices have gone up, but you can save money if you reload enough shells to offset the cost of supplies. You can get reloading manuals that will give you the proper shot and powder charges as well as what primers, wads, type of powder, etc.

Back when I reloaded a lot, I could reload about a box per 5 minutes on average.

Bushman - what would you say the out of pocket costs were the last time you reloaded?

I'm thinking 16ga will be cheaper to reload......they're at 20$ a box...

Back in the day, I could reload Winchester AA's for about 2.00 a box. I am sure that it is more now, due to the cost of lead, primers and wads going up. Still can be done much less expensive than new shells.

I use a MEC Jr. reloader for my 20 gauge reloads. I want to say the cost is roughly half of what you pay for decent/good quality hunting shells, and probably close to the same as you pay for the el cheapo's.

Concerning speed of reloading - once you get in a rythim, you can go surprisingly fast. I bet that once I get a couple of shells out of the way I can push out a box in 15 minutes or less.

I reload Estate for the most part - never had an issue with the nickel coated brass on those.

Are those presses like rifle reloading stands where I can buy one and do several gauges with dye sets?

No they are gauge specific.

That's a real pain in the ass. Especially if you care to reload more than one gauge.

I may have to start looking into how badly I want to keep shooting 16ga guns. I want an inexpensive O/U to get started seriously shooting trap with, I may see what's there in 16 first. I have a very nice belgian built A-5 here I also enjoy, and the cheap ass shells don't cycle it well...

Ag-of-08
"I have a very nice belgian built A-5 here I also enjoy, and the cheap ass shells don't cycle it well..."

Running the risk of insulting your intelligence, is the friction ring positioned correctly for light loads? Try cleaning the mag tube and the barrel extension then lightly lubricating them. Just my .02 cents



[This message has been edited by Msgt USAF Ret (edited 8/23/2010 10:54p).]

Not insulting my intelligence, the gun belongs to my mother and was a pass down.


I am not familiar with the friction ring mechanism you are referring to.... would you explain please? The gun is well lubed, and the shells are physically feeding and firing in the gun, but it will not fully cycle and reload itself after each shot(it acts like an AR I shot once that had a poorly adjusted gas block and was not fully cycling).

I have been out of shotgunning for many years, all my shooting buddies have wanted to play sniper for so long, I couldn't get them to shoot skeet.

[This message has been edited by Ag_of_08 (edited 8/23/2010 11:02p).]

Well I'll be damned. This gun has been in the family since the early sixties at latest.

******* was set wrong! I had no clue the sap sucker would do that. I feel dumb....

http://www.browning.com/customerservice/qna/detail.asp?id=105

Don,t feel dumb, man. The first A-5 I reblued I had to get another gunsmith to reassemble it. He told me about the friction ring at that time. Again, lightly (very lightly) lube the tube. Any good silicone grease will do fine, just make sure the tube is clean first. Those diagrams show you 100 times better than I could describe it.

[This message has been edited by Msgt USAF Ret (edited 8/23/2010 11:31p).]

another q for you. This gun has develop some foward to rearward "play" in the butt stock

I know part of the recoil mech. goes into the stock, is it normal to have this front to back play, or should I attempt to eliminate it?

Youi need to either tighten the stock screws or take it to a gunsmith and have them go over the shotgun. If you keep shooting it with that play, ultimately the recoil will tear the stock up beyond repair.

+1 to what schembella said. A5 buttstocks can crack at the handle if not maintained properly. I'd get it checked out by a gunsmith. You need the correct sized screwdrivers to work on an A5 or you'll bugger the screws.

quote:

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I'm thinking 16ga will be cheaper to reload......they're at 20$ a box...

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I shoot 16 gauge quite a bit. I've looked into reloading but I don't think I shoot enough to justify the start up costs (or have the time to invest). I'm not sure where you're located or what kind of loads you're looking for but Academy and Dicks have 16 gauge Remington game loads and/or Federal Game shok loads for $7 a box. At the time this was about the same price as 12/20 gauges Winchester AAs. More expensive but not super expensive. I've used them for clays, dove, and quail and haven't had any trouble.

It does get real expensive when you need non-toxic shot for 16 gauge Belgian barrels but when God duck hunts he uses a 16 gauge A5 so I don't know why you'd want to use anything else.

What smelba and Wildcat said, especially about the screwdriver. Some Brownings have very narrow screw slots so make sure the driver you use for the buttplate is not too wide.

You can usually find used MEC reloaders in ther $25 - $50 range. Odds and ends aren't expensive and are usually easy to get. Start up costs for a single stage reloading setup should run you less than $100 is you use a little bit of patience and searching.

For 16 and .410 it is definitely worth it. Hell, it is worth it for pretty much any guage when you look at long term costs. Buy components on sale and in bulk and you can reload top quity shells for less than el cheapo sale prices.

I found the correct screwdrivers here last night and have actually removed the stock(I have a lot of precision and fine bladed tools, working on RC helicopters and small cars necessitates it LOL).

The problem is the tang screw hole had oval-ed out a bit. I spoke to a couple of people, and have read a bit online, and I think I understand the correct way to do it. The one I talked to that's a smith(used to be the one I used, but he's retired now and doesn't do much work anymore, or I would let him do it) recommended removing as much oil as possible from the stock, stabilizing the wood with Cyanoacrylate(not the cheap "super glue" you buy from wal-mart, this is a specialty glue that pours like water, and leaches into wood. I use the same brand he did almost every time I build a new airplane.), then using a thin brass shim to take the play out.

I had no idea A-5's had anywhere near the popularity or support they do. I love this old gun, but didn't realize so many others did as well.

I work my first shift in a couple hours, and will go back to working on it after I get off. I flushed the reciever(she's been stored a long time, and was extremely.....well nasty) last night, and Will probably keep the stock off a couple more days and try a couple of cleaning tricks on the tang hole before I stabilize it..

I'll have to post a picture of the removable choke system that's on it when it's re-assembled, I'd really like to find more choke tubes for it(It's not the browning unit AFAIK).

BTW milkman, sorry to hijack your thread! We can bug out to another if need be.

No problem. I've enjoyed reading about your situation. I've never owned an A5, but have thought about it.

After giving the reloading idea more thought, and with the info gained here, I think I'll just keep buying shells when they are on sale. I may keep the spent hulls from some Rio and Remington shells I have in storage, just in case I change my mind. Toured Cabelas reloading department the other day, and was turned off by the price of raw supplies.

If this shotgun shooting really takes off or if I find a friend with a progressive to use I may get my feet wet with this, but the advice here makes me realize that even if I shot 250 boxes a year, the savings would barely pay for the equipment the first year.

[This message has been edited by milkman00 (edited 8/24/2010 11:15p).]

quote:

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I'll have to post a picture of the removable choke system that's on it when it's re-assembled, I'd really like to find more choke tubes for it(It's not the browning unit AFAIK).

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Looking forward to seeing the pics. If you have the serial number I can help you date the gun (the reciever anyway). Browning's website is not that accurate with older guns.

Will grab it a little later and take a few pictures of it. Appreciate the help.

Our AC is frozen up and I gotta try to sleep a while before it gets to hot, Working another midnight tonight. I'll take some pics when I wake up.

I'll admit I didn't read all the words because they didn't seem to be all that entertaining, but I will address this:

quote:

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I do not think that you save any money especially if you factor in the time that you spend doing it.

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If you're factoring in the time you spend doing it you're doing it wrong. Set it up in the garage, close to a beer fridge. Invite friends over, smoke cigars, drink beer and reload a sh**-ton of shells. Then consider the time relaxation/enjoyment and don't bill it out at $150 an hour.

I agree with Sean on the time issue. (Except the alcohol in the reloading room, and putting it in the garage - but, to each his own.) I've reloaded many tens of thousands of shells over the years and always just considered it good therapy time well spent. Plus, you can try different loads to find the one that performs best in your gun (more time required here to spend at the pattern board - which can also be considered good therapy time)
PLUS, you know exactly which components you are shooting and the quality of those components.
Just to add to the list, my reloader is a Ponsness Warren peogressive model. Infinitely better than the Mec I started out with.

Just my 4 cents.

Gun safety is no accident.

Ag_of_08
Are you going to refinish the stock? If so why don't you get some Whiting from Brownell's to draw out the oil in the stock. When mixed with Acetone it works pretty well but the acetone will remove the finish. Also you might want to bed the "ovaled screw hole. You can use a good epoxy or something like Acraglas just make sure you use some type of mold release on the screw first then clamp the stock to the action. You may want to slightly enlarge the screw hole first as this will ensure the epoxy completely encircles the screw

First let me FIFY

quote:

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If you're factoring in the time you spend doing it you're doing it wrong. Set it up in the garage, jack the truck up, put it on jackstands, remove left and right wheels, change brakes and rotors, and reassemble. Invite friends over, drink beer, and save yourself $400 on a brake job. Then consider the time relaxation/enjoyment and don't bill it out at $150 an hour.

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I'd probably enjoy reloading but I've never had the opportunity to get into it. There are other things I'd rather be doing with my time.

I hadn't really planed on re-doing them at this point, I actually would probably buy new stocks instead of redoing theses, as they've been re-done once and there is a bit of damage on the fore-stock and a couple of gouges on the butt. I'd like to avoid having to strip/refinish if possible.

I would love to have the whole thing re-blued, but don't have cash to fork out for the gunsmithing bill to do so. I'm mainly just looking to getting it back into slightly better condition to shoot with. After this job takes off and I start getting paid, I might look at restoring the whole thing.

I'll grab some pics hold on


[This message has been edited by Ag_of_08 (edited 8/25/2010 5:08p).]

Main serial

receiver proof markings

Barrel proofs

Choke system

Stock tang hole.

[This message has been edited by Ag_of_08 (edited 8/25/2010 6:17p).]

let me know if you need any others.