More than a few of my Readers have suggested that I start reloading ammo — at least the .38 Special — so that I can build up a decent stock without bankrupting my self by buying it retail.
One unbelievably generous soul has even offered to set me up with a complete reloading station (an older, simple affair that he no longer uses) including powder, primers, casings and even boolets.
Did I mention before that I have the best damn Readers on the Internet?
Here’s my problem. Even with the best will in the world, I have no space to start reloading ammo. When we moved from Plano, we moved into a tiny and I mean tiny apartment that is just large enough to hold two people. There’s no way I could set up a loading station there, unless I set it up, reloaded for a few hours, then broke it all down again before New Wife got home, and then went through the whole rigmarole again and again. She’s not afraid of the business, mind you, but we just have no spare room available — I’d have to move the dining room furniture out (where?) just to be able to set it up.
We do have a garage (not attached to the apartment, but a hundred-odd yards away), but it’s not insulated — think: Texas oven — and in any event, I’m pretty sure that there’s something in the lease which says I can’t do it anyway.
So I have to decline all such offers (thanks, Bruce) and be content with buying the ammo as cheaply as I can.
Several Readers have stepped up with suggestions of places where I could do just that, and I’ll be doing the due diligence when the time comes for me to do some serious bulk purchasing. In the meantime, I discovered that Texas Legends (my local range) actually sells practice ammo at quite a reasonable price, the only problem being that it’s the heavier 158gr. loads, with nothing smaller available. Still that’s not going to kill me nor break the bank — a couple hundred rounds over the next month or so is doable — so while I hate being “short” of ammo, at least I’m not faced with the Covid-era situation where there wasn’t any ammo available.
And I have shall we say an adequate supply of premium self-defense .38 Special (chortle chortle) so the situation is not too critical.
By the way, there’s a lesson here: if you practice a lot, as I do, be sure to take stock of your ammo supply at regular intervals (as I didn’t, in this case) so you don’t end up in my predicament. I’ve always checked my .45 ACP stock levels because that’s the handgun caliber I practice with the most, but because until recently I only had the little S&W 637 Airweight (my backup), I hardly ever bothered with checking the .38 Special stock because I hardly ever shot the thing — maybe twice a year.
Now, of course, I’m in a different situation with MOAR .38 revolvers (however did that happen?) and having rediscovered the joys of centerfire revolver shooting, I’m going to be doing that a lot more.
And there’s always the .22LR guns, for which I have sufficient stocks to last me (and the Son&Heir, and his Son&Heir) several lifetimes, regardless of frequency.
Once again, though: thank you all for your concern and your support, as always.
Getting into reloading with todays prices of reloading supplies puts you making target ammo for about the same price as cheap ammo. If you are not already reloading with stacked away supplies from previous decades you are not going to get ahead. The biggest benefit is you will be able to dial in a load to make a bullet perform consistently and accurate. You will not get that with a factory load.
Kim ,
Use the search engine AMMO SEEK to find inexpensive 38 special .
I just checked and I can find some for approximately 35 cents a round with free shipping.
You might reconsider your abhorrence of the 9mm Euro pellet. I made the change about a year ago just because 9 mm is really really cheap. I generally can find it for around 20 to 22 cents a round.
SGA is consistently one of the more expensive suppliers of ammunition.
What Turn4811 said – at current prices it’ll take many years to show any meaningful return. My initial purchase of reloading press and related was paid off back in the 80’s and right now I’m still burning thru a lot of old stock in terms of lead and brass. The big thing is that 38 special just isn’t commonly available anymore – meaning your practice ammo is whatever is on the shelf, generally 158 grain FMJ or occasionally lead round nose. Getting good wadcutters or semi-wadcutters is all but impossible unless you handload. If you aren’t already reloading, it probably doesn’t make sense to start. Also, space and time play a role as you mentioned. Sorry to mislead you, I was merely bragging about my own situation.