So about this time last year I had set up the big Dillon 1050 to run off some .357 Magnum using my favorite load. And I discovered…much to my amazement…that I did not have nearly as much .357 Mag brass on hand as I thought. And it was a hell of a time to try and order more. But, I did. And was told it was backordered. And backordered. And backordered.
Until today:
Thats 4,500 pieces of brand new .357 Mag brass. The Dillon will be getting quite the workout this weekend. And when I’m done, I package it in these from repackbox.com. They store neatly, uniformly, and take up a bit less space than the usual plastic box.
My goal is to have about half of these loaded by Sunday. And to take my Marlin .357 out for a spin and do a little shooting.
Nice!
That is quite a treasure trove. I’m a Canuck so we don’t have that kind of access to ammo;-) but I do the best I can.
Same can be said for all reloading supplies. Regularly check at least 4 suppliers, nothing is available, all items backordered, none of thenm even taking backorders anymore. Even reloading dies, that I’ve had ordered since Jan 21, still backordered.
I know some folks have been having luck obtaining needed supplies, I always come up with zero for some unknown reason.
Consider yourself lucky!
I’ve been shooting more 38 Special and 357 Magnum specifically because it’s a lower volume round…. and then you have to post THAT! LOL! Nice score. So what is that favorite load?
8.0 Unq for a 158 jhp
I like Unique but it’s dirtier than a coal mine.
Oh yeah…filthy stuff. But I like that I can buy an 8# keg of it and reload virtually any pistol cartridge.
Agreed. Besides, if you’re not cleaning it after EVERY trip to the range you’re doing it wrong.
I recently acquired a S&W 686 in .357…. a friend gave me a few dozen 38-special loads to practice, and I paid $45-Smackers for a box of 20 Hollow Point 357-magnums. 2 bux a shell!!!
If readers had acted on the repeated advice from this site, then the need to pay heinous per round prices would be mitigated.
That’s enough ammo for the barrel life of a carbine and should hold you for some time.
I would hope that barrel life on a pistol caliber carbine is more than 5,000 rounds.
Me too. But firearms are often not made of the best materials so 5k before degradation seems like a good call.
You got an optic on that 1894?
Wasnt planning on it. Ruins the handiness and compactness. However, I have been looking at these:
I put on a Skinner peep sight and replaced the factory buckhorn with the Skinner blank on mine. I have an 1894CB with 20″ octagon barrel and it hits well out to 100 yards with a zero hold and my .357 Magnum target handloads. Its a 12 o’clock hold with .38 Special. My .357 recipe uses Hogdgon HS-6 (don’t recall the weight) with Berry’s 158 grain plated flat point and Winchester Magnum small pistol primers in Federal brass.
It is my truck rifle. I have a specially modified USGI black AR style mag pouch that is now a cartridge dump pouch, that holds 100 rounds. It hangs on a black USGI pistol belt. The ammo is (2) 50 round boxes of hard hitting Federal 158 grain JFP .357 Magnum. I can reach in the pouch and grab loose rounds for magazine top off from behind cover, and do it safely with a loaded rifle.
I’ve got a small collection of fired, uncleaned, brass I have finally sorted out by caliber. Most all from the 90’s. Later brass is stored elsewhere, and I may not have access to it. I would guess that shipping costs would make it not worth the hassle of selling it long distance? Eventually I’ll get up to the Reno area, where I think there were a number of commercial reloaders. I’m not seeing any of them in CA.
I’m surprised at some of the calibers that turned up in the pile. The plastic bins aged out and started to dump it on the floor, so I was forced to attend to it 😀
Didn’t count it, just weighed and bagged it. Well, bagged and then weighed…
1 lb of 300 H&H. wtf?
1 lb of 30-30
3 lb of 30-06
4 lb of .357mag
Don’t even own or shoot those.
12 lb of .41mag – no idea I fired that Ruger that much!
150 lb of .45acp- waves hand
total is 281 lbs of anything that amounts to at least 1 lb/caliber.
Any suggestions/recommendations?
My suggestion is a USPS Flat Rate box which should let you ship the whole mess anywhere for about $20.
some sell empty brass on Gunbroker, going for .50 cents a round and more! If there are 73 – 45 ACP cases per pound you would have about $5k in brass!