JDeko 792 Posted March 29, 2015 Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 I live in SE Michigan and pretty much all the outdoor ranges require you to shoot slugs. Most of the indoor ones make you buy their ammo so I was hoping to save money by going to an outdoor one since they let you bring your own ammo and charge much less an hour. However all the cheap ammo is bird or buck shot so I'm a bit dejected. Hopefully y'all can help. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted March 29, 2015 Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 Rio Royal & Winchester Super X slugs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
patriot 7,197 Posted March 29, 2015 Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 Get yourself a Lee Load-All II and some 0.69 cal round balls. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDeko 792 Posted March 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 Super-X are about a dollar a slug, that's what I have been using but was hoping to get down to the 30-50 cent area some shot shells are per round. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
patriot 7,197 Posted March 29, 2015 Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 Reloading's going to be the only way you can get that low. Even then, I'm not sure. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted March 29, 2015 Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 (edited) gunbot dot net ammoseek dot com .55 per round for rio with a quick check. Edited March 29, 2015 by Darth Saigus 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDeko 792 Posted March 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 So for one reason or another one big ball is far more expensive than many little balls? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted March 29, 2015 Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 So for one reason or another one big ball is far more expensive than many little balls? The machinery for making and loading shot is very efficient. Shot shells outsell slugs 1000 to 1. The economics isn't hard to figure. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mullet Man 2,114 Posted March 29, 2015 Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 I can usually pick up Remington 2-3/4" sluggers 1oz 1560fps slugs for $3.50/5rd box at my local Farm and Fleet. My S12 and V12 like them the best over Federal and Winchester. Buying online in bulk will get you the most bang for your buck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDeko 792 Posted March 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 Ah, I didn't know that about slugs not selling nearly as much being as they are the magic solution on so many self defense blogs and my above mentioned situation of a lot of ranges only wanting you to shoot those. Armed with that fact it makes a lot of sense, Ammoseek has them for a good price so I'll hit them up from now on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RED333 1,025 Posted March 29, 2015 Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 If you get into casting, Lee key slug and Lyman 525 slugs and reloading you can get you fun time up to snuff. Will you save money, not really, but the cost per round goes down fast. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDeko 792 Posted March 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 Is self-loading difficult? Like especially the powder and primer. i just fear I might blow myself up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
storm6490 2,768 Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 Reloading shotgun shells is fun and easy. You can cut your cost down even more by recycling tire weights that your local tire dealer will be more than happy to give you instead of having to pay the hazmat disposal fee. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mullet Man 2,114 Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 I'd love to try out those giant Pellet gun pellets, just not into reloading myself. Should be able to take down a Pterodactyl with one. That would bring back some good childhood memories of popping birds on the farm with the old Daisy 880. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDeko 792 Posted March 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 yeah, they take me back to begging my mum for a pellet gun shaped like a .38 snub when I was like 11 or some such. The irony is crushing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HB of CJ 1,263 Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 Plus if you really get into shotgun hand loading you can experiment with some lower recoil, (??) slug or buckshot loads. Lots of lead. Lower velocity. I for one am at the point in my long and blessed life that heavy recoil and me do not mix any more. Yikes! HB of CJ (old coot) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 Is self-loading difficult? Like especially the powder and primer. i just fear I might blow myself up. Easy. Cheap. there are threads here dealing with this topic. I've done videos too. I'll answer whatever questions you ask, but do some searching here before asking. Go for lee fosters or lyman 525. Skip the roundballs. Get a MEC press to start, skip the lee, unless it is a real bargain. MEC has more adjustibility. However, if you do get a Lee, I have a video on how to optimize it, and make better ammo faster. Either way you'll be glad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haugpatr 972 Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 Look for a range that has skeet shooting, as you would be able to shoot cheap ammo there. You could also try the MGO forum as that is a good resource for Michigan gun enthusiasts, you might be able to make some connections on that forum and find some good local shooting ranges. http://www.migunowners.org/forum/forum.php 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDeko 792 Posted March 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 There are a lot of skeet ranges I found, but right now I'd rather shoot stationary targets since I'm new to all this. [unless you can shoot stuff other than pigeons at a skeet range, which if that's the case that saves a lot of works looking around.] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lumberman 116 Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 If you shoot only one round at a time, do cut shells count? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
patriot 7,197 Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 If you shoot only one round at a time, do cut shells count? Dangerous practice. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 Less accurate, prone to malfunction, less hard hitting, about the same work as actually loading real slugs. I bet time to cut a hundred cut shells vs time for me to load 100 slugs is about the same. (casting not included.) I win on cost by about double though. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Redrum4u 125 Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 Jdecco, go to the pit in lapeer, free, outdoors and bring your own targets, 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
horatio 515 Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 It is worth noting syndicate did a pretty detailed write up on casting and loading homemade slugs. While he was a proponent of wheel weights, I remember a few posts about making sure they were actually lead and not another metal. I don't remember exactly, but I remember if they weren't lead they results were very very bad. pot splash back or something else pretty hazardous IIRC and I can't quite remember. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 You really want to be careful of using scrap lead not to get any zinc in there. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
horatio 515 Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 I thought it was zinc but I wasn't sure. Thanks for the clarification. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDeko 792 Posted March 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Jdecco, go to the pit in lapeer, free, outdoors and bring your own targets, Thanks, its about 90min from my house so I'll have to make it worth the $20~ of gas to go there but if I make a day of it I could come out ahead. More than anything I'm happy to hear from someone who knows my area. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haugpatr 972 Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Jdecco, go to the pit in lapeer, free, outdoors and bring your own targets, Thanks, its about 90min from my house so I'll have to make it worth the $20~ of gas to go there but if I make a day of it I could come out ahead. More than anything I'm happy to hear from someone who knows my area. There are group shoots at the pit. AKfiles guys go there a few times a year and there used to be a pumpkin shoot there the first weekend after Halloween, there is a thread on here somewhere about the pumpkin shoot. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Zinc will cause the lead to curdle up and draw out the tin & antimony from the alloy. It has a melting point slightly higher. If you do your lead purification in a seperate step and use a thermometer to keep at about 700 f any zinc that sneaks in will float to the top to be skimmed off. Also you keep all the other contaminants out of your casting pot. You can recognize zinc contamination by a lumpy "cottage cheeze" consistency of your melted lead alloy, and a pretty rainbow color on top, like gasoline on water. The texture when cooled tends to be crinkly like burnt aluminum foil. Wheel weights are about perfect alloy for most pistol stuff and are harder than slugs need. Slugs are a waste of an increasingly scarce resource (harder lead alloy), especially when relatively pure lead can be had for ~ 30 cents a pound. Dental foils, construction sheet lead, old pipes, random ingots.... Those are best for slugs. Range scrap is about half way in between and would be less of a waste. Just be sure to flux. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDeko 792 Posted March 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Jdecco, go to the pit in lapeer, free, outdoors and bring your own targets, Thanks, its about 90min from my house so I'll have to make it worth the $20~ of gas to go there but if I make a day of it I could come out ahead. More than anything I'm happy to hear from someone who knows my area. There are group shoots at the pit. AKfiles guys go there a few times a year and there used to be a pumpkin shoot there the first weekend after Halloween, there is a thread on here somewhere about the pumpkin shoot. Wow, I might have to key into these shoots so I might get the chance to talk with people who know way more about such things than I do. Shooting pumpkins sounds pretty fun as well but I might not be able to do that as it sounds like Youmacon [i'm a nerd as well as a gun nut] might be the same weekend. Though if it were the week after that'd be a hell of a fortnight. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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