by Bills Shed » 20 Dec 2013, 3:45 pm
You are dead right that the purchase cost far out strips the actual cost of manufacturing. If you look at the Sinclair catalogue, it is full of the "must have" tools and widgets that will make our shooting life easier and our wallets lighter. Most of it is well made and I am sure some people will have one of everything. Do we really need most of it -No.
Many of the tools you can build yourself and things like dedicated COL gauges are nice to have, but not a must. A good vernia calliper measures the brass length and most anything else. It can be locked onto a measurement and you have an instant, trim to length gauge or COL gauge. It can be adjusted to any size and length.
Make your own dummy rounds- seat you favourite pill in your case to the depth that works best for you-without the powder or primer. Drill two small holes on either side of the case and fill the case full of Araldite or similar hard filler. The pill will not move and it is an excellent reference for your die setting. If you want a "snap cap" you can drill out the primer cavity a bit and put a hard piece of rubber in the primer cavity.
Cleaning brass is another area that you can spend a fortune on but some basic ingredients from the kitchen cupboard and an old pot will have the brass spotless.
Shooting requires minimal gear, reloading requires good tools but you can make excellent hand loaded ammunition with quality basic tooling.
Buy the best that you can afford at the time, but first figure out what you actually NEED. The wants will come later, and they will cost you plenty. That my 20 cents.
Bill
Swaging your own projectiles is the ultimate in flexibility.
