I'm about ready to go the reload route. I might asks the snobs and split the costs. .243 is a nice starting round for a kid. But it's not common enough to keep prices low.

I just had a regular old .22 when I was a kid.

We bought a .22 from a man at scouts and that's what he cut his teeth on and plinking; then he was ready for something that he can deer hunt with. I got the .243 through the neighbors association with Hunting for Heroes, so it was a good call, a good cause, and it has been a great platform for that next step.

The added bonus....there have been a number of physics and math lessons that I've been able to apply to the process, so that's cool. Like SCUBA tables, he's seeing math in action, and learning things beyond the math while we're at it. And now he's able to sight it in pretty well in 2-3 rounds if I jack the scope at somewhere around 1 MOA off. It keeps things fun and, because he knows he's got to pretty-much figure the problem in that first round, it's really getting him to take his time and breath well from the first shot.

Just looked up the .243 - damn, those are serious rounds.

243 is a fun round to start reloading...quite a few bullets to work through from basic soft point hunting rounds to solids, long range, and target quality. You dont break the bank on powder either.

It really is sweet, it's just pricey. A 80 grain round works well for varmints, and 100 grain can do the job on a deer. But $.65 a round means each shot needs to be taken seriously. Not to mention $.65 means I really need to consider reloading. Lord knows .223 might have been smarter in a lot of ways.

Yeah, I'd say so. But you're committed now.

I will warn you, though, setting up the reloading process is a big, big initial expense and a huge pain in the ass. Very sharp learning curve, too. My friend had the benefit of having our gunsmith buddy helping him set it up and he's smart as hell on top of it, and it still took him a couple of years to get it right.

That's my fear. I don't want being cheap to lead to a bad outcome. Here's what I was looking at, but just never did.

https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-Chucker-...ding+equipment

I've kept most of the .243 brass, so I was hoping that all I'd need is primers, lead, that kit, a .243 holder, a .243 die, a tumbler, and some tumbler media. Should be less that $400. With what I'm paying now, even if it's not fast, it should pay for itself inside of a year (easily).

Within the past year, I jumped into reloading.

It was not as hard as I expected. YouTube is your friend.

Went with a progressive press: Hornady L&L AP. $389 from Midsouth Shooters WITH 500 bullets FREE from Hornady...a ~$100 value for .30 150 gr. So my effective cost was ~$290.

Many people say "Start with a single press; then upgrade to a progressive 5 stage press". Why? Dumb to spend $$$ on something you will outgrow. I started with one station, learned that, then added additional stations as my expertise grew.

You can find good deals on armslist.com from individuals...but you have to know what you are buying and current street prices.

Have fun!!

My buddy's press is a five-stage Dillon with all the bells and whistles. He's upgraded it to the point that it's computerized and fully automated. It can be twitchy, but when it works right it turns out a shit ton of ammo in a very short amount of time.

That's the only one I have any experience with, and mostly, he's Frankenstein and I'm Igor.

Picked up my Colt today. It's pretty sweet. Can't wait to take it out.

I thought I had a few hundred rounds from my last 45 i owned. Guess I have 900 rnds saved up.

Pics or it didn't happen!

It's a hassle posting pictures from my phone or I would.

I understand completely. I upload stuff to my computer and then post it from there.

My late father was a reloaded and taught me and I've been doing it ever since. I have a Hornaday press scales and powder drop and ream. I have various cal. Case resize and bullet seating dies. Don't waste money here you will be hard pressed to do better than rcbs. Single stage is fine for rifle loads for hunting and begining. But trust me for handgun get the best multi stage progressive you can afford. Dad had an old pacific but parts are impossible to find and all I can figure is he tossed it or gave away. Go easy on the case lube there is a happy medium between to little and to much. One is a stuck case the other is dented brass. Get a case extractor don't ruin your expensive dies. Have a good quiet spot don't let distraction take you away and forget where ya left off. Try to Finnish a task before taking a break such as reseat all the primers don't leave any stage half done. Scale weigh all your charges at first till you get a grain powder weight, bullet etc that groups at the bench and you will find a sweet spot. The you can experiment with the powder drop. This is particularly repetitive you pull it same way everytime. So if you pull pick your nose and scratch your ear and get a accurate charge do that everytime you will be surprised how accurate it can be. Also weigh those charges randomly. It's fun and seeing your results at bench will keep you doing the work. Handgun without multi stage press is work and will frustrate. Those rounds aren't as important unless your a match shooter. Have fun.

If you buy a used progressive make sure powder measure dies are still available.

This one?

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This is the one we use - Dillon 1050 autodrive.

http://www.markvii-loading.com/asset.../mark7full.png

Looks like a CNC....

Ya know, if we have that doo-hicky running CP, we'd never go down again!

That is definitely not the case.

As Scotty once said, the more they overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain. :D

Given the brass is good from the last shoot, what's the price, per round, to reload.

I honestly don't know.

Tell them if they setup for .243 and I might make a drive your way to, well, pick up some product and make it worth there while.

~$.60 per round pisses me off! But I took a stick, AND A PUCK, off the same God damned shin at hockey practice, therefore and forthwith I'm drinking in hopes with hurt stops hurting, so I'm kinda nuts right now!

Good luck with that. I've been trying to get him to add .308 to the mix ever since I got that M1A. He does have an AR10, so I figure he'll do it eventually, but he's pretty much only concerned with the stuff he uses for three gun. Dude goes through thousands of rounds a year.

And he doesn't own a .243.

Also.... ouch!

Kimber 1911 Pro Carry II

http://i.imgur.com/XEN3xZt.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/84Eu4uf.jpg

Very nice.

Are those the grips that came with it, or something you added yourself?

After market. I have smaller hands for a dude and it wasn't the most comfortable thing to mag swap without a thumb notch.

They're really nice. I got some new black G10 grips with the thumb notch for my STX. The wood grips that came with it are really nice looking, but not very practical.

Damn that's not hand loading more like production.

No shit... I could end ISIS for less coin than a few trips to the range!

Pretty much. Originally it had a hand lever - he added the drive system and tablet a few months ago.

**** you! Another thing I NEVER GOT TO DO! I can't even put that on the bucket list!





Or CAN I???????? :hmmm::hmmm::hmmm::hmmm::hmmm:

Kind of makes you wonder if he actually took the shot or not. :D

I bought this Colt lightweight commander. The magazine is supposed to hold eight rounds. It does hold eight rounds of Hornady critical defense 185 grain. I can not fit the eighth round into the magazine using Hornady critical duty 220 grain +p or any 220 grain FMJ.

Why?

It's possible that the magazine just needs to be broken in a bit. I know that can happen on occasion. You might want to try to find a Colt or 1911 specific forum and ask around there.

Or, you might consider getting better magazines. I only use these for my 1911s.

https://www.trippresearch.com/store/store_1911.html

I have two Chip McCormick mags and another Colt coming. All eight rounders. Is it not weird that the 220 grain rounds won't fit? The rounds are the same size as the 185 grain aren't they?

I've never had problems with Chip McCormick or Wilson Combat 1911 mags.

Like Frazod said, it probably needs to be broken in.

It does seem strange. Do you have a micrometer? Maybe there is enough of a difference in size that can't be seen with the naked eye.

Also have you tried them in other magazines?

And Chip McCormick mags are a good choice as well. :thumb:

No meter. There must be just enough of a size difference.

Waiting on the mags to come in. I might call Colt tomorrow and ask them.

Not starting off good with this gun. Hopefully it's just a junk mag.

How many mags came with it? Just the one?

Yeah.

That seems odd. Did you buy it used?

No. New off Gunbroker. Checked Colts website and that model comes with two mags. Should I worry that the seller kept a mag? I thought it was weird that it only came with one mag.

Yeah, that's ****ed up. Never bought a new gun that didn't come with two. Might not be an accident that the mag is wonky. Although I don't know that there's much you can do about it now.

Did the listing mention how many mags came with it?

No. I checked after I got the gun and it didn't mention mags. I just assumed it came with two. I bet Colt could tell me if this gun came from the factory with two mags. If it did, I'm going to call that seller out.

Does the mag have Colt markings on it?

Yes. I'm starting to think this seller ripped me off. Seller owns a gun shop so hopefully I'm wrong.

At the very least the sonofabitch owes you a magazine. The fact that you're having these issues might mean he kept the new ones for himself and tossed in an old one hoping you wouldn't notice.

You might want to have a gunsmith check the gun itself as well.

Hopefully a gun shop wouldn't do that but my suspicions are high. Should I email this seller or just contact Colt in the morning?

The posting says factory new and only shows one mag in the picture. But if Colt says they send that model with two mags then the seller owes me a mag.

I'd call Colt first - tell them about only getting one mag and how you're having trouble with it. That way, if they confirm that it should have come with two, that actually work correctly, you can tell him that they said so. If he owns a gun store he probably won't want to have Colt up his ass for giving them a bad name cheaping out on selling their products.

It's also possible that Colt might replace the mag and send you two new ones. I've never personally owned a Colt so I don't know anything about their customer service.

I read one forum where a person was mentioning that. I still think seller kept a magazine.

I checked a few gunbroker listings for this gun and they all come with two mags.

What's the name of the gun store? Do they have good reviews?

This sounds like something the weasels at the nearest shop to me might pull. They have a nice range, but any dealings with them beyond that are generally bad.

Not sure on the store name. They had 22 A+ gunbroker reviews.

If Colt says the gun shipped from the factory with two mags, I'm going to ask him why he shipped it with only one.

You can't say a firearm is factory new if you steal a magazine out of it. I'll file a claim against him if he did.

I'll be interested to see how this pans out. Hopefully they'll just say it was an oversight and send it to you. But if they give you grief, or worse, say that there were two magazines included and you're lying, I guess you'll have your answer.

In any event, good luck.

I'll update this tomorrow.

No kidding. 550b will do everything you need, unless you shoot for a living.

This shipped the same day I placed the order. I was very surprised because they have been very slow lately.

Contacted Colt.

They said this gun ships from the factory with two eight round stainless steel magazines. He said mine is a blued seven round mag, which isn't correct from the factory. They are shipping me two eight round stainless steel mags for free.

I emailed the gun shop asking about the magazine issue.

maybe the bullet seating depth is different as the case sizing of the brass as far as diameter wouldnt change I believe. when u you set the cartridges that fit side by side do they look same height?.

Excellent. I was hoping they'd take care of you.

Dealer called me. Apologized multiple times and said one of the salesman must have switched out the mags at some point. He's mailing me 2-8 rnd Colt mags for it.

Four free mags out of this. Nice.That'll give me eight mags for it. Bought 1k rounds of blazer brass for $280 OTD last night. Can't beat that price.

www.targetsportsusa.com

I love a happy ending. :thumb:

Colt didn't have to hook me up. It wasn't their fault. Pretty sweet customer service on their end.

Sounds like pretty good customer service all the way around. Everybody makes mistakes - it's how those mistakes are dealt with that matters.

it all depends on what you are trying to reload.

22lr can be purchased at 7 cents each.

9mm at 20 cents each.

If you value your time; its hard to save on those market prices.

On the other hand,

I load 300BLK subsonic at ~40-45 cents each. Compared to purchased at $.80 to $1.20 each.

Ramping up to do 308 Win. Sorta figuring 20 cents for bullets, 3 cents for primer, 3 cents for brass (assuming 5 uses), and 14 cents for powder. 40 cents each. Purchase for .60 cents and up depending on brass case and quality of ammo.

Technically you got 2 free mags. You paid for the other two

PSA has a good price on Federal 9mm 100 rnd boxes. Free shipping with five or more boxes.

I'd buy but I may need the ammo sometime this year.

Got the new CZ back from the gunsmith and finally got to shoot it today. It is wonderful. The trigger was good before, but now it's just ridiculous. Even the double action pull is nearly nothing. He also bored out the barrel a touch so it won't be so picky with the reloaded ammo we make.

I love the sound of gunfire in the morning! :bang:

The younger son, well "we", borrowed a the neighbor's Ruger 10/22 tactical (LOL!!!) and put around 700 rounds through it today. My hands and fingers are sore from loading the 25/22 magazines!

He took a break from the .22 (at my request) to zero the .243 and it was funny watching him send the first round. After ~350 rounds of .22 that first shot with the .243 looked like it took his shoulder off. But hey, it was still pretty right at 100 yards so that didn't last too long. :D

All I know is there's some dead paper up at Lake City right now. And one has a smilie face shot into it... At 25 yards, with a .22, dude is NAILS!! :clap::clap::clap::clap:

Picked up a CZ P-09 the other day and went to the range today. Double action requires two men and a mule to pull the trigger but single action is everything I've seen and read. That is a sweet gun!

Sounds like a great day. Nothing like going out and shooting all day with the old man.

Especially when the old man is reloading the magazines... :thumb:

But I'm good with it, nothing like spending the day with the son...

If you can find a good gunsmith, you should consider getting it worked on. The double action trigger pull on mine now is barely more than your average out of the box striker fired pistol.

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Didn't have guns like that back when I went shooting with my dad (I don't think he ever owned a gun that took a magazine), but if we had, I'm quite certain I would have been loading my own mags. :D

Finally got the new Sig back from the gunsmith. The original wood grips were pretty, but these G10s are far more functional.

Now I've just got to get a good holster for it and I'm good to go.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...5a&oe=5937582C

Pretty piece, very elegant looking

Nice!