Yah, a big part is finding the right setup or finding a great deal. I found my way into a Dillon for cheaper than what they usually pop up for. With some continuing deals I'm into it for well under 1k and can do a bunch of calibers. I just focus on 9/.223 though.

 

I've been considering doing the reloading thing as well - and I've got the same issue; my primary calibers are 9mm and .223 (and now 5.56, which is really just a high-pressure .223). My .223 is a target rifle though, which makes reloading quite attractive to me. I do have a couple nearby gun friends though, one of them lives in a small condo with his wife and no real room for reloading, while the other has been a "failure to launch" and always has way too much deployment money burning a hole in his pocket for his own good. I figure between the two of them, I can probably get a nice progressive reloading setup put together in my cavernous basement for not a lot of $$$.

And then, when I think about a reloading setup, I also start thinking about buying less popular caliber guns...

Ohio prohibits rifles for deer hunting; HOWEVER, pistols are perfectly legit for deer hunting, under 3 conditions:
1. Bullets must be of .357 Caliber or larger
2. Barrel length must be at least 5"
3. Gun must use straight-walled cartridges

With all that in mind, I've started looking at the possibility of buying a stripped lower, registering it as a pistol (perfectly legit, as long as it was never made into a rifle), and then building an AR platform pistol. At first, I kept looking for the .45 acp kits, but eventually I came across the ".50 beowulf" cartridge...

The dreaded .50 caliber ‘assault pistol’ « Armed and Free





By Ohio Law, this would be perfectly legal for deer hunting, and since there is no "3 round limit" on pistols as there are in shotguns, I could miss 3 times and still continue shooting

 

My new-to-me 6.5 Grendel - Alexander upper, Troy BUIS, on Mega lower, mod stock, etc...

I would have passed, but snatched at pre-Sandy pricing - plus I still have some .264" projectiles I can use/reload from when I had my GAP260. Certainly not your shtf weapon of choice as the cartridge is not abundant, but I can put my Dillon to use.




Also, not sure if I ever posted, but this is what greets me every morning when getting ready gotta fix that pressure pad..

 

Bought a Ruger SR9 and SR22 today with Dad. The 22 will be for Mom to carry around in her purse, at least he intends it that way. The SR9 will serve home defense duties.

Sadly, none of the local stores seem to have any 22lr or 9mm rounds in stock.

 

I love my city and preferred arms dealer.

 

I need to have that.

 

.22lr is a terrible idea for a self defense caliber. For a woman, giving her that caliber in a semi-auto is plain retarded.

From pistol-length barrels, a .22lr simply doesn't have the energy needed for an instantly incapacitating shot unless it's to the head no matter where you hit them. Sure, somebody gut-shot with a .22lr may bleed out eventually, but in the instant of time surrounding the shooting, you are simply relying on the hit to create enough pain in the person that he gives up instantly, because the damage caused will not be enough to reduce his physical ability to hurt you. After penetrating whatever clothing the person is wearing, you're counting on the bullet having enough energy to expand, and produce a wound channel where the guys does more than say "owie". Carrying a .22lr for SD in the winter time is absurd considering the amount of clothing people wear.

Caveat: If she's a shooter, familiar with firearms in general, and actually goes out and practices, then forget the following... but feel free to apply it to anybody else who it fits.

"Giving" a person a gun for self-defense simply shouldn't happen. A person should make a choice that they need a gun for self-defense, and be the catalyst for making it happen. A person who was "given" a gun for self defense will draw the weapon someday hoping to "scare off" the bad guy, and subsequently be unwilling to pull the trigger... or will be so f'ed up during the event that they won't hit anything, or drop the gun, or close their eyes, or forget that they unloaded it "for safety"... or whatever and end up getting killed just to spite the concerned person who gave it to them.

In a panic, when a person is staring death in the face and reaches for their weapon... if it doesn't go bang the first time they pull the trigger, they'll be in a very bad spot. A revolver eliminates a large number of failure points in getting that weapon pointed in the right direction and making it go bang.

The advantage to a revolver is that there is no safety, no jams, no magazine, no "cocking", etc... For a person who intends to carry in public, but NEVER practices, a revolver is the way to go.

If she must have a .22lr because she has to have the lowest recoil possible, then S&W/Taurus/Ruger all sell 8/9-shot .22lr/.22mag revolver in their small-frame 2" snubbies. A set of CT grips and Winchester PDX 22mag would be my first choice. For .22lr, just go with CCI Mini-mag HP's. A GRIP-ACTIVATED LASER IS A MUST HAVE!!!

However, if she can handle a semi-auto and trust her life to her skills, then a steup up in caliber is just plain necessary. I'd highly suggest looking into some of the medium-frame semi-auto's in .380acp... the CZ83 is a tried-and-true police issue sidearm, and not being a pocket-pistol, will soften the recoil enough that she shouldn't object.

 

This is how ridiculous this **** has gotten. At first, I thought maybe Para made these out of some crazy unobtanium and that they were expensive to begin with... but no. I found a bunch of google hits for these exact stripped lowers for $115. Kinda makes me rething all the good stuff I've said about CDNN lately. ******* retarded hysteria bullshit.

When this **** is over in a few months, and the prices have dropped through the floor, I'm gonna start scooping up a PMAGS and a stripped lowers and standby for the next hysteria. **** me I still can't believe people were getting $80ea for PMAGS a few weeks ago.

 

The industry is just as afraid as us. They are making hay while the sun is shining at the cost of their customers. But people stupid enough to pay these prices. I will not. I will not pay more than .50 for brass .223 or $20 for a 30round mag.

I'm keeping track of the companies gouging now and I will NOT deal with them in the future. So far my list is CTD (gouging on pmags and ammo), surplusammo ($50 pmags), and now looks like I will never buy a Para part. MidwayUSA and Sportamansguide are both now getting my business.

 

Or maybe the high prices just reflect actual scarcity.

 

Cheaper Than Dirt jacked up their prices the DAY OF Sandy Hook. There was no scarcity to it at that point. They saw their online traffic jump and the items that were selling and took advantage of that. I can understand raising prices. But 400-500%? Nope. Not getting my business, now or ever again.

 

Smart businesses anticipate scarcity and adjust prices accordingly.

 

They saw additional demand and tried to price accordingly to hold off scarcity.

 

By all means. Justify it how ever you want. I for one, will take my business elsewhere.

 

I have just been contacted by the ACLJ asking me to sign a petition. Apparently the president is swearing to use presidential mandates to abolish our second amendment rights. ACLJ (american center for law and justice) is the opposite of the ACLU.
I sighned the petition of course .
What the heck is our country coming too?

 

+1 for sportsman's guide. Had some ammo in stock a couple days ago and ordered a package - 300rds of 62gr and a plastic ammo box for an almost tolerable price. Arrived on my front porch less than 48 hours after I ordered it. The stuff went "out of stock" in 5 minutes flat.

 

Anyone ever thought of using a blank in the chamber followed by regular ammo to a) use as a warning shot without fear of ricochet or bullet coming back down and b) for incase a bad guy gets your gun. I'm thinking for b) the blank will not chamber another round and this will give you plenty of time to either run or fight while he's looking at the piece trying to figure out whats going on. Just a thought I had. Never heard of this so I'm assuming other people have thought it through and there's a flaw that I haven't thought of.

 

If I'm ever in a situation where i need to draw my gun to fire on someone, I want to be damn sure that I can do so to stop the assailant as quickly as possible. Not to mention, why would you need to fire a "warning" shot? If the sight of your gun isn't enough to stop an assailant, what makes you think a "warning" shot would stop him?

Sounds like a completely terrible idea to me, no offense.

 

If I have only time or space to fire one shot, you can be damned sure it won't be a blank.

 

But what if you want to scare the **** out of your neighbor's kids? Those little *****.