What's you money saving tips ?

[Pointman91]

Went to the scrap yard today and exchanged a full five gallon bucket of unusable brass ( berdan and wore out or damaged cases mostly) for $55 cash. This got me to thinking how reloaders are by nature, a bunch of cheapskates. I'm not speaking of you bench rest guys so much as the average working guy reloading so he can shoot more for the same amount of money.

What other tips do you have that stretches your shooting budget.?

Here's some of mine...

Nu Polish brand car wax instead of specifically made brass polish.

Walnut tumbler media from the pet store instead of mail order stuff marketed towards reloaders.

White vinegar and hot water for soaking the stained ones.

Brake cleaner for parts instead of " gun scrubber".

Eds Red !

Mobil one synthetic oil and white lithium grease from wally world for lubrication .

Saving brass you don't use for trading with others for ones you need.

Making your own tools. I have a scraper tool made from a 556 casing and a coat hanger wire "feeler" tool (check for case head seps)that I use all the time. Many of the specialty tools are easily made. Made my own berdan decapper years ago out of PVC pipe, couple of nuts and a bolt that uses water to push em out.

Download load manuals online instead of buying the book".

Throw away food containers for storing brass and spare parts.

I also make my own silhouette tgts, use dollar tree masking tape for pasters and hang them with free to me binder clips ( cheaper and easier than staples or push pins) so yeah I'm cheap , but prefer the term" frugal".

What's your tips ?

 

[Pointman91]

A few more not necessarily reloading related but I cut up old t-shirts and make bore patches.

Worn out towels become cleaning rags.

Vinegar + hydrogen peroxide makes a good lead remover.

 

[Rusty Gun]

I use a plastic Folgers coffee can lid and the bottom cut to make a low circular tray to hold bullets and brass on the bench next to the Dillon.

Made stands to hold Dillon tool heads out of a piece of pipe screwed into a piece of scrap wood and a small piece of copper tubing cut the right length to hold the dies away from the base.

 

[Darrin Torrey]

Find a different place to recycle your brass. I get $86 a bucket for my brass.

 

[SloppyShooter]

Find a different place to recycle your brass. I get $86 a bucket for my brass.

Depends on the shells, larger ones pay less.

 

[Dawico]

Buy in bulk. While the initial cost is large it cuts "cost per round" down quite a bit.

 

[Dawico]

My homemade media separator.

Rubber covered minnow trap with the ends smashed flat and a Rubbermaid tub.

 

[SloppyShooter]

My tip: Hide the money from the wife.

 

[Dawico]

My homemade roller handle. Used material I had already.

 

[Gummi Bear]

I use clear plastic nut containers to store brass

I made a drop tube so brass falls out of my single stage press right into the drum for my FART.



I keep scrap brass, and brass to trade or give away.

I pick up lead below my steel plate targets, and give it to my buddy who casts his own bullets.

I made my own press light out of some leftover LED tape, and a power supply for some charger I had laying around.

The file cabinet I use for brass storage is something I picked up off a curb. A few whack with a hammer to straighten some dents, and some lube and maintenance on the roller tracks and it has served me well for several years.

Sandbags for the shooting bench are the leg out of blue jeans that mom sewed the ends up.

Coffee cans are used for sorting brass.

I use lanolin and alcohol as case lube

I made my own tool for finding the lands in a chamber for reloading (split cases)

I made my own stuck case extractor (assembled a kit, really)

There’s plenty of others, it’s late and I can’t think of others.




I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...

Henry David Thoreau

 

[Younggun]

Don’t throw out media when it get’s dusty. Wash it and use it again.


Yep. I’m that cheap.


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[Fosty]

Don't develop an interest in firearms.

 

[Dawico]

Don’t throw out media when it get’s dusty. Wash it and use it again.


Yep. I’m that cheap.


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Tried that once. Never again.

I am cheap but my time is worth much more than that.

Instead of ordering media online I have found gun shows usually have good supplies sold in Ziplock baggies for reasonable prices.

$4 for a gallon bag isn't worth the time to fool with washing it. Plus the media isn't the same after washing it. It retains a level of fluffiness that keeps it from working as well as new.

I do tear up strips of paper towel to run in my tumbler that greatly extends the life of my media though.

 

[Dawico]

Don't develop an interest in firearms.

Blasphemy!

 

[grasshopperglock]

Hmm, my money saving tips...

Don't get married. Never, ever, never have a joint bank account. For a second name, put one of your kids on the paperwork.

I guess the biggest way I save money....I say NO when asked for money. Don't lend it, Don't give it, Don't talk about it. I have no money. Never mind where the cars and motorcycles came from.

Golden rule, "I'm broke". For it to work. Have your oldest blue jeans and best wife beater on when you say it. Then to seal it for dramatic effect. Take a swig of some rot gut beer as you're saying it.

Broke is broke. I ain't got any money or I'd be drinking premium beer.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

To each his own: Me, I give (don't lend, you'll just be aggravated) money instead of gifts to my Grandchildren at Christmas and birthdays and very rarely now, my daughter.

Why do this?

No gift you guess at will be spot on, but money, oh yeah, it's always spot on...

As a kid, I was homeless for many, many years and there's was 'no standard of living' there was only scrappy subsistence and barely that...

So, yes, I spoil (and have since they entered the world) my Grandchildren as it makes me feel good as they're not entitled acting, snotty millennials, complete with an 'I expect to be spoiled' type attitude. They're great kids, well young adults now...

One is a Senior (scholarship student) in college while also working, the other a high school-er (their) parents are divorced and are frankly the working poor.

So yeah, for many years now can afford to be good to them, but I fully appreciate that some find 'giving' money away a sort of an anathema...ok, but I get to choose what I do with my moola and at times giving my money to my loved ones is in my opinion, far better spent than giving to united way or some other dodgy charity...

 

[Dawico]

Hmm, my money saving tips...

Don't get married. Never, ever, never have a joint back account. For a second name, put one of your kids on the paperwork.

I guess the biggest way I save money....I say NO when asked for money. Don't lend it, Don't give it, Don't talk about it. I have no money. Never mind where the cars and motorcycles came from.

Golden rule, "I'm broke". For it to work. Have your oldest blue jeans and best wife beater on when you say it. Then to seal it for dramatic effect. Take a swig of some rot gut beer as you're saying it.

Broke is broke. I ain't got any money or I'd be drinking premium beer.

I would imagine four marriages and four divorces gets quite spendy.

 

[TheMailMan]

Casting my own bullets has been my greatest money saving tip. Of course I'm not saving money, just shooting more.

Had a quick range trip this morning. Burnt 500 rounds of 9mm and 100 of .45 ACP. Previous shooters were considerate enough to leave a lot of brass on the ground. I picked up a couple gallons of mixed brass.

 

[TexMex247]

I'm a big equipment fiend but when I can, I'll also make something instead of buying it. Other than a few ideas I've heard here, my number one money saver is.... Buy in bulk ! Whether it's bullets, ammo, primer or powder, everything is cheaper in bulk form.

 

[Charley]

Be realistic in your expectations. Sometimes much more expensive equipment , such as "match" dies might shave a very slight amount off a 1.25 MOA rifle. Worth paying double or triple what a standard production die cost for that amount of consistency? If you are shooting an off the shelf production rifle, the manufacturer of the die knows advertising works. If your gun can't use the more expensive equipment to an advantage, why spend more? Add up the cost of "match " type powder measures, dies, length gauges, components, scales, and everything else available, and if your gun can't use it to your advantage, why pay for what you won't be getting?