With all the ammo shortages we now have a reloading shortage.  This summer I have spent a considerable amount of time talking to our customers about the cost ratios of reloading vs buying ammo, and the cost factor of purchasing equipment.  With that in mind I though I might give you a quick look at my loading bench. First you can see that it is homemade.  I probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 in the bench.  I bought a nicer...

Right now we are seeing the markets begin to stabilize a bit.  Three months ago Magpul AR mags were selling for as much as $75 a mag on Gunbroker.  Today they are selling for about $22.  This is only a few dollars more than what they retailed for before the end of 2012. AR prices have begun falling as well.  If you bought an AR at the beginning of the year, chances are you paid at least double what they sold for in 2012.  Those guns will be...

The Sheriff’s office I worked for in VA was a big fan of Sig Sauer pistols.  When they made the shift from wheel guns, they went to the Sig 226 in 9mm.  After the VA State Police switched to the .357 Sig cartridge, we did as well.  The platform was the Sig 229 in .357 sig. These guns are a little bulky for my taste, and I think they ride a too high in the hand.  What I won’t argue is their reliability.  They run.  The .357 sig...

I was recently doing some testing for a customer gun before shipping it out.  The shop’s normal test ammo is Winchester “white box” variety that you can pick up from big box stores.  This is used because it is what most of our customer base is likely to pick up.  If a gun runs well with this, we have a good chance that it will run well with most other factory ammo (handloaded ammo is an issue unto itself). I had shot a good...

I have been shooting more and more competitions this fall, and have decided that it might be time to start reloading again.  The volume of shooting makes you think that it might be cheaper to do this yourself, thereby allowing more time on target.  If you are a shooter that doesn’t shoot but a few boxes a year, reloading is not for you.  The time and expense of machinery will not yield a benefit to you.  However, you may decide you simply...

I recently made contact with George Phillips who has written an e-book for beginning reloaders.  For those not familiar with an e-book, they are downloaded for your enjoyment at considerable savings.  George’s book is $.99, so it is a great value, and will offer you some insights into starting the process of reloading. It is by no means exhaustive, and the preview copy that we read did not have any pictures, so you should understand that...