I am thinking about getting into handloading for my rifles. One rifle caliber is getting hard and expensive to find Ammo for ( 375 Winchester ) the other I can’t find a factory load I am happy with for either accuracy or performance on deer ( 270 WSM ) I most likely will not do a ton of shooting with either of these rifles so I’m not sure if handloading will be cost effective or not. What is the cheapest route I can go to get started?
fishthumper, I’ll give ya some basics, then I’ll try to find the previous threads on this.
You will be very unhappy with the cheapest route. A lee kit would get you started, but it is NOT known for consistency and most guys end up getting frustrated. I own a Lyman and I’m mostly pleased with it. If I hadn’t got the deal that I did, without a doubt, RCBS master kit supreme – On sale for $329.xx http://www.cabelas.com/product/RCBS-reg-Rock-Chucker-Supreme-Master-Reloading-Kit/1324071.uts If you want so9me better things to start with, look at the RCBS® Rock Chucker Supreme Deluxe for a little over 800. RCBS also has some good rebates if your willing to wait on your discount
Add another $300 this cost for general start up. Hornady OAL guage kit, dies, brass, powder, primers, MANUALS…and you most likely will want a basic digital scale over a balance scale. This cost will vary, but its not hard to spend more.
I very highly recommend that you find someone in a reasonable distance from you that would let you shadow them. One, it gives you great insight to what/how and gives you a feel for what your getting into.
http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/testbench_714388/#Post714392
This was a great discussion on getting started with a lot of good tips
It is difficult for the hunter, as a low volume shooter, to justify getting into handloading based on cost savings alone. Not that I blame you for being a low volume shooter of a .375 Winchester, mind you. Still, if you spread out the cost of the equipment over 100-200 rounds per year, the return on investment is decades away at best.
I would estimate that with lower-cost bullets at about $45/50, the 375 will cost you about $1.40 to $1.70 per round to load including slug, primer, and powder. Factor in the cost of brass and it’s a little higher.
I personally go through 2000-3000 rounds of centerfire ammo a year for varmints, hunting, and recreational shooting. Even at that level, it would take me years to recover the investment in equipment if I had to buy new all over again. Considering only the cost of components, I can make .223 ammo for about half the price of bulk off the shelf ammo, somewhere in the 20 cents per round range depending on component price at the time. Larger centerfire ammo like .30-06 has a greater cost savings.
But cost isn’t the whole picture. With handloading, I can build what I cannot buy. Ammo that’s custom made for the rifles I have and that drmatically improves accuracy on almost all rifles. It is also fun and a great hobby.
So just sticking to the basics, the RCBS kit Randy links to above is a great place to start and gives you everything you need to get started as far as tools. Then you will need components and dies on top of that.
For your volume needs, I would stay with the basics. There’s nothing wrong with a simple balance scale for the low volume reloader. You only use the scale to set up your powder measure and to verify it’s staying ture. You don’t weigh each load once set up.
I would echo Randy’s advice, find someone to show you the ropes. I think it would be difficult to learn just from books, but the process isn’t that difficult if you have someone to guide you.
Grouse
Randy / Grouse – Thanks for your Info. You kind of confirmed what I already thought. Its just is not cost effective for my amount of use. I think I may try to find someone near me into hand loading and see if I can work out a deal with them to load me some rounds if I purchase the die’s and other items needed for my caliber’s. The 375 is almost impossible to find rounds for and there is only 1 grain bullet available for it thru factory loads and they end up at about $3.00 a round. Not that I plan on shooting a ton of rounds thru it, But I do like to run a 6-8 rounds thru it each year prior to deer hunting and almost always use a few more during season. I’m mostly worried that they may stop producing them in factory loads. The 270 WSM I cannot find a factory load that I’m happy with and it is rather costly to keep trying different factory loads to find out they just do not preform well. I kmow there are many here who really like the performance of their 270 WSM but most of them are shooting hand loads. Oh well, I’ll just have to see if I can find a local hand loader that may be willing to help me out. Thanks againg for your Info.
FT, the 375 is going to be problematic on a number of levels. I can only find published load data for 4 powders, two of which are obsolete. I didn’t do a lengthy search, so there may be more options out there, but I don’t see abundant choices.
The dies are probably the easiest part. A 3 die set is <$60.
The brass, well, tell me you’ve been saving your factory brass for the last 20 years? No, please, tell me you have! That would be a great start. The brass will be difficult to obtain, to be sure. I believe the 375 Win is very similar to the old pre-transition .38-55 Winchester, so there may be options for forming or using that brass, but this would need to be investigated so don’t take this as advice.
I agree, the ideal situation for your lower volume needs would be to find someone who is willing to load for you. But finding components for the Winchester, especially, will be an adventure.
Grouse
Finding someone you trust to load with is a great way to go about it as Grouse mentioned. I have about 6 guys that load stuff here. For some of them, I do all the loading. But they buy their dies, modified cases, powder, primers, brass,….I also have a sportsmen group I belong to for using their range and i have my own range. Works out for all of us.
Grouse – Sorry to say I have not been saving my brass from my 375 Win. I think what I’m going to do is locate and buy about 3 or 4 boxes of factory ammo. ( Ouch ) I’ll keep my brass from here on out. I may look into purchasing some die’s for it. Are Die’s universal or do you need to buy them specific for various brands of loaders?
Yes, certainly save the brass from now on. Even if you don’t use it, my guess would be it’s worth $1 each as once fired.
Modern dies from RCBS, Lee, and other major makers are now universal, so they fit a variety of presses. I have seen 3 die sets on sale for <$50, so if you watch the reloading sites like Midway USA, you can pick up dies for a very reasonable cost.
I’m assuming your 375 is one of the circa late 1070s or early 1980s vintage Winchester lever actions? I’m not sure there is any other rifle chambered in this round. If so, obviously, your bullet choice will be limited to lever-action-suitable bullets.
Grouse
My 375 Win is a Marlin 336CS lever-action gun purchase new in 1984 ( Best use of my college student loan by far 
) Great short range brush gun. The deer and bear that I’ve shot with it don’t go far and leave a blood trail a blind man could follow. I’d say 80-90 Of the deer died in their tracks. Wish I had it with on opening day this last year. 2 close easy shots that it would have been great for. Both ended up as a rather difficult recovery due to the deer traveling some distance with little to no blood trail to follow. One ended up running into a rather rough swamp before dropping. Not fun for a old, out of shape man like myself !!!!
Had me going there thinking a 375 HH. lol Kinda big for deer , that one.
That 375 will likely find some new life by reloading. More bullet weights will be available though probably not a lot. Just being able to work the loads a little will be a benefit to you.
Had me going there thinking a 375 HH. lol Kinda big for deer , that one.
I get that a lot when I tell people I shoot a 375. They say ” ARE YOU CRAZY !!!! ” Most do not even know there is such a thing as a 375 Winchester
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Tom Sawvell wrote:</div>
Had me going there thinking a 375 HH. lol Kinda big for deer , that one.I get that a lot when I tell people I shoot a 375. They say ” ARE YOU CRAZY !!!! ” Most do not even know there is such a thing as a 375 Winchester
I would agree, when you say 375, most will not be thinking Winchester. At first I thought, OK you’ve probably either been on or are going on a safari, 375 Ruger, H&H, RUM, makes sense…
But a 200-220 grain bullet, even one that moves relatively slowly, packs a whopper of a foot-pounds punch.
I shot a 375 H&H. Once. I would like it here noted that a) I hit the target, and b) contrary to the rumors out there, I did not cry like a little girl from the recoil. I wanted to, but I didn’t.
And before someone comes on saying that it’s more like a push than a kick, that’s a pile of crapola. It’s a freaking mule kick to the shoulder and don’t let anybody tell you this “push” line because it’s just proof that the ain’t shot anything bigger than .270.
The same gentleman had a .416 Rem. I politely declined his generous offer to let me shoot it. BTW, the ammo for this one was about $9 a bang. But it was a very, very big bang.
Grouse
Fishthumper,
What brand is your 270wsm and what have you shot through it so far. I’m one of the guys here that’s tickled to death with the accuracy of his 270wsm and I’m shooting factory loads.
I have a Tikka T3 Hunter and the guy I bought it from included a bunch of ammo. One of the boxes was Remington Core Lokt in 130gr. Well, I thought I’d use this get the scope sighted “close” but fine tune with the rounds I actually wanted to hunt with, which are Winchester XP3s. Well, the dialing in was going all too well and on my “last adjustment”, I center punched the bullseye. I shot once more and expanded the shot. Hung it up. Took it out clean and cold 2 years later and the first shot center punched the bullseye again.
I don’t like SP’s at close range in a round that hot. It just can’t handle it. So, my intent is to take the long shot if I’m still using this round out in the western plains. As for up close, I think this year I’ll throw a Winchester in and see what it does.
I understand your reservations about buying a box of ammo just for random testing. These aren’t cheap! But I’m wondering if maybe, depending on what you have, if maybe your scope is subject to your frustration or if a replacement stock might help? I replaced the stock on a Tikka T3 Lite 300WSM and it tightened my grouping a little but my Savage Axis in 22-250 improved greatly after replacing the stock. It is definitely brand/round picky, but at least we’ve discovered a working combo. Just throwing it out there in case you might think they may be possibilities.
I am in the same boat. I am looking for more accuracy. Hard to find people to get a load worked out and run a couple hundred to keep on hand.
Does anyone know of a company/person that does this locally? My 300 rum rounds came from a guy in texas that has recently passed away. I was hoping to have him work up some 22 250 rounds.
Fishthumper,
What brand is your 270wsm and what have you shot through it so far. I’m one of the guys here that’s tickled to death with the accuracy of his 270wsm and I’m shooting factory loads.
Stillakid2
My gun is a Browning A-bolt. I have tried Winchester Ballistic Silver Tips, Winchester Accubond and Federal Nosler Partition so far. My problem is not with the accuracy of the rounds. But more with the Knockdown power and lack of blood trail from the setup. None of the 8-10 deer that I’ve shot with it so far has dropped cleanly where or even close to where I shot them. Making it worse is the lack of Blood trail that most all of the left to follow. I’ve had several deer that should have been easy recoveries that turned into lots of work due to the issue. Good news is I’ve recovered all of the deer hit so far – Just with more work than was necessary. I’ve questioned my shot placement, but most were good hits in the same behind the shoulder shot placement I’ve always used and had no problem with my other guns. I think part of the problem is the short range most the deer have been shot at. Most were close ( Less than 100 yards and several were in the 30-40 yard range ) I think the rounds are passing thru the deer at such speeds that they are not doing enough damage. I hate to give up on this caliber but I think sooner or later its going to cost me a lost deer.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>stillakid2 wrote:</div>
Fishthumper,What brand is your 270wsm and what have you shot through it so far. I’m one of the guys here that’s tickled to death with the accuracy of his 270wsm and I’m shooting factory loads.
Stillakid2
My gun is a Browning A-bolt. I have tried Winchester Ballistic Silver Tips, Winchester Accubond and Federal Nosler Partition so far. My problem is not with the accuracy of the rounds. But more with the Knockdown power and lack of blood trail from the setup. None of the 8-10 deer that I’ve shot with it so far has dropped cleanly where or even close to where I shot them. Making it worse is the lack of Blood trail that most all of the left to follow.I think part of the problem is the short range most the deer have been shot at. Most were close ( Less than 100 yards and several were in the 30-40 yard range ) I think the rounds are passing thru the deer at such speeds that they are not doing enough damage. I hate to give up on this caliber but I think sooner or later its going to cost me a lost deer.
Your conclusion is exactly what I was thinking in reading your post. You’re shooting a fast cartridge and hitting game at relative short range. I think you’re right, you’re over-driving the bullets and just punching a clean, neat, .27 caliber hole right through them.
Now to some extent this is a problem that could happen at any time. I’ve shot deer with an 06 and had the run WTF distances after putting it right into the boiler room. Just didn’t happen to take out the heart, lungs, or clip a major artery.
I don’t know if there really is a sure-fire solution to this. I suppose you could see a deer and then back up an extra 200 yards… Barring that, I think “fixing” the 270 short is going to be difficult as target shooting doesn’t tell the story.
Grouse
fishthumper, I’m having a bit of a head scratcher to figure out why your not knocking them off their hooves at that short distance. Your shooting a much softer bullet than I am (Barnes TSX 140gr) and I’m pushing these near 3350fps. Looking only at whitetail that we have shot with this at under 100 yrds and comparing to shots from 390 yrds to 430yrds, I’ve seen little difference. In fact, I would argue that the bullets expanded sooner on the short shots.
But of these pics below, the doe was just under 400yrds – slightly quarted towards us. You can see the entry, and this deer flipped over backwards like a P/dog. There was blood sprayed everywhere and the doe went maybe 10 feet (while it flipped) and bled out.
The buck shot in the brisket spun around a circle and ran about 30 feet and dropped dead. Shot just above the heart, I took out the aortic and lungs. Looked like a five gallon bucket of blood was dumped where that deer spun in a circle. Hit the brisket and you could tell the bullet expanded instantly. Quarter sized exit hole out the side ribs.
Other buck was heart shot, and the exit hole is about a nickle size. Deer went about 20 yrds before dropping. Blood trail was a few feet from impact to where it dropped. So anyways, I’ve great results with it
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Grouse and Randy – Thanks for all your reply’s and thoughts. I’m not real sure why I’ve had the issue’s I’ve had. Randy – It sure look like you have had excellent results with your 270WSM.My 1st deer this season was only about 30-40 yards away broadside. I thought I had made a good hit on him. He ran about 50 yards down the swamp edge, About 20-30 yards out into the swamp. About the same 50 yards back towards me and dropped. I went to the point of impact and only found a small drop of blood. I followed the trail he used to run down the swamp edge and only located 1 other small spot of blood. This was in swamp grass which usually shows blood well. I walked back and went out to where I thought he had dropped. It took a few minutes in the thick brush to locate him. There was a rather large amount of blood near where he dropped. I tried to back track from where he was and could not locate another drop of blood. The 2nd deer was broadside on a powerline about 60 -80 yards a away. Again another good shot I thought. He ran strait away down the powerline another 70 or so yard. Stood for a 1/2 minute or so. Ran back up the powerline at me and started back in in almost the same spot as he came out – Got right to the edge stood for a few seconds and dropped over. There was a decent amount of blood for 10 yards or so from point of impact then nothing else. I assume that was made on the return portion of his travel. The following weekend I shot a 3rd deer in almost the same spot with my 375 Winchester and it dropped in its tracks. Almost the same point of impact on the deer. Deer 1 and 2 both shot placements were a inch or 2 back from ideal and possible a inch high. Both had the lungs hit hard and one part of the hart was hit. Maybe it’s just a little bad luck and hit off by just enough. I’ve thought about changing my aim point to the High hump shot I hear so much about. With it being rather close the prime chop area I hate to do so. 1 inch or so off there and lots of chops may be damaged. Oh well. I think I’ll only use it when I think I may have a long shot. The problem is most all of the shots I’ve had with it were in area’s where long shots were possible and the shots just ended up being close. About the time I take the 375 with I’ll end up with a monster buck out there at 200 yards plus. With the 375 Winchester I think I’d have about as good of a chance of a good shot as I would if I threw a shell at them.
Without question, use what you have confidence in! I’m starting to wonder if the softer bullets are fragmenting so much that you don’t get the massive internal damage and a blow-hole exit wound. Those Barnes bullets leave me with a quarter or so sized exit wound (through the skin) and there is MASSIVE damage to the innners of a deer or elk.
Upon skinning the Exit hole looks rather large on almost all my deer shot with it. The 1st one this last year was massive. Its all just rather strange. The least distance any of the 8-10 deer shot with it have gone is 30-40 yards and most traveled 100 yards or more from point of impact.
The 1st 4 or 5 deer were shot with the Ballistic Silvertips and the exit hole was rather small and lots of people had bad things to say about that round on Deer. Maybe the other the hit was just off by enough to cause the issue. I do need to Say that I am not the worlds best shot. I tend to go into Auto pilot when it comes shot time. I could probably use a lot more range time and a better scope to help me out with my accuracy. Gun # 1 ( 375 Win ) not know for accuracy and expensive to shoot. Gun 2 ( 270WSM ) Just expensive to shoot. The 270WSM was a gift from my dad. He had a Nikon Buckmaster 3-9 scope put on it. Being I had a Nikon Monarch on a previous rifle and really liked it I thought the Buckmaster would be a OK scope for the amount of hunting / shooting I do. I’ve never liked it. ( Poor quality view ). Every year I’ve said I was going to replace it. Just never have done so. Thinking about upgrading to a burris scope for it prior to next season. Hopefully a new scope + More range time + finding a good factory bullet = more accuracy. Gives me something to work on Prior to next season
Maybe I need to borrow it for awhile…..I do enjoy shooting other people’s rifles too 
Maybe I need to borrow it for awhile…..I do enjoy shooting other people’s rifles to>
Randy. I’ll let you borrow it to shoot all the rounds you want to with it. All it will cost you is several boxes of what ever rounds you work up for it that shoot the best. That plus maybe mounting and sighting in the new scope
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