Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

hi, its justme. a newbie. iam a reloader and a 32 bigot. i have a colt police positive 32 sw long. a dan wessonon 32 hr magnum, two s and weson 32 hand r magnums. and hope to get a327 federal some time. my question to the group is where is th best placw to get reloading supplies locally? rice in annanadale used to have a full room of bullets but he is gone now. i order off the web but i would like to buy at a gun store. thanks for any ideas.


















7son

Even after paying freight, you'll do better ordering online than buying from a local shop. The online distributors have buying contracts with the mfgrs. and get much better prices. The gun shops buy from the distributors and mark up the prices about 50 %. Furthermore, the distributors have HUGE warehouses to stock myriad selections of all products. No gun shop is going to have that kind of room, so they won't be able to stock nearly as big a selection of goods. Another point is, there are several good distributors online for you to choose from. And, you don't have to leave the house hunting and pecking for what you want.
Can you tell I'm partial to online shopping?

to VGOF.

If you are stuck buying online, Graf and Sons is the place to go. $4.95 shipping on internet orders ( plus hazmat if need be). I ordered a set of 6mm/.223 dies on a monday and had them thursday. Plus since it was a holiday weekend when I ordered I got free shipping.

Welcome to VGOF

to the forum

Welcome aboard

Bill

You don't give a location, so I'll give you a rough NOVA rundown.

There are a few places that carry reloading, but their stock is usually pretty limited. You will probably have a very hard time finding brass for those calibers. Powder and primers will be easy since they aren't specific to only those calibers, but you're usually limited to a few Alliant and Hodgdon powders. Bullets will probably be the hardest depending on what you are looking for. Most shops will carry the high profit margin hunting/SD bullets. If you are looking for bulk practice bullets, you're almost certainly out of luck for .32 cals.

Both Bass Pro Shop and Gander Mountain carry reloading supplies. Their stock is limited. The best of the bunch I have visited in VA is the Gander Mountain in Winchester. The ones in Richmond and Fredericksburg are about on par with each other. Greentop (just north of Richmond on I-95...GM and BP are nearby too) has much more reloading supplies than any other local shop I have seen. They tend to stock harder to find poweders like VV. Greentop is also the most likely to have those .32cal practice bullets.

Most gun shops carry a little too, but there supply is usually more limited than the big commercial stores. Dawsons in Woodbridge (Rt. 1) has some as does Sharpshooters (Springfield/7100) and Loudoun Guns (Leesburg/Rt7 business). Guns and Ammo Warehouse in Manassas (Rt234 bypass and Rt28) also carries Dillon reloading products, which are pratcially impossible to find anywhere locally.


IMHO, local shops are great for trying out a new powder and bullet, but not to buy in bulk. To really make your reloads cheap you need to buy in bulk and online. E.g. most powders locally are going for $25-$30 a pound. Online those same powders can be had from Powder Valley Inc. for $15-$20 a pound. After 4-5 lbs you break even.

Reserch your local fire ordanences. They usually cap the amount of black and smokeless powder you can store. The recommneded solution is to have a cabinet with 1" thick oak walls. I found an Amish dresser, made of oak and with 1" thick walls on Craigs lits. It was cheaper than buying the supples to build a basic powder storeage cabinet and has the additioanl benefit that I can repurpose it.

For powders, gun shows are where I tend to do pretty well, and yep, I buy in bulk. Primers can now be had for a good price, too, at the shows. T&T Reloading usually is at the Chantilly and Richmond shows. Mac's Reloading is usually at the Hampton and Dale City shows. Both are fine folks.

For brass, I'd order directly from Starline.

For bullets, I'd suggest getting set up for casting if you're not already. Wheel weight lead is very good for the cartridges that you're describing, including your Magnums. Even at eBay prices of $1.00/lb for WW alloy, it's worth it.