This was a very slow year. I basically stopped shooting in late December because of a work project that was really, really cool. I worked pretty much night and day, including weekends, (except for a week of vacation for our anniversary) until sometime in March. It resulted in a patent application (still pending). Then with the COVID concerns I only went to like two or three matches and not many more trips to the indoor range for practice. Hence, my ammo needs were very modest last year. Then there was the whole primer shortage thing…
I already had a fair amount .40 S&W so I spent a lot of time reloading and brass prepping for rifle ammo.
As you can see in the table below I reloaded 657 rounds of .223 last year and another 88 rounds this month. A good portion of that was using up random types of bullets that had been purchased for load testing and found lacking. They are still good for teaching new shooters at 25 yards or Boomershoot High Intensity type events. It does include a new load for a 55 grain match grade bullet that turned out well.
The 98 rounds of 30-06 were for a Garand someone was receiving as a Christmas present. I wasn’t the gift giver or receiver but since ammo in general and Garand compatible ammo in particular were next to impossible to find I purchased a few clips to add to the ammo I reloaded. I used some 168 grain Sierra Match Kings, Federal Match primers, and Varget powder (Garand load data here) which was all at least 20 years old.
The Garand went to someone who had never owned a gun! But she had expressed a strong liking for the gun saying how much she liked the way it looked and she had apparently shot one before. So… her significant other consulted with me as to what a Garand was (!) and we conspired to find and purchase one for a Christmas gift.
[Update: I’ve been informed that while in high school she drilled with a Garand in Junior ROTC.]
So now she has nearly 100 rounds of ammo for her “new” gun and if the loads work well, and she returns the brass, I could make another 150 rounds or so from components on hand.
Hitting exactly 4,000 rounds of .40 S&W in 2020 was entirely a coincidence. These were all 200 grain Black Bullet International loads. I continued this month with mostly the same load but used up some random 180 grain bullets I found laying around. I have about another 20 primers and a couple of pounds of CFE Pistol powder left. I’ll probably not load much .40 S&W for a while. Of course I’ll need primers but also I have more .40 S&W stacked up than I imagine I will use this year.
This brings my total for the year to only 4,755 rounds. This is the first time since 2014 that I didn’t reload more than 10,000 rounds.
This brings my lifetime total of rounds reloaded to 149,484. I really expected to break 150K last year but it was a special year. But this year, almost for certain, I’ll break 150K.
223
Rounds
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
1998
160
–
–
–
–
–
–
140
20
–
–
–
–
1999
1,777
–
–
181
578
25
–
–
–
–
140
653
200
2000
43
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
43
–
–
–
2001
47
–
–
–
47
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
2016
397
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
140
257
–
–
2017
296
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
296
2018
4,177
418
180
1,195
300
–
–
–
–
–
–
1,997
87
2019
695
–
60
80
125
216
61
111
–
–
–
42
–
2020
657
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
252
215
190
2021
88
88
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Total
8,337
506
240
1,456
1,050
241
61
251
20
183
649
2,907
773
30-06
Rounds
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
1997
180
–
–
40
20
79
41
–
–
–
–
–
–
1998
150
–
–
–
80
–
–
–
–
–
40
–
30
1999
90
20
70
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
2003
47
–
–
–
18
–
–
–
–
–
–
29
–
2016
76
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
76
–
–
–
2017
213
–
–
–
–
–
–
65
148
–
–
–
–
2020
98
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
98
Total
854
20
70
40
118
79
41
65
148
76
40
29
128
300Savage
Rounds
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
2018
50
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
50
–
Total
50
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
50
–
300WIN
Rounds
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
1999
250
–
–
–
–
–
151
60
–
–
39
–
–
2000
467
50
127
142
–
57
–
–
–
–
20
60
11
2001
382
25
–
–
185
15
20
–
73
–
–
–
64
2013
499
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
100
399
2018
212
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
212
2019
316
167
149
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Total
2,126
242
276
142
185
72
171
60
73
–
59
160
686
40SW
Rounds
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
1997
31
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
31
1998
11,537
570
258
718
1,850
1,812
1,710
402
–
–
1,200
900
2,117
1999
2,795
–
894
–
299
693
506
–
–
–
–
–
403
2000
3,187
795
–
–
–
–
1,095
400
396
–
501
–
–
2001
2,295
–
300
497
300
–
–
1,198
–
–
–
–
–
2002
898
–
–
–
–
–
–
198
–
200
300
–
200
2003
602
–
300
302
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
2004
1,345
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
300
600
445
–
2005
1,059
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
659
400
–
–
2006
1,000
–
–
–
–
400
–
–
–
–
200
400
–
2007
1,136
–
–
–
–
–
–
118
518
300
200
–
–
2008
2,398
–
300
–
–
–
–
900
399
–
200
–
599
2009
1,702
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
102
300
900
400
2010
1,400
–
–
–
–
100
200
700
–
200
–
200
–
2011
2,300
300
–
400
100
–
500
500
200
–
–
–
300
2012
399
–
200
–
199
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
2014
530
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
530
2015
7,012
1,699
1,630
1,137
–
–
–
547
200
400
100
200
1,099
2016
17,792
2,197
700
1,462
837
1,899
1,999
1,000
1,500
1,000
1,700
1,500
1,998
2017
20,840
3,300
975
525
200
1,899
3,700
2,048
2,644
2,063
1,015
1,699
772
2018
18,105
–
–
–
750
1,699
797
1,193
2,396
3,300
4,069
919
2,982
2019
11,103
–
–
–
–
2,509
–
–
–
–
691
2,117
5,786
2020
4,000
–
307
–
–
104
896
100
806
628
1,159
–
–
2021
1,003
1,003
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Total
114,426
9,821
5,864
5,041
4,535
11,115
11,403
9,304
9,059
9,152
12,635
9,280
17,217
45ACP
Rounds
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
2017
2007
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
500
1,507
Total
2007
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
500
1,507
9MM
Rounds
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
1996
11,274
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
10,944
141
189
1997
7,374
300
–
–
1,190
640
65
–
100
1,088
804
1,060
2,127
2015
2,993
–
1,066
1,927
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Total
21,641
300
1,066
1,927
1,190
640
65
–
100
1,088
11,748
1,201
2,316
Yearly and Monthly Totals
Year
Rounds
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
1996
11,274
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
10,944
141
189
1997
7,585
300
–
40
1,210
719
106
–
100
1,088
804
1,060
2,158
1998
11,847
570
258
718
1,930
1,812
1,710
542
20
–
1,240
900
2,147
1999
4,912
20
964
181
877
718
657
60
–
–
179
653
603
2000
3,697
845
127
142
–
57
1,095
400
396
43
521
60
11
2001
2,724
25
300
497
532
15
20
1,198
73
–
–
–
64
2002
898
–
–
–
–
–
–
198
–
200
300
–
200
2003
649
–
300
302
18
–
–
–
–
–
–
29
–
2004
1,345
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
300
600
445
–
2005
1,059
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
659
400
–
–
2006
1,000
–
–
–
–
400
–
–
–
–
200
400
–
2007
1,136
–
–
–
–
–
–
118
518
300
200
–
–
2008
2,398
–
300
–
–
–
–
900
399
–
200
–
599
2009
1,702
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
102
300
900
400
2010
1,400
–
–
–
–
100
200
700
–
200
–
200
–
2011
2,300
300
–
400
100
–
500
500
200
–
–
–
300
2012
399
–
200
–
199
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
2013
499
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
100
399
2014
530
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
530
2015
10,005
1,699
2,696
3,064
–
–
–
547
200
400
100
200
1,099
2016
18,265
2,197
700
1,462
837
1,899
1,999
1,000
1,500
1,216
1,957
1,500
1,998
2017
23,356
3,300
975
525
200
1,899
3,700
2,113
2,792
2,063
1,015
2,199
2,575
2018
22,544
418
180
1,195
1,050
1,699
797
1,193
2,396
3,300
4,069
2,966
3,281
2019
12,114
167
209
80
125
2,725
61
111
–
–
691
2,159
5,786
2020
4,755
–
307
–
–
104
896
100
806
628
1,411
215
288
2021
1,091
1,091
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Grand Totals
149,484
10,932
7,516
8,606
7,078
12,147
11,741
9,680
9,400
10,499
25,131
14,127
22,627
sir:
i am a shooter and a reloader, currently reloading 8mm mauser to shoot in a model 48 carcano. (yes, there is such a thing, and yes, you can load for it, …. , i choose to rebate the rims. works fine. rebating the rims is quite tedious.)
so, i share your enthusiasms.
but, aren’t you bordering on being just a little anal over this? laughing.
keep up the good work. i adore, admire and like very much you and your blog.
I write down how many rounds I reload on a single line in a simple text file. One file per caliber. There are some notes too. It looks like this:
To generate the tables I wrote a program to parse each line and do all the table building and output to the screen or a file. So, it’s only a tiny bit more work to get all the numbers.
Love the round count!
Since you use Titegroup powder. And have a 22 suppressor. One of my favorite loads for 223/556, is found in the Hodgon manual. It’s 3.1 grains of titegroup, small rifle primer, and a 55 gr. bullet, and yields appox.1050 FPS. And is best when used with a bolt action, and are safe to shoot through your 22lr. suppressor.
Their wonderful for teaching people to shoot. Quiet and fun. And are a great small game load. And the best part is they don’t foul your suppressor like standard 22lr. They work great! Especially if you have some aging 223 brass.
“patent application… still pending”. Yes, they require patience. My experience is that they take anywhere from 2 to 12 years. 12 is an outlier, admittedly. 5-6 years is probably about average.
It might depend on the field. I have a copy of a gun patent that took just over one year (4,397,453, turned up unfortunately as prior art for something I invented independently for Arne Boberg’s XR-45).