Time to load a little 50 Beowulf

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Time to load a little 50 Beowulf

Post by Archer »

I ordered 500 cases. (over sixty cents a pop)
I've got some OFB, I guestimate 100+ but I've got to sort them out of half a 5 gallon bucket of range brass and make certain none of the empties wound up back in the boxes.

I've got 1000 Xtreme 325 grain blems (and 500 first quality) that should load to the Alexander Arms 335 Rainier data OR probably load to the high end of AA 335 Speer data.
I've also got several boxes of Hornady 350 grain XTP MAGs I got a decent deal on, a hundred Lehigh 325gr solid copper 'penetrators', and a box or two of 400 grain FPs.

4# jug of Lil Gun, about 8# of H110, a lb of IMR 4227 and 4 to 8#s of 2400.
A K and a half of mag pistol primers.

I've got a set of Lee dies.

Probably start slow and load 10-20 of the Blems.
Do the same thing with the XTPs.
Maybe load the Lehighs in sets of 5.
Once I've got a load for each I'm thinking load a hundred XTPs, maybe 50 of the Lehighs and finish out the brass with the Xtremes for practice and fun. Not that they shouldn't still do the job if push came to shove.

It's been a while since I've had time to load. Under the current CA ammo rules this caliber is a pain since you practically have to order it into a shop and then go in and pay them extra to receive it. Local shop I was in last week charges $20 to receive it up to $400 invoice at which point they charge 5%.

This stuff typically runs $1.25 to $1.50 per round plus shipping and handling through the net and more if you find it on the shelf or have to have it ordered through a retailer. That's for the mundane plated ammo, Loaded with XTPs or the Lehigh projectiles it gets a lot more expensive fast. I won't be saving a lot but I should be running about $1.10 for the XTPs and maybe $.90 or so for the plated stuff.
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Re: Time to load a little 50 Beowulf

Post by Ranch Dog »

All that you must go through is crazy.
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Re: Time to load a little 50 Beowulf

Post by Missionary »

That is a very good reason to get a good stock piled away .
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Re: Time to load a little 50 Beowulf

Post by Archer »

I HAVE a pretty good stock pile.

I've been stockpiling for several years as has just about everyone else in this crazy state.
Back when I was growing up we would have a box or two of ammo per firearm.
Now all the preppers, and all of us who went through the Clinton, Bush & Obama droughts, have everyone thinking a K case of rounds per gun.
I sincerly doubt I've got anything like that.
I KNOW I don't have that in several calibers like .444, .45-70, .32 ACP or likely another half dozen.
In all honesty I don't really feel the need to have a couple K rounds of .243 on hand simply because I've got a couple bolt actions in that caliber or 3 K rounds of .30-30 or a K of 7mm08 as examples.

To be honest I was doing a little stockpiling all along. I remember not being able to get primers during the Clinton years. I bought some components and some ammo when work was too busy for me to use them. As CA got more idiotic about restricting everything EVERYONE in CA even the idiots who thought everyone else should be more restricted bought their own version of a lifetime supply.

IF I needed to move any real distance it might be a semi-pain. I figure I've got somewhere between a 1/4 and a 1/2 lifetime supply depending...
Placards for the pickup?
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Re: Time to load a little 50 Beowulf

Post by Archer »

Some of the bullets I ordered didn't show for the Beowulf. More on that later.
I still have supplies for it and the brass did show.
I'm still sorting the brass from the past year or two, so far there's less Beowulf OFB than expected but it may be in the last couple bags of stuff or I might have a box of brass or two that were put back in the boxes.

I'm almost at the point of wanting to do everything first however as I'd like to put out about a dozen calibers in volumes of a hundred to a couple thousand.
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Re: Time to load a little 50 Beowulf

Post by Archer »

So, instead of around 30 lbs of .500 caliber bullets not counting packaging I received ~10 lbs of Hornady powder tricklers including the packaging. The vendor supplied a return shipping label and I sent them back along with a request for replacement with the proper product. With a little luck maybe they'll be able to supply me with the appropriate bullets so I can load my Beowulf.

I've already got a RCBS trickler and I can't see needing more than one.
Back around 22 years ago or so Hornady used to sell a white trickler that looked like it'd be ok.
The new ones are lightweight red plastic with a wide skirt base on them. I've heard complaints that they are too light along with reccomendations that the hollow base be filled with a bit of silicone to make them heavy enough to sit still.
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Re: Time to load a little 50 Beowulf

Post by Archer »

After I sent back the tricklers I never heard back from PSA.

I sort of assumed it might take them a while to get the Hornady bullets in and get it sent to me.
As we approached the point at which UPS might delete their delivery information for the return I decided contacting PSA might be in order.
Here is the concise version of that conversation.

me: 'I was calling to confirm you had received a return shipment I sent via return label. reference number____'

PSA: 'Yes, sir I see that number here... and, we can give you a refund.'

me: 'I would rather have the product I ordered and I'm willing to continue waiting. I just wanted to make certain the return was received and that the order was still in the system.'

PSA: 'I can certainly understand that, but we don't have the product and I can't find anything in stock we do have that's comparable. I can issue you a refund.'

me: 'You list a Speer bullet that's comparable but you may not have enough of them. It is P/N_____ in your system'

PSA: 'I see that, Please hold' ......several minutes later...'I've gotten permission to send you the Speer bullets instead.'... 'But it looks like we only have two boxes of those so that is not an option either. I think the best thing is for me to issue you a refund.'

me: 'I am willing to wait on the Hornady bullets to show up.'

PSA: 'Well, I don't know when we will have those in stock again if ever. In fact I am not showing that we have any of those on order, or even any order pending for them. So I think it is best if I issue you a refund.'

me: 'Wait a second, I ordered these bullets almost 4 months ago. You sent me the wrong product which I returned to you almost three months ago, and you haven't even bothered over the course of 3 months to attempt to order what you sold me and have been holding funds I already paid for? When where you going to get around to letting me know you didn't intend to fill the order?'

PSA: 'That's why I think it is best if I issue you a refund.'

me: 'Ok, go ahead and issue the refund.'

PSA: 'Here we go and I'm sending you an e-mail for a 10% discount code on your next order because of the mix up.'

me: 'That's fine but I may never wind up using the code.'

PSA: 'I can certainly understand that sir. Thank you for doing business with us.'

SO, now I've got 500 50 Beowulf cases that were purchased to receive the Hornady bullets I didn't get from PSA. I guess I'll just have to load the lightweight ball bullets I have in most of the cases instead.
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Re: Time to load a little 50 Beowulf

Post by GasGuzzler »

I had some bulk .22LR on backorder from Brownell's for 19 months once. The actually eventually shipped something different after all that time. At least they asked me first.
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