Reloading supply sources

[Mako]

I know I’m late to the party, but I just bought a gun chambered in a caliber I’ve always been enamored with, .41 mag. Though I have found some, I know that Ammo isn’t the easiest to find for this caliber, but I like it enough to get into reloading. Just wonder where everyone gets their supplies. I know everything everywhere is pretty much on backorder, but that’s OK, I’ll just get everything as it becomes available. I plan to reload for .270 Win, 6.5 CM, and .357 mag as well.

Also, what brands of brass and primers does everyone recommend?

 

[winmag]

Brownells
Bruno’s Shooters Supply
Graf and Sons
Midsouth Shooters Supply
MidwayUSA
Natchez Shooters Supply
Powder Valley Inc
Precision Reloading

Try to find a local shop for powder and primers to avoid the $30 hazmat fee. Cabelas, Bass Pro, Sportsmans Warehouse, Scheels, Murdoch's, Big R.

I see brass as "standard quality" and "premium quality". Premium being ADG, Alpha, Lapua, and Peterson. Standard requiring more work to make them perfect and/or they're softer than the premium brands (show high pressure signs sooner).

And for primers I shoot a lot of Federals in everything. I've shot a lot of CCI and Winchester with good results too.

 

[ImBillT]

Brownells
Bruno’s Shooters Supply
Graf and Sons
Midsouth Shooters Supply
MidwayUSA
Natchez Shooters Supply
Powder Valley Inc
Precision Reloading

Try to find a local shop for powder and primers to avoid the $30 hazmat fee. Cabelas, Bass Pro, Sportsmans Warehouse, Scheels, Murdoch's, Big R.

I see brass as "standard quality" and "premium quality". Premium being ADG, Alpha, Lapua, and Peterson. Standard requiring more work to make them perfect and/or they're softer than the premium brands (show high pressure signs sooner).

And for primers I shoot a lot of Federals in everything. I've shot a lot of CCI and Winchester with good results too.

You left out RWS and Norma on the “premium” side of brass. Winchester is “standard quality” at best when it comes to uniformity, but it’s hardness is right there with Lapua. If you anneal the necks, it will last and last. It’s just garbage for precision work unless you buy a ton, do a ton of work to it, and then sort it like a mad man.

 

[MThuntr]

I've had a lot of success with starline brass for pistol and a few rifle cartridges. I see they offer more rifle cartridges now.

It is all out of stock but you can backorder a near lifetime supply directly from them and they'll ship when it's ready

 

[Jbotto]

I've had a lot of success with starline brass for pistol and a few rifle cartridges. I see they offer more rifle cartridges now.

It is all out of stock but you can backorder a near lifetime supply directly from them and they'll ship when it's ready

I second the Starline suggestion. When I bought my .44, I ordered 500 pieces of brass right away. No regrets about that.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Brass - Nosler for most, Lapua for target
Primers - CCI have always worked, started with them and haven’t had reason to change
Where to buy - @winmag covered most common. Try to support a local shop if you can, even if it costs you a couple of extra bucks. Local gun, ammo, reloading and general outdoors shops got killed by big boxes 20 years ago and now are getting it in the chops again from internet vendors. I don’t care so much about where I buy TVs and tennis shoes, but I do want to keep local gun/outdoor shops around for the future so I always look there first and buy without worrying about internet pricing. For tough items to find I do use AmmoSeek.com if my local guys don’t have in stock.

 

[rwc101]

I know it gets trashed a lot (and I have trashed a few cases upon opening a bag) but I use Winchester brass since it is the only somewhat consistently available source for 270 WSM. I don't have any issue turning out loads under 1 MOA with it which is fine for the ranges I hunt at.

 

[hogcarpy]

Brownells
Bruno’s Shooters Supply
Graf and Sons
Midsouth Shooters Supply
MidwayUSA
Natchez Shooters Supply
Powder Valley Inc
Precision Reloading

Try to find a local shop for powder and primers to avoid the $30 hazmat fee. Cabelas, Bass Pro, Sportsmans Warehouse, Scheels, Murdoch's, Big R.

I see brass as "standard quality" and "premium quality". Premium being ADG, Alpha, Lapua, and Peterson. Standard requiring more work to make them perfect and/or they're softer than the premium brands (show high pressure signs sooner).

And for primers I shoot a lot of Federals in everything. I've shot a lot of CCI and Winchester with good results too.

I've been a fan of Midway USA for a long time, although, I always buy from my local shop first.

 

[std7mag]

Go through your reloading manuals and find the powder/bullet you want to shoot.
Make a list of several of each that will suit your purpose.
Then check your local mom & pop gunshop/hardware store.

For pistol cases Starline seems the higher quality. (Read OP's 41 Magnum)
Either direct from Starline, or a supplier. (Grafs, Midway or such)

For my rifle cartridges i use Federal Match primers. For pistol i use standard CCI.

As to reloading...
Welcome to the rabbit hole!

 

[winmag]

Winchester is “standard quality” at best when it comes to uniformity, but it’s hardness is right there with Lapua.

Yea I’m with you there on the quality, it’s terrible. I’m lucky if I can get 40 useable out of a bag of 50, and that’s not even sorting by weight. The last bag I bought had 6 with the flash hole punched wayyyy off center the primer pocket. How the heck does that even happen??

I’ve found it to be noticeably softer than Lapua, but I’m admittedly always pushing the edge of high pressure.

 

[FLS]

I’ve never had any trouble finding 41 components. Even when other stuff is hard to come by.
Starline Remington or Winchester brass. Don’t overlook once fired. Straight walled pistol cases are hard to mess up.
Powder 296 or H110. Unique for plinking/ target loads.
Remington 210 soft points were available in bulk for cheap. Not sure now. Lots of cast and plated options available. I load Swift A frames to hunt with. I’ve used XTPs, Speer Gold Dots, and some heavy cast bullets. They all worked.
Primers will be your biggest challenge. I’ve always used WLPs in my 41 loads.
Go ahead and get on the notification lists for as many suppliers as possible, and don’t hesitate when they send you a notification.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

Being in Alaska, most companies will not ship primers or powder,
so we are stuck with whatever is available locally in 3 shops.
I've never seen H4350 or RL23 for example, but can sometimes get IMR4350,RL22

MidwayUSA is usually my source for other components as they usually have free shipping to Alaska about once a month.

 

[Bigjav]

Don’t forget to reuse your brass from loaded ammunition you buy

 

[ImBillT]

Yea I’m with you there on the quality, it’s terrible. I’m lucky if I can get 40 useable out of a bag of 50, and that’s not even sorting by weight. The last bag I bought had 6 with the flash hole punched wayyyy off center the primer pocket. How the heck does that even happen??

I’ve found it to be noticeably softer than Lapua, but I’m admittedly always pushing the edge of high pressure.

I may have just had some unusually hard batches. It’s been a while. I avoid them these days.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Another vote for Starline brass. Good stuff in the pistol cartridges, I've not tried their rifle.

I like Federal large pistol mag primers, but never turn down the CCI Large Pistol Mags either.

Powder you'll be looking for Win 296 or H110. If you want plinker loads, look for some Unique.

41 Mags are slick as snot. Nice find!

 

[EastTNHunter]

Cast your own bullets and you will save some money and keep yourself from being held hostage by the market. I don’t think that the shortage has affected moulds like it has bullets. Big bore revolvers do well with cast bullets.

Get something that casts a wide meplat. Visit a local tire store and get some takeoff wheel weights (you should be able to get a 5 gallon bucket for under $50) Water quench. Then practice and hunt.

I’ll echo starline brass. Good stuff

 

[Mako]

Don’t forget to reuse your brass from loaded ammunition you buy

Absolutely. Been saving my 6.5 and .270 brass for a while. I should have a couple hundred rounds of each, and several hundred in un-fired ammo as well.

 

[mtmuley]

Trying the local stores first of course. Then obscure shops local or otherwise. Just got confirmation of an order of .357 bullets I placed over a month ago. Shipping now. Then of course the trade and buy here or on other sites. Some guys are way behind and if you shoot a lot, could be ugly. mtmuley

 

[track1]

I found 2lbs of retumbo online from a retailer just before Xmas. Just need to keep looking.

 

[Mako]

Trying the local stores first of course. Then obscure shops local or otherwise. Just got confirmation of an order of .357 bullets I placed over a month ago. Shipping now. Then of course the trade and buy here or on other sites. Some guys are way behind and if you shoot a lot, could be ugly. mtmuley

Muley, I know you‘re a fan of Hammer bullets, and these are what I was planning to reload. Is there any manufacturers load data you prefer? I messaged the guys at Hammer, and they told me that any manufacturers data for like weight bullets will do. They also mention that Nosler load data tends to run a bit hotter than others and that they look at Hodgdon data a lot.

Just curious whose data you refer to, if you don’t mind me asking.