Looks like it’s time to get going with that. I’m actually shooting shells that I bought within the last year^* now, at least in 12 gauge, so it’s clear that I’m going to be sticking with this for some time.

I’ve looked into reloading metallic cartridges before but never pulled the trigger on it because of the initial costs and matching up dies, and whatever else is involved. It’s not cheap. So, when my shooting league’s team leader said I should just get a Mec 600 Jr. for shotshell reloading I looked into it. Turns out they’re $150-$200 new and about $90 on eBay after you figure in shipping. Okay, that’s doable, but I’m a cheap bastard.

Then I discover the Lee Load-All II. Sells for $42 + shipping over at MidwayUSA. Here’s a video of one in action. Okay, this is simple enough for me to do. This bloke has his C-clamped onto his kitchen table so it can’t take much of a bench to hold one in place. Not like the kind of bench you’d need to resize rifle casings.

Plus, like I said, it’s about $40. With a box of shells currently selling for $7 I can save about $3 a box by reloading them. So, I’ll recoup my costs after 14 boxes, or 7 weeks at my current pace. Even if I suddenly stopped doing shotgun shooting this year I’d still save money.

Plus I’d really like to try out some 7/8th oz loads. Then I might be up for shooting 3 or 4 lines in a night instead of 2. I’ve got a bit of a sore cheek today thanks to me popping my head up on a couple of shots tonight.

*: Back in 2005 or 2006 I did a fair amount of trap shooting over the summer. That was back when you could get a 100 round pack for $15, or about $3.75 a box. When I got back into trap I still had about 600 rounds of those in 12 gauge laying around and I’ve finally gone through them all. Didn’t make sense for me to reload until I burned through them.

So, did a bachelor party on Saturday where we kicked things off with a round of sporting clays at a local club that I had no idea existed.

ZOMGWTFBBQ!!! That game is fucking fun!

Week after week of trap where the birds fly in the same pattern gets boring. This shit? Oh man! That was a breath of fresh air!

I’ve heard about the game for years, just never tried it. Sounded kinda fun, but I wasn’t that motivated. Not any more! Oh boy, I like it.

The best part is I’m walking the course with my brother and he says his new girlfriend got all excited when she told him what we were doing that weekend. She used to shoot all the time with her dad doing stuff like this and really wants to do it again. So, he’s got that going for him!

So, this Sunday I invite a few of my friends out to just hang out, grill some brats, and maybe shoot some trap if they’re interested.

Turns out they liked the idea of trying trap. So, I wrangled together 4 shotguns (one borrowed from my brother) and we set out to the range next door. Of my 3 guests 2 were experienced in guns but hadn’t shot on a formal trap line. The last one was a woman that hadn’t ever shot a damned thing in her life. This was explained to the fellow keeping score. “We got newbies here… might not run smooth.” He got it.

The woman had a little trouble running her gun, which is my fault because I didn’t really go over it in detail. It was a side-by-side Huglu in 20 gauge, and she had a little trouble breaking it open. That trouble is what likely had her accidentally flipping the safety on between shots, which slowed up the game. No biggie, she had it down after 6 or 7 shots.

We were fine with it.

Well, most of us. The 5th member of the line actually walked away after 3 shots. I’ve never seen him before, but apparently he takes his game pretty serious.

There are two kinds of people that confound me in this world: Those that take golf and shotgun games seriously. They are things we do for fun, and you have to learn somehow, and quite honestly I’d wager most folks do it on borrowed gear because they’re not cheap sports to get into. There’s a learning curve there.

Besides, I’ve seen guys that play the game every single week, score no lower than 22 in a round, and still hold the game up with their equipment starts acting funny. Could be a dud primer, firing pin not striking, and 1 out of 10 games starts off with a doof forgetting his safety is one. Shit happens.

At least the guy didn’t say anything to us.