Hmm, that’s not toooooo bad, but seems like if you’re going to play this game, reloading is part of the journey, no?
Also be nice to pump out 9mm and other high consumption rounds.
Depends on what you mean by “play this game”. It traditionally has been part of it for most people but with component and equipment costs going up I honestly don’t think it makes as much sense as it used to.
Not sure how much you plan on competing. Are you a guy that will shoot mostly at your local range with friends and family and may do a few monthly local matches per year? Or are you going to deep dive into PRS national level two day matches, shoot tons of local matches and shoot out multiple barrels per year?
If the first, I’d say stay with factory ammo, get a 6GT or Creedmoor and a 223 barrel for training and to save on ammo/barrel.
If the second then get a Dillon 550/650 since you want to load bulk ammo for high volume stuff like 9mm, etc. Just realize none of your pistol powder will work in your rifle calibers, etc. so you’re going to be having to source a lot of different components. I rarely reload pistol or bulk 223 now, I just buy it cheap and stack it deep when I can. Much funner shooting it spending time with my family than sitting in front of a press, trying to find components, etc. I do that enough for my precision rifle ammo.
This is straying from your original post but here’s my free advice/opinion:
Get a rifle you can train lots with. Quality scope (in mils), action, trigger, chassis. Spend the money and time to get some good instruction in fundamentals. Frank Galli, Brian Whalen, Modern Day Sniper guys, those are some good ones out west.
Stack several pre-fit barrels in common calibers, with the quality factory ammo to match. Wait for lulls in election cycles and buy ammo in bulk, at “lower” prices so you’re not buying during the panic buying shortages and prices.
Then when you go train or shoot at 1k yards you aren’t worrying about if you have the right neck tension, bullet seating depth and the other 1000 things you focus on as a precision handloader.
You can focus on trigger press, follow through, spotting your misses/hits and judging wind.
Long story short: your fundamentals are going to matter much more as far as hitting targets than 1/3 moa handloads vs 1/2 moa factory ammo.
Check out The Straight Dope and Modern Day Sniper podcasts.
