When I was in my early 20's, I really wanted a .357. One day I walked into the my regular gun shop and started chatting with the owner. He reached into the case and pulled out a new, 7 1/2" blued Redhawk with scope rings. He offered it to me for $340. Totally not the gun I wanted, but I knew it was a damn good price and I bit. I picked it up a couple days later after getting a purchase permit from the cop shop.
Was I ever in for a shock when I went to buy ammo. This was the early 90's and even then Winchester's USA brand ran $30+ for a box of 50.
At the same time I had a brother in law who owned a 629 and also some reloading equipment that he'd never taken the time to learn to use. I called him up and set the wheels in motion. Our first loads were with some old Red Dot and probably pushed the 245 gr SWC's only about 6-700Fps, but they all worked and we were both hooked. Being the self-sufficient type, I bought my own reloading kit shortly after that.
