Anyone else hate reloading?

[Bronco72]

I just accept reloading as part of the equation that allows me to shoot more! Would rather reload than spend the amount of $ buying new ammo to shoot the same amount!
I just get my mind set to relax and do my thing on a progressing, watching everything carefully, not trying to churn out a zillion rounds an hour and appreciate how much I produce compared to the years I spent on a single stage.
However if I hated it I would not do it and I would shoot a lot less. Shooting for me is my form of meditation!
I really do enjoy find pet loads that are made for a particular firearm, log it into the records and have at it!

 

[Vern Humphrey]

There will be stretches when I dont touch a press for 6 months... but then ill binge and load every empty case I have.

I don’t think I could fire factory ammo in good conscience any more. Its expensive and I cant buy what I want.

Well, I shoot a lot of oddball cartridges, such as the .30-40 Krag and the .35 Brown-Whelen, so handloading for them is a must (yes, you can find .30-40 at your local gun store, right behind the $1,000 bill someone left there.)

 

[Styx]

I see reloading like having a job. Dare I say most Americans don't like their jobs and would rather be doing something else, but they like to eat, have a car, cable, internet, clothes, housing, electricity, water, spending money, etc... Going to work, even though it might not be your favorite thing to do, allows you to do what you enjoy and live more comfortably...

Reloading is the same way... It might be boring and tedious, but it allows you to do more of what you enjoy for less money. It allows you not to necessarily be completely at the mercy of gun stores, price hikes, hoarders, gougers, and panics...

I guess it all comes down to what's most important to you. If being able to coth, feed, house, etc yourself isn't that important to you, then makes no sense for you to take the necessary actions that allow you to do those things. Likewise, if being able to shoot more for less panic or not isn't worth the time you have to spend reloading inorder to make that possible, then don't reload....

 

[Chuck R.]

I'm on the fence......and I reload for 30+ calibers and 4 gauges.

Some calibers I reload just to maintain the volume of shooting I do, that's 9mm, .45ACP and .223, basically my match calibers. High volume due to match requirements and practice. IF I could afford to buy factory and maintain my volume, I probably would.

Others I reload they're odd calibers and because factory ammo is stupid expensive. Then there's the calibers and guns that I can see the difference in accuracy between handloads VS factory stuff. Those I really like loading for.

Regardless, I'll keep up reloading. The way I look at it, it beats staring at a TV screen or spending even more time on forums....... Right now we're headed for triple digit heat index days, might as well stay down in my cool "bunker" listening to Floyd and cranking out ammo.

 

[Legionnaire]

I enjoy reloading. My problem is I don't have dedicated climate controlled space. My bench is in the garage, which is unusable during summer months in central TX. I have a portable bench that I set up in my study when it's hot, but it's not as convenient (or large) as a permanent installation. Works, though. I miss the basement workshop I had back in PA.

Hand loading does let me play with cool cartridges like .243 and .260 Ackley Improved.

 

[Speedo66]

I'm not thrilled with it, but being the cheap bastard that I am, I could never get myself to pay $50-75 a box for commercial .38-40 ammo.

So I only reload for that caliber and .357. Everything else is either inexpensive enough that it's not worth my time or I don't shoot much of it..

 

[daniel craig]

For one thing, it can be unpleasant trying to get help. People reflexively defend the manufacturers when they know some machines are rough and hard to use.

That sounds like a A LOT of gun culture in general. It’s sorta sad really.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

That sounds like a A LOT of gun culture in general. It’s sorta sad really.

I want to be supportive of manufacturers (even though they sometimes defecate on their customers and 2A), but in a forum, the correct mindset is to give first loyalty to fellow consumers.

 

[792mauser]

I have to reload whether I want to or not.
45-70 lead in factory boxes is expensive. So to be able to practice with my trapdoors I need to. Jacketed will wash that rifling out quickly and non trapdoor level loads will crack the receiver.
$30+ for a box of 20 smokeless that isn't close to the sights.

And don't get me started on my Martini-Henry rifles. Over $120 for a box of boxer primed 20.
The rifle was 500 dollars, 80 rounds and I'd a paid for another rifle.

My snider rifles are the same.

I don't really reload for 9mm, 45acp, .223, or 7.62x39 anymore. I still have the dies for the above. They're cheap enough and i have enough stockpiled that I don't need to for a good while.


Besides it's a blast to shoot .31 cal lead balls with a pinch of red dot from a 30-06, 30-40, 30-30, mosin and 308 rifles doing 900 fps at 50 yds at eggs. Shooting hundreds of rounds and zero fatigue.

 

[LiveLife]

I can't be the only one. Anyone else hate reloading?

You are not alone.

I hate reloading but hate paying for factory ammo and chasing down ammo during shortages while complying with stupid CA ammo laws even more.

So after 600,000+ rounds reloaded, I will keep on hating.

Life's too short to spend a lot of time doing something you hate.

Yup.

I hate producing small groups on target but hate producing bigger groups with factory ammo even more.

Yeah, life is short ... So I guess I will just suck it up and keep on hating smaller groups on target ...

 

[LiveLife]

I'm on the fence......and I reload for 30+ calibers and 4 gauges.

 

[Texas10mm]

I only hate the brass prep that comes with bottle neck cartridges. I love loading straight wall stuff and I love casting bullets.

Reloading is the only thing that allows me to shoot as much as I do. There's no way my wife would let me buy factory ammo and shoot around 500 rounds per range trip.

 

[jmr40]

I don't hate it, but have more productive ways to spend my time. I'm retired, but work part time a few days a month. I earn enough doing that to buy way more ammo than I could load in the same number of hours. When not working, or hunting I'm working on improving the house. By not hiring someone to do that work I'm paying myself $50-$75/hour. I figure I'm paying myself about $1/hour to load.

I hand load for my center fire rifle cartridges above 22 caliber. I don't really save money. I do it to get a little better accuracy, velocity, and use a better bullet for about the same price as factory loads. But none of those rounds are shot in high volume. I own some handguns in 357 and 44 mag, but don't shoot them enough to justify paying for a set of dies. I can buy many hundreds of rounds of loaded 223 and 9mm a lot cheaper than I can load it when I factor in my time.

I suppose if I were shooting something odd ball and loading was the only option. In fact buying a 338/06 is the reason I got into hand loading in the 1st place. Of course that rifle is gone,but since I have the tools I now only load for 308, 30-06 and 6.5 CM.

 

[.308 Norma]

If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t do it. Back in the ‘80s, my wife and I both were heavily into IHMSA. Between practice and shooting actual matches, we were going through hundreds of rounds of handgun ammo every week, and what was once one of my favorite hobbies, handloading became more like a job than fun. So we quit IHMSA. The joy of building my own ammo quickly came back, and now that I’m retired, I don’t have to wait until I get off work before I can spend time at my loading bench. Now if I could only find components…

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I got into reloading around 1980, when my wife and I started shooting handgun silhouette. Back then, I learned to hate it because I was loading about 300 44 Mag loads and about 200 7mm IHMSA loads per month, on a single stage press in the garage. When my son wanted to get into IPSC about 2000, I bought a Dillon RL550, and set it up in the basement. I could load a month's worth of 45 ACP in a couple of hours, and I enjoyed that. Now, we don't have a need for large quantities of ammo, so I can actually enjoy spending time at the bench, perfecting my latest 25-06 or 270 AI loads, or cranking out a few hundred handgun rounds for the kids to shoot.

Since we moved into a brand new house 2 1/2 years ago, I haven't had time to set up the loading room, although we have a large storage room in the (cool) basement which we call the "man cave" where the equipment will go. My son (who owns the house) and I want to get our loading room set up "just right". But with all the landscaping and other needs that come with a new house, we haven't got around to it yet. Being retired now, I could spend hours a day down there and I look forward to it.

 

[Pat Riot]

I enjoy reloading. I also buy ammo when I don’t feel like reloading. I only reload 6 different cartridges and I do it on a single stage set up.

Years ago I bought a Dillon 550 progressive. All of a sudden I hated reloading. I am a bit odd but I never trusted the powder measure. I didn’t trust that the finished round was the way it should be. I kept stopping and looking at the powder in the case and pulling the finished rounds from the bin and looking them over. I guess I am a bit analytical. Besides, the progressive messed with my process.

I made friends with some guys that were Boy Scout leaders and they were teaching their troop to reload and shoot. I donated the Dillon to them with all it’s gear and everything. I even left my dies in the plate thingies. They were ecstatic, I was happy. It worked out just fine.

I do agree that loading rifle rounds can be a pain but it beats paying for it. I refuse to load 5.56 though. Pain in the butt cartridge to load so I buy them and give my brass away.

 

[rb288]

I truly enjoy reloading.
I find it very "therapeutic" when I am sitting at my bench running through the steps.
I don't reload because I shoot alot, or to "save money", but just because I like the precision, the rhythm of the process.
I reload both rifle, 7 different calibers, and pistol, 9mm.
I really enjoy it, and whenever I am feeling bored, or stressed out, or just need a break from things, I go and reload a hundred rounds or so, and the world slows down and seems calmer.

 

[Pete D.]

I do not enjoy the process. I do enjoy that reloading allows me to do more of what I do like...shooting.

 

[chamokaneman]

I don't mind it. It appeals to that part of my personality that wants to make something perfectly. It's a good time to slow down, unlike every other part of life it seems like.

My hands don't physically like some things like chamfering or removing primer crimps from a bazillion cases but that probably just means I should buy additional mechanization.

 

[Mn Fats]

I don't enjoy loading for rifles, particularly .223. I do it for my Garands out of necessity,

Ha, opposite for me. I hate loading for handgun. I do it, but only to get away from people for a bit and wind down.

With rifle I enjoy loading and finding what fits my rifles. Dailing it in. Could be the same for handgun but I still only have my single stage Lee that I bought when I was 17. Single stages like bolt action rifles. Lol. 20-40 rds is plenty. An hour on the bench is enough. One day I'll get a progressive.

 

[jmorris]

I am old enough to have done some things for pleasure that I hate. Does that count?

 

[Demi-human]

Ha te’ relod ding?

I don’t understand.
Oh, Hate Reloading. Hate Handloading?! What th’.
That’s ridiculous!

I like eating too much to hate cooking.
I say the same for handloading.

Peace, quiet, ammunition when I’m done, what’s not to love? Practically zen meditation!

Imagine all I’m saving at the therapist...

 

[Reloadron]

When I see ammunition on sale for what I feel is a good price I buy it. I also reload primarily during the winter months. Being retired it's not like I have a hell of a lot else to do. It's also a process I never rushed. Rather than save money, which is nice, or to shoot more which is also nice I load simply to see how accurate I can get. I started reloading when I returned from Vietnam in '72. I just developed this fascination with the accuracy snipers achieved which was unusual since I was never a sniper and in all my years never actually met a sniper. Beats the hell outta me? Anyway over all the years I just enjoyed rolling my own but certainly have to agree it's not for everyone. We tend to run with what trips our individual triggers.

Ron

 

[Mn Fats]

I like eating too much to hate cooking.
I say the same for handloading.

It's more like having to do the dishes lol. I do still enjoy it for certain rounds.

 

[hossfly]

The only thing I really dislike is case prep. That is an awful lot of it though. I suppose if I were rich I would just buy the ammo because I certainly prefer just shooting, but I can't say I actually hate loading either.