Losing Motivation To Reload

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slowr1der

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I'm finding it hard to stay motivated to reload these days. Especially pistol ammo. It's become more of a chore than a hobby. Has anyone else experienced this? How did you get over it?

A few years ago if you'd asked me, I'd have said that I'd never care to shoot centerfire ammo that I didn't reload. I reloaded almost everything that I shot on a single stage press and I couldn't believe other shooters wasted their money on factory ammo. I enjoyed reloading, saved a lot of money, and had more accurate rifle ammo, which I shot a lot of.

Well, today I still reload most of my rifle ammo although I don't enjoy it as much, I still can't imagine going back to factory ammo. I like the increased accuracy that I receive and the cost savings is huge. I usually save $15-20 per box of ammo which adds up pretty quickly. I've also found that I dread load development and the time it takes. My range time has gotten severely cut down with my current job and I'd prefer to spend it shooting instead of testing.

Worse than the rifle ammo, I've gotten to where I absolutely dread reloading pistol ammo. It takes forever to reload on a single stage. I'm also not accurate enough with a handgun to tell if I'm getting slightly more accurate ammo or not. I wouldn't know the difference between a 2.5" group at 25 yards and a 3" group, because I can't shoot any better than that anyway. I've also found that I have to shoot plated bullets (or lead) to really save any money at all and I've yet to find a load that shoots as well with either of these as factory ammo does for me. If I load FMJ ammo, I have some loads that shoot great, but they cost as much or more than factory ammo.

Then to top it off, since I mostly shoot 9mm, I've noticed that I can pick it up on sale pretty often for $7 - $7.50 per box. I'm literally saving about $1 per box if I reload with plated bullets, and I'm spending about the same if I use the Precision Delta FMJ bullets that I really like. If I figure 100 rounds an hour (which is cranking it out on my single stage), I'm literally saving $2 an hour at most.

So I thought about a progressive press, but when I'm saving $1 a box it would literally take me 30 + years to just pay for the equipment, and it would still take up my time. So it hardly seems worth it. So much to my dismay, I've started buying factory 9mm again and it's what I've shot my last few range trips.

Has anyone else reached this point in their life? It just seems like for 9mm it's no longer worth it for me to reload it. Or at least right now while it's so cheap and readily available. Is this a phase you guys have gotten through? The thought of not reloading everything I shoot does bug me, but it just doesn't seem to make sense.
 
I'm finding it hard to stay motivated to reload these days. Especially pistol ammo. It's become more of a chore than a hobby. Has anyone else experienced this? How did you get over it?
Click to expand...

I automated the processes so they are not chores. Kink of like cooking popcorn would be more work without a microwave with a “popcorn” button or having to wash all your laundry and go hang it outside to dry, on a nice day.

There are things that take the work out of pretty much everything that you do.

In the end though, if you don’t feel like it’s “worth it” quit doing it. That part is as simple as it is obvious.

There was about a decade where I didn’t reload 9mm. Life got in the way and $2.99/50 was cheap enough. When I did start loading it again it actually cost me more to load my own than buy loaded factory ammunition, I only loaded my own for the competitive advantage, ignoring the cost.
 
Reloading has always been a chore to me. I keep hearing how much fun people have tinkering with different loads, etc, but I have never experienced anything close to fun at the bench. About the closest I have gotten is my load development with .300 Blackout and that falls more in the category of interesting things I have learned. It all amounts to nothing more than physical labor which I am not paid for.
 
If it is not interesting and you only see it as work quit.
Shoot cheap ammo in cheap calibers or just quit shooting.

I quit shotgun loading because cheap field loads work fine for skeet and I can't really beat the cost with any kind of loading machine. Loading the same old ammo 10,000 times for years was a drag.

I don't shoot pistols for the same reason.
I shoot many rifles but most of the ammo is not affordable or in many cases not available at any price.
 
I reload on a single stage press and it never gets boring as I'm always trying to make easy shooting loads that have the same point of impact on the target as full power loads. I load for 9 different calibers and only on 1 of them have I settled on a particular load. Plus I can't find any factory loads that are even similar to what I want. Always experimenting. I think the trick to not loosing interest is to load only enough rounds to conduct your testing and not get into " I need to have a 1000 rounds of this caliber on hand". I can see how that would make reloading a chore instead of interesting.
 
You hear some folks talk like it is some kind of art, lovingly "hand crafting" each round.

For most reloaders that is a pant load and it always was. I would bet for most people that do it is because it is a means to an end and saves money. If factory ammo was cheaper I would have never bothered. Most gaming pistol shooters could not care a whit about a 2" or 3" group, practical shooting and IDPA is close range stuff.
I never enjoyed the process of running the press for my 9mm supply. It is satisfying to make a bin full in a few minutes on the progressive. I don't recall ever thinking 'this is fun' past the first few rounds I ever made.
It is sort of like when the old man turned over the lawn mower to us when we were kids, it wasn't all he cracked it up to be.
I do enjoy running my LCT, which is mostly .223 and some 45 acp. Maybe because not so much is going on, maybe because I'm not loading up long runs, and maybe because I appreciate what it can do for a very small investment in it. If I sit at it for a half hour or an hour once a week or so, I have plenty of it to shoot when I do get to the range.

I have went without looking at any of it for months at a time. Nothing wrong with that, components won't rot for a very long time. Just cover the whole bench with a tarp, dust is a killer.
 
slowr1der said:
I'm finding it hard to stay motivated to reload these days. Especially pistol ammo. It's become more of a chore than a hobby. Has anyone else experienced this? How did you get over it?
Click to expand...
I go thru cycles with many/most/all of my hobbies, reloading (and shooting), no exception.

I just concentrate on things that still hold my interest and wait for the muse(s) to return. :)
 
There are two kinds of reloaders. Those who reload to shoot and those who shoot to reload. I fall into the second category and I reload six calibers including 9mm on a single stage press. With my pistol ammo, I don’t strive for quantity (I shoot 600-800 rounds per month) or the utmost accuracy but with my rifle ammo I use every “tool” at my disposal to make the best most accurate ammo that I can. For me, the entire process is a relaxing diversion from my wife's health issues and I usually wake up anywhere from 4am to 5am just to get a couple of hours in before she wakes up. It starts the day off right.

All that being said, considering how plentiful and inexpensive ammo is right now, if I was only reloading to save money and I didn’t derive any pleasure from the process itself, I would definitely step back for awhile as others have suggested. But I would definitely keep my equipment and components for a time when the urge strikes again which it certainly would. You should do the same.
 
I had found found myself in that same place when I loaded my RUGER Blackhawk 357 on my Lyman Spartan single line press. It took an hour just to put together 50! A Dillon SD solved that and I could put together 50 in 10 minutes!

But what got me really over the bbbooorrrring part was an old friend (80s) that ask me to go to range with him. He needed a person just to accompany him each week for this ritual event. He had lost his wife and had filled one day a week with shooting. This lasted for a couple of years until he had to move away to live with his daughter. During this time I developed a mild load for his 38 SW snub to make it easier on his old hands and gave him all the ammo he would shoot. I also had to load up 100 357s for me. The Dillon took care of this with no problem.
A couple of other guys sometimes went with us and we named our group- “The Old Farts Shooting Club” :rofl: I was the youngest at 67!!!!!:what:

It was during that time I developed another exciting event! It is called a Quest, like making a revolver shoot lead boolits without leading. The quest became an obsession and soon I was really enjoying reloading again - even looking forward to it! That first quest took hundreds of well documented rounds and lasted close to a year before I solved the problem!
Word of warning!!!!! Be careful with quest, they can be additive! Side effects include making reloading so much more fun!

It also helps if you find a great shooting buddy like I did. I found him right here on the thread. And we share all our shooting knowledge each day along with some other much required male BS via the internet!
Oh yes I’ve forgot to say I’ve never seen or verbally talked to him and he lives 3000 miles away! But he’s like a son to me.
He’s very good at offering me new quests to keep me busy!!!! Most of the time I can’t even finish one before he has me jumping another rabbit !

So start making and shooting lead boolits in your 9mm! When you have mastered that, buy a 45 and start all over. Then a _______? (fill in the blank)
And most important don’t forget to get you a shooting buddy which you can share quests and adventures!
Life is Fun!!!!
 
I've been through several periods of not reloading over the years. But when I started shooting large volume of handgun ammo the SS press became more of a chore than a hobby. I made the jump to a AP which removed all the time related stuff that you do many times on a SS. By elbow was hurting for days every time I sit down to load a 100 rounds on my SS press. UP grading to the AP removed the long boring task done on the SS press. With the AP I know I could sit down for 1 hr and make 500 rounds of 9mm ammo, and my elbow quit hurting. The best thing was that I was not forced to sit in front of the SS press and force myself to make some ammo to shoot the following week. Going to the AP make things enjoyable again. Money well spent and left me with more time to do the things I enjoy.
 
I was/am kinda like you. I stopped reloading for some 30 years. Then came back to load 44 special on my old RCBS RS. Now I am saving money on 45 app, 45 lc, 44 mag, and 454. I don’t have a 9 mm and I am not sure I would load for it if I had one. Hang in there and load for your rifles.
 
I've also found that the cost savings on reloading 9mm is minimal. But in general, I still enjoy reloading especially revolver rounds. If you're using a single stage press, try upgrading to a progressive. The Lee presses are all under $250. I find that adjusting a progressive press is a fun challenge and then watching a smooth running progressive press operate is satisfying.
 
For 9mm, guy buy a case of factory ammo, or two cases, clean your dies good and put them away. Slowly collect 9mm brass so when the day comes, you have plenty

For rifle, buy bullets, powder, brass and primers in bulk. To me, bulk means one or two years supply. Load up all the brass you have, when it is empty recharge it with the same load. Stop doing load development. For my 308 custom gun, I purchase bullets in 500rd lots along with enough varget to shoot them all, primers by the thousand

For a hunting bullet that you may shoot 20rds, load up 100 so you can practice enough to be confident and won’t stress about ammo

How many calibers are you loading for and how much ammo a month?
 
For pistol, it is more so than for rifle. For rifle,

GT1 said:
You hear some folks talk like it is some kind of art, lovingly "hand crafting" each round.
Click to expand...

this still holds true for my hunting ammo, and the development loads for them. Loading up 1000 .223's, yeah, kind of a chore, but one I still enjoy. Shotgun, I don't bother-it's just not economically justifiable (12 ga.)
 
Haven’t had that feeling (he said on the way to his reloading bench to do some brass prep).
 
I like to reload almost as much as I like to shoot... but I have a burnout point, and I have a time vs cost threshold. I usually load in batches, so I'll go on a reloading frenzy for a bit, and then I'll go off to do something else for a while (motorcycle season is coming up, for example.) I also go through firearm binges that dictate what I load... the past few months I loaded cast bullets for my lever-actions, which is fun but a bit tedious. When I'm on my AR binge, I don't hardly reload at all... the time vs cost threshold kicks in and I just buy factory ammo because I don't have the time to waste on saving .02/rd loading 1000 5.56mm rounds. (That doesn't stop me from picking up all my brass, I have a very hard time walking away from good brass even if I'm not going to reload it.)

Loading handgun ammo... I really do enjoy it because I can load it from start to finish on the progressive, and I enjoy the process; but, again, the time vs cost factors in... I don't reload 9mm, for example.

OP, just do what you feel like doing. If you don't want to reload for a while, shoot cheap to feed firearms (9mm, 5.56mm, even .308...) or find another shooting discipline. If you aren't digging reloading, that's cool, just understand there is a price to pay... that is the cost of factory over reloads. Like you, I don't have a whole lot of time to fiddle around with the minutiae of reloading, I just like to get it done so I have stuff to shoot, but there is always a time and place for everything. Being disinterested with reloading also carries a danger... inattention to the process can have a detrimental effect.
 
slowr1der said:
I'm finding it hard to stay motivated to reload these days. Especially pistol ammo. It's become more of a chore than a hobby. Has anyone else experienced this? How did you get over it?

A few years ago if you'd asked me, I'd have said that I'd never care to shoot centerfire ammo that I didn't reload. I reloaded almost everything that I shot on a single stage press and I couldn't believe other shooters wasted their money on factory ammo. I enjoyed reloading, saved a lot of money, and had more accurate rifle ammo, which I shot a lot of.

Well, today I still reload most of my rifle ammo although I don't enjoy it as much, I still can't imagine going back to factory ammo. I like the increased accuracy that I receive and the cost savings is huge. I usually save $15-20 per box of ammo which adds up pretty quickly. I've also found that I dread load development and the time it takes. My range time has gotten severely cut down with my current job and I'd prefer to spend it shooting instead of testing.

Worse than the rifle ammo, I've gotten to where I absolutely dread reloading pistol ammo. It takes forever to reload on a single stage. I'm also not accurate enough with a handgun to tell if I'm getting slightly more accurate ammo or not. I wouldn't know the difference between a 2.5" group at 25 yards and a 3" group, because I can't shoot any better than that anyway. I've also found that I have to shoot plated bullets (or lead) to really save any money at all and I've yet to find a load that shoots as well with either of these as factory ammo does for me. If I load FMJ ammo, I have some loads that shoot great, but they cost as much or more than factory ammo.

Then to top it off, since I mostly shoot 9mm, I've noticed that I can pick it up on sale pretty often for $7 - $7.50 per box. I'm literally saving about $1 per box if I reload with plated bullets, and I'm spending about the same if I use the Precision Delta FMJ bullets that I really like. If I figure 100 rounds an hour (which is cranking it out on my single stage), I'm literally saving $2 an hour at most.

So I thought about a progressive press, but when I'm saving $1 a box it would literally take me 30 + years to just pay for the equipment, and it would still take up my time. So it hardly seems worth it. So much to my dismay, I've started buying factory 9mm again and it's what I've shot my last few range trips.

Has anyone else reached this point in their life? It just seems like for 9mm it's no longer worth it for me to reload it. Or at least right now while it's so cheap and readily available. Is this a phase you guys have gotten through? The thought of not reloading everything I shoot does bug me, but it just doesn't seem to make sense.
Click to expand...
get a chronograph, if you don't have one, and experiment with that 9mm load to get that extreme spread down into the teens. choosing the right powder/primer combo (along with the right c.o.l.) can reduce that es number quite a bit. anyway, it may pique your interest enough to continue reloading.

luck,

murf
 
I am definitely in the "reload to shoot" camp as it is not my favorite pastime, but I don't hate it either.

It does get monotonous some times, and I can imagine it would be worse with a single-stage press.

I bought my Dillon XL650 about 2 years ago for slightly less than $600, and have loaded about 21,000 rounds through it as of yesterday (I keep a DETAILED log, it is actually "21,420" to be exact!!!). When I do the math, I have added about 3 cents per round to each cartridge, which will continue to go down as I load more. This is a combination of 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP. I only load pistol rounds on the XL650, all rifle work is done on another press.

I am probably in the higher-half percentile when it comes to rounds loaded per year, but I shoot a lot as well.

For me, it is not about cost-savings as you mentioned, but "better ammo" that I can customize to my guns and needs.

I am not sure how much you load, but going to a progressive makes the task a lot less tedious.

If you are frustrated, stop for a while. I know some guys that load in the winter (stock up), and then shoot during Spring, Summer and Fall. That might be one solution for you as well.

Good luck, and always take care of yourself first. If you need a break, don't beat yourself up over it, just walk away for a while.
 
From 1973 to around 2010 I would reload everything that I shoot. Rifle and pistol. Then when factory ammo prices went down I stop. Not worth my time for blasting ammo. The only reloading I do is what I need for matches.
 
With Wolf/Tula available for ~$160/1000 I'm loading a lot less 9mm these days. Problems with my grip strength are having me shoot less .45ACP :( Road construction next week will make getting ot the range too much hassle, so I'm hoping a week or two lay off will help resolve the grip strength issue.
 
I started reloading because, after I retired, I missed working with tools and machines.

I enjoy loading 9mm for practice and go thru about 600 a month. I also have no problem buying 9mm. I have a stock of Blazer Aluminum that I got from Palmetto a couple of years ago for 0.16 a round with free shipping. I use it for matches, which are all "lost brass" events.

I also keep my interest going by reading on line and in forums about reloading and competition. Haven't gotten bored yet.

Dave
 
I went on a prolonged loading frenzy (casting too) over the past 18 months. I developed a couple dozen loads in different calibers, piled up a ton of cast for future use, and have enough ammo on hand to do quite a bit of shooting. Work is busy these days and I have less time to reload, so I am glad to have stuff already done for when I actually have the time to shoot.

That said, I find myself doing some reloading anyway. I only have a basic single stage lee press, so I end up slowly working my way through a batch an hour at a time when I have it to spare. For me, this is simple mechanical stuff that I can do while watching TV or listening to music and it is kind of therapeutic to just zone out after a stressful day. I'd rather be shooting, but that requires a span of 3 or more hours and I don't always have it.
 
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