What caliber do you load the most for and why?

Status
Not open for further replies.

horsemen61

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2011
Messages
6,755
What caliber do you load the most for and why? I load mostly 38 special why because with 148 grain wadcutters I can load for it very cheap and I enjoy shooting it. Also it being a snubbie 357 mag I feel that I need to practice with it often to stay proficient.
 
I definitely load .308 win the most. The why is because I recently started shooting FTR and between the 5 matches I've shot it, doing the workups for my match load (2 different bullets, 2 different cases, 2 different powders), and practicing shooting prone with a bipod, I've shot a whole lot more .308 than anything. I shoot approx 150-200 rounds of .308 a month.

2nd most is .223, and that's because my daughter loves to shoot and she'll be getting into FTR soon as well.
 
Last edited:
40S&W

40S&W most...because that is what I shoot the most. I typically shoot 150-200 rounds each trip to the range. I shoot much less, maybe fifty 38 spec/357 or 44 spec.

Rifle I shoot maybe 200 a year of 30-06.
 
Currently 204 Ruger, 300 BLK, 44 Special, 44 Magnum, 38 Special, 9x19, 45 ACP.

The last three are loaded in large batches once a year or so. I am cycling through reloading them at present gearing up for a 9x19 run, the others to follow.

44 Special/44 Magnum are new to me so I am having fun shooting and loading them. 204 Ruger is for an upcoming prairie dog hunt, I am sorting out a new rifle and then will make inventory for the hunt soon. 300 BLK is fun to shoot.

I'm too busy to shoot anything else at the moment but I go through periods of shooting lots of 223 Remington, 30-06, 30 Carbine and 308 Winchester.

It depends on my mood and what I want to shoot.
 
9 mill,
It's my only caliber outside of 380 and I gave up on 380 temporarily because I cant get any neck tension.

Hope to expand the footprint soon though.
 
9 mill,
It's my only caliber outside of 380 and I gave up on 380 temporarily because I cant get any neck tension.

You're not trying to use your 9mm dies to load .380 are you?
9mm is tapered and .380 is not, so it doesn't work well. It's not like .38/.357 where you can use the same sizing die.
 
.45 Colt, due to cost and availability. I wanted something with more oomph than cowboy loads, but I'm not using a Ruger either. It's what got me from just a passing interest in reloading to actually learning to do it.

Second is .38 special. I own more .38s than any other caliber. One of them is older and while factory jacketed probably won't hurt it, I feel a little better with lead over a conservative load of Unique. Again, it it necessary? Probably not, but I have the means to produce it so why not?

Both of these have gotten me interested in casting as well, but that's down the road a piece.

To be fair, I am still VERY new and somewhat green to reloading but am head and shoulders above where I was a year ago. A year that has included very little shooting, but I'm getting there.

With an eye to the future, I have eight pounds of IMR4895 and a set of dies for .30-06. I'm not really ready for rifle loading yet, from a comfort or equipment standpoint. By the time I run out of M2 ball, I hopefully will be. Loading for my Garand is what is going to get me there.
 
.45acp. It was the caliber that I started with when I began reloading. I have more guns chambered in it than any other caliber, not that I have many firearms in .45acp though. The few people that I reload for have .45acp pistols that my loads are safe in. I enjoy shooting it. And since I have started casting my own boolits I'm reloading it for $4-4.50 per box of 50 rounds depending on exact components.

Close second would be .223, followed by .38spl.
 
When I get around to it it will probably be 5.56. Right now I have enough to play around for awhile.
 
I agree with lightman - a .223 is cheap, fun, and accurate. Perfect for the rifle range, which is where I do virtually all of my shooting. I probably load 100 rounds a month or so. I'm not big on hunting but I would consider buying a larger rifle for an occasional hog hunt, seeing as how they're good to eat and have become something of a nuisance.
 
Hi...
Most reloaded caliber would be .357Magnum, followed by .45ACP. Both are loaded by the thousands.
I currently need to do two 1000 round batches of each.
I also need to reload at least one 1000 round batch of .38Spl and 9mm each.
Still need to reload 500 round batches of .44Mag, .44Spl, .41Mag, .45Colt and .45AutoRim.
That will be enough to get my son and I through a few weeks of the spring shooting season.
Then I will need to load a few hundred rounds each month to keep our inventories up depending on how much we shoot.

Rifle ammunition loading is currently on hold. Probably won't get to that until sometime this summer.
 
I load the .38spl and .45acp in bulk by the thousands and shoot them for the rest of the year. In the .38spl I load Bullseye and wadcutters and the .45acp gets 185, 190 and 200 grain swc with Unique and Bullseye. Along with these are smaller batches of .38s and .45s with other bullets for heavy duty use. The .45 Colt may come in third then the 9mm and .38sup.

Rifle: .350 Rem mag, .250/3000.
 
I load for 8 different calibers, but I load more 40S&W, and .223 than anything else. Why? Because I shoot an average of 1,000-1,200 rounds of 40S&W per month in the 5 monthly IDPA matches I compete in, and practice. I usually shoot 800-1,000 rounds of .223 per month in tactical rifle matches, and practice.

My 2013 reload count
40S&W = 18,500
.223=10,300
.45acp=4,000
.38spl= 3,500
.357=500
300WM=150
7mm=150
300RUM=50
 
I reload more .357 than any other caliber by a large margin. My first reason for doing this was kind of a cop-out. I started casting and reloading about a year ago and had a heck of a time getting accurate loads until I started doing .357s. For some reason, they are just easy to get good accurate loads.

Even after broadening my horizons and finding many good loads in other calibers, I spent so much time shooting .357 that it just became my favorite caliber to plink with.
 
38 Special because that is what I shoot the most. It is economical with cast lead and easy to load.2nd place is a tossup between 9x19 and 45 ACP.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top