How Did You Get Started Reloading?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I started in 1972 when on my 16th birthday, my parents bought me an rcbs jr press, and 10-10scale9which I still use) and 270 and 30 06 dies. Thata's because we had two Winchester model 54's. One in 270 and one in 06. I added things as I could afford them. I still have powder priced at 6.95/lb and Alcan primes marked 3.99/1000. I hang on to them for sentimental reasons! I credit my Dad for getting me into hunting and reloading. He figured we could save money by reloading. I still think of him every time I reload. He passed away in April 2016 and I sure miss him! I've taught both my son's to reload. Now they do it non stop!
 
I started loading shot shells about 12 years ago when a buddy got me into shooting skeet.

I started metallics a couple of years after that loading 45acp because he got me into shooting bulls eye matches.
I picked up a used rockchucker and assorted bits for $100

I have since traveled down that rabbit hole straight to the other side of the globe.

I will not disclose how much I have in this game.

I used to drag race, I used to build rock crawlers and now I "reload".

I am guilty of buying a fire arm because I can load for it. LOL
 
^^^^^ You think that's bad? I have found a handful of brass at the range two times in a row and said to myself "if I had dies I could clean and sell that brass". Then I had brass that was reloadable so I did. No sense having ammo you cant use so I purchased a firearm to use it up. See how it goes!!:D Done that twice so far. Next up is 5.7X28 I think.:eek:
 
For those of us who reload think about the heritage that we are now part of. The first settlers in this country poured powder and rammed bullets down rifle barrels as the first re-loaders. They melted lead, made their own bullets and made their own powder. I think about Elmer Keith and the hundreds of pounds of lead that he melted making and designing bullets. His influence and other like him opened the door wider for those of us today that enjoy reloading. I rejoice thinking about this reloading heritage that dates back to the first steps on North America. Perhaps you and I will encourage others to continue this great hobby and join the heritage.
 
FROGO207 said:
^^^^^ You think that's bad? I have found a handful of brass at the range two times in a row and said to myself "if I had dies I could clean and sell that brass". Then I had brass that was reloadable so I did. No sense having ammo you cant use so I purchased a firearm to use it up. See how it goes!!:D Done that twice so far. Next up is 5.7X28 I think.:eek:
Click to expand...

LOL!!!

I like your approach to things.

I ended up with a bunch of .375 H&H Brass.
I have a friend that picked up a .375 in an estate sale a couple of weeks ago and he wants move it to offset the cost of his other toys that were in the bundle.
Thank goodness it's a $$$ Sako, so I can't afford it.
What the heck do I need a .375 H&H for anyway? (Because I don't have one)
 
My family all shot smallbore growing up. It's frustrating testing factory ammo for 4 guns! My sister ended up getting into skeet at about 13-14yo. That meant some MEC reloaders showed up soon after...in my room since I just went to college. If I came home on weekends, I would get woken up by ca-chunk ca-chunk beside me as she loaded a few hundred shells for that week of practice.

She ended up being the first woman to win a guage at the state championships, 128 straight birds in 28ga.

I occasionally loaded for her and me at the time. Now I'm in bullseye and service rifle shooting. No choice but to reload for accuracy!
 
I got into reloading when I retired. I wanted to shoot more and it did not make sense to buy factory ammo when I knew that I could be more cost effective. I'm not sure I saved money overall, but I do save in cost per round loaded. So far, I load 9mm, .380acp, .45acp, .44magnum, .22TCM, and I am considering .38spc/.357mag and .38super.

I recouped my investment in equipment in less than 6 months, and I no longer have to go to a storefront and see empty ammo shelves! Ever.
 
I fell into reloading by inheriting a bunch of guns, and everything to reload for them. My regret is that I didn’t get into it when my relative was still with us, so I could have learned from him and done it with him. I just didn’t know how enjoyable I would find the craftsmanship of making my own ammunition. Hindsight, ya know.
 
joed said:
I started at the age of 30 in 1980 when I bought my first centerfire rifle, a Remington VS in .25-06. At the time I purchased that rifle ammo could only be purchased in a gun shop and they usually only had a few boxes. Each time they re-stocked I noticed the price went up on a box of shells by about .60 cents. Back in those days I thought the .25-06 would go obsolete. Last time I looked Walmart was selling ammo for .25-06.

That's when a group of us got started reloading. Only one person had a press and others had scales and other needed equipment that we shared. I invested in a Lee Loader which I still have. It was slow but it did produce some good ammo that was accurate. My next investment was a Sierra manual and scale as I didn't like using the dipper that came with the loader. If I remember correctly one LGS that I visited to buy primers had an RCBS Rock Chucker on sale and it went home with me. Now I was in business so to speak.

Over time I added other equipment to make the job easier. Once I had a true press I invested in dies for .38/.357 for my only revolver, a S&W model 19. Now I probably have 20 sets of dies for various cartridges I've owned.

I never stopped reloading from those early days. It gave me something to do during the long winters here. When I first started loading a box of Sierra .257 87 gr bullets cost $6 and some change. Powder cost $8 for a lb of IMR4350. Can't remember the price of primers though.
Click to expand...
A penny apiece in my neck of the woods. $10 a thousand.

Until the first prime shortage, skyrocketed after that.
 
FROGO207 said:
^^^^^ You think that's bad? I have found a handful of brass at the range two times in a row and said to myself "if I had dies I could clean and sell that brass". Then I had brass that was reloadable so I did. No sense having ammo you cant use so I purchased a firearm to use it up. See how it goes!!:D Done that twice so far. Next up is 5.7X28 I think.:eek:
Click to expand...

Sounds like how I got into 300 Blk, I was commissioned to build a machine that would cut military. 223 blanks for forming 300. I had so much brass from R&D, I had no choice.
 
I first pulled the handle in 77 or 78 can't remember recall the exact year. A friend used to load for an older gentleman that lived down the street from him that shot skeet, trap and milsurp competition. I loaded 12 and 20 ga shotshells on a mec 600 20 ga and a mec progressive for 12 ga. A few years later I bought my own 12 ga shotgun, a mec 600 jr 12 ga press. Loaded and shot 100 rounds a week for several years. Then got into metallic cartridges. The first being 3030.
 
I may have had some interest in reloading since childhood but never pursued it until my fifties.
Dad was a reloader, caster and many other talents were observed over the years.
I must have asked him about getting into the hobby in the 80's.
Still have the book he gave me, Complete Guide To Handloading, circa 1937 that he insisted complete reading before he would show me anything, yet I watched him many times casting bullets, reloading and shooting.
Sadly, Dad passed suddenly before we could bond at the bench.
Fast forward to this millennium a few years before retirement I started.....with my Dad's tools, old dies, a Rockchucker II, scales, bench etc. even an old Pacific press that has been put to use, well, just because.
I have added other useful tools to the addiction also.Dies of coarse, an electronic scale and some other minor things.
Been doing it for about 10 years or so, could tell you if I had kept records back then like I do now!

upload_2019-12-15_18-1-25.png

A picture of said book. In the book, inside cover on left side is a picture of Harry M. Pope talking with the author.
 
My reloading journey began with caplocks which led to flintlocks led to Sharps paper cartridges led to 45-70 led to 45acp. Not to mention all the necessary equipment required for all. Now it’s gone crazy with black powder 44-40, 30 Carbine and others with their own dedicated Lee turret. Definitely a rabbit hole.
 
Last edited:
I began reloading when I was pretty young. I would guess around 12 or 13. My father was a trap shooter and he taught me to run his mec. The deal was he would supply components and pay for my lines if I loaded the shells.
Looking back I suppose I was pretty young to be trusted with the task but at the time it all seemed normal to me. I grew up in gun clubs and my first job was being a trap boy for 50 cents a line.
 
In the mid 1980s I bought a Model 1891 Mauser at a bargain price. I didn't know the reason it was a bargain was that 7.65x53 was an orphan caliber; only Norma still cataloged it, nobody had any in stock, and didn't know when or if another shipment would come in.

So I bought a form die set from RCBS, and an aluminum Lee O press, some basic oddments, and a copy of Dean Grennell's "ABCs of Reloading." I bolted the press to the table of my radial arm saw and followed Dean's instructions, forming and trimming .30-06 down to 7.65.

Dean had one throwaway comment in there that was absolutely true then, and still holds true for me now, decades later:

"Reloading won't save you any money. It will just let you shoot more for the same money you were going to spend anyway."

I still have that Mauser; I could roll my chair away from the desk and pick it up. It was made in Imperial Germany 128 years ago and proofed under the authority of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The last batch of ammunition has Serbian brass, Russian bullets, Finnish gunpowder, and Korean primers.

Because this is America, and "all your guns are belong to US."
 
I had a couple of Springfield trapdoor rifles that I had owned since the 70's but had never shot because ammo was far too expensive. About 5 years ago I started reading about reloading and decided to try it. I bought a 45-70 Lee Loader (whack-a-mole) kit, a pound of H4895 and some cast lead .405 bullets and tried loading a few. That little experiment has cost me several thousands of dollars in new guns and reloading equipment and given me a lot of pleasure. I just wish I had started 50 years earlier.
 
For crying out loud. I wasn’t presenting a chronological history of firearm ignition development. I was simply laying out the path I took to reloading.
I think most new black powder shooters begin with percussion and then maybe try flintlocks. Or maybe spears. Or was that before the bow. Anyhoos I reworded my post to be more clear to folks.
 
Jimster said:
For crying out loud. I wasn’t presenting a chronological history of firearm ignition development. I was simply laying out the path I took to reloading.
I think most new black powder shooters begin with percussion and then maybe try flintlocks. Or maybe spears. Or was that before the bow. Anyhoos I reworded my post to be more clear to folks.
Click to expand...

No need to be snarky. Just in observation. I meant no offense.
 
started in 73 with a lee hand tool in 8 mm. then about a month later move up to a single stage press to load 357 mag. still got and use the hand tool, press, dies, and scales from 73. in the early 80's i moved to dillon equipment. reason was there was no ammo except shotgun ammo in my area unless you went into the big city. it was back in the day when we had only three tv stations and two were snow.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

whipper
  • Locked
How did you get into reloading?
2
Replies
39
Views
1K
Ifishsum
I
L
  • Locked
Swage or Cut primer pocket crimp?
2
Replies
29
Views
4K
Sport45
S
FROGO207
  • Locked
Started another new reloader on the way today.
Replies
0
Views
361
FROGO207
FROGO207
K
  • Locked
How did you start??
2 3 4
Replies
95
Views
4K
Mark_Mark
Mark_Mark
C
  • Locked
Getting into reloading for rifle
Replies
20
Views
649
Poper
Poper
Back
Top