Enjoy Reloading

I load revolver ammo and never get tired of it. I may do 200 in a weekend or I may load a whopping 10 rounds in about 6 hours on Saturday. It is the most relaxing thing I've ever done. Last Saturday I decided to trim some 357 mag brass. Well it took from 7am to 9pm to do it. I sized (coffee break) and expand without belling the case(coffee break), trimmed to 1.281" (lucky size)(coffee break), debur (coffee break), scrub pockets, clean again(lunch), prime, bell(coffee), trickle each, weigh each, set up the perfect roll crimp(dinner), seat some gas check'd 160's(coffee), then I hand polished all 20 of those rounds and put them away for the next batch of Saturday After Noon Specials.

I enjoy it enough to have recently loaded 1000 rds of 9mm luger on a single stage press over the course of a couple weeks. In fact sometimes I have to go to the range to shoot so I can reload more.

I love it! It relaxes me. I stopped shooting pistol matches at the end of last year, so no more 2000 round sessions, but I've never grown tired of it. I have other hobbies, but I spend more time on reloading and shooting sports than any other.

t2e

I dont enjoy it. If good factory ammo was as cheap as my reloads I wouldnt even bother. However the idea of paying a dollar a shot leaves me spending hours in front of the press.

Maybe I am more of a handloader than a reloader?

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That's the difference.

I enjoy it at least as much as when I started about 35 years ago. Who knows, another 35 years I may hate it.

I don't load at the same level as in the past, but still crank out as much as 30K per year.

I enjoy the machines, the variety, playing with explosives, etc, etc (Hey, I watch Mythbusters, what's not to like about making bullets? )

I also love optimizing workflow. That means I enjoy loading precision ammo on a single stage or turret, and love to crank out high quality pistol ammo on a nice progressive. In addition, I love to design and machine parts and accessories for my presses. I also enjoy gunsmithing- makes you feel like your firearm is really "yours".

Yes, I love the whole process. Just this weekend I poured 100 clean 22-250 cases from the media separator into a bin, and wondered at the fresh pile of brass as if it were gold. Aaaaaaah- the simple pleasures in life!

But then, there's also the "frustrating moments"- crushed cases, jammed primers, etc. Needless to say that's not enjoyable- but when you fix or figure out the problem- well then it is after all.

My favorite oldies station on the radio, 500 prepped .40 S&W cases, a couple of pounds of W231, 500 180g Berry's bullets, my well worn Rockchucker and 505 scale and I'm ready for a relaxing and fulfilling evening of handcrafting enough ammo to keep me shooting for a month. My wife knits to relax. I sit at my bench. It is not a chore and if it ever becomes a chore, well, that's when I sell my stuff and take up knitting.

Historian
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" A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of a common enemy."

Samuel Adams

I've been at it for less than a year but I don't see myself getting tired of it. I'm like krochus, I find myself shooting so I can load. I love the precision of it. I weigh every single rifle round. We just got started with .40 and have cranked out quiet a bit on a single stage press. Just ordered .45 Colt dies and can't wait to get started on that. Yeah, I really enjoy it.

I'm a technical-challenge type guy that has been reloading since 1965-66. So yes I love reloading and shooting. I take spells of doing each, sometimes it's shooting and sometimes it's reloading. I like the challenge of doing different things just to see if I can accomplish them, many of my challenges end in frustration, others in joy.

I retired last February 28th, from a 35 year stint with the USPS. I also closed my ten year old Wedding-Portrait studio, not by choice, but by the down turned economy. So I have a lot of free time on my hands! That free time has been partly used doing reloading and some shooting. Not as much as I would have like because I was one of those surprised by the primer-powder shortage.

I do cast lead bullets so I did spend some time preparing some lead and I did cast a few hundred 44 mag bullets. I cast outside and the weather has been a limiting factor this year.


Jimmy K

I still have the same passion I did when I started handloading, at least about the handloading stuff. When equipment breaks or fails, I get bitter real quick. Right now I'm idle due to a primer chain reaction on my press.

It is not a chore and if it ever becomes a chore, well, that's when I sell my stuff and take up knitting.

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I'd poke my eye out.

Eddie,

That's why my wife recommends wearing safety glasses when knitting

Historian

I enjoy making machines and devices that make the process less expensive/easier/faster with a better product in the end and the occasional working up loads but I must say the redundant/repetitive process of loading 3-4K rounds at a time gets old even with automation.

Just like anything, it is what you make of it. I love it and find it very relaxing and satisfying. I can toil away, see the product of my work, and take pride in it.

All of that, plus my increasing collection of ammo makes it fun!

Nothing like sitting in front of a bench with a nice soothing cigarette and a cold beer next to the press while you work up a load..... :banghead:

Wife and kids asleep; head down to my reloading room, put Johnny Hartman or Miles Davis on the CD, and reload. I am in a very high pressure profession, and reloading is the most relaxing thing I do. I love it, probably as much as the shooting. I have firends who have built their own experimental aircraft, and they all say they enjoyed the building as much as the flying. I think reloaders are a lot like that. At this point I'm way past wondering how much I'm saving by doing it.

I do enjoy it. I view reloading as another hobbie associated with shooting. I cast bullets too.

aerod1 Do you really enjoy recreational reloading / handloading? I had been reloading about a year and a happened to mention to a friend how much I enjoy it. He said. "If you enjoy reloading it is because you haven't done it enough". He has some Dillon 650 equipment and shoots matches regularly and goes through about 1000 rounds in a weekend. He says the only reason he reloads is to have shooting fodder.
Well 1&1/2 years later, my passion for reloading is still there.
I realize I don't sit down and load 2000 rounds in a sitting but I load on a Lee LCT press. I am loading for handgun and rifle cartridges. I am retired and this system works well for me.
I enjoy tinkering with new loads, within manual specs, to see what I can do.
Maybe I am more of a handloader than a reloader?
I'm wondering when I am going to become disenchanted with reloading and / or handloading and no longer consider it recreation?


Your friend considers it a means to an ends so he can shoot 1000 rds per weekend. You are more like me and enjoy the experimentation of the reloading as much as the shooting... or more!

I've been handloading for 55 years...when I quit enjoying it I'll let you know for a general guideline! (If I'm able to do so!)

Seriously, I enjoy a lot of things about handloading. I get extra pleasure in shooting better ammunition than the commercial shelf stuff, which necessarily has to function in just about any gun made for that caliber. I get extra enjoyment over shooting a fine group with ammo I crafted myself. I enjoy the process of planning and producing test batches with slightly different powder charges to obtain the optimum accuracy in my particular gun. I enjoy the one-shot kills I make with my own hand-crafted ammo. And I certainly enjoy the cost savings over commercial ammo! I even enjoy searching out and keeping my eyes open for bargain purchases of components to maximize those cost savings. I enjoy teaching my kids and grandkids how much fun it is.

Happy handloading!

I reload ammunition to shoot.

The only part of reloading that I consider passable is priming rifle cases in front of the TV.

The rest is work.

aerod1: I enjoy it but if I reloaded 1000 rounds a week like your friend, I probably wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much. He's in a situation where he has to "produce" to keep up with his demand. That could definitely take the fun out of it.

Come to think of it, if I was able to SHOOT 1000 rounds a week, that would probably become less fun too.

I wish I could shoot as much as I could reload. Illinois sucks for shooters.

That said, I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds reloading so very relaxing. In fact, I went to a single stage press so I can *take more time* and make more precision rounds...though I love my RCBS Pro 2000 when I need to churn out a few hundred pistol rounds an hour...

I hope to join a proper gun club this year ($630 a year!!!!!), so I'll actually get out and shoot more..which means more reloading...assuming I can afford anything after joining the club!

I reload more for the enjoyment than any other reason. When I started it was to save money, so I could shoot more. Now that I am retired, it is just to relax and get my mind off the every day duldrum, we have in these long winter months. I may reload for a couple hours at a time and read about guns and reloading in between stages. It is so much more rewarding than watching the boob tube. And I still get to shoot more, when weather permits. I'm loading for a bunch of different calibers, so it keeps me busy.