Anyone enjoy reloading as much or more than shooting?

I'm with you OP. I started loading back in 2008 to supply my wife, and self with better, and more ammo for less money per round. This seemed to be a must for shooting IDPA, and 3Gun matches. This task has quickly turned into it own hobby that I enjoy very much. So much that I now load for every caliber I own. It's a great feeling to look at my stock of ammo knowing it's better quality than production ammo.

My reloading/gun room is my sanctuary. 42 years of my life on those walls and bench. I enjoy it every bit as much as shooting, no one bothers me when I'm working my presses. Time is an allusion as hours go by and I finally get to bed at 2 or 3 AM. Only a fellow traveler can understand where I'm coming from.

For me reloading is it's own reward. I enjoy it and like to putter around the bench/garage doing something related to the guns hobbies.
But, do I prefer reloading over shooting -- NOPE, I really enjoy the time at the trigger much more.
It's extremely satisfying to be able to shoot MY ammo, to have ammo in these times and to come up with loads for the various calibers. Another aspect is that without reloading how would I be able to feed my obscure chamberings? 6.5 Jap, 7.7 Jap, 6.5x55, etc...

My wife can't understand why I reload. Ah, you understand!

mdi has it right.

There is an old saying that some folks reload so they can shoot, while others shoot so they can reload.

Jim

I'm with you. Best thing about reloading besides saving all that money is not thinking about work.

Reload to shoot or shoot to reload?
I find both shooting and reloading equally fulfilling.

sounds as if your family works for you.ha ha

Being an engineer grad and having a background in production and QC, reloading is right up my ally.

Sizing, weights, measures, development, and testing...what more fun could you have???

I also cast my own so that's another aspect I really love.

My shooting and loading buddy loads to send his lead down range. For me I hate to send my hard work down range and would rather collect it.

My shooting and loading buddy loads to send his lead down range. For me I hate to send my hard work down range and would rather collect it.

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Yea Im having that problem lately too. I'll pack 300 rds of my stuff and 300 rds of factory when I go to the range and end up just shooting the factory. Also It bothers me to have half shot boxes of my own ammo afterwards..maybe I should just start dumping them in a ziploc or something after I load them.

The short answer is, yes. I like the reloading as much as the shooting. I started in 1976 and other than the years the kids were small and needed a lot of attention, I've done it every year since then. kwg

It's a really satisfying feeling to shoot sub-MOA groups at 200 yards with ammo you developed the load for, customized for the chamber of that particular rifle. Now that I have fire formed brass for it, I'm looking forward to seeing if I can improve on it further using neck sizing instead of FL sizing. I look at reloading as much as a hobby of it's own as well as keeping my guns fed.

I enjoy reloading every bit as much as shooting. However, I have learned to not advertise it. When I do, there is a chorus of "Can you do some for me?" I used to have an FFL for ammo manufacture and would. I gave up the license after Clinton went crazy, so don't load for others anymore.

Also It bothers me to have half shot boxes of my own ammo afterwards..maybe I should just start dumping them in a ziploc or something after I load them.

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I'm a little OCD about that too. I have a .30-cal ammo can of .40s (what I shoot the most of) and when I get back from the range, I refill the boxes from it. When I load, they go into the ammo can and wait for their call to the boxes.

I hear you.
I used to actually go back and cook up the same recipes again, to fill the 50 or 100 rd boxes back up, if I still have the same bullet and powder.

It took me some time to figure it out and it came to me recently when I wanted to try some new combinations in the 32H&R so I had to shoot up 100 rounds of perfectly good reloads so I could experiment. I shoot to reload. I find experimenting and collecting the results on a new load then tweaking it to be the most fun. I even started a thread about it this spring.

I used to actually go back and cook up the same recipes again, to fill the 50 or 100 rd boxes back up, if I still have the same bullet and powder.

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Yeah, you have to have a standard load to do that, but I found one I like. Luckily it doesn't take much Bullseye for .40s and I cast the bullets so no lack of a supply there.