Anyone else hate reloading?

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I like it even more with the China Virus forcing me to stay home. I'll run out of reloading supplies eventually. Started reloading with my brother. We spent many hours in his garage on nice days, loading and talking. He taught me the basics and eventually I brought new ideas and new equipment to the process. During our years of reloading together and subsequently shooting lots of prairie dogs, we became better at both and better friends too. Brother moved and now lives 7 hours away, so we no longer load together. But, I've taught 2 other guys to reload and they bring fresh ideas to the process along with friendship. Even though I dislike trimming 100s of cases (MY least favorite activity). overall, the process has brought enormous reward__better ammo and friendship.
 
I don't hate it but it's not my favorite thing in the world to do either. I got two Dillon 650's because I hate changing the priming system. Thinking about a third. If handloading was fun I wouldn't bother. I like shooting and handloading is a necessary chore in order to shoot what I want to shoot, in the volume I want to shoot. This is the reason why I don't handload cartridges that don't offer a significant cost savings, like 9mm and 5.56. Ain't worth the trouble.
 
I tried using one of those complicated gismos that pretty much do the reloading while you just pull the lever.
Boring, and pretty much guaranteed to give you the occasional squib.
I went to using a bank of single stage presses that are each set up for a single function.
I de-prime and size the brass, trim and tumble the brass.
Then I use a hand primer to prime all of the brass at one time.
Then, when I feel like it, I bell the mouth and drop the powder (checking the drop every so often), switch to the next press and set the bullet, then switch to the next and crimp (if necessary).
The round never touches the bench until it's finished.
It's very zen.
 
I got away from reloading in the 1990s when I took up Civil War and RevWar re-enacting, I was reloading and shooting a lot but I didn't have to worry about accuracy. The only reloading supplies I needed were black powder, newsprint, percussion caps and flints. For the last 5 years or so I have fired only 22RF-it's shooting and the skills developed apply to larger calipers.
Reloading is like cooking and baking. It requires patience, an ability to read directions carefully until you understand them, a willingness to invest in proper equipment and a recognition that a high initial investment pays off in the long run. Then learning to do things step by step, not rush them, an ability to recognize mistakes and take the time to correct them. People I know who have taken cooking courses and attended cooking schools have said the most important thing they learned was the set up, the organization, having the supplies on hand.
The rewards are ammunition, that, like dishes, are tailored to your taste and you can prepare anytime you want to.
 
For the most part I enjoy reloading. Certain things I dread doing are trimming cases, removing primer crimps and cleaning cases. Other than that it is a way to pass the time during the winter months. I always try to have a good supply loaded so I can shoot all I want when it's good weather and worry about reloading when I desire.
 
Boring, and pretty much guaranteed to give you the occasional squib.
I don't know how you figure that. There are powder check dies and eyeballs to depend on to prevent that.

It ain't supposed to be exciting, it's supposed to be fast, which is exciting when it ain't fun.
 
I don't enjoy it, but I don't hate it. The first word that pops into my head is tedious.

I limit myself to 100 pistol or 50 rifle rounds per session, or I am likely to lose focus.

If I consider the value of my time, reloading is vastly more expensive than buying; even at the current inflated rates. However, I consider it a valuable skill to have (for a number of reasons) so I do enough to be competent.

FWIW, I have a basic turret setup with dies and components for some common cartridges: 9mm, ,40, .45, .38/.357, .223, .308 and 30/06.
 
I reload because I am cheap; I consider it a necessary chore to allow me to shoot the volume I want to shoot. When it is time, I will sit down and crank out 1K in pistol and a few flats in 12 gauge, but since I can shoot year round there is no cold-weather down time, which means I need to reload during shooting times!
 
Brass prep for rifle is the worst part, but I don’t hate it. It’s satisfying finishing a round at the end of the process. I enjoy the process, but I’ve only loaded about 3k rounds. So maybe in a few years I’ll get tired of it.
 
Yea but if you shoot anything uncommon it's the only way to have a supply of ammo at a reasonable price. Just did 500 7.7 jap rounds and had to trim every single one. That being said I have 500 rounds for it now instead of 0. Time consuming but worth it.
 
Brass prep for rifle is the worst part, but I don’t hate it. It’s satisfying finishing a round at the end of the process. I enjoy the process, but I’ve only loaded about 3k rounds. So maybe in a few years I’ll get tired of it.
Case trimming is the most tiring part of the process, but the Frankfort Arsenal case trimmer/prep center really speeds up the process for .223 brass. I still hand trim the others, since I load comparatively small quantities of those. I also enjoy the result of the liquid tumbling and shiny brass.
As for getting tired of it, after 40 years, I still enjoy it and take pride that many game animals have been taken by my handloads by family and close friends of family.
Another enjoyable aspect has been the bargain hunting and successful acquisition of components (and even factory ammo!), which has become even more challenging the past year or so. Pretty satisfying when you anticipated what was coming and grabbed deals in bulk. Like this one:
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Hate it, no never. I mostly enjoy every part of it. There have been times though when I'm shooting a lot it starts to feel like a chore. I've been told its a waste of time, you can buy it just as cheap, and your time is worth money. I don't hear any of that in the last 10 months.

-Jeff
 
A very good winter time hobby. I’m not a high volume shooter so I’ve never grown tired of it. ive always bought 223 and 9mm until this past year. I prepped 1200 223 cases recently. Yes I got sick of trimming and chamfering but the reward is nice. Also i compare my reloads to equivalent store bought and not some cheap bulk.
 
I don't love it but it's not the worst thing to do either. I got into it because at the time I was shooting alot of 45 Colt and buying factory ammo is triple or quadruple the cost.
 
I actually like reloading, even though I just started a few months ago. There is a heck of a lot of satisfaction (to me) in load development for my rifles. With factory ammo, my .222 would group about 1" at 100 yards; with my handloads it will group .25" at 100, and under .5" at 200. I also like to tinker and experiment, so it's right up my alley as far as that goes. As far as pistol rounds, I like to load about 50 at a session. Any more than that, and my eyes start getting tired, not a good thing.

All that said, I have no intentions of giving it up any time soon. For that matter, I wish components would become available again so I can do more.

Mac
 
I've been told its a waste of time, you can buy it just as cheap, and your time is worth money.
My wife and I are both long-time retired. We get paid the same for our "time" whether we're doing something enjoyable like handloading, or whether we're doing something we hate, like mowing the lawn, or this time of year, clearing snow off the front walk. For that matter, we get paid the same if we're not doing anything except sitting on our rear ends in front of the television.;)
BTW, I prime cases with my RCBS hand priming tool while sitting in front of the television. It's usually a lot more enjoyable than watching "Leave it to Beaver" reruns. Besides, every time I hear someone say something is "a waste of time," I wonder how much time that person spent watching the news on television lately.o_O
 
Sometimes I wonder if I shoot so that I can reload? Yes, I enjoy it. I have tried to find easier or faster ways of doing some of the task that get to be boring. I bought a Giraud trimmer because trimming thousands of cases was not fun. I use tools that will work in a cordless drill for doing primer pockets, primer crimps, neck turning and flash holes. I'll sit in front of the TV with a cordless drill and a plastic tub and enjoy being with the family while I work on cases. I use an electric powder thrower / scale combo when loading extruded powder. I lube cases with a spray lube and a Ziplock bag so I don't have to mess with a lube pad. I have a pot and burner set-up that will melt 400# of lead at a time so that it doesn't take forever to process a bucket of wheelweights. Just a few of the things that I do to make loading easier!

To me, its all worth it when I pick up a finished round and know that I built something thats more accurate than a factory round! And cheaper!
 
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