Do you have a certain cartridge you just kinda leave out?

[Megawatt maker]

Until recently and like most everyone else I also believe in loading for almost everything I own. I started reloading with the 44 spl / Mag and it's the only pistol cartridge I loaded for. I have a bunch of factory 9mm but brass is cheap and I'll probably find a few more Herters Dies online I can't live w/o anyway since I upgraded from a pair of single stage presses to a Lyman All-American 8 turrent press.

I do reload for all my milsurp rifles but I do have a few that I'm always on the lookout for brass for that I would like to load for more often, the 6.5 Jap & the 30/40 Krag. Now that I think about it there is one rifle cartridge that I never did load for that I finally ended up selling that particular rifle over cuz I never could find a projectiles for the damn thing. That Oddball 6.5 Italian Carcano with a .268 bore ?. Granted it looked just like a miniature Mosin but no one made the oddball bullets for it, Graf's does very sporadically but haven't in a while and they sell out almost immediately. And there is one outfit here in Idaho that said they could make me a custom Luber Sizer die to load for it but I decided it was going to be too big of a pain in the ass so I sold it to a pawn shop and bought a bunch of 6.5 Swede & 54R brass instead.

Also for a little variation I never did reload berdan primed 54R brass, but I did find some intriguing tutorials and videos on converting from berdan to boxer w/ a 1/4" drill bit , 1/4" Copper tubing & a primer pocket swager on the press that is definitely worth a try.

PPU makes and sells some nice 54R boxer brass. It's fairly cheap, and it's still can be had.

I only load for my 91/30 PU. I hate running corrosive ammo in it. The PSL I dont load for. Just shoot spam can through it and scub immediately

 

[Muddydogs]

I load for everything I own and haven't purchased a stick of factory ammo in years. Out of 23 calibers I load for I have about 2500 rounds of factory ammo, 1000 223 I purchased 15 years ago, 2 spam cans of 7.62x54r and the rest of the factory is misc pistol mostly given to me. Anymore I try to avoid anyone giving me ammo, I have good loads for my firearms, have plenty loaded and don't really need the brass so I rather they just keep there junk. I load from 380 auto all the way up to 375 H&H including the 7.62x54r and an old 7.7 Jap rifle o ya I even load for my 30/30 mod 94 win. I get guys asking me all the time what factory load I would recommend for this or that firearm and I have to tell them I have no idea, I don't shoot factory and I don't pay attention to all the new loads that come out so I have no clue.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

A .40 S&W case fits perfectly in a .45 acp case and loves to get stuck with a little bit of tumbeling media. Likewise a 9mm fits perfectly in a .40 S&W and loves to get stuck with a little bit of tumbeling media.

Heck don't let that stop you from loading a round.
.44 mags get stuck in .45 Colts too. I darn sure aint getting rid of either of them. And they're both too expensive to shoot factory ammo.

 

[Skylerbone]

I just picked up a 350 Legend barrel for my Encore that I have no plans to load or reload for. Now I’ll save the brass because I never say never, but the time and expense for what is a once a year deer rifle for kids just makes it unlikely to ever take hold in my mind. Yes to .380 ACP, 9mm, 40 S&W, .38/.357, .44, .45 ACP, .223, .243, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 30-06 but no to a 4 box/year pony.

People used to chuckle about me loading 9mm and .223 when it could be had so cheap and here I am with my .20/round ARs still haunting the range twice a week. Despite having felt that I was well stocked up in January, my Spidey Senses forced me to continue buying whenever I could.

 

[Jack B.]

When it comes to reloading for pistols, I don't reload for anything smaller than .357. I have a 9mm and.32 but they are just to small for me to reload. Don't like reloading small stuff. Rifle , I kind of draw the line at .308.

 

[entropy]

I have a 4" Bond Arms 45 Colt/.410 barrel derringer. The trigger stinks and that makes it unpleasant to shoot and difficult to hit the target. I got a couple smaller cartridge barrels (38 Special and 327 Fed mag) for the gun and it is more useful but with the smaller bore, not as efficient. I got a cool 327 Fed Mag shot shell load that uses gas checks for over powder and over shot wads.

With the 45 Colt/.410 barrel, I just use my standard 45 Colt reloads and .410-2-1/2" skeet loads in the derringer.

Well, with a Bond Arms, you can do that. Cobray/Leinad only made them in .45LC/.410. I originally got the dies for loading for a friend's Anaconda, before I even got the derringer.

 

[jmorris]

Bunches of .22’s, 25’s, 7.62x39

 

[Old Stumpy]

So, no rimfires?

No. I had all my rimfire guns converted to .25 ACP.

It's quite satisfying casting teeny tiny Keith semi-wadcutters and shooting them out of my Ruger Bearcat.

 

[Old Stumpy]

I do load for my wife's Model 94, 32 Special. It's kinda fun to shoot once in a while, and it was easy to work up a decent load for it.

I owned a very nice pre-64 1950s .32 Special 1894 carbine that I got from a friend.
It came with a bag of loose old factory cartridges that I proceeded to burn up plinking.
I was very impressed with the accuracy. Seemed like you could not miss.
Well, of course I saved the brass for reloading.
I was working my way through a magazine full when one cartridge made a completely different "blam" sound.
I stopped and unloaded and examined the bore which looked perfectly normal, as did the brass casing.
So I took a closer look at the casing and found that it was head-stamped .30-30.
I shrugged and tossed it in the bag thinking: "Well its' a .32 Special casing now."
I never did reload for that carbine because I didn't have it that long. Wish I had kept it though.

 

[375supermag]

Heck don't let that stop you from loading a round.
.44 mags get stuck in .45 Colts too. I darn sure aint getting rid of either of them. And they're both too expensive to shoot factory ammo.

Hi...
One way to minimize that problem is to tumble different cartridges separately.
That's what I do. I separate all calibers before tumbling. The only brass I tumble together are rifle calibers that are impossible to nest inside each other.

The only cartridge I shoot that I don't reload for is 7.62x39. I held off reloading for 9mm, .38Spl and .40S&W for years because the loaded ammunition was so inexpensive that it wasn't cost effective considering how little of it that I shot. I shoot considerably more of all three calibers these days, so it is necessary to maintain sufficient stocks of components and loaded ammunition.

 

[.308 Norma]

I was working my way through a magazine full when one cartridge made a completely different "blam" sound.
I stopped and unloaded and examined the bore which looked perfectly normal, as did the brass casing.
So I took a closer look at the casing and found that it was head-stamped .30-30.

Yeppers, I remember my dad doing essentially the same thing with a .243 in a .308. It made a different "blam" sound too - more like a real loud "PLOOP!"

 

[lightman]

I guess for me its a 380. My 380 is a Walter PPK safe queen and my Wife's choice for concealed carry is a 380 but we don't shoot a 380 very much. This may change since my buddy bought his Wife a 380. She has been out several times to shoot it (good for her) and this is causing my Wife to shoot hers more. I have the dies and shell holder so I'll probably get into loading for this caliber, sooner or later.

 

[WestKentucky]

So far 30 carbine. I have dies, but haven’t set them up yet. I only shoot the gun 50 rds Ayers or less so it’s not very high on the priority list, especially since I’m still burning ammo I bought for it when I first got it. Also 30-30... it’s not that I don’t do it, I just don’t do it often. Every now and then I will make 20 or 30 rounds just to have something to do, but I have never done a serious session cranking out 30-30.

 

[DanK3Pos]

George, reloading the 380 ACP really helps tame that recoil.
Shooting factory ammo out of most 380 pistols is unpleasant and I've had enough after a mag or two. But with my reloads, I can shoot a whole box of 50 without any discomfort. Event the dreaded PPK gets tamed down to nearly comfortable levels.
Try it sometime and you may be able to enjoy range time with the 380s.

I just shot a 380 a couple of weeks ago for the first time. I didn't notice the recoil, but I was shooting .45acp and 10mm that day. I can say that little Glock had one of the crappiest triggers I've ever pulled.

 

[DanK3Pos]

No. I had all my rimfire guns converted to .25 ACP.

It's quite satisfying casting teeny tiny Keith semi-wadcutters and shooting them out of my Ruger Bearcat.

When they cut the cylinder for .25, they leave a ledge for the case mouth to seat?

 

[mstreddy]

DanK, the Glock 42 handles the 380 recoil pretty well.

 

[Howland937]

I had never loaded for .45 or .380 because I had lots and lots of factory ammo but I always save as much brass as I can recover without getting poison ivy. So now that I'm down to only having lots of both, I decided to start loading both. I'd never loaded 9mm either, but mostly because I haven't owned a 9mm in several years. Since I recently ran across a deal I couldn't turn down, that's changed. So I guess I'll be loading it in the near future.

Guess I just normally overlooked semi-auto handgun rounds since I was never chasing superb accuracy or performance the way I had with rifles. So I kinda went backwards, starting with bottle-necked cartridges. Got into loading for .38 Super and saw how much simpler it is than the rifles...so now I don't have a good reason NOT to load for everything I own.

 

[Captcurt]

I load for everything that I own except 9mm and 380. All my centerfire rifles and my 40 S&W get hand rolled stuff.

 

[SuperNaut]

30-30. I love my old trusty Winchester but I haven't shot it in years.

6.5 Grendel because I can't seem to find any IMR 8208 XBR anywhere. I suppose I could switch over to IMR 4198, but I'm just not familiar with it.

 

[Old Stumpy]

When they cut the cylinder for .25, they leave a ledge for the case mouth to seat?

It is semi-rimless.

 

[Sneakshot92]

For me it has to be the 303 British. I shoot it some, but don't reload for it (yet). Other than that 7.62x54r because boxer primed ammo is tough to find as is brass.. Most of what I have is the steel cased stuff. Funny thing is there's a couple RCBS 7.62x54r die sets at the local farm&barn but nothing for the 303..

 

[splattergun]

Over 98% of the ammunition for my SKS is Berdan primed, hardly any Boxer primed brass to be found, at least not for a reasonable price. I haven't even bought 7.62x39 dies yet. Every other cartridge I run gets reloaded despite how cheap the factory crap is. I like tuning the loads for my guns.

 

[Toprudder]

I have not bothered loading for my 7.62 Nagant revolver (7.62x38R). I bought a couple hundred rounds of factory ammo. Soft shooting, but not very accurate. After recovering a fired bullet from it, I found out the factory ammo has .308 diameter bullets, and there were hardly any marks left from the rifling. I have not slugged the barrel, but I know it is at least .311. No wonder it is not accurate. I can see me getting the dies for this one in the future, and if I ever get into casting, it will probably be for this one.

I have loaded 7.62x39, since I have a Ruger Mini 30 that all the internet wisdom indicated it would have a .308" bore. After loading up several different bullets, I did get a halfway decent load for it. Later, I slugged the barrel and found out it is, in fact, a .3105" bore. I bought some appropriate bullets but have not done anything else with that gun. I do have an AR15 chambered in x39, and went through the trouble of making some test loads, but I found out that one brand of ammo was just as accurate and a lot cheaper, so I don't plan to load for that one anymore, either.

I have not loaded any 8mm Mauser yet, though I am saving my factory brass. I could buy factory ammo for what the empty brass and other components would have cost, and I am still shooting that factory ammo. I don't shoot it that often, so it will take a while. Same with 450 Bushmaster and 303 British, except I did go ahead and get the dies for those.

I load plenty of 9mm and 223, simply because I can work up loads that work better for me than factory ammo. I have loaded 380 in the past, but have not done it in a while since we don't shoot that caliber much anymore.

 

[Eugen]

I enjoy shooting my collection of vintage 32acp handguns and reload those. I also handload my 9mm and 380 just to play with different recipes. I have a few vintage 25 acps that I occasionally love shoot. While I collect the brass (when I can find the little buggers), I just haven't had an interest in reloading that Lilliputian caliber. Measuring the powder would be more of a challenge and much less fun.

 

[reddog81]

Out of the calibers I own I'm not interested in reloading for 40 S&W, .380 or .223. I just got done loading up 100 rounds of .300 Blackout. It's a very versatile cartridge and factory ammo isn't cheap even during good times. You can go from a 100 grain bullet at 1,000 FPS to a 180 grain bullet at 1,800 FPS and anything in between. With home cast bullets I can load rounds for an AR for under $.10 a piece. Loads for a bolt action can be even cheaper.