Do you reload?

Do you reload

  • Yes

    Votes: 288 83.5%

  • No

    Votes: 57 16.5%
  • Total voters
    345
  • Poll closed .
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i cast my own for 45acp and 45-70. the 45-70 started life as a 12in. contender pistol and now sports a 16in. barrel. cost per shot is very reasonable and i can experiment.
 
Yes

Yes every week.

Bob

Every member or veteran of the U.S. military is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life." That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand nor remember it.
 
Yes, only way to keep shooting with gas this high. Doesn't take up too much room, 90% is on this tv stand,

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Casting setup is in the garage, set up on an old end table,

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Great two additional hobbies that compliment the main hoby of shooting!
 
I've been reloading for my rifles about 15 years. I started reloading for handguns about two weeks after I bought my first handgun that wasn't a .22.

It's a lot of fun, it's rewarding, challenging, and best of all it allows me to go down to the basement and have something to do on rainy afternoons. :)
 
Yes 17 years and counting, I stop counting the rounds many years ago. Manage to do it while raising 3 kids and dedicated to my country serving in the Marine Corps. The children have turned out to be responsible and mannerable adults and young adults. When you meet one of my children you will hear yes maam no maam, yes sir no sir, the oldest having her own psycology practice. I am very proud but I take little credit it is all because of the wife :).
 
No, but I'd like to; and I've been studying up on it for over a year now, as there are no mentors available to me. YouTube and THR have been wonderful sources of information, and I've read ABC's of Reloading and a few other books. But I still can't seem to come up with a consensus. It's almost like asking "What's the best shotgun," and getting tangled up in the ensuing controversy. I'm almost there, but I still have dozens of "stupid" questions that I'm reluctant to ask.
 
As someone here has posted before, "Reloading your own ammunition does not save you money" "You just get to shoot more" I've been shooting more sence the mid-eighties. LM
 
Started loading my own back in the 70's.The only factory stuff I've shot since was 100 rnds 357 mag I got with my Python back in the 80's and 200 rnds of 38 sp.to get my concealed carry.That was enough for me.

SleazyRider there are no "stupid" questions especially when it comes to reloading.The folks in the handloading section will fall all over themselves to help you.
 
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Yes. A properely assembled hand load exceeds in quality of even the most expensive factory ammunition. experts conclude that factory ammunition is considered a "one size fits all" product. I've disassembled many factory rounds and have discovered that powder charges are extremely inconsistent, and in my personal experience have been very unreliable. If you were to measure the dimensions of a factory cartridge before and after firing, the variation in chamber dimensions would quickly confirm one size fits all statement.
 
Been handloading for about 30 years: all handgun and rifle centerfires, shot shells and black powder cartridge. I've been casting almost as long. It's allowed me to shoot more and probably saves money at today's ammo prices since I already have the tools. I can find THE loads the guns like and control recoil to suit smaller shooters. And it has become an enjoyable hobby in itself.

I have a bench and room for components but can easily function using a Workmate for the press and a footlocker to hold the tools and components. It's just a few square feet and the Workmate folds down for easy storage.

Jeff
 
I started handloading in the 60's, and have something close to 50 sets of dies around. Here's one of my benches,

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I just loaded some 9.3x74R's on it...

DM
 
Started pulling the handle on a Bonanza B1 CoAx press which belonged to a older friend(mentor) in 1966, bought my own press(RockChucker) in 1969. I added my own Bonanza CoAx, a B2 model in 1970/71.

So I have been at this hobby almost 45 years now... still learn something new everyday!

Jimmy K
 
Yep, since 2003. I bought all Dillon equipment from Brian Enos, including a 550B and never looked back. A few years later I added another 550. :)
 
Yes I reload. It's just part of the sport/hobby. :)

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That little bench reloads all of those. Currently 2000 rounds made up for just those pistols alone. It also reloads for a CZ-52, two rifles and Mr. 12ga.

Bring in some basic Smith skills. And life is great as a independent shooter. No retail fodder allowed. :D
 
I've been reloading over 30 years. Started with a portable bench and kept it in my closet to keep the kids out of it.

Sent from my Ally using Tapatalk
 
I am like you with small children but did start to reload a couple of years ago. I don't have very much time and only reload for my .40 right now, only caliber I have enough brass for.

I plan to reload for some of my other guns but will wait until I get more brass saved up. It is pretty costly getting set up at first but once you have the equipment and components it is really rewarding to shoot your own ammo, the cost savings is a plus too.
 
I feel I need a little more room and time (2 small kids and a small home).
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Time I can't help you with. Space I can.

If you really want to reload, and say you have NO space, none at all, you can get a simple "Lee Loader" kit. They're slow but work quite well. I loaded thousands of rounds of 38 ammo with one back in the day. That kit cost about $9.95 back then and still sells for less than $50.00. A few simple, inexpensive hand tools will make it easier, (priming tool, case trimmer and holder, lube pad, chamfer tool, primer pocket cleaner) but really aren't essential right away. You can get started with just a kit about the size of a paperback book, and hunk of 2x4 (a plastic mallet is nicer).

These days, I've stepped up a bit, and I use a Lee Hand Press" which looks and works sort of like a nutcracker. No actual bench needed. I do all my case prep work while on the sofa watching TV. The rest of the stuff, powder measure, scales, and such, can be set up on the kitchen table. Everything fits in one cardboard box and stores in the top of a closet.

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Less than $200.00 for everything including powder, bullets, and primers. I had saved brass for a while.
 
Everytime I'm empty! LOL!

But seriously, yes I've been reloading for about 25 years. I'd feel lost if I couldn't roll my own and had to depend only on what the factory puts out.
 
A wise old guy once told me "reloading doesn't make shooting any cheaper just means you can shoot more".
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He obviously never had any guns in obsolete calibers.

.50-70 is going around $60 a box of 20.

Even at $1.50 a pop for new brass it is cheaper from the start.
 
Yes, it would be extremely expensive to do the amount of shooting I do without handloading. Handloading makes the cost tolerable. Unfortunately, I don't enjoy the process as much as others do. Though I do find running a Dillon 650 to be much less of a chore than a single stage. Because it's over quicker. ;)


He obviously never had any guns in obsolete calibers.
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No, the point is that you don't shoot the same quantity of ammunition and save money, you spend the same amount (or more) and just shoot more.
 
I started reloading shotshells back in the '60s when the hulls were still paper. I graduated to metallic cartridges in the early '70s. It has been a way to shoot a lot more than if I were buying factory ammo. I also cast a lot of the larger caliber bullets I shoot which helps even more.

I have read a few magazine articles over the years extolling the virtues of reloading. One virtue is that it's "fun." Not to me, it isn't. It's just work but work that allows me to have more fun when I shoot what I have put together and get better results than what I can obtain off the shelf. The results are worth the work.

I like accurate guns and have no use for one that is only moderately accurate or inaccurate depending on how you look at it. Reloading has enabled me to make accurate guns from some that weren't so great and it has also caused me to just give up and trade off a few that I decided were hopeless. If I had to pay the high prices that premium factor ammo commands to get somewhat close to the same results that I get with handloads I would have to seriously curtail my shooting hobby. I'm not going to do that.

Now if I could just find a way to stop the wind from blowing so I could really see what my latest efforts with .223 for for the new AR are going to be. :banghead:
 
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