Don't reload? You should... here's why

[Reloadron]

I reloaded years ago. But like your brother, my time is worth more than what I could save reloading ammo...plus, I do not find reloading to be relaxing.
However, instead of spending four hours a day playing video games, I spend a couple working my side business. That earns me far more extra cash than I could save by reloading. I've been doing this for 16 years now. My hobby side-line has paid for a few dozen firearms, ammo, vacations, guitars, slot cars, etc....not to mention buying goodies for my wife.
.

Obviously rolling one's own isn't for everyone. Personally I find it relaxing so I do it. I also do it because I enjoy working up loads for assorted guns with a focus on rifles that deliver better accuracy than I can buy over the counter.

Real shortly I will bid a fond farewell to a long career in electrical engineering that has served me well. With the exception of owning a brick and mortar gun shop on the side for entertainment and the ability to pursue my hobby I never had much desire to pursue any other side work. My "real job" did just fine for placing beanies and weenies on the table, financing vacations and pretty much whatever I wanted to do with my off time. Have also been fortunate in that my wife has a well paying job and solid career. She will also retire soon. Stuffing the coffer isn't really that important to me. What is now important is getting my home in order and finally building my new gun room area and having more time to do the things I enjoy. Work is done so time for fun. I just happen to enjoy hand loading and trips to the range.

I figure it this way. Everybody is entitled to do as they please with their idle time. The only thing of importance is that they enjoy that time. While I can't relate to playing 4 hours a day of video games doesn't matter as long as the person playing them does. If someone uses their idle time doing a hobby that also puts bucks in their pocket, then fine with me, whatever trips their trigger as long as it makes them happy. It doesn't get any simpler.

Just My Take..............
Ron

 

[Vartarg]

Reasons NOT to reload: you won't really save money.

Reason TO reload: 1) it's enjoyable; 2) you'll shoot more; 3) you can make better ammo than the commerical product, tuned to your firearms and purposes.....

 

[HOOfan_1]

If other people don't want to reload, I don't see why we need to nit pick their justification.

Heck...if they don't reload, just means more components available for those of us who do.

 

[oldcelt]

Reloading is a good way to go but not for everyone, For me it is the only way to go, I have been casting bullets and loading rifle and handgun ammo for more than 65 years and found it to be rewarding in lots of ways. I do most of my loading on cold wintery days and when good weather comes I can shoot all I want. I still strive to produce top quality ammo.

 

[huntsman]

the greater flexibility of building ammo to your specs, the ability to build ammo from your supplies when no factory ammo is available anywhere, the enjoyment of the activity... even the environmental benefits... the following should be reason enough.

Ok environmental? I get making custom hunting rounds but if all you do is shoot pistol casually and CC how will custom rounds be an asset? you got a great group with the homemade stuff is that your all around ammo?

 

[Reloadron]

Ok environmental? I get making custom hunting rounds but if all you do is shoot pistol casually and CC how will custom rounds be an asset? you got a great group with the homemade stuff is that your all around ammo?

If all you do is shoot handgun casually then there is no to little benefit to rolling your own.

This brings up a good point. For the casual shooter and by casual shooter I mean a person who shoots maybe once a month at that or less I see no reason to hand load. The casual shooter may only shoot a box (50 rounds) a month. Using a CCW for example, they may practice once a month or less. Factory ammunition will suit their needs just fine. I personally see no need for a casual shooter to concern themselves with loading their own.

Ron

 

[Arkansas Paul]

If other people don't want to reload, I don't see why we need to nit pick their justification.

I absolutely agree. Reloading is not for everyone. If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it. I would volunteer for a few hours overtime a week, or find some side work to do and use that money to buy factory ammo. Of course that wouldnt' be a very good plan right now.

I think that these people who try to figure their time into it, obviously don't enjoy it, or they wouldn't look at it that way.

 

[HOOfan_1]

If all you do is shoot handgun casually then there is no to little benefit to rolling your own.

This brings up a good point. For the casual shooter and by casual shooter I mean a person who shoots maybe once a month at that or less I see no reason to hand load. The casual shooter may only shoot a box (50 rounds) a month. Using a CCW for example, they may practice once a month or less. Factory ammunition will suit their needs just fine. I personally see no need for a casual shooter to concern themselves with loading their own.

Ron

I only shoot about once a month...but I shoot more like 450 rounds every time I go

 

[Reloadron]

I only shoot about once a month...but I shoot more like 450 rounds every time I go

Congratulations!

You now exceed my personal idea of casual.

Ron

 

[SFsc616171]

re: 'don't reload ... you should

It seems that for more than a year, even during the last year's worth of time, split between V.A. regional hospital visits and a stay, that the idea of reloading, for my beloved caliber, the .38 Special, has been winding through both my conscience and sub-conscience.

"As with any hobby, there are 'start-up costs." This is true! I was a major proponent of what has now been re-labeled 'traditional archery/bowhunting' in years past. In that time, my 'simple stick and string' cost me $300.00. Then, of course, you find that 'Flemish strings' do wonders. You find that, unlike those Port Orford cedar shafts, that need an occasional running over with an eyehook to keep straight, Easton aluminum shafts with the spining equal to the poundage of the bow, fly faster and come back from 'arrow parallax' more quickly. you find that shield-cut fletchings provide a better control than the usual parabolic fletching cut. You discover that there are bow-mounted quivers, hip quivers, the good ol' back quivers. you seem to shoot better with an archer's glove, instead of the palm tabs.

The writings go on, and the dollar signs keep jumping up, but you do it, because it is what makes your arrows group better, your form becomes more fluid and instinctive, which will make your day afield more productive.

So it is, I admit, with reloading ammunition for my .38 Special.

This will be a 'field' where 'less is more'. With all that I have read, on this board and others, the solution of powder, and measured quantity has been solved. The projectiles are lead - and not jacketed with both 148 grain and 158 grain weights, the manufacturers not decided yet.

The mechanizations of reloading, not yet solved. Handloading? Standloading? Rubber mallet or cranked press? Which method to clean cartridges?

And all, on 'a beer budget'!!

 

[1KPerDay]

Depends on how much and how expensive your beer is. I highly recommend the Lee Classic Turret (when you can find one again) with pro auto disc powder measure. Lyman 2500 tumbler, RCBS or Ohaus 5-0-5 powder measure, harbor freight /Frankford Arsenal digital calipers. Cheap impact bullet puller. That should be just about everything you really need for .38 Sp. And powder (HP-38 is good, or Bullseye, or a lot of others) and components of course. Do it!

 

[bolthead]

Take golfing for example, the thing we look forward to is not trying to make our own golfballs/clubs from scratch, but to actually play. I have to admit that people are different and some people enjoy preparation and count it as part of their hobby. And some people don't, even if they can do that while doing something else. To each his own

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I have to admit that people are different and some people enjoy preparation and count it as part of their hobby.

There have been several times that I went shooting just because I was out of brass to load.

 

[witchhunter]

When I started reloading (10.00 Lee handloader) it was to save money, then I learned that I could make ammo more accurate than ANY factory ammo. When I started loading for my current deer rifle, I took Mr. O'Connor's advice and used Nosler Partitions. I couldn't buy factory ammo with those bullets then. I have shot over 35 pounds of 4831 through it, 53.1 grains at a time. Do the math, If I just saved $3.00 a box, that is almost $700.00 in savings. I have 19 rifles, I can't imagine the cost of a prairie dog hunt with factory ammo. What does 300 rounds of premium factory .22/250 go for? .218 Bee? 6mm BR? .17 Rem? .22 Hornet, or better yet .17 Ackley Hornet or .220 Swift Ackley Improved? 300 rounds of any of this only costs me $80.00 using current pricing. Reloading to me is the best of both, savings and accuracy. But if you want to use factory ammo, make sure you leave your brass so us reloaders can pick it up! I love coming up on a pile of once fired factory .22-250!

 

[Certaindeaf]

How else can you paper patch .45 rifle slugs with $100 bills? lolz, not.. that'd be illegal.

 

[captmoto]

If you shoot less common rounds than .308, 30.06, .223 or the common pistol rounds, once you are set up, it's way cheaper to reload. I reload 6.5 x 55, ..257 Roberts and will be trying some 6.5 Japanese loads. I got my initial start for free from my wifes uncle. I bought a few new widgets new and recently bought a ton of stuff in an estate sale. Over 600 .224 projectiles, 350 6.5 x 55 new Winchester cases. couple hundred 6.5 projectiles, RCBS 505 scale. Oak machininsts chest and big Sears work/reloading bench. 2 RCBS powder measures with stand. Lots more for $600. I can now set up a dedicated reloading space in my house since all kids are out.

 

[Dave Rishar]

As one of "those guys" mentioned previously who factor in their time when balancing the equation, allow me to submit an idea that may shock some: not everyone likes reloading.

I like riding my bike. I like shooting. I like screwing around on the internet. I like Belgian ales. Thus, I don't "charge" myself for these things. I would do these on my own volition given half a chance. I'm not costing myself free time by doing them, as that's what I spend my free time doing.

I do not like reloading. I also don't like working overtime. So, now we have a problem - does it make more financial sense to do one thing I don't like, or something else that I don't like? Up until the recent craziness, it normally made more financial sense to work, and to use the money to pay someone else to do something that I didn't want to do. It's simply a question of how much time I must spend doing something that I don't want to do in order to be able to spend time doing something that I do want to do. How can I most efficiently use that time?

Reloading is not relaxing for me. I've had a gun blow up in my face before. It wasn't my ammunition that did it, but that hardly helps the situation. When I'm reloading, I'm paying intense attention to what I'm doing. I'm double-checking things, I'm dumping out random cases to check the charges, and I'm exerting significant mental energy to make sure that everything goes well, and I can think of any number of things that I'd rather be doing than repeatedly pulling a lever. This is not pleasurable for me. My fingers and my eyes are my livelihood. I have to be sure that I keep all of them.

I apply this philosophy to all aspects of my life - if I don't enjoy it, and it's not a skill that I'm looking to learn or develop further, and if I'd make more money by working during the time I'd normally spend doing this, then I don't do it. I work instead. I work on my motorcycle (pleasurable) but I pay someone to service my VW (intensely unpleasant). Until the recent madness, I could get more ammuntion through ten hours of overtime than ten hours of reloading, so that's what I did. Obviously things are different now and I've adjusted accordingly. I still don't like reloading, but it's now worth my time to do so.

Does that make any sense at all?

When things return to relative normality, I'll run the numbers again and see what turns up. I may very well keep reloading at that point, but only if it makes sense to do so.

 

[X-JaVeN-X]

I would love to reload, but if I do it, I don't want to start out with a single stage...I would want to go ahead and bite the bullet and get a progressive. I figure I would have $700+ into just the initial setup...but by the time I save that much money in the gun stuff piggy bank...i end up just buying another gun instead lol. Not to mention it seems that everything I buy is a different caliber...got my first revolver on my past purchase (S&W 686 competitor in .357mag), so that is technically 2 more calibers from one gun. Luckily I was able to find both .38 spl and .357 mag win. white box right after getting it...haven't seen any of either on the shelf since. Getting all the die sets alone would cost me a small fortune.

 

[hang fire]

Forget about saving money. I bet I have easily 5 grand tied up in my reloading bench if not more.

I have been reloading and casting boolits for over 50+ years, in the 1980s I updated presses with a Dillon 450 and a Square DB, and couple years ago replaced the Orange Crusher with a Lee Cast iron classic SS.

I now have over 45 boolit molds, which is considered a moderate number for a serious caster. I have scrounged several 5 gallon buckets of wheel weights, some lino and a few hundred pounds of alloyed and soft lead.

Still using my old Lyman #45 lubri/sizer and have more than a few boolit sizing dies. Adequate amount of gas checks and primers bought when they were cheap by today's prices, and same for powders.

All of our CF rifles and handguns are primarily fed cast boolits.

As much shooting as we have done and still do, I know the savings garnered over the years would be considerable.

 

[ljnowell]

Many non-reloaders will dispute this. They will add up the start-up costs (all the equipment and indirect accessories) and they will add their time in with monetary value.

I have a brother that explained to me that his time was worth a little more than $20/hour and given that, reloading was no way to save money. So of course, instead of using his spare time doing something that I could describe as productive, he spends four-plus hours a day watching TV or playing PlayStation when he could be reloading ammo. I guess that means his TV/game habits cost him upwards of $100 per day.

He doesn't have any ammo today but I can load up a couple hundred rounds tonight in an hour or so.

I never spend too much time convincing people. I figure thats one less person I have to compete with when I want more components.

I reloaded years ago. But like your brother, my time is worth more than what I could save reloading ammo...plus, I do not find reloading to be relaxing.
However, instead of spending four hours a day playing video games, I spend a couple working my side business. That earns me far more extra cash than I could save by reloading. I've been doing this for 16 years now. My hobby side-line has paid for a few dozen firearms, ammo, vacations, guitars, slot cars, etc....not to mention buying goodies for my wife.

I guess it depends on how much you shoot. When you shoot 500 rounds a week, like I do, and it takes roughly two hours to load them, it certainly covers itself.

 

[zombie44]

If you're shooting 44 mag and not reloading you're not doing it right

I love the variety of loads and powders I can experiment with rolling my own, especially with 44 mag. Comes in handy too with guns that are finicky with ammo, like my Desert Eagle (44 mag of course!). Then there's the handguns in oddball calibers you can pick up on a whim and not worry about the price or availability of factory ammo like the Ruger SRH .480 or an old Colt .38 S&W.

 

[58limited]

I have a reloading set up for my .270 Winchester Model 70 but I don't really load for it anymore. Factory Winchester Super X .270 hits the center of the X ring every time in this rifle, I don't think I could improve on that. However, now that I have Shiloh Sharps I am reloading black powder .45-70 rounds and will be casting my own lead bullets. Factory .45-70 ammo ranges in price from $28-$34, black powder loads from a supplier such as Buffalo Arms cost $42+ depending on the bullet type and weight. I can reload for about $.50/round once I start casting my own bullets. I use a Lee Reloader press I bought in 1989 for $10. This is a single stage press but I'm not producing high volumes so it works for me. I have picked up dies for my 30-30 and .357 at garage sales in case I ever decide to load for those. Reloading is the only way to go when paper patching, I hope to get into that before long.

 

[thump_rrr]

I would love to reload, but if I do it, I don't want to start out with a single stage...I would want to go ahead and bite the bullet and get a progressive. I figure I would have $700+ into just the initial setup...but by the time I save that much money in the gun stuff piggy bank...i end up just buying another gun instead lol. Not to mention it seems that everything I buy is a different caliber...got my first revolver on my past purchase (S&W 686 competitor in .357mag), so that is technically 2 more calibers from one gun. Luckily I was able to find both .38 spl and .357 mag win. white box right after getting it...haven't seen any of either on the shelf since. Getting all the die sets alone would cost me a small fortune.

You'll be making a big mistake and will have a hard time finding the perfect load.
It is not easy to try various powder levels, seating depths, amount of crimp etc. on a progressive press.
Do yourself a favour and buy a single stage even if its a Lee breechlock kit for $129.00
Develop your load then setup the progressive to crank out the volume.
This is what I do with all of my calibers.
I even go as far as purchasing 2 sets of dies for each calibers.
One set for the progressive and the other for the single stage.

 

[btg3]

I reload 12ga, but have yet to achieve the results shown in the OP's photo.

Seated from a cardboard box rest at 25 feet...

Have you evaluated your reloading with regard to double-taps? What does reloading do defensive type shooting when it's all on the line?

Take golfing for example, the thing we look forward to is not trying to make our own golfballs/clubs from scratch, but to actually play.

Truth. I'd rather be shooting than getting ready to go shooting.

 

[Bruno2]

I would love to reload, but if I do it, I don't want to start out with a single stage...I would want to go ahead and bite the bullet and get a progressive. I figure I would have $700+ into just the initial setup...but by the time I save that much money in the gun stuff piggy bank...i end up just buying another gun instead lol. Not to mention it seems that everything I buy is a different caliber...got my first revolver on my past purchase (S&W 686 competitor in .357mag), so that is technically 2 more calibers from one gun. Luckily I was able to find both .38 spl and .357 mag win. white box right after getting it...haven't seen any of either on the shelf since. Getting all the die sets alone would cost me a small fortune.

I never use the my LNL AP for my bolt guns. I use my single stage. The single allows for a good close inspection of every round. Also I am usually changing bullets and powders when I am making those as well. I use the progressive for pistol and my semi autos. Still yet the development stage only requires a few rounds to see if that one works before going full bore on production.

I have to admit that reloading is the way to go. I can make powder puffs for the wifey and daughter to take for a long day of shooting that wont leave them beat up. All loads can be tweeked to maximize accuracy and performance. I can make hot loads when desired. I can even wildcat some stuff if I would like.

However, saving money is hard to do unless you are a disciplined person that doesn't give into marketing ploys or like better stuff. My standard dies make accurate ammo, but I have bought some competition dies for my bolt guns that were expensive as heck.I have good powder scales , but I bought a Lyman DPS III. I have stuff to remove the military crimps from brass , but I bought a Dillon super swage and the list goes on and on and on.