From Reloader to Handloader

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If there's a distinction between the 2, I'd say the point of departure is when a person is hands-on with every step of the process. Some people are one or the other, a lot of people are both. I'll load up some stuff just to have cheap ammo to let other people to blaze away. MIxed brass, bulk generic bullets @ $6/lb...scooped and weighed like nails, whatever extra primers I have and whatever powder I don't like. If I'm loading stuff for me to shoot, I'm a lot more picky about what I use and how I go about it.
 
I started out, like nearly everyone, by squishing a store-bought bullet into a fired case with an appropriate amount of an appropriate powder. They all went bang, and as I was a lousy shot anyway, life was good.

Eventually I learned a little about actually hitting a target, and also a little bit about bullet hardness, revolver dimensions, etc.

So for me, I suppose, the delineation between "reloader" and "handloader" is the delineation between buying stuff and squishing it together, and making stuff to allow the gun to perform at its best.

That all assumes we are keeping the discussion to handguns. Serious riflemen, of course, are completely nuts, so the difference between rifle reloading and rifle handloading is pretty much the difference between sane and insane.

Hope that helps!
 
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You might be a handloader if.....
1. Berger bullets are a minimum used only in a pinch and most of your loads are custom bullets.
2. You buy powder in 8 lb cans only and know that the max limit from powder valley is 64 pounds.
3. You dont order on.line because only on the phone can you verify all 64 pounds are of the same lot.
4. You weigh primers because you know the difference and can prove it on target.
5. You know the kernel weight from memory of your top 5 most used powders.
6. Your hand loads can be on display at jared because men need something shiny to look at while she is trying on jewelry.
7. You want a vault door for your reloading room because not locking up that much variable equipment would just be irresponsible.
8. You prefer powder with decopering agents because cleaning takes away from reloading time.
9.reloaders make you giggle because they dont use the latest temperature stable offerings.
10. You buy dies before you own the caliber to practice.
 
There's a lot of gray area between the two.

Are you chasing "good enough" or "perfection"?

Are you picking a charge weight in the middle of the road and as long as it functions sticking with it? Maybe tweaking it a little?

Are you experimenting with powders not listed? Bullets not commonly used? Swaging down .458 rifle bullets for 454 casull loads? Making something not commercially avaliable? Making something perfectly crafted and painstakingly researched for your purposes?

Certainty, I'd think most of us fall somewhere in between the two extremes.
 
gotboostvr said:
There's a lot of gray area between the two.

Are you chasing "good enough" or "perfection"?

Are you picking a charge weight in the middle of the road and as long as it functions sticking with it? Maybe tweaking it a little?

Are you experimenting with powders not listed? Bullets not commonly used? Swaging down .458 rifle bullets for 454 casull loads? Making something not commercially avaliable? Making something perfectly crafted and painstakingly researched for your purposes?

Certainty, I'd think most of us fall somewhere in between the two extremes.
Click to expand...
11. Have a right arm like an arm wrestler from swaging 30 bhn .458 castings down for use in casull.
 
AJC1 said:
You might be a handloader if.....
1. Berger bullets are a minimum used only in a pinch and most of your loads are custom bullets.
2. You buy powder in 8 lb cans only and know that the max limit from powder valley is 64 pounds.
3. You dont order on.line because only on the phone can you verify all 64 pounds are of the same lot.
4. You weigh primers because you know the difference and can prove it on target.
5. You know the kernel weight from memory of your top 5 most used powders.
6. Your hand loads can be on display at jared because men need something shiny to look at while she is trying on jewelry.
7. You want a vault door for your reloading room because not locking up that much variable equipment would just be irresponsible.
8. You prefer powder with decopering agents because cleaning takes away from reloading time.
9.reloaders make you giggle because they dont use the latest temperature stable offerings.
10. You buy dies before you own the caliber to practice.
Click to expand...

You mentioned 11 above.

12. You only spend your money on “Handloading” and have no other hobbies, life, or personal interests. You have no kids, family (anywhere), and you look at calendars and realized a decade has past before your eyes. Food is optional, you wear a diaper to stay at you bench perfecting your load. You change the diaper only when you go shoot your “handloads.” When you go shooting, your “handloads” aren’t quite good enough, so you perfect your “handloads” at the bench with a press right there. Rinse and repeat. :rofl:

13. You could have made a fortune investing your money in other pursuits. Yet, here you are chasing that perfect group...:mad:
 
Largely semantic;

I'd say when you're regularly shooting bugholes and are insisting on top drawer components/equipment you've moved away from "re" loading and are handloading. Further,and not bashing on progressives but inline dies,custom tooling,machine shops,and the like do start to become more "hands on" than yanking a,one pull/one cartridge progressive press and seeing how many rounds per hour you can crank out.

Heck,can't remember the last JB I shot? Think it was a cpl years ago. Casting is another area that folks can get hung up on certain status quo.

Load well,shoot well,enjoy the experience,and share it. Taking a new guy/gal/kid shooting is probably the most important thing we can do,along with safety and conservation. Good luck with your project.
 
I think it lays in the intent or goal.

If you’re intent is to load up quality ammunition to shoot in your guns you could be a reloader.

If you take time to craft the best ammunition you can for some specialized intent, you are likely a hand loader.
 
When you quit freaking out over the difference between a 124 grain Acme roundnose and a 125 grain BrandX hollow point because you can't find a recipe for the BrandX, you are on the way to becoming a bandleader.
 
from handloader to reloader.

everyone here is a handloader. handloading is developing a load to shoot in his/her personal firearm, i.e., take standard data and modifying it to work in your gun.

reloading is taking that handload and repeating it, exactly as developed, as many times as necessary.

so, we are all both, imo.

murf
 
I can think of one example where common reloading just need not apply. That is the development of wildcats where there is no published and in some cases no known data. All you can do is ballpark based on other cartridges (or use Quickload) and be careful. There is nothing to reload in those first rounds of ammo made. Brass needs to be formed and loads need to be developed and records kept.

I’m pretty sure that is outside the gray/grey area.
 
To me reloading and handloading mean the same thing. The difference is how careful do you take every step of a process. You can be a careful reloader and a careful handloader. Some people reload/ handload as if trying to beat a record of time or number of rounds in an hour. That is not reloading/handloading to me that's just manufacturing rounds to waste.
 
Reloading on the right, hand loading on the left.



If I am meticulously obsessing over each and every minute detail, it’s the same, just different tools.

If I make a part with a CNC machine vs a manual lathe or mill, I still tell people I machined the part vs telling them I just pushed a button...:)
 
Meticulousness and attention to detail are wildly independent of the devices used to achieve a meticulous and utmost attention to detail ending.
 
AJC1 said:
11. Have a right arm like an arm wrestler from swaging 30 bhn .458 castings down for use in casull.
Click to expand...
I've brought 21 bhn 458s (I call that drawing rather than swaging but I could be incorrect on that term) down to 452 for use in casull loads . that's a chore. after 10 I just stopped and decided I didn't need 400 grain 452s. If anyone can do that with one stroke, they likely wrestle bears for a living .
 
earlthegoat2 said:
Meticulousness and attention to detail are wildly independent of the devices used to achieve a meticulous and utmost attention to detail ending.
Click to expand...

That’s no lie. How many kaboom or squib threads in the “handloading” forums vs general ones talking about ammunition mass produced by machines? The quality of hand loads is certainly depended on what they are attached to.
 
Obturation said:
I've brought 21 bhn 458s (I call that drawing rather than swaging but I could be incorrect on that term) down to 452 for use in casull loads . that's a chore. after 10 I just stopped and decided I didn't need 400 grain 452s. If anyone can do that with one stroke, they likely wrestle bears for a living .
Click to expand...

A 6 foot long pipe over the press arm will make that job easier. ;)
 
Hmmm, I consider myself a reloader for most of the calibers I shoot.
But I take issue with the idea of making "passable" ammo.
My ammo is tailored to my gun, therefore is MUCH better than factory ammo.

The calibers I handload makes factory stuff laughable in recoil & accuracy.
It's a bit slower than factory stuff, but targets don't care if they're hit @ 2000 or 3000 fps.
 
Okay, jmorris, now you're muddying the water with a new term... "loader". ;)

So, a couple of questions for the homemadeammocentric linguists among us.
Since the Lee Loader is a "Complete Loading System" does that mean it can or cannot be used for handloading or reloading?
Is it proper to use a reloading press for handloading or do you need a handloading press?
 
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