How did you get into reloading?

[whipper]

I was wondering how did most of you here get started in reloading.

My obsession started when I was 18, I bought my firs handgun (Ruger Security Six .357) from a friend, but I could not buy any ammo for it unless my parents or my friend bought it for me.

While I was at a gun store talking with the owner he told me that I could reload my own without having to have any body over 21 with me. “That perked my attention” he told me that I could buy all the stuff I needed to reload my own shells with, powder, primers, bullets and all the equipment needed to do the reloading process with. Then the calculator started, “sounded like a car dealer adding up all the fees” but then he told me if I were to bring in empty brass cases he would take them in trade for the equipment I needed. That worked out perfectly spent many months at ranges. Therefore, needles to say I started by necessity and fell in love with reloading been doing it for more them 23 years.

Just curious?

 

[dakotasin]

i started reloading because i was/am an accuracy freak and not only could factory ammo not produce, i couldn't afford the stuff. that was when i had a solo rifle (7 rem mag), and handloading was just a thought.

then, the 22-250 came, and as a prairie dogger, i simply could not afford factory ammo for prairie dog shoots. handloading became real, and i ran out and picked up an rcbs kit.

then, the thing that turned me into an avid reloader was my s&w 686. i simply could not believe how expensive factory ammo was, and how cheap i could load it for myself. from there, i now reload for every gun i own, and thoroughly enjoy the accuracy gains, velocity increases, and how much ammo i can shoot for cheap!

 

[Tomekeuro85]

I started reloading about 3 months ago. The main reason I started was because I was amazed at all the positive aspects of it. I can get better than match quality ammo for 1/4 the price. More accuracy, less money, and it is good to know that my rifles shoot good becuase of me. Its also a good hobby to have since I am somewhat of an obsessive compulsive person about certain stuff, and this is a good release for my obsessive tendencies... make every single brass and bullet the same weight, powder charge, etc. However, I still have very little experience in all this, so I can only get better, which makes me even more excited. I can shoot 60 rounds of reloaded .308 for the price of 20 rounds of FGMM.

 

[sm]

I was about so tall and facinated with that single stage MEC shotshell reloader some Mentors & Elders had.

Bascially I learned to reload shotshells to lessen all my questions, to not drive them folks nuts, stay out of trouble and not get into something "else".

Well - that was the theory...I still managed to poke holes in that theory too...

I really wanted to learn the "green one" [Rockchucker doing metallic] it was best I stay with the shotshells only being as I was only "so high".

Not to mention on the "red one" I could load popcorn loads and one could not on the "green one".

 

[esheato]

Quite simply couldn't afford to take all my guns to the range at the same time. My reloading hobby was born out of necessity.

Amazingly...I now reload to shoot instead of the other way around.

Ed

 

[Lennyjoe]

Same as Ed! Also, reading about all this here got me interested to the point where I had to give it a try. Now I'm hooked.

 

[Kamicosmos]

First gun was a .44 magnum. I started reloading for it about 3-6 months later. $25 bucks for a box of factory ammo vs ~$6 for handloads? Done Deal.

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Gosh, I don't remember when I first started reloading. Must have been in the early eighties. I bought a Lyman Turret starter kit. I've since sold most of those components. Now I use RCBS single stage and Dillon presses. My main reason to reload was that I was looking for a means to cut costs. I was shooting four or five days a week. Once I learned the basics, and was able to produce accurate reliable loads for all my guns, I got into a power kick with the .44mag, -how hard can I safely push my loads, my Rugers, yet still be accurate. Then the accuracy bug hit me. Totally. I spent months at the range developing the absolute most accurate loads for all my guns. I was more caught up with 'I don't care how hot the load hit, but more that If I can't hit with pin point accuracy, then it didn't matter that it was a hot load'. I've since compromised somewhere in the middle save for a couple of my rifles. Other than to save costs and have hundreds or thousands of rounds on hand for an upcoming event, now I reload for things that are difficult to purchase over the counter. Pure target loads of 198gn SWC lead pushed by 4.1gns of Bullseye for my Kimber. Recently it was the workup of rounds that would give Bowling Pins -Wings to take flight. There's great satisfaction knowing that I poured the lead, lubed and sized the bullets, chronographed and tested the final offering that does the trick. Then there's the rifle that I can't (realistically) purchase ammunition for. One of those wildcats that intreagued me years ago. (still does).

There ya have it. That's how and why I started.

-Steve

 

[cruisin]

reloading

i did not know ANYTHING about reloading. I bought a Dillion 550b blue reloading press and all the goodies ,,, it is not as hard as you may think,,in fact,,, it is a whole lot of fun !!! I like my Dillion blue press,, check them out ! ???
and,, it saves lotsa bucks !
good luck !

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Eight months after I got back into shooting at age 52 I began shooting IPSC type matches, then went into ICORE. Assuming almost 1000 rounds per month factory ammo was out. I did not like cleaning up after the lead bullets in cheap ammo and found a small time commercial reloader that offered 50 rounds of 158 gr copper plated .38 spl for $7.50. He left the state for greener pastures and I was stuck with no supply.

I found a closeout sale on a Hornady AP at Traders in San Leandro (the only honest sales price I've ever seen there) and began loading my own with West Coast Bullets copper plated bullets. This brought the price down to less than $4.00/50 rounds and I was hooked. I now load the prettiest rounds with copper plated bullets and have even had compliments on the rounds. Oh, yeah, they shoot okay, too.

 

[Sheldon]

Saving money was my primary concern and motivator. My first centerfire pistol was a S&W 669. I bought the pistol along with a case of Federal 9mm ammo.....cost of the case was $165 for a thousand rounds. I bought a Lee Challenger kit soon afterward and started loading 9mm (115 gr. FMJ) for about $3 a box of 50.. I eventually sold the S&W and got a Colt .45 ACP 1911 and a set of 45 ACP dies. I shoot mostly lead SWC bullets and the savings over store bought FMJ loads is pretty significant......especially considering I was shooting off 200-300 rounds a week during my early years. I have since given away the Challenger single stage press and moved on to a Dillon 650.

Bullets are most expensive component and I'm still on the fence with casting my own. I just got a .452 sizer die for my Star Lubrisizer the other day off Ebay. I've had the Star for about a year now and still have not been motivated to cast any yet while commercial cast bullets can be shipped to my door for under 40 per thousand. I still find it comforting to know I CAN when/if the need arises.

 

[xtarheel]

About 35 years ago in college. I bought a $10.00 Lee Loader in .38 for my Security Six. My roommates started getting jumpy since so many primers went off while seating them. I moved up to a single stage press when I could aford it, and now with dies for over 25 different calibers, as they say the rest is history.

 

[lee n. field]

How? Had in mind for a long time that I wanted to. Spotted and picked up a cheap (Lyman Acculine) press and priming die at a sporting goods store closeout sale. At that point I'm committed. Picked up bits and pieces off ebay and various local stores, and a hundred bucks of stuff from Natchezz, and I was up and running.

 

[Kramer Krazy]

Missashot and I started reloading at the end of January this year. It was purely for cost reasons, as I figured we shot between 13k and 15k rounds last year. My favorite caliber is 45acp, and $20/100 at Walmart was starting to add up fast. We started with the 45acp and are now reloading 44 mag/Spl and also 38 Spl/357 mag. I may even buy some 9mm and 380 dies, soon. I'm using a single-stage RCBS Rockchucker, but a progressive unit may be in our future, depending on how much we shoot this year.

 

[Poodleshooter]

My dad started me off reloading 6.5x55 when I was 14 or so. His dad and grandfather taught him to reload back in the 50's and 60's when they were reloading shotgun shells for their trap range. It's in the family....

 

[trickyasafox]

i was interested in it from reading about it here. i then ordered the combo kit from lee that included a press and a reloading book. from there it was off to midway. now i have a few books, 6 sets of dies, a pro 1000, the single stage i started with and some other misc. bits and pieces. all in well under a year. my motivation was convience and cost effectiveness. Myself and my father did not get to shoot nearly as much as we liked because of cost, and the hassle of going to buy ammo constantly. once we knocked the price down a bit per box, and only had to go as far as the basement to get it, we shoot a lot more, and i shoot much better. i wont say its my loads though, i think its just the added trigger time.

either way im totally hooked, and plan on getting set up to load for every caliber i shoot from now on. i cringe when i see what i used to pay for ammo, and i would always buy the dirt cheapest stuff. i went from shooting ultramax lead 9mm factory reloaded to JHP 9mm for less then the cost of ultramax.

definatly worthwhile.

 

[LHB1]

I experimented with reloading while still in college during early '60s with a Lyman Tong tool set for .357 Mag, trying to save money. I was on a very limited budget paying my own way thru school. Really got into reloading full time during summer of '64 with Lyman bullet mould, Saeco casting furnace, Saeco sizer, C-H 3 station H press, RCBS dies, Lyman-Ohaus scale, etc. As a newlywed I was still trying to save money. Somewhere during the last 40+ years my income and interests changed and reloading became a fascinating, enjoyable hobby in itself. Today I enjoy reloading as much as shooting.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

ps: I owe a debt of gratitude to a couple of older shooters who are no longer with us for the help they gave me during my early reloading days. They saved me a lot of trouble by starting off right and avoiding problems. I try to share my limited reloading knowledge with others now as payback for that help.

 

[1911user]

Paying $10+ for a box for 38 special ammo meant I didn't get to shoot much on a college budget. I then spent $100 on a lee turret press, auto-disk, dies, a book, and some components. Over several years, I learned to shoot a DA revolver pretty well, but kept the turret press too long when I began hating to use it. I finally sold it, bought a dillon 450 progressive press and reloading (and shooting) was fun again. It was even better after upgrading the manual primer/powder 450 to a complete 550B dillon press. I still have it as my main press and don't see a need to replace it anytime soon.

 

[hpcc19]

Why

I started as an experiment.

It's fun

It's satisfying.

It's part of the Zen of the shooting hobby

It's also rewarding to save money cuz I'm a stingy SOB.

 

[pbhome71]

I started because I didn't want to pay $20 for a box of ammo.

-Pat

 

[WayneConrad]

I thought I was going to save money. Dad offered to let me use his press when I come over to visit, so I wouldn't need to buy any equipment.

It took me about five minutes to decide that his setup was not going to work for me, and I had to have my own. It's been a year now, and I've saved somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 making the 5,000-or-so rounds I've made since. To save that money, I've spent around $600 on equipment.

Then there's a few hundred tied up in powder, bullets, and brass waiting to be turned into ammo, and another couple of hundred dollars of ammo I've loaded and haven't shot yet. This money will, of course, eventually be "savings" if I ever start shooting as much as I'm loading. Until then, it's just money disguised as ammunition.

So, I've spent $600 and have $400 tied up in inventory so that I can save $300.

Well, it's still cheaper than drinking. The only disease I'll get is an enlarged right arm from pulling the press handle. And while I do smell of powder and spent primers, it's an odor I prefer to cigarette smoke.

It turns out I do it because I like doing it. Saving money was just an excuse to get started.

 

[bobaloo]

Couple years ago I decided I wanted to get good with a handgun and quickly found out that meant LOTS of ammo. Picked up a Hornady LNL from Graf's for $299 delivered, 8 pounds of Titegroup and 3,000 Precision bullets.

Couple years and about 25,000 rounds later, I'm loading 9mm, .40, .45, .357 and .223. Boy, loading .223 sure makes you appreciate loading pistol calibers!

Like buying machine tools, it's not the price of the press, it's the dies, case trimmers, case gauges, primer pocket reamers, swaging tools and on and on that end up being expensive.

On the other hand I really enjoy the process of reloading for its own sake. Lots of evenings I get home from a long stressful day at work and end up spending an hour loading a hundred rounds of .223, making each round as perfect as possible. It takes total concentration but little thought, and I find it very relaxing.

It also means when I go to the range and shoot 500 rounds of .45 I'm not thinking about how much each round costs, like I do when I'm shooting that store-bought stuff...

 

[dcloco]

My story, is actually kind of ironic.

I was in college, married, with 3 kids (7 and under). To say money was tight...would be an understatement. I worked three part time jobs through college, just to get by. My wife and I would save pennies during the week, to be able to buy each other a fountain pop at the 7-11 on Friday or Saturday night (no bull!!).

My wife went to a garage sale with the neighbor lady. When I arrived home (from one of my jobs), she had that "I cannot wait to tell you something look" on her face. She purchased three LARGE boxes of reloading equipment. I opened the first box - ALL 12 gauge shotgun hulls. Next box...a little of this and a little of that. Next box....TWO Mec reloaders.

I was beside myself. I thanked her profusely. I am good at that.

She asked, "So, when are you going to start?"

I advised....."...as soon as I buy a shotgun."

She asked....you don't have one?

No...sorry...I don't.

10 seconds later, neighbor's husband walked in....looked at the boxes...and asked..."when are you going to buy a shotgun?".

My wife almost died. Then my neighbor asked if I would like to trade my shotgun stuff for his RCBS stuff. Could not say yes quick enough.

Never reloaded anything until two years ago....been hooked since.

The quality of the ammo produced and the tremendous cost savings are the prime drivers for me.

 

[dtalley]

Needed something to do after a nasty divorce. I have been a hunter since I was born I think and wanted to just shoot more. Didn't care if it saved money just needed something to do to keep from going nuts. Stopped for about 10 to 12 years because of space and time. Had to work all the time. But now I am back to it full force.

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I had a vicious blue kool-aid drinker turn me on to it and I've been addicted every since.

Why do I still do it? Every good reason one wants to reload ammo for and I thorougly enjoy the feeling of having made something with my hands. I didn't get that for years when I was working in technical support on the phone all the time.

Regards,

Dave