Old Question - New Poll

Reloading: A Chore or Your Other Hobby?

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.38 Special said:
I have some fine memories of sitting by the fireplace (or the campfire) and loading rounds one at a time, just like Elmer and Skeeter. Honestly, twenty-four rounds is plenty on the tong tool - and takes about as long as several hundred on the progressive - but it's a fine way to pass the time and refill the belt loops.
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Only memories of fireplace i have are beating on blocks of oak all summer just to feed them. And having to rush my buisness in the outhouse to get back to the fire At my grandma's

I like my gas logs. Lol. Although I do burn wood in my furnace. Indoor plumbing is awesome as well.


Well you enablers should be happy. I dug out my reloading area. ....Three 10 ft long tables. There was among other things, a half finished t66 turbo, a set of 4 John deere mowing deck spindles id rebuilt, vast majority of a 460 stihl i rebuilt, a top end and crank for an ms 390, and a 660 atv engine to finish.... lol.

I guess it had been longer than I thought. But this week I'm going to load up a couple hundred 44 mag xtps to hunt with. Just to remind myself why I stopped loving reloading.

Hope your happy
 
I like reloading, but its a chore somedays. I buy things that help reduce the chore part.

Trimming: Started with a Lyman hand trimmer and WFT2. Migrated to Dillon RT1500 for bulk, Giraud for accuracy. Still have all the trimmers
Powder: RCBS CM1500, then migrated to AutoTrickler for increased speed and accuracy. Sold the RCBS
Priming: On press, then migrated to RCBS Bench Primer. Still seat primers on LnL AP for bulk work.
Seating bullets: I bought a Karl Bibb bullet feeder, printed an AM, currently working up a Tylers from Cast Boolits for a buddy.
 
Catpop said:
It’s the age old question, which came first the chicken or the egg (biblically I know the answer)

Do I shoot to reload or do I reload to shoot.

I enjoy reloading and I enjoy shooting.

But which do I enjoy more?

That’s the question I’ve never been able to nail down.

It appears much more testing in in order!
And the quest continues!
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It's an easy question. Would you still reload if you could no longer shoot? I would definitely do it for my son, and hunt for brass.
 
I enjoy some reloading tasks, others are a chore. I get no pleasure from case prep, punching out primers, cleaning pockets, tumbling ,sizing and trimming are chores and my process is slow. I enjoy the rest. I really like making the big cartridges and I refuse to load anything smaller than 357 mag. I'm a meticulous loader though, every charge is individually weighed , every case is exactly the same length ect, monotony is real but my OCD won't allow a single factor to be out of my control- no chance I could sit at a progressive press and just yank the handle and hope it all went right
 
AJC1 said:
It's an easy question. Would you still reload if you could no longer shoot? I would definitely do it for my son, and hunt for brass.
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Sadly my bunch has drifted away from shooting and I’m all that’s left. It’s really sad. So the answer is no, if I couldn’t shoot, I wouldn’t reload.

On the other hand, until I can’t shoot, I will continue reload.
With that said——- what does it mean? I’m gittin a little long in the tooth and I’m confused again.
No Wait, maybe I’m not (confused that is).
D, now I am totally lost!
 
crestoncowboy said:
Not a chance.
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there is still the mechanics of reloading and shooting that’s very fascinating . But, I will always have a reloading/gun room, even if my shooting has stop… and It’s pretty much stoped in the last 4 years. but, one day. Next week, going to the indoor range for some testing… finally found some time!
 
Mark_Mark said:
Nobody here reload to horde?

just to know that you can make 10,000 of 9mm or .224 or .45 or whatever!
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Depends on what you are "hoarding"....reloaded ammo or components.

I have a friend who reloads. He helped get me started into it, and I am grateful, but he's not a "shooting buddy" nor do we spend a lot of time together since we both have pretty busy lives and we mostly get together during a Christian Mens group.

Going into the pandemic, he had 80-90K primers and a ton of brass, powder, and bullets, and was really in good shape since he really doesn't shoot a lot. We were discussing his situation and he mentioned he was going to load everything up because loaded bullets were easier to manage. I told him if I were in his situation, I'd load a year or so supply of ammo (for him, that may be 1-2K rounds 9MM, half that in .40 and .45, and maybe 1K .223, along with a few hundred 30-30 and 45-70) and keep the rest in components, because if he got hit by a truck (my standard saying for dying unexpectedly....), his wife could sell components way faster than home-loaded rounds. He disagreed, and began loading with zeal. Didn't make sense to me, as he doesn't have kids or anyone that he can pass the ammo on to, but it's his stuff to deal with.

Just my perspective.
 
AJC1 said:
It's an easy question. Would you still reload if you could no longer shoot? I would definitely do it for my son, and hunt for brass.
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If I do get out of reloading, I think I will still keep my single stage press, universal decapper, and FART to process brass. I do enjoy that, and I find cleaned and deprimed brass is a great commodity to use for trade and barter.
 
I’d probably still reload if I couldn’t shoot. I’d have to find some friends to shoot my ammo though. Hmmm. Course I got a son that’ll come of age....
 
AJC1 said:
It's an easy question. Would you still reload if you could no longer shoot?
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No. I would take up sewing. With an old Singer Slant Needle machine.

I bought one at an estate auction, nobody wanted it. $35 for the machine, a table it fit in, and bags and bags of accoutrements. Thread, fancy stitch cams, buttons, needles, etc etc etc.

Mark_Mark said:
there is still the mechanics of reloading and shooting that’s very fascinating .
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What's odd, I feel the same way about any machinery. Revolvers, reloading equipment, steam tractors, locomotives, engines, and yes....sewing machines.
 
Hooda Thunkit said:
No. I would take up sewing. With an old Singer Slant Needle machine.

I bought one at an estate auction, nobody wanted it. $35 for the machine, a table it fit in, and bags and bags of accoutrements. Thread, fancy stitch cams, buttons, needles, etc etc etc.



What's odd, I feel the same way about any machinery. Revolvers, reloading equipment, steam tractors, locomotives, engines, and yes....sewing machines.
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LC Smith Shotguns was also famous for their Typewriters and Sewing machine
 
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Buzznrose said:
Depends on what you are "hoarding"....reloaded ammo or components.

I have a friend who reloads. He helped get me started into it, and I am grateful, but he's not a "shooting buddy" nor do we spend a lot of time together since we both have pretty busy lives and we mostly get together during a Christian Mens group.

Going into the pandemic, he had 80-90K primers and a ton of brass, powder, and bullets, and was really in good shape since he really doesn't shoot a lot. We were discussing his situation and he mentioned he was going to load everything up because loaded bullets were easier to manage. I told him if I were in his situation, I'd load a year or so supply of ammo (for him, that may be 1-2K rounds 9MM, half that in .40 and .45, and maybe 1K .223, along with a few hundred 30-30 and 45-70) and keep the rest in components, because if he got hit by a truck (my standard saying for dying unexpectedly....), his wife could sell components way faster than home-loaded rounds. He disagreed, and began loading with zeal. Didn't make sense to me, as he doesn't have kids or anyone that he can pass the ammo on to, but it's his stuff to deal with.

Just my perspective.
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Hopefully I can hoard components, one day! 100,000 primers sounds Nice
 
Hooda Thunkit said:
No. I would take up sewing. With an old Singer Slant Needle machine.
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Great choice. My wife has several models - 401, 403, 501, a.k.a. the “Rocketeer” - and she taught me how to sew clothes on one. I still prefer straight stitch machines but sure appreciate the speed of the slant needle machines.
 
Soonerpesek said:
Here is your post again…. Just in case you forgot…
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I sincerely Pray YOU Don't work within the field of mathematics !. So X 5 = ???. ;) . FYI : I used to purchase from Lester occasionally ,so APPLES TO APPLES

Federal Primers # 100M Match Small Pistol (1,000 ct)
GM100M

$150.00

619121_540x405[1].jpg ​
 
I answered, "Hobby - but it can be a strain." The truth is though, handloading is a hobby that I really enjoy, and I'm the one that allowed it to become a "strain" once.
Back in the '80s, both my wife and I were seriously into IHMSA shooting, and the only way we could afford the ammunition for it was by building it ourselves. Consequently, I'd come home from work, eat dinner, and head on downstairs to the loading bench almost every evening. Then my lovely wife would sometimes drive down to the gravel pit the next day and shoot up half of the ammo we built the night before. Come Saturday morning, we'd often head to a match somewhere (almost always at least a hundred miles away) where we'd shoot up the rest of the ammo we built that week.
So, after two years of that, we quit IHMSA. And we're very careful about getting into any kind of competition shooting again. We've both looked at Cowboy Action shooting a couple of times, and I've looked into BPCR silhouette shooting too. But now that my wife and I are older and wiser, we've realized how competitive we are, and we might allow a shooting competition to "consume" us like IHMSA did for a while. At that point, handloading would become a job rather than a hobby. ;)
Oh, by the way, my wife and I load for our big game rifles. And while it's technically true that loading for our big game rifles is a hobby rather than a necessity, we take it very seriously. The ammunition we build for killing big game with is as close to "perfect" (by our standards) as we can make it. :thumbup:
 
Soonerpesek said:
And I hope you aren't on the consumer buying commision.....!

We could go back and forth about this........The bottom line is that you can pay your price for primers, and I will pay my much cheaper price......;)

Federal Premium Gold Medal Small Pistol Match Primers #100M Box of 1000 - Deals (targetsportsusa.com)
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The entire point of the conversation My Friend ,is What I used to Pay and What is Now the going price . Unfortunately I CAN'T pay MY preferred price of $75.50 or $ 125.00 ,250.00 per 5K . I was sincerely comparing apples to apples as in same vendor drop shipped as I'd previously done .

As You stated it is what it is and one pays what they feel they're worth to them . I can't honestly say primers are worth 8-10 times more $'s than they were before all the plandemic BS . I shall simply shoot Rifle and large pistol reloads ,as I don't really need to reload small pistol . Leastwise not for another year or two .
 
I'm curious how many of you reload because what you need to shoot isn't normally sold?

My brother and I shoot 2700 bullseye matches. Maybe I don't know where to look, but I don't see any new .45 acp lead SWC ammo. I doubt anyone offers new ammo for a S&W model 52. Maybe I'm splitting hairs but I don't view Roze as "factory ammo".
 
BushMaster-15 said:
The entire point of the conversation My Friend ,is What I used to Pay and What is Now the going price . Unfortunately I CAN'T pay MY preferred price of $75.50 or $ 125.00 ,250.00 per 5K . I was sincerely comparing apples to apples as in same vendor drop shipped as I'd previously done .

As You stated it is what it is and one pays what they feel they're worth to them . I can't honestly say primers are worth 8-10 times more $'s than they were before all the plandemic BS . I shall simply shoot Rifle and large pistol reloads ,as I don't really need to reload small pistol . Leastwise not for another year or two .
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Shoot 'em up n have fun......!!
Like anything else, we will pay whatever we need to do whatever we want to do....If we wanna keep shooting, we will buy what we need---or not shoot.....
Just because gas is high, most of us didn't stop driving......
Life is too short to bicker back and forth....my apologies..
 
Russ57 said:
I'm curious how many of you reload because what you need to shoot isn't normally sold?

My brother and I shoot 2700 bullseye matches. Maybe I don't know where to look, but I don't see any new .45 acp lead SWC ammo. I doubt anyone offers new ammo for a S&W model 52. Maybe I'm splitting hairs but I don't view Roze as "factory ammo".
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Yup. That’s got a lot to do with it. .45AR/ACP - Webley Mk.1. I have never seen black powder equivalent loads for a .45Auto.
 
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