Please tell me the advantages of reloading.

[RustyFN]

I might have missed it if somebody else said it but if you shop smart you will have ammo to get you through a shortage like the first two Obama years. I never had to go without or pay inflated prices. I am still loading 223 for $110 per 1K, if you shop smart I bet you can still load them for $150 or less.

 

[Centaur 1]

I not only reload, but I cast my own boolits too. The savings are phenominal, I can load any pistol round for $40/1000 or 30-30 plinking rounds for $60/1000.

 

[Hondo 60]

One of the calibers I reload is 223 Remington.
My ammo is definitely more accurate than store bought ammo.

The reason I started reloading is because I had heard of the great savings.
The one shining example I can relate is reloading 45 Colt.
It costs me about $9 to reload a box of 50.
That includes buying powder, primers & lead bullets.
Same 50 at the store will run you anywhere from $30-$50.

Do I save a lot?
No, probably not, but I sure as heck shoot a LOT more than I would if I had to buy my ammo.

 

[ThePunisher'sArmory]

Consistency, Saving money, "they don't make it anymore" (stole that from Larry Potterfield), Learning about balistics, and most importantly.....Self gradification!

 

[BruceB]

Dang....not only is this a great hobby, but many of its practitioners are VERY well-spoken and capable of expressing their passions in a clear and forthright manner. This is a WONDERFUL thread!

To all the reasons already put forth for handloading, I'll add just one ('cuz practically everything has been covered already). That additional reason is INDEPENDENCE.

A handloader with a few pounds of powder, a few thousand primers, and a source for bullets is free of worry about where his ammunition will come from. Add a $20 Lee bullet mould for each of your critical calibers along with a bucket or two of used wheelweights, and our man is REALLY sitting pretty.

I've been shooting cast bullets for over forty years, and believe me, they will give full-power performance in most handguns, and a useful amount of energy from "normal" (7mm-.35 caliber) rifles. At about .40 caliber and up, most rifles will approach or equal factory energy levels without much trouble with cast bullets.

So... ,416 Rigbys for 15 CENTS per round (instead of 5 to 10 DOLLARS ). .45-70s for maybe 10 cents, and so on....INDEPENDENT of suppliers, if we have the foresight to stock up a bit. It doesn't take all that much, either....less than a hundred bucks will buy primers sufficient for many years of hard-times hunting. (Plinkers will have to restrain themselves, though!)

It's a great hobby, and we learn a fair bit, too, if we pay due attention.

 

[mrbro]

Please tell me the advantages of reloading.

You get the load that YOU want, not the one someone else thinks you want.

 

[jhansman]

Honestly, for me the greatest advantage is the enjoyment I get out of working with the materials involved, and the satisfaction of shooting well with ammo I've made. The relative cost/savings is, for me, incidental. My advice to all new reloaders is start with a single-stage setup and one set of dies. You will find out quickly whether you are cut out for it. If so, look out.

 

[rfwobbly]

You get to talk to some GREAT people.

 

[GLOOB]

Main advantages for me are the savings and the consistency. As long as you're willing to buy in bulk, you save a bunch! Used to be I'd buy 200-500 factory rounds at a time, mail order, and I'd just get w/e was the cheapest that week. Now, I can buy by the thousands for less, and it seems like the best deals remain more constant. So instead of taking a gamble on the latest overstocked eastern European/Russian crapshoot, I have a steady supply of the same quality ammo. I'm no longer ever in a situation where I want to "use up" the bad stuff. There is no bad stuff.

I also don't have to check 4-5 different websites to find the best deal. I just go to PV for everything.

 

[wanderinwalker]

As a reloader, I will say right up front, I haven't saved a single penny reloading. Yeah, that's right, not one red cent of savings! So

BUT, I have shot a whole bunch more than I ever would have buying factory ammo.

The trick is, what do YOU want to do reloading? Do you want to duplicate factory .45 bulk pack so you can shoot your 1911 more often? There's actually a fair amount of savings to be had doing that, though I don't reload .45 at this moment so I don't have exact numbers. Same thing applies to .357 Magnum and .38 Special. My .38 Special reloads using MBC's 158gr SWCs run about $10/100. (Actually a little less, because I have been using brass given to me and scrounged from the range, I haven't broken into the bags of new brass I bought.) Going to full-power .357 Magnum brings the cost up to about $27/100, using Hornady XTP bullets that outshoot every factory load I've found.

I shoot Highpower rifle competitively, and it seems to eat through good-quality ammunition pretty quick. I'll shoot an 80-round match every week or two through the summer, which would be 100-rounds worth of factory match ammo. Don't ask me what factory .223 match is going for, I haven't looked at it lately. Buying Varget powder in 8-lb jugs and Nosler bullets by the 1000, I can load 100 rounds of 69gr match ammo for about $24. And I can also tailor my ammunition for shooting at 600 yards with special 80gr .224" bullets, not available in factory trim.

And even in "standard" uses, such as .30-30 Winchester, I'm just as happy to make ammo. Using Sierra ProHunter bullets and H4895 powder, I can load for about $6.70 to refill a 20-round box of factory ammo.

It is all in what you want to do with it, really. For me, it's the satisfication of watching another X come up on target at 600 yards or felling a rack of steel plates on the pistol range with ammunition I made myself. Your mileage will vary.

 

[45ACPUSER]

First you have the have the time to do things right, and then the inclination to be a bit anal retentive in learning your process. Then you can decrease your cost per round of ammo. You can tailor ammo to suit your shooting needs. And, you have fun excuse to hit the range! Gotta Test Some Loads!

It is the best hobby! KEY WORD HOBBY! Hobbies cost money! There is no saving money here. You just decrease the cost per round shot! Which, is sort of a bad deal cause a reloader tends to shoot more!

 

[Clark]

1) more accurate than factory rifle loads
2) more powerful than factory handgun loads

 

[Shmackey]

2) more powerful than factory handgun loads

Probably 90% of my pistol handloads are considerably less powerful than factory. There's nothing like a 200-grain SWC taking its time at 700 fps.

 

[FROGO207]

You should have asked what the disadvantages of NOT reloading are. That would have been lots easier to articulate. If you can follow basic directions and do it without stress repeatedly and safely, you should be reloading.

Disclaimer
WARNING RELOADING CAN BECOME ADDICTING

 

[LTR shooter]

What I want to know, is what are the advantages of reloading? Does a person really save enough money to justify doing it

Yes , especially when loading premium ammo compared to the same in factory ammo. Not really fair to compare plinking grade factory ammo to reloads using match components.

As example of my .223 using Sierra 69 gr MatchKings - I calculate the cost of reloading 20 rounds at $6.40 compared to 20 rounds of Federal Match loaded with the same Sierras at $31.49 from Midway. Even on sale at $20.99 you still pay over a buck a round for premium factory ammo.

With the reloaded .223 ammo I can seat the bullet to the optimum depth which best suits the individual rifle.

I would not even own a 44 Magnum if it were not for reloading. Again I come up with about $17.50 for 50 rounds of 44 Mag reloads using Hornady 240XTPs - the same from Midway is $21.49 for 20! That is over $53 for 50 rounds. Even at the sale price of $18.99 for 20 the reloaded ammo is significantly less costly.

Now admittedly I did not add the cost of brass as it is reused many times over but even adding in the cost of brass for the first time reloads I still save.

 

[kragluver]

It's fun and satisfying! ....besides all else that was stated above.