Reloading Frequency

[Josh45]

[Q]Don't know how new you are, but in 2+ years[/Q]

Im almost in for a year into reloading. Just got 500 bullets for my 30-06...Wonder how long that's gonna last? Haven't dived into casting....Thought of it....Addiction must be fed.

 

[FROGO207]

At first I thought this thread was going to be about how many rounds per hour we made. So to topic--there are many variables with me as far as reloading are concerned.
1 What do I anticipate for ammo needs in the near future? For the rest of the year?
2 How many supplies do I have for a particular caliber on hand? Do I need to order more?
3 How much time can I budget for this each day? week? month?
4 Do I want to make ammo, or learn something about the related hobby, or buy components, or cast bullets even?

This all will depend on the time of year and the weather on the day I do it even. I will at least THINK about reloading a little bit every day. Generally I spend the warmer months outside doing more shooting in all calibers. I also shoot in .22 postal leagues in the winter but this is also the time set aside that I do most of the reloading. Fall is the time to purchase and clean brass as well as order the bullets I need. I will still do some reloading all year long as I enjoy doing it but the winter keeps me in the house more and this takes up most evenings with the fun task. I also find that casting bullets in the winter works the best for me.

 

[x_wrench]

my reloading is pretty inconsistent. there are times when i will reload every day for a month straight, and times where i will not reload a shell for 3 months. just depends on how many i have already made up, and how many i shoot. times like this (snow on the ground), i will go a long time between reloading any semi auto handgun shells. because i almost exclusively shoot out in the woods, and i will never see the spent brass again. come first thaw, to many brass scroungers will be out gobbling up as much as they can find (myself included). this time of year i go thru revolver shells instead. my shooting also tends to be inconsistent according to the weather. no way i am going to go out and shoot in below 10 degree weather. or on days where there is freezing rain, or strong winds. i guess you could call me a fair weather shooter.

 

[Stormin.40]

If I have bullets, powder, primers and such, I will be reloading. Most of the time I will do it. Almost everynight. Still new to it so the addiction is still very strong.

This is me, if I have everything I need and am not changing something I will reload until I am out of components. I don't have a large ammo/component budget though.

 

[Clark]

The Seinfeldesq question is "At what point do you call your behavior reloading?"

Does making reloading gear count?
Does on line shopping for reloading components count?
Does janitor work in the reloading room count?

Maybe I need some reloading charge numbers.

 

[rockn30809]

It varies for me. But since im now divorced and have a second dillon 550 in transit its looking like quite alot of loading this year.

 

[altitude_19]

I at least do SOMETHING once or twice a week. That might be fixing a few screw ups (pulling bullets), sweeping around the bench, sorting and tumbling, etc. I probably only make finished ammo once or twice a month. Sometimes I'll go a few months if life gets hectic.

 

[lizziedog1]

A week ago I went through my reloading components. I found that I had bullet boxes with only a few bullets in them. I also had a few powder containers with just enough powder to maybe reload a few rounds.

I have spent the last few days reloading to try to use up all this stuff. I have even reloaded for calibers that I haven't touched in years.

I have a binder in which I record all my reloading data. Each entry is dated. I was shocked on how many years have passed for reloading some of my cartridges.

My next goal is to get some of those guns out and actually shoot them. But that is a topic for another thread.

 

[amlevin]

Every day I have something going on in the Reloading Room.

I shoot one day per week, usually Monday. Tuesday is Cleaning day for my brass. Wednesday I inspect and trim as necessary. Thursday I prime brass and get the loading blocks ready for Friday loading. Saturday and Sunday are "tinkering days". Back to shooting on Monday. Needless to say, the "Daily Tasks" don't take all day.

All my .223 or 9mm Brass from my Range Day just go into a bin, sorted by caliber. When the bin fills up I then clean the brass and put it into storage bags. When I get down to a thousand or so 9mm and 2500 or so .223 I uncover the 650 and have a day long session for each caliber. I typically load a case of bullets (3500 ,223's and 3750 9mm's) for each caliber and then cover up the "machine" until I run low again.

 

[ny32182]

Unless I know I'm not going to have a chance to load soon, I usually keep less than 500 rounds loaded at any given time, and reload it in relatively small quantities as I shoot it.

I don't have the brass stash to load thousands at a time even if I wanted to, but I see a couple advantages anyway:

-If something goes wrong, I have less suspect ammo. I've never had a squib, but if I ever did, I'd only have up to 600 rounds or so at the most to be worried about. If I'd just finished loading 10k, well....

-If I ever want to change a load (like I do as the weather changes) it can basically be done as a rolling change without having to designate a large pile of ammo as the "old load, for practice only", etc.

 

[orionengnr]

I generally load about 500 rounds of one chambering over the course of 2 or 3 evenings...which may be consecutive evenings, or may stretch over a week.
I shoot a lot of .22 to go along with the centerfire, so that 500 rounds lasts me a little while.
I shoot nearly every week, and pick up what brass I can...so I am doing something (sorting, tumbling, decapping, etc.) one or more days per week.

 

[Hondo 60]

I reload a box almost every day.

Clark - Holy Crap!
You're WAAAAYYYY over crimping.
And not even in the right place.
That dotted line around the bullet is called a cannelure.
You're supposed to seat to the cannelure.
Then crimp just so you get a nice rounded edge.

 

[R.W.Dale]

I reload a box almost every day.

Clark - Holy Crap!
You're WAAAAYYYY over crimping.
And not even in the right place.
That dotted line around the bullet is called a cannelure.
You're supposed to seat to the cannelure.
Then crimp just so you get a nice rounded edge.

There's nothing that says you have to seat to the cannelure. Especially when its not in the correct location for the cartridge or firearm you're loading for.

Cannelures are a convenience not a requirment

posted via tapatalk using android.

 

[FROGO207]

If Clark is not doing something out of the ordinary all the time I would be worried that he was not well. I am willing to bet that there is not much plane Jane reloading that goes on in his world. After you figure out things the experimenting bug will hit you and off you go in that direction. Ask me how I know this.

 

[AABEN]

I do the most in the winter and some in the summer. I have a good inventory on hand all year. I will cast my bullets in the summer so that I am out side.

 

[Clark]

Hondo 60
You're WAAAAYYYY over crimping.

I know that is probably not the optimum crimp for 32 S&W long, but I was trying to make a pic that showed the crimp.

I needed a dramatic pic, to explain how I made the crimp with a 308 factory crimp die.

Here is a 16 second video showing what I was doing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZnTgsQRwC8

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

I reload as needed. When I was competing that meant keeping about 1000 rounds on hand.

 

[Legionnaire]

I am not a high volume reloader, either. I tend to load in fits and spurts when I have more brass than loaded ammo. So I have gone weeks at a time without touching the reloading gear.

That said, I've been in the reloading mood the last couple of weeks, and over that time have done some work at the bench almost every evening, even if for less than an hour. In the last two weeks I've reloaded all my .357 and .44mag cases, and I've started doing case prep on the close to 500 pieces of once-fired Federal Gold Medal Match .308 brass left over from a rifle class I took a couple of years ago. I don't have any immediate plans to load it all up, but it's been fun prepping the cases.

 

[Blackrock]

Just got off of a 4 month job of working 6-12hr days a week so it''s back to the bench and shooting range. Made enough buck to buy three more guns .308, another .45acp and a sweet little Rem 870 28ga. So I am back loading .223, 22-250, .308 and .45acp.

 

[Redneckly33]

If I have Components, all the Supplies I need, I'll load until no more Brass, or components run out. Which ever comes first.