Actually after the civil war budget cuts caused soldiers to do exactly that. It's been documented and is what it is. Likely soldiers in the 1870's - 1880's shot more handloaded rounds than they did factory ones, because the handloaded ones were what they had more of.
Reloading/handloading out of necessity...
- Thread starter ballman6711
- Start date
Actually after the civil war budget cuts caused soldiers to do exactly that. It's been documented and is what it is. Likely soldiers in the 1870's - 1880's shot more handloaded rounds than they did factory ones, because the handloaded ones were what they had more of.
I can only speak to my father's experiences in the 1930s.
His friend transported diamonds between various merchants. This allowed him to have a concealed handgun license. To save money, the friend reloaded his own ammunition. With black powder. My father recounts that this was done while they were sitting around an open fire. Errors were apparently common enough that my father banned me from reloading for several years.
BJung
Member
I watched a documentary of Black African hunters when I was young. They shot 7 animals with the same bullet. After killing their game, they melted the lead down and recast the bullet. How cool to say you shot and killed 7 animals with the same bullet.
CQB45ACP
Member
My Dad was a teenage merchant marine sailor during WW2. One of his funniest stories was about collecting brass.
On each Liberty ship were a couple of mounted anti aircraft guns manned by a detachment of Navy sailors. The Navy sailors & merchant sailors didn’t always get along.
When his ship was in Naples harbor (Italy, not Florida) it came under enemy air attack a couple times/day. The first time this happened he, as an enthusiastic teenager, took the empty casings as they hit the deck and tossed them overboard.
He couldn’t understand though why no one else was helping.
After the air attack when things were back to normal, a couple of Navy sailors picked up my Dad and, with approval of the merchant marine officer of the deck, tossed him overboard.
Seems the Navy sailors sold the brass to the locals who used it to make pots, pans, trinkets, and jewelry. They taught him a lesson and had fun doing it.
On each Liberty ship were a couple of mounted anti aircraft guns manned by a detachment of Navy sailors. The Navy sailors & merchant sailors didn’t always get along.
When his ship was in Naples harbor (Italy, not Florida) it came under enemy air attack a couple times/day. The first time this happened he, as an enthusiastic teenager, took the empty casings as they hit the deck and tossed them overboard.
He couldn’t understand though why no one else was helping.
After the air attack when things were back to normal, a couple of Navy sailors picked up my Dad and, with approval of the merchant marine officer of the deck, tossed him overboard.
Seems the Navy sailors sold the brass to the locals who used it to make pots, pans, trinkets, and jewelry. They taught him a lesson and had fun doing it.
That mirrors my late FILs boyhood. His dad would chew him out if he came home with fewer squirrels or rabbits than bullets he gave him. And he usually only gave him 2-3 .22 cartridges for the OLD RG pistol he used!
Hard to say how widespread their use was. I bought the small handle 310 tool in 1970 and the large handle 310 tool a few years later when I got a .270 Winchester. They produced very accurate ammo without spending a week's paycheck (at 1970's wages) to buy a turret press. Used them both until I bought a Lyman turret press in the mid 80's on sale. Still have both 310's and a few dies that fit them.
41 Mag
Member
My dad grew up through the end of the depression and was the oldest of the 10 kids. His dad was killed when he was around 12 so he stepped up to help put food on the table. Him and his brothers would make their own BP and used it for a muzzle stuffer shot gun. They also had a .22 that they reloaded the empty brass using match heads for the primer, home made black powder and Lead round balls. I remember him and my uncles talking about the things they had to do and when thing didn't go as planned, like one of their batches of BP blowing up the rabbit shed.
He said they made every shot count and that carried over up until I was old enough to earn chore money and throw down on my own ammo. When I was young he would count the shots he heard me take and fully expected something from each. Trust me when I say, there are good critters and some not so good ones for supper.
This did however teach me important life lessons about the outdoors. My grandmother had a recipe for anything that walked, crawled, flew, or swam. And she also helped me in my early years. These things are still deeply instilled in me and it's hard for me to load up a batch of ammo and just shoot. I still feel like those eyes are on me and each round has a purpose and should be used as needed.
denton
Member
As the history was related to me, home reloading mainly started after WWII.
Hodgdon was selling tons of surplus powder to farmers to use as fertilizer. The powder was drenched in water, loaded in the spreader, and spread on the field. (Before OSHA I guess.)
Before long, Hodgdon figured out that it was possible to reload fired brass. And 4831 was born along with reloading equipment.
Bazoo
Member
Reloading was common in the target shooting crowd from the 1880s onward. Mann talks about it, in his book from around 1900. Phil Sharpe talks about it in his book from the 1930s. Keith talks about it in his books, where he started sometime before WW2.
35 Whelen
Member
Ideal patented their Ideal No. 4 Reloading Tool, a Barlow design, in late 1884, so there was at least enough reloading going on back then for them to continuously market them until the mid 1930's.
I doubt people sat around the campfire molding bullets and/or reloading, it simply wouldn't be practical. Back then (late 1800's) lead bullets were lubed with a soft lube (messy) and transporting them in saddle bags or even in panniers or a wagon wouldn't have been very practical, much less carrying primers and tins of black powder. It would make much more sense to order ammunition in bulk and take what one needed. I have a repro of a Winchester catalog from the latter part of the 1800's and if memory serves 1000 rounds of 44 WCF could be bought for $20.
It would have seemed practical however if one lived in a very rural area to have one of these loading tools and components around the house along with the necessary components.
35W
35 Whelen
Member
Yep. Somewhere in his book Sixguns I recall that Keith mentions that when he was a boy (very early 1900's) his father kept him in black powder for his handloading endeavors.
35W
BJung
Member
Why is that? I spoke to a Mexican last week who told me a story where his Uncles only shoot BP
35 Whelen
Member
My guess is that at the time, presumably 1912-1917 when Keith was a teen, that black powder was plentiful and easy to come by.
35W
CoalTrain49
Member
I was in the Navy (67-71) and spent a few years in N. Africa. All the shops were full of brass urns, cups, plates and candle holders. They worked some magic with brass and created some very beautiful utensils that one could use every day. I still have some items I sent home. I'm sure that they collected canon and small arms brass from the battlefield during WW2 to make some of those items. Almost nothing goes to waste there, even today. Those are some pretty poor countries.
I read an article a long time ago about what farmers did on the farm with their shotguns. The didn't us lead shot but would use either Pea Gravel or cut up wire for shot and some even mixed their own powder. They usually shot vermin, rats, squirels, rabbits and any other food they could put on the table along with what the had in the garden. Frog legs were pretty popular back then also as well as fish. It figures.
CQB45ACP
Member
My grandfather worked in a mattress mill in North Carolina and brought home little tacks he’d put in shot shells. For snakes I think.
But also, I LOVE frog legs. Hard to find around here but years ago there was a place in Fairfax that had all-you-could eat legs, shrimp, oysters. I’m lucky to be alive. What bacteria was I consuming? Hey @ballman6711 did you ever eat at Blue Ridge Seafood in Gainesville? They were last frog leg source I know of.
CQB45ACP
Member
Three years of tank/artillery battles leaves a lot of brass for scrounging.
ballman6711
Member
Even though I lived within a mile or so of Blue Ridge Seafood for about 11 years, I never ate there. I thought about it many times, but something always came up and it never happened. There was a place in Tysons Corner many years ago (the name escapes me at the moment) that had all you could eat seafood, including frog legs. I've tried everything seafood on their menu, and frog legs would rank third for my favorite behind shrimp and crab. Funny enough, I've never cared for lobster, no matter where I've had it or who cooked it.
On topic, it seems that the majority of reloading way back when would have been out of necessity, and not done as an enjoyable pastime like we do now.
chris
