Storing ammo vs. reloading as needed

[jmorris]

I don't load everything I have, what if I find another pet load or need the components for something else?

On the flip side I have a comfortable amount of what I shoot already loaded. What "comfortable" would be depends on what round we are talking about.

 

[Reloadron]

After reading everything, I'm going to increase the amount of brass so I have at least 500 rounds of brass of .45 Colt which is what I mostly shoot. My inclination is to devote additional money to buying more powder, primers, and bullets so I have an ample supply of them in case of a shortage some time in the future.

Good plan as I see it. Think about the shelf life of all of your components for the most part. Not like anything is going to "spoil" or go bad real soon.

Ron

 

[Reloadron]

I'm not a Handloader thus find no pleasure in the process. Being a Reloader and there is a difference. I reload in volume. As an example fill GI-30-Caliber ammunition can with 45ACP 230Gr-FMJ up to the top. Use it up then reload when depleted. The same process applies with 9mm-Luger.

As for rifle not so much as I've basically withdrawn from across the course match shooting on a regular basis.

OK, what is the difference? The forum section is Handloading and Reloading. The way I see it is Handloading would be for example starting with new brass and all new components (powder, primer and bullets) and assembling ammunition. Reloading would be for example shooting ammunition then taking the spent cartridges and reloading them.

Since over the past almost 50 years I have done both what exactly is what by definition?

Thanks
Ron

 

[SC Shooter]

For the past several months, I have been on a serious weight loss program. In the evenings, if I am sitting around watching tv I really get the urge to eat. I have learned that if I am at my reloading bench, my focus is such that I easily block out any cravings for food & snacks. As a result, I have lost about 50 lbs, and have enough reloaded ammo to hold off most third world armies.

 

[Gravedigger56]

Great Idea. Reloading is healthy!! Love it.

 

[Hangingrock]

Reloadron:

ok, what is the difference? The forum section is handloading and reloading.

Fair question. I find that Handloader's enjoy the process as a hobby along with, experimentation and nuances of the endeavor.

Reloader's in my opinion don't particularly enjoy the process thus find it to be a necessary procedure to secure a supply of ammunition in order to shoot.

As an example for as long as W231/HP38 has been available I've been using a charge weight of 5.6Grs-45ACP-230Gr-FMJ, CCI or Winchester LP primers and mixed head stamp cartridge cases. Assembled all on a progressive press.

 

[Sunray]

Your 250 cases will sit and wait for you, forever. You can get all of it to the point you just need powder and bullet if you want. It'll still just sit there and wait.
The only benefit to having more brass is it'll be more expensive down the road than it is now.

 

[cfullgraf]

I guess I'm a handloader that reloads.

I enjoy crafting my own ammunition and finding what works best for my rifles.

But, I have loads for 45 ACP (230 RN and 700-X) and 45 Colt (255 SWC and Unique) that I have not changed in decades and loaded by the hundreds before progressives and now load by the thousands after progressives.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I keep loaded ammunition for the same reason I keep the tank on my truck full. When I need either, They're ready to go.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[wiiawiwb]

I don't think I shoot enough volume to warrant a progressive press. More to the point, though, is that I actually enjoy measuring every powder load and examining each bullet through every stage of the process.

I backpack alone a lot and enjoy getting my backpack loaded and organized the night before based upon my own assessment of the hike that's ahead of me. For me, reloading is akin to that. I'll ask myself what I want to accomplish tomorrow when I go to the range. Try new powder loads, a new powder, shoot my levergun, shoot my revolver, etc.

The grab and go, from a prepared inventory, probably won't work for me. I like to savor the process in anticipation of the next day's fun. Call me crazy!

 

[rondog]

Loading up thousands of rounds of M2 ball using a powder dumper at 47.5-48gr. of IMR4895 and surplus pulled bullets would be reloading to me.

Carefully making target ammo one at a time with hand-weighed charges and the best target bullets I could buy, I'd call that handloading.

Basically the difference between cranking out large production of a generic load and small production of a precise load, IMO.

 

[maxxhavoc]

Loading up thousands of rounds of M2 ball using a powder dumper at 47.5-48gr. of IMR4895 and surplus pulled bullets would be reloading to me.

Carefully making target ammo one at a time with hand-weighed charges and the best target bullets I could buy, I'd call that handloading.

Basically the difference between cranking out large production of a generic load and small production of a precise load, IMO.

That's how I have always seen it. If I use a powder measure to throw charges and weigh 1 out of 10, and just move the process along to fill an ammo can for plinking, that is reloading.

If I separate by headstamp, weigh cases, check EVERY charge and trickle to make them exactly the same, and double-check every COAL...Handloading.

 

[Reloadron]

Reloadron:


Fair question. I find that Handloader's enjoy the process as a hobby along with, experimentation and nuances of the endeavor.

Reloader's in my opinion don't particularly enjoy the process thus find it to be a necessary procedure to secure a supply of ammunition in order to shoot.

As an example for as long as W231/HP38 has been available I've been using a charge weight of 5.6Grs-45ACP-230Gr-FMJ, CCI or Winchester LP primers and mixed head stamp cartridge cases. Assembled all on a progressive press.

Thanks for sharing the definition. I simply do it because I enjoy it, even more now that I retired. I have always just enjoyed rolling my own and working up accurate loadings especially for rifle but also handgun. Thanks also to the others who chimed in. I wondered about that and offered my thoughts. Handloading / Reloading?

Ron

 

[ku4hx]

Loading up thousands of rounds of M2 ball using a powder dumper at 47.5-48gr. of IMR4895 and surplus pulled bullets would be reloading to me.

Carefully making target ammo one at a time with hand-weighed charges and the best target bullets I could buy, I'd call that handloading.

Basically the difference between cranking out large production of a generic load and small production of a precise load, IMO.

My experience is the two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. At the very high end of long range shooting, or other that requires ultra precision and consistency, it pays to load in small lots. But then some of the most accurate ammunition I've ever loaded has been on my original Dillon, an RL550B, in lots of 500 or more. Of course any obvious hiccups were relegated to the "blemish" bin, but I've had those on high end coaxial presses.

Consistency is consistency, regardless of what press you're using. But, as is the usual case, YMMV

 

[Ironicaintit]

I love to reload my handloads. Ive spent many hours at the bench, mostly in the small hours of the morning (i have trouble sleeping), enjoying the process of building ammunition.

After the first batch I ever did, i thought to myself, "oh boy! I cant wait to shoot these so I can load them!"

 

[kcofohio]

For the past several months, I have been on a serious weight loss program. In the evenings, if I am sitting around watching tv I really get the urge to eat. I have learned that if I am at my reloading bench, my focus is such that I easily block out any cravings for food & snacks. As a result, I have lost about 50 lbs, and have enough reloaded ammo to hold off most third world armies.

You may have created the latest dieting fad. Unload while you reload! Cool!

Wishing you the best for your health!

 

[TheGerman]

I reload whenever I got nothing else to do, more in the winter time, less in the summer and typically get to the point that in spring, I got a few thousand rounds of each caliber (.223, .308, 45/70, .44 mag, .45 ACP, 9mm and about 500 .50S&W) ready and only clean the brass when coming back from the range. During the spring and summer, I stock up on components whenever I can find a deal...

 

[wiiawiwb]

"After the first batch I ever did, i thought to myself, "oh boy! I cant wait to shoot these so I can load them!"

That is SO true. You go from the buy-ammo phase to let-me-make my-own phase and it is life altering. I'm still in the, "Let's shoot so I can reload mode".

Birthing your own creation...every day!

 

[rondog]

Just wait 'til the brass scrounger affliction strikes you, and you become "that guy". Like me. Poking around with your nose to the ground, bucket in hand, peering into the trash cans at the range, searching for shooting spots everywhere you go, picking up brass you don't even shoot.....

"Shooting? Who's got time to shoot? There's FREE BRASS here waiting to be picked up!"

 

[wiiawiwb]

Right now, I just reload .45 Colt and there is never any of that lying around the gun club range. I wish there were. I do see plenty of 9mm and some 45ACP.

 

[chipcom]

I store x amount of factory ammo, brass, bullets, powder and primer. What I have/purchase over that baseline is what I shoot and reload.

 

[kcofohio]

Yeah, I think out of the thousands of OPB (other peoples brass) that I have picked up. Maybe 2 to 4 were 45 Colt.

wiiawiwb, do you pick up the brass you find? You may find somebody to horse trade with for 45 Colt brass. Just a thought.

 

[Kaldor]

I try to maintain a good quantity of loaded ammo that I shoot alot of. For me thats 9mm and 223. That means a couple thousand of each, built on proven tested handloads, that function well in all my guns. I have 3 9mm's and 2 ARs, so I base my needs off of how many of each I might want to shoot.

Then I have calibers that I shoot that I dont keep alot on hand for. 45, 308, 300 BO. I have thousands of 45 brass, but I only one a single 45, so I keep 500 rounds on hand. The same can be said for my 308 and 300 BO, I keep a few hundred of each loaded in case I feel like shooting, but I only have 1000 pieces of brass on hand for each of these cartridges.

I do own a progressive (LnL) so I can load more at will, and quickly. I keep 10k+ primers on hand. I keep about 50lbs of powder on hand. And I have about 20k pieces of brass between the calibers I shoot. In short, I can load more at will, but I keep a good supply of my most common calibers on hand and ready to shoot.

 

[Hondo 60]

I do both.
Some of my 223 & 9mm was reloaded in 2012.

I had to cast some 45 Colt bullets last night cuz I'm down to 2 boxes of ammo.

In short, I can load more at will, but I keep a good supply of my most common calibers on hand and ready to shoot.

I'm just the opposite, the stuff I shoot more, I have no stock on hand.
It's the stuff I don't shoot very often that lasts awhile

 

[berettaprofessor]

As a result, I have lost about 50 lbs, and have enough reloaded ammo to hold off most third world armies.

You may have created the latest dieting fad. Unload while you reload! Cool!

Hmmm...that might be a useful to get my wife to reload for me....

....on second thought, I've been married too long to fall into that trap. Me: "Honey, you know you could lose a lot of weight reloading 9mm for me." Her:"Are you saying I need to lose weight?"
Me: "I'll just save time here and take a blanket and pillow to the couch."

Even if it worked and she reloaded, I'd worry myself to death wondering when if I might find triple charges when I shot the ammo....that old joke about never shooting another man's ammo unless you are also sleeping with his wife fits here. The corollary is "never shoot ammo reloaded by your wife unless you are sure she wasn't mad at you when it was reloaded." Since no man can never be really sure, in reality, that's a total ban.