What is your favorite round/caliber to reload for and why
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WYOMan
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6.5X55 Not the youngest girl at the dance, but still a great cartridge. Accuracy IS her middle name. 45 Colt, nostalgic, easy to load, and still a powerful package even at black powder velocities.
Rifle rounds, in general. On my SS press, reloading pistol feels a little inefficient.
223 Remmy in particular, for many reasons. It's the only caliber I have a 6 cavity mold for, and the caliber for which I have the most cases. I was gifted 1000 truly OF'd LC by a friend that I am not even close to touching, yet. Sizing force of lubed 223 is less than most pistol calibers. And I have got the whole process so streamlined with an M die, no inside chamfering, less and faster* trimming, and a slicked up powder measure, that I'm loading it just as fast as I ever loaded jacketed.
Plus, whenever I load a 7mm-08 or a pistol rd, it always crosses my mind how many .223 boolits I could have made with the same amount of lead. At least it's the only caliber I use lino for, else it would drive me to fits shooting 230 gr 45 ACP.
*Finally figured out how to use the Zip trim chuck to its full potential. I must be slow, because I've been locking the case into the Zip chuck by hand for over a year, instead of zipping it open/closed with the drill while holding the case on there with a fingertip. Between Zip chuck mastery and less chamfering, trimming is so fast it's nearly painless. It's easier to trim an entire batch when due, than to measure and separate, now. I have also imagined a system where I hopefully don't have to use the calipers, anymore, at all. The plan is while loading an older batch, I can identify the ones that need trimming by where/how the crimp ends up, and put those together for a dedicated shoot n trim session when I have enough of them. Which I can afford to do, since I have so many cases.
223 Remmy in particular, for many reasons. It's the only caliber I have a 6 cavity mold for, and the caliber for which I have the most cases. I was gifted 1000 truly OF'd LC by a friend that I am not even close to touching, yet. Sizing force of lubed 223 is less than most pistol calibers. And I have got the whole process so streamlined with an M die, no inside chamfering, less and faster* trimming, and a slicked up powder measure, that I'm loading it just as fast as I ever loaded jacketed.
Plus, whenever I load a 7mm-08 or a pistol rd, it always crosses my mind how many .223 boolits I could have made with the same amount of lead. At least it's the only caliber I use lino for, else it would drive me to fits shooting 230 gr 45 ACP.
*Finally figured out how to use the Zip trim chuck to its full potential. I must be slow, because I've been locking the case into the Zip chuck by hand for over a year, instead of zipping it open/closed with the drill while holding the case on there with a fingertip.
Between Zip chuck mastery and less chamfering, trimming is so fast it's nearly painless. It's easier to trim an entire batch when due, than to measure and separate, now. I have also imagined a system where I hopefully don't have to use the calipers, anymore, at all. The plan is while loading an older batch, I can identify the ones that need trimming by where/how the crimp ends up, and put those together for a dedicated shoot n trim session when I have enough of them. Which I can afford to do, since I have so many cases.
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mike.h
Member
Started out with .45ACP,
9mm is a little more involved because to the smaller, tapered case,
getting set up for .223. Has a few more steps but I'm looking forward to it...
9mm is a little more involved because to the smaller, tapered case,
getting set up for .223. Has a few more steps but I'm looking forward to it...
788Ham
Member
I've loaded more .38 Spl's than I ever thought possible. I've picked up 3 revolvers in this caliber the last 4 months, plus I've got my eye on another one at the upcoming GS next weekend. Plus I load .223's by the sackfuls, need to keep things in the rifle dept. running too.
zxcvbob
Member
Probably .38 Special just for the fun of loading and shooting it.
But also .45 Colt because I save almost $1 per shot reloading that one, and I've never found any factory .45LC that I liked. (I haven't tried all that many cuz it's so expensive)
But also .45 Colt because I save almost $1 per shot reloading that one, and I've never found any factory .45LC that I liked. (I haven't tried all that many cuz it's so expensive)
stiffdogg06
Member
.40 because I crank out about 100 rounds in 15mins.
and
.223 because it's very hands on with my single stage which I very much enjoy. Must the be engineer in me.
and
.223 because it's very hands on with my single stage which I very much enjoy. Must the be engineer in me.
Jaxondog
Member
It has to be 10mm for me. Reason is because I love to shoot 1911's and mine are in 10mm.
FROGO207
Member
As some have stated I do not have any particular that I like above others, but I probably have reloaded more rimmed handgun ammo (32 short to 500 S&W) than any other in 30+ years with ACP style a close second. I find any reloading rewarding/relaxing in it's own rite and as such a favorite activity as it is.
Crashbox
Member
I currently reload for only two different cartridges, .357 Magnum and .40 S&W- I checked my reload log earlier this week and I would say it is definitely the .357 as it has been almost TWO YEARS since I cranked out any .40s!!! I think this proves that I'm much more of a revolver person as opposed to semi-auto...
James2
Member
44 Spl. The first handgun I loaded for. It was and still is very pleasing to put together some high performance loads. Also the larger parts are easier for my old, tired, and big fingers to handle.
222 Rem. Easy to size and the powders used cut nicely in the measure. Just a pleasure to load.
222 Rem. Easy to size and the powders used cut nicely in the measure. Just a pleasure to load.
9mm because I can crank out 100 rounds in 3 minutes.
460 Mag because I can go anywhere from mild to wild. 160-400 grain bullets and 600-2400 fps. It is fun to play with such a big case, and it is easy to hold onto. I have never bought factory 460 ammo due to cost. My home cast bullet loads cost me about $10 per 100 rounds and I can load a 240 Hornady XTP MAG to 1932fps for 70 cents vs. $1-$3 per round in the stores.
It is more fun to unload the ammo though.
460 Mag because I can go anywhere from mild to wild. 160-400 grain bullets and 600-2400 fps. It is fun to play with such a big case, and it is easy to hold onto. I have never bought factory 460 ammo due to cost. My home cast bullet loads cost me about $10 per 100 rounds and I can load a 240 Hornady XTP MAG to 1932fps for 70 cents vs. $1-$3 per round in the stores.
It is more fun to unload the ammo though.
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