Why do you reload ammunition?

[KY DAN]

I pose this prompt just to have something to talk about.

I feel the only reason I reload is to have the ability to posses ammo on hand in the quanites I feel I need for a given period of time. I started loading when I was 13 and found out grass cutting money didn't buy many Aguila 38 specials at 4.99 a box in 2005 let alone 357 magnum. So I bought a lee loader and ordered bullets and supplies through a local shop. I quickly had a mountain of the weakest 38 special loaded with unique I ever seen, I stuck I don't how many bullets in a colt commando(I didn't know lee made more than the dipper in the set). With that said a Smith and wesson 10-5 never stuck a bullet idk why.

My dad was a Vietnam veteran and a weekend warrior, we went camping and he showed me how to set ambushes in the woods for foot patrols.... Normal childhood activities

He provided financial support for the big stuff, I think in his mind of y2k type events 1000 38 specials or a few hundred 270 winchesters would be ballistic wampun for his own betterment.

To sum it up I load simply because it's what I always have done and I half way like it on poor weather days.

 

[Atavar]

I load for three main reasons.
I cannot afford to buy enough factory ammo to support my hobby the way I want to. Reloading lets me have a sufficient quantity of ammo on the shelf.
I like that I can create custom ammo tailored to how I want to shoot and of equal or better quality than factory ammo. I can be a better shooter because I reload.
Reloading is my meditation. It is a precision repetitive task that requires my attention and blocks out the stresses of daily life. I am calmer and more focused after a reloading session.

 

[MarshallDodge]

1. Customization
2. Cost
3. Precision

I started to reload so that I could save money. After I had purchased a Blackhawk in 45 Colt, I realized how expensive it was to feed it.

After I started, I realized how many options that reloading offered me. You don't save a lot when compared to cheap steel cased ot ball ammo, but my match grade reloads are a big savings.

 

[Jonny2guns]

Mostly because I have to tinker with something or I go stir crazy. Can't restore old motorcycles in the basement, so more focus on reloading.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I pose this prompt just to have something to talk about.

I feel the only reason I reload is to have the ability to posses ammo on hand in the quanites I feel I need for a given period of time. I started loading when I was 13 and found out grass cutting money didn't buy many Aguila 38 specials at 4.99 a box in 2005 let alone 357 magnum. So I bought a lee loader and ordered bullets and supplies through a local shop. I quickly had a mountain of the weakest 38 special loaded with unique I ever seen, I stuck I don't how many bullets in a colt commando(I didn't know lee made more than the dipper in the set). With that said a Smith and wesson 10-5 never stuck a bullet idk why.

My dad was a Vietnam veteran and a weekend warrior, we went camping and he showed me how to set ambushes in the woods for foot patrols.... Normal childhood activities

He provided financial support for the big stuff, I think in his mind of y2k type events 1000 38 specials or a few hundred 270 winchesters would be ballistic wampun for his own betterment.

To sum it up I load simply because it's what I always have done and I half way like it on poor weather days.

Three reasons: an unloaded gun is a bludgeon, it makes no sense to have a machine you can’t feed, and because factories don’t make what I like to shoot.

 

[Atavar]

Mostly because I have to tinker with something or I go stir crazy. Can't restore old motorcycles in the basement, so more focus on reloading.

Sure you can. Make a ramp for the stairs and a remote control electric winch to roll em up and you’re good to go.

 

[Demi-human]

Factories simply don’t make what I want to shoot. Especially so now. When was the last time anyone saw a box of 38 wad cutters or 45 Auto with SWC in them for sale?

And even when they did, mine are more accurate, higher performance and much more consistent.


(I had to remove and reinstall a glass sliding door for my ex-father in law way back when. It seems his dream of building a Harley Davison sportster turned into a great deal on a wide glide basket case. Upon completion it wouldn’t fit!
You ever hear a stage one Screaming Eagle fire up in a kitchen?)

 

[bcook4321]

I started reloading for cost savings and ammo availability, but ended up also enjoying the reloading process. and variety of loads I could make.

 

[Random 8]

Performance, cost, winter hobby. I also shoot a lot of weird calibers that are hard to find on the shelf in any loading, much less with the performance features I require.

 

[41 Mag]

Helped my pop when I was a tot, grew into loading my own rifle and shot shell before 10, with his supervision. Just always seemed to be the thing to do, like breathing.

In my 20's I got hot and heavy into revolver hunting and 41 or 44 rounds in the hundreds for practice simply didn't fit my budget.

Nowadays I'm trying to teach my three grandsons the ways of proper shooting and loading.

 

[dh1633pm]

Learned how to reload in the 80's when my dad first started. Been reloading ever sense. It certainly has taught me a great deal.

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

Cost.

It always comes down to money - at least for us unfortunates without our own printing presses.

I started way back before Algore invented the internet. Loading 9mm and 38 Spl because I made $150/week, and I couldn't stretch it far enough.

Now I shoot 7.62x54R in military bolt-gun matches. 60 - 70 rounds per match. I can't afford to shoot factory ammo, even when it was $0.75/rd. Now, when it's hovering around $1.50/rd, I can still shoot the monthly match by casting and loading my own.

The same goes for any of the other cartridges I shoot.

 

[ballman6711]

I reload for lots of reasons.

Cost is certainly one reason, but not the main one. I can make ammo that's as good or better than factory target ammo. I can tailor it to my needs/taste and shoot bullets not available as commercial loads.

AND I enjoy it. Like others, it takes me away from the stresses of the real world for an hour or two.

chris

 

[Jonny2guns]

Sure you can. Make a ramp for the stairs and a remote control electric winch to roll em up and you’re good to go.

I did two in the basement of this house, let's just say it didn't go over well with the wife... like painting in the house.

 

[flightsimmer]

Reloading is a hobby unto itself.

 

[Jonny2guns]

When I met my wife, first time to my place, there was a motorcycle in the dining room/kitchen...she should have known, oh well.

 

[Walkalong]

As a poor young man I started to save money/shoot more. As time went by I figured out I could be much more versatile in the ammo I loaded, a really good thing. I also enjoy it.

 

[Targa]

I started due to revolvers. I wouldn’t even own one if I had to pay the prices for a range day with anything above a rimmed revolver cartridge .30cal and up. Fast forward to today with the ludicrous prices and sporadic
availability and now I have expanding reloading to any straight walled cartridge rimmed or not (9mm and .45acp).

Within the last couple of years I also took up casting. Not for cost savings, there really isn’t any, but simply because it is one less thing that I have to worry about being in stock.

 

[JEBruns]

I got into reloading when I was shooting a lot of trap leagues, 35+ years ago. Found out I enjoyed the heck out of reloading, and being able to make custom loads for my 3 months of pheasant hunting every year. Got into brass reloading a few years later and churn out about 10K 9mm's a year now. Mostly for range use, a little competition. I still enjoy the heck out of it and sometimes wonder if I shoot so much just to justify my reloading habit. ;-)

 

[DMW1116]

Reloading fills my spot to do something in a lab type environment. I can get the accuracy where I want with the budget rifles I have. They are acceptable with factory loads they like at about 2.5 MOA but they drop considerably with hand loading. Hand loading is also the only way I’ve been able to keep shooting over the last year and a half.

Also I am a long time knife knut and view reloading as analogous to sharpening the way I want. Higher or lower angle, finer or coarser grit, faster velocity, purpose picked bullets, dialed in accuracy, etc.

 

[Hartkopf]

Cost mostly. And I'm old school like most here so I need to build something. How do people come home and just watch their phones???

 

[Atavar]

I did two in the basement of this house, let's just say it didn't go over well with the wife... like painting in the house.

Like the man said after his wife gave him the choice of her or the bike, “I’m sure going to miss her”

 

[Pottimus]

A friend taught me how in '79, have a Remington 740 in 280 Rem. reloads were more affordable, after I emptied the factory ones. I never knew they sold empty brass...Now I like lighter cast loads for bolt military actions...

 

[Barbaroja]

Growing up I remember seeing my dad casting and reloading so I kind of assumed everyone did. Fond memories of priming brass for him at about 7 years old.

So Fast forward to a few years ago when I got my first center fire gun ( 12ga) I wanted to shoot a bunch of slugs but couldn’t afford it, so I got a Lee load all and a 1oz slug mold and was off to the races.
Started metallic reloading when I got my first center fire hunting rifle in 7mm rem mag, to save money as I again couldn’t afford to practice with it much otherwise.
I was then given the gift of a ruger Blackhawk in 41 magnum with 100rnds of reloads( thanks dad!) I shot those rounds and went to look at ammo and was floored by the cost so I ordered a 215gn swc mold and a .410 sizer die and I haven’t looked back.
It ramped up pretty fast after that, now im casting and loading for everything 12-13 different cartridges. This is all over the last 4 years.
The best part of it in my mind is being able to shoot some odd or expensive calibers all you like without the worry of ammo cost and availability.
So I guess for me, it boils down to 1) cost 2) availability 3) ability to tailor the load to exactly what you want.

To anyone who doesn’t think you can save money by casting…. I don’t think your doing it right hahahaha. I’m loading a box of 41 mag for less than $2.70 using free range scrap. When I do have to buy lead for casting it adds $1.91 so $4.61/box if I can’t get free lead. That’s literally 10x less per box based on pre-pandemic prices. So that 1200rnds I shot last year cost me about $65.
Not bad for a ~$80 investment in equipment ($40 Lee lead pot,$20 lee mold,$20 sizing die.

Now I’m rambling. Long story short, go reload.

 

[Jonny2guns]

I also like the fact that even during this time of hard to find supplies, I have added 3 new calibers and have ammo that I made even though it hasn't been on the shelves in almost 2 years.