Purpose for Reloading

For me, just something I grew up with. My pop and uncles would all gather up around a press at one or the others houses back in the late 60's and early 70's and play around with things. We always seemed to have an abundance of milsurp '06 rounds, and 30 Carbine rounds, which when shot we policed up the brass and wiped it up real good with Hoppe's then tossed in an ammo can.

I remember sittin on pop's knee helping him when I was a little fart, handing hm primers or bullets when he loaded them back up. It just progressed from there that it was something to be done.

Now I load for everything. Usually if I am buying a firearm, I have already purchased dies, and whatever else I need to make up some dummy rounds or even loaded rounds before I actually have something to shoot them in.

I know there is a fine line between what I can buy ammo in some calibers for, but with others just like the statement above,
I shoot .41 magnum. Check the price and availability on that sometime.
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I shoot the 41, 10mm, 454, heck even 44 magnum or decent 357's have gone through the roof, not to mention you only have a couple of choices when you DO find them. I guess it just isn't in my nature to buy something I can make, and also have on hand when things go squirrely with the rest of the world. I now have three grandsons who have loaded and shot their own ammo with my supervision. I'm hoping that in the distant future they will be able to continue on with what I have kept going as sort of a family tradition.
 
I want my wife and i to be able to go shoot when ever we want, after the feel good law of the safe act was passed in ny I really ramped up my reloading inventory. plus I can go mild to wild on my reloads, we handgun hunt with our revolvers and the ammo loaded for hunting is a bit steep..
 
Searching for loading info for the .327 federal is what got me to this forum. I load that an .41 mag, .243 Win, 30-06, .38 special and .9 mm. I probably should load shot too considering how much time I spend on the clay range.
 
I was passionate about my shooting, and I grew up in a time when reloading was what shooters did. That's all. If you didn't mate your own handcrafted ammo, you were missing out on half of the experience.

Now, reloading costs are no great benefit unless you cite exotics. But those people out there who change their own oil will make their own nine mm.
 
Now, reloading costs are no great benefit unless you cite exotics. But those people out there who change their own oil will make their own nine mm.
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I can't really agree here. I don't even cast bullets and using quality plated bullets, I have my 9mm down to around $6 per 50rd box. I do have to buy components in bulk to keep my cost there, but I can't find quality factory ammo for less than around $10 or $11 per 50, either before shipping or tax. And the folks who are using lead bullets or cast their own bullets can slash the cost down significantly from my $6/50.

So that's approaching HALF price for 9mm ammo, and 9mm ammo is the cheapest center fire ammo really of anything available.

So the cost savings may not be -THE- reason I do it or many do it, but to say it's really not there? I just don't see it. It's a huge benefit, and as you get away from 9mm/.40/.45, it just climbs and climbs from there.
 
The physics and chemistry drew me as I read the 1st reloading manual I saw. My first hand loads hitting the point of aim .....that has kept me. And as a side there are many calibers of dyes I've bought at yardsales and now feel I can contribute to most guns hunger...:)
 
I don't 'remember'... But I was in HS. So I suspect it was shoot more for less.... Now it is for generating accurate loads tailored to my needs. For example, in .357 I like accurate 158g SWC loads in the 1000-1100fps range. I can easily achieve that by reloading ... and with many different powders.
 
Now, reloading costs are no great benefit unless you cite exotics.
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You save even MORE if you "cite exotics".

What got me started was my first deer rifle, a Remington .308, a gift from my father, along with about a box and a half of empties and 10 live rounds.

Not sure where I got my first old Lyman manual. A generous grandmother gave me the $40 dollars my first Lyman press, scale, dies and a few other odds and ends cost.

Today I'm set up to reload for over 30 different rifle & pistol rounds, from .22 Hornet to .458 Win Mag. When factory round for some of my exotics are $4 a round, reloading makes even more "cents".
 
Look at .44 magnum. A box cost $40.00. I can load for $.12 to $.15 a round by casting and loading my own 310 gr. boolets. Try pricing 300 gr. heavy .44 mag loads.

Started when I bought a .44 mag. Have to reload or I can't afford to shoot. I now load .44 mag, .38 special. .357, .45 acp, 9 mm, .243, 25-06, .270, 7mm mag, and .223. went from a Lee single stage to a Lee classic cast, to a Dillon 650xl, also a casting setup, with sizer and all.

I don't save a penny, but I can shoot anytime I want.
 
I started to get more for less. Also there are 2 rounds that I load that are not available as commercial ammo. They have to be reloaded.
 
I began reloading 16 months ago, but I knew I was going to reload about six or seven years ago, when I couldn't find any ammo for any of my guns. So I guess I originally got into hand-loading so that I could avoid dealing with another ammo drought.

And when I look at my materials inventory and the small stockpile of finished ammo I have now, I realize that this is still a primary part of the 'why I reload.'

That said, I like being able to shoot more often for less money. I know, there's a lot of people who say that reloading doesn't save money. And if you amortize everything and your time, maybe they're right. But the bottom line is that I have more money in my checking account now than when I was buying all of my ammo. And I'm shooting more often. Weird, huh?

And finally, I also really enjoy discovering a pet load for one of my guns. There's just something really satisfying about finding a recipe that just works great in one of my guns. As well as inspiring a lot of confidence, in not only the platform but also in myself as a shooter.

So although I originally got into this hobby so I could have my own ammo plant, such as it is, I've found that my 'inner tinker' actually enjoys the process.

Peace.
 
After shooting for 50 years, and owning my own guns for 40, I just started reloading in the last couple of years. I have no idea what took me so long, but my motivation at the time was a combination of cost and coping with ammo shortages. I only reload for handguns, but I have enjoyed it and learned a lot. The satisfaction of shooting one's own ammo is notable. It costs the same to load .380 ACP and .38 special as it does to load 9 mm, and even 9 mm is a modest cost savings. Tailoring loads to needs is less dramatic in pistol than rifle, but still nice to be able to do.
 
That's just the thing.nine is cheap, and the casual shooter of nine or 223, even a lot of hunting rounds won't be replayed for the initial and ongoing costs of a press.

A person who wants to fire nothing but those could easily just go the factory route and manage to do it almost as cheaply as reloading, and save themselves the bother. A few hundred hunting rounds a year, based on about 1$ +- a round for cheap stuff compared to about half that for handloads, you're still pressing the limits to say that savings are really significant. Yes when a person goes up to .45, it's getting gray, but it's a fact that a few hundred rounds a year of three rifle loads, or a half thousand or so of big rounds like .45 or magnum pistol loads will bring it to long term profitability, as time passes, and the savings of six to ten bucks a box adds up to the price of the $300-500 press and startup costs.

If someone does go into the exotics, and I sort of add magnum pistols and uncommon rifle rounds into that, or genuinely burns through hundred, even thousands of rounds a year, then profitability comes in, but still, you have to be one of the guys who are willing to go through that work to save the money.

Look at the millions of rounds of steel cased ammo sold. That's proof that maybe hundreds or thousands of people aren't willing to go to the trouble. The piles, literally thousands of rounds of brass that can be found at any range show that even the serious shooters sometimes choose to pay the extra cash, rather than go to the expense and nominal labor.

I doubt that there are very many people left who load shotguns for an annual hunting season. My dad started reloading shotgun, and quit within a few years.

Ill certainly agree that .45 is profitably reloaded, the fact that I NEVER find that brass abandoned at open ranges proves it. I never see abandoned rifle brass, and anyone who wants to routinely fire his exotic rounds like 300 magnums would be kinda nuts to buy off of the shelf. Yes, the average American is far more able to keep himself in factory loads in general, but reloading was a very important thing fifty years ago when there wasn't a minimum wage, and millions of rounds of bulk ammo pouring off of the shelves every week.

I guess that an even bigger issue, rather than expense, is convenience. To go back to the oil change, my dad did every bit of his own maintenance, until he started making me do it. The guy who buys Remington brass ammo by the can is the same guy who takes his car to jiffy lube. You don't save enough money doing it yourself to make crawling under the car and blowing an hour worth the savings. How much does it cost these days to get five quarts of oil and a filter? $25-30? Ill sit at my bench and reload with my forty year old equipment because my equipment and space are paid for, and I don't mind spending the time. You will never find me under a car just to save twenty bucks. I'm passionate about shooting, but certainly not about doing vehicle maintenance.
 
I bought my first centerfire when I was still 17, back in 1973. having read about a family of self-sufficient types up in Alaska, and being like minded, I planned right away to buy 5 boxes of ammo so I would have 100 brass cases to reload. I was never without ammo and within a very short time it was all reloads. I soon found out that a handloaded Speer 130 grain bullet from a 270 Winchester was instant death on Deer.
So, yeah, it was about self-sufficiency, making shooting to be affordable enough to enjoy it and shoot enough to become proficient at it.
By the time I turned 21, I added a 45 Colt Blackhawk to the agenda. Back then, the menu to feed such a thing was a lot more limited. But it was simple to get a Lee bullet mould and wheelweights, and without even sizing the bullets, just pan-lubing-cookie-cutter-method, it was easy to make cheap ammo that was better than you could buy.
Nowadays, inflation has made everything seem so much more expensive. Depending on what your time is worth and other factors, reloading may not be worth it for everybody. Besides, not everyone is cut out for it.
 
You nailed it right there. I went that same route of pan plumbing my own, but now, I can even buy cast bullets for my 30-06 if I ever get tired of casting my own. Some people, like serious freeloaders, just don't want to give that over to someone else.

Self sufficiency doesn't mean squat any more, how many places could you get a pedicure forty years ago? I don't believe that even ten percent of the people alive now can honestly say that they are as capable as their parents. I look back at my grandfather, and I'm embarrassed. The man kept a can of bent nails that he would straighten and re-use. My parents never stopped on the way home from work and got cheeseburgers.
 
This is a fun question to read about and to answer, thanks. I started reloading when I was at cowboy shoot and some hombre had FLAMES, SPARKS....HE WAS practically SETTING PAPER TARGETS ON FIRE! I asked what in the heck he was shooting. He answered "cartridge grade goex, in 44-40s with a little bit of sawdust for show".....i KNEW I couldn't BUY that....i knew I HAD to shoot that. So, I knew an old vet buddy with a press. I bought some black powder, and some .433 round balls, and got all the 44 mag brass I had collected for seemingly no reason, called him up, he said "sure, bring it over" he walked me through the steps to make my black powder ball cartridges.....and after that, I lost about four paychecks at boondocks gun store in eagle river Alaska getting my own rig. I was HOOKED. the funny part is.....i didn't even load a single GRAIN of smokeless for the first two years. It was all black powder in everything, even my 1911, till I got it out of my system. Some people reload so they can shoot...i personally, shoot to keep all these gosh-darned bullets from all my reloading from piling up.
 
Well it started twelve years ago, when I went over to 45 ACP. I had so-so results and was not happy at all with them. Then my best friend handed me a couple of rounds for me to try, in my nonchalance manor, I said sure right. loaded them into the mag and without looking at the target blast away. When I did look at the target they both were dead center through the target. Not believing the results, I borrowed a couple more rounds, and to my shock those too were dead center. That was the last time I purchased commercial ammo.

There is no substitute for constantly made accurate ammo. I started out only making 45 ACPs, then 9 MM, then 243, 270, 30-06, 357 Mag, 38 Spl.... well to make a long story short, I load for 14 different calibers most of which I have NEVER purchased a single commercial round for. If I purchase a new caliber pistol or rifle, I order the components and dies for that caliber even before I pick up the gun and start reloading for it that day.

Now a little while back there was this thing called an ammo shortage. I kept saying what ammo shortage??? I have never been short on ammo to shoot and never will be, I keep a good stock of components, powder, primers and cases for all my calibers. Now after 12 years of reloading, I really do not need to reload any more, I have enough rounds to shoot for the next ten years, but I still reload just to keep my hand in it.

If the wife or kids get me really pissed off, I just go to the reloading bench and put together a hundred rounds or five hundred just to relax. Damn, now when will I be able to find the time to use up all this extra ammo!! Better yet, where will I find the extra space to store it!!

I'm short on time to go out and shoot, not ammo.
Stay safe.
Jim
 
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A person who wants to fire nothing but those could easily just go the factory route and manage to do it almost as cheaply as reloading, and save themselves the bother
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I still save around a dime a round even on 9 mm. But .380 ACP costs about twice as much off the shelf, and can be assembled for the same price. .38 Special not that much different than .380.

But "bother?" I have learned a lot about guns and ammo, and I enjoy the process. I compare it to knitting - a lot of repetitive action, but when you pay attention and do it right you produce something that you can enjoy and be proud of. If it was a bother I would probably sell my press, but I can come home from a bad day at my office, retire to the man cave and knit a box or two, and come back to the living room relaxed and happy.

Then I turn on the TV, hear five minutes of politics, and have to go back to my knitting or start drinking. I am going to either fill the closet or need a new liver before the election.
 
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