Why I started reloading

[volshooter]

It was in the 70's I began to reload because I was not satisified with factory ammo.
I had a Marlin 336 in 30-30 that I knew could do better with hand loads. I worked up a load with Speer 110 spire points, knowing they could not be feed into the magazine.
After some testing i found that i could expand the 30-30's range x 2. I loaded them like a single shot. Back then I took crows well beyond 150 yds. I also found these loads very effective on deer, again well beyond standard ranges. I had a comfirmed one shot kill on a crow right at 200 yards with a 30-30.

This lead me to the study of reloading. Using a old Speer loading manual I began to improve on standard loads. This was long ago and reloading was not big.

Now it is almost impossible to improve on the vast array of factory loads unless you are like me and want to "roll your own".
Every firearm will perform with a very certain load. Factory loads may not produce or perfom like you want, If you are one of these folks I strongly suggest you invest and find the load that shoots best for your firearm. The satisfaction is well worth it. All of my firearms, esp. rifles will produce groups that cannot be had with factory ammo.

Every animal I have harvested since the late 70's has been with hand rolled ammo, taylored to each firearm.

Every firearm/round that I worked with was pure pleasure as to achieve the best. It is a love as well as an disease.

I reload on a single stage press only. I will never own a Blue press, that would take the joy away.

Anyone else got it as bad as I do?

 

[Rclark]

Good topic! Probably don't have it as bad as you do.... but bad enough .

It was in the 70's I began to reload because I was not satisfied with factory ammo.

For me, it was because I wanted to shoot more cost affectively... Not because I wasn't satisfied with factory ammo. Heck if it went bang, I was happy! Plus reloading looked like fun. And it was. This was back in late 70s (79-80?). It hasn't been until the last couple of years (believe that?) that I started to 'buckle down' and check loads for accuracy in individual guns. No longer satisifed with "it's in the ballpark"...

As said above, each gun is different. I've indeed found that out. Cranking out generic loads just don't cut it, if you are looking for the 'best' out of each gun. Also what others say are 'good' loads may shoot like a scatter gun in my revolver.... So, I am learning . Still shooting for fun, but now there is a new element added. Can I make 'good' loads ... better? Ah.... appears that I can .

Oh yeah, still a single stage press here. A Hornady.

 

[contender]

I too started in around 1977-1978. I was on a limited budget,, and wanted to shoot more. So,, reloading was the way to go. Plus,, I'd had a LOE friend who had been loading for me before I went into the Army,, so since he wasn't close by,, I had to learn to do it myself. I have a pair of Rock Chucker presses,, but I also now have 3 Dillons. I shoot a lot more now too!
Lots of fun! If I recall correctly,, I too have taken all my game animals that required a centerfire caliber with reloads. But I use a few rimfires for small stuff too!

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

I got started w/ shotshells in '65. Strictly a budgetary move: as a high school kid on a severely limited income, I could shoot 2-3x as much as if I bought factory.

I was also working for a trap and skeet range, owned by a former Winchester "pro." When asked about using reloads for trap, his advice was "Use factory for competition, reloads for practice. There's a miss in every 100 reloads!"

Well, in the late '60s that might have been true, but by the late '70s, when I had joined the competitive trapshooting ranks, I was building reloads that could smoke 100 straight as well as any factory load. And I started becoming more and more curious about tailoring loads for particular guns.

Now, shotguns aren't nearly as finicky as center fire arms, but some of what I'd learned at the pattern board came w/ me when I started loading metallics. And, as others have said, I've had loads that wouldn't hit air if fired straight up, and others that were almost boringly accurate.

I still load for economic reasons, as I've never enjoyed a huge shooting budget, but find the challenge of building "the best ammo for the gun" has become a hobby in itself.

Being one of our many confirmed single stagers kinda helps that mentality, too!

Rick C

 

[RugerSP101]

Cheap range ammo.

 

[volshooter]

Around 12 years ago I figured out 50 rounds of wheel weight cast.44 mags were only costing me $4.00.
I met an old feller 20 years ago who used to shoot .45 competition. I managed to buy his entire stock of primed brass, dies, cast bullets, molds, melting pot, loading data and several hundred pounds of "linotype?" lead ingots.
His wealth of knowledge kept me visiting him for months until his death.
Working in construction and getting to know the plumbers allowed me to obtain hundreds of pounds of pure lead. Older showers and sometimes whole bathrooms were lined with lead sheets as well as roof boots, plumbing traps, and lead okam joints in the cast iron pipes. I have no idea how many soft cast and hard cast bullets I have produced....but some day i expect someone will discover the vast lead deposits here.

Old dude taught me that soft cast pushed slow most often produces the best group, in pistols. To this day I have found nothing that proves that wrong.

Reloading is a labor of love, buying factory ammo is, well, going with "It will do" and excuse me for saying not acceptable to me.

 

[Bucks Owin]

I started hanging around my dad's elbow at the reloading bench when I was about 8 yrs old and started basic rifle reloading by about 11. Have never looked back since...

 

[mattsbox99]

I'm with Rick and Tyrone on the issue. I shoot competitively; handgun, rifle, and shotgun. The only way to do it affordably is to roll my own. At a minimum I'm saving 60% off retail new. I'm sponsored by Montana Gold bullets, so I use those for my .40 S&W, 9mm, and .38 Super competition loads.

I load all my rifle on RCBS single stage presses, my shotshells go on my MEC progressives, and my .40 S&W and .38 Super get handled on my Dillon SDB and Super 1050. I share the 1050 with a friend, so that saved a lot on startup cost.

 

[powder smoke]

I reload for a couple of reasons, one being as previously mentioned is economics. The other is I love guns to me it is an extention of my love for firearms. I don't shoot much in the winter up here in New England the winters can be a long cold season in order to shoot one must bundle up to brave the elements. Not many indoor rages it this neck of the woods just not enough people.

So winter is my time at the reloading bench. Single stage Rock Chucker my dies bullet cases and powder, almost as much fun as shooting! , This winter I'm expanding my intrest to casting. Got tons of lead been saving it up for years, bought some molds and now have flux and alloy material on the way. Should be making alloy by the end of the week. OH BOY!! ps

 

[mag41vance]

As a competitive archer, I build my own arrows, so when I began to build up my firearms inventory, it made sense for me to reload. I love the process to figuring out what a particular firearm wants. I still have each case set aside that I have used to dispatch an animal. My first reload trophy was a ground-hog at 131 yds using a 95 grain sst in my M77 6mm Remington. An R-P trophy case.
I also enjoy reading and learning from other successful Reloaders.

 

[BluedMoon]

I started reloading a few years ago when I got a 45 Colt and found that I really enjoy shooting it... Only one way to be able to afford to do that.

Now I can have a blast at the range with the 45, 357, 38, or 9mm and not be bankrupt when I get home!

 

[Yosemite Sam]

I started out much like volshooter. A buddy and I decided to take our shooting to "the next level" and jumped in with both feet together. For our first rounds we had everything: Go/no-go gauges, chamber depth gauges, flash hole and primer pocket tools, the whole bit. We read books on benchrest shooting/reloading techniques and applied what we learned to our own rounds. We achieved some pretty impressive results from factory rifles, if I do say so myself.

Since then I've started loading handgun rounds specifically so I could afford to shoot "reloader" rounds such as .45 Colt and .44 Special. I'm not so picky about these rounds. They're just range fodder, still better than commercial stuff, but I don't expect super-impressive results from my own handgun shooting at 25 yards. I do expect impressive results from my extra efforts with the rifle rounds.

I have a Hornady LNL/AP progressive press for handgun, but still do rifle on either a Rockchucker or a Lee Classic Turret. The turret press is nice because you set the dies up once and you're done. I disable the auto-advance feature and I still do "single stage" type reloading, but I don't have to swap dies out for each stage. Right now I'm debating whether to sell the Rockchucker or the Lee.

Halfway in between is .223. I have a very accurate AR with a match barrel, so want extremely consistent ammo. OTOH, it's a semi auto, and I got through a fair number of rounds. This is the only rifle caliber I shoot that I also have the shell plate for the LNL press.

-- Sam

 

[Scott]

I went about it backwards. Decided I wanted a blackhawk - did the research and chose .45Colt. Then found I would have to reload if I wanted to shoot any volume at all(and I did). Now I think I enjoy the reloading more than the shooting. I'm using a lee turret press, usually in single stage mode. I'm constantly gathering supplies to reload other calibers and continuing to experiment with the 45.

 

[volshooter]

I started with the LEE hand dies, the ones that did not need a press. For those of you who remember once in a while when seating a primer the primer would go off and shoot the seating rod in the drop ceiling.
My favorite is RCBS rockchucker because of it's strength, I make most of my 25/06 brass from 30/06 brass. I have a LEE turret press and a single for less than magnum loads, pistol only.
I have tried dies from RCBS, Pacific, Hornady and Lee. I like the LEE dies alot. I use a combo of LEE and RCBS for my best loads.

When loading rifle or high pressure pistol rounds I
deprime, clean, resize, inspect, cut to length and clean again before each shell is considered for reloading.
I have wore out 2 MEC shotgun presses and I'm looking for another. I love reloading almost as much as shooting. Even when hunting i inspect each spent brass for split necks or signs of pressure before I retrieve my game. Every deer is cut open and the wound is inspected for perfomance.

I may have posted that many years ago I had a Rem 30-06 with a 110 spire point sighted in for ground hog hunting. Dad spoted a buck, ran to the house and grabed the Remington to take a shot. He had no idea what load was in it or the sighting. At a later measured range of 325 yards we retrieved the buck. Dad put the cross hairs on the bucks sholder and pulled the trigger. Buck dissapeared. Latter when I got there we went to where the buck was last seen. There he lay, right sholder blew plumb off. Ths Speer 110gr Spire point even surprised me, massive exit sholder damage.
I did use that load for a few years until I found ballistic tips (only for game smaller than deer, outstanding performance)

 

[Dave H]

I bought a brand new Rock Chucker and built a rickety reloading bench in my bedroom when I was 14-15 years old. I started out reloading for the .22-250 that was my first centerfire rifle...a Remington Model 788. I'm 48 years old now and have never stopped. I've got a heckuva lot more money invested in reloading tools, gizmos and gadgets than I care to admit, but honestly...I think I'd rather reload then shoot. I still own the Rock Chucker and I also still own and use regularly the Belding and Mull powder measure that was my dad's.

 

[Big Ol Boy]

And it sure as hell is better than whats on TV.

 

[41manor44]

I started in the mid 80's with an RCBS SPL2 and am still using that single stage press. Ammo prices were beginning to rise and I wanted to shoot more and believe this was one of my better decisions. Am spending more money but have enough on hand to grab and go with any of my guns. I've blown many an afternoon just doing research and turning out only 50 rounds. I also weigh each charge but enjoy each and every session.

 

[Cherokee]

I started loading back in '56 when I acquired a 1917 Enfield 30/06. I also bought a 310 tool, HiVel#2, primers and a box of JSP and never looked back. I improved my equipment over the years as the gun variety incresed. The main reasons to start was it just seemed natural to load my own and to keep the cost down for a high school kid.

 

[volshooter]

Perhaps Pride is my sin.
I take extreme pleasure from handrolling my own ammo, stalking and harvesting with it.

Oddly, I am often more intrested in the bullet path/damage during field cleaning than the game taken. Is that odd to anyone?

 

[Tommy Kelly]

I started reloading in 1968 on a rockchucker press that I still use today. We shot 30-30's like most people shoot 22's every weelend we went out and shot them and usually shot 150 to 200 rounds per weekend. Then I would reloadthem for the next weekend and we went again. In 1968 you could load 100 30-30's for around 10.00 and a box of factory bullets was around $5.00. Boy times have changed. I did a lot of shooting back then now my shooting has dropped off conciderably but my desire for the finest ammo possible is still there. I trickle every load and still use the rockchucker for all my reloads. Only now I have about 30 different set's of dies and a lot of different bullets on hand. and powder I used to get 1lb cans now I buy 8lb cans. I have more ammo on hand than most sporting goods stores carry. I make every load as precise as I possibaly can. I don't load for speed as much as precision. In my rifles it shows. The last 5 deer I killed were all head shot. I have complete confidance in my rifle and ammo. My bullet's go where I put them. If there is a miss I failed not my ammo or gun.