why do you reload/handload?

[chop house]

so i can shoot the loads i want, not what the factory wants to sell

 

[Ol Thumper]

I started reloading in 1996 and I do it as a hobby and I just like knowing I built the best ammo I can build. Who cares about how much it costs , if your reloading just to save money then it’s probably not for you IMO.

 

[jasophil1]

HEY the ammo like 458 win mag 5to6bucks a shoot or more you can load fore less than dollar and enjoy shooting it lots of the big mag and some of the regular shells are way over priced .

 

[jk80]

I started loading for rifles for better accuracy, pistols so I could afford to shoot at a volume I wanted and haven't loaded a shotshell in 10 years. I shoot trap competitively and shoot over 20,000 shells a year. I have a hydraulic shotshell press and for the little savings versus time spent in front of that press I can't make myself do it. I've told several people if they enjoy loading shotshells they probably aren't shooting enough to be competitive. Lol.

 

[Homerange]

As others have mentioned but in my case over nearly 50 years:
Ammo availability....meagre choice of stock when you visit a local retailer.
Custom loads that are not commercially available.....lower recoil with lighter than usually offered projectile weights and/or the use of projectiles that are more frangible for devastating terminal performance. Eg 30-30 projectiles in the higher velocity 308.
Reduced cost....yes after decades of hand loading you can actually get a payback on loading gear investment.

3x MEC 600Jr 2x 12g, 410g
Rockchucker
Chargemaster
LEE alloy Oring press (now never used)
6 sets of LCD's
Ohaus 505

Catering for 12g, 410, 222, 223, 243, 6mm Rem, 7mm08 and 308

 

[R.Morehouse]

I shoot mostly SR BR with a dose of Williamsport in between. Reloading, for me, is a very enjoyable part of the hobby. I like using and collecting vintage equipment when possible but wouldn't get rid of my Benchrite of FX set up any time soon.....

Regards
Rick

 

[Intheshop]

I shoot(and build) trad bows for the prize money,bwahaha. It's just too much fun messing with the compound guys dumping cubic dollars into a never ending spiral of chasing the latest technology.....

Handloading? Sorta same as above. Shooting cast at jacketed velocities out of factory barrels and getting bugholes. But this is more of the,"you can't do that" than,beating up on the competition.

It takes dedication,diligence,and a willingness to strive for perfection. A cpl semi's worth of machine tools is nice too.

 

[jackson1]

Great question. Started handloading back in the early 70's. My future wife worked in a small drug store. When ever I picked her up, I would check out the magazine rack. After looking at the hot car magazines I would eventually look at the gun rags. Hunting and shooting are deeply engrained in my genetics so it was kind of natural. Soon I started buying a few, Shooting Magazine, I believe was the one that inspired me. Load for rifle, pistol, and shotgun. Marriage, children, and work always came first. Retired early during the Obummer shortages and what I thought was a fine set up grew and grew. Kind of hard to think of what I don't have as far as shooting and reloading goes. I enjoy all aspects of the hobby and have worn the paint off my basement floor in my gunroom. Has helped me pass many cold winter days. Have reached a point where I have accomplished all I want to. All my stuff set up and dialed in the way I like and this past winter started de-loading and now just keep 50 rounds per rifle.
Spent the last 10 years of cold, dark winters on bedding stocks, refinishing them, up grading triggers, barrels, and optics. My hand loading has evolved into shooting, cleaning, processing my brass and handloading before my next visit to the range. Truly thankful I can spend my time doing something I love. Read and study Accurate Shooter to find more projects and new ways to better my craft.

 

[Richard Coody]

Because I enjoy it. It is therapy for me. Gets my mind off work.

I only load for precision rifles and only do a few at a time. My methods are slow and methodical. Don't usually do all the following steps at the same time.

Deprime with Harvey
Hand clean brass with ballistol
Size
Measure trim length, clean primer pocket, run a Wilson depriming rod through flash hole, lightly chamfer & debur, examine case carefully.
Prime
Final size with mandrel
Charge
Seat bullet

 

[JMayo]

Bench Rest competition
Pistol competition

Love the art of building my own bullets.

 

[gdbleb]

Think of all the tools you get to accumulate now that you never even knew existed?

 

[Pawnee Bill]

It's good therapy.

 

[Retired Grunt]

I reload to get the ammo I want, when I need it.

 

[Huntersuave]

Duh, to save money only that didn't work out so well. You only need one press right? One scale? No need for comp dies of any kind either. Chamber type seater, well thats just silly no need for those. Multiple beam scales so why an FX120i? Who knows. Odd brass for a gun you dont have? Rules are rules by the gun right? Powder? Hey 4895 works well but lets get varget, tac, 8208, h322 and who knows what else is in that mix. Opps, we thought primers would be readily available always and only got what I needed then. Oh well I'm saving money though, right? I am saving money aren't I?

i agree 100%...i realized very early that i would not be doing this to save money. ive come to terms with the fact that i will spend more money on firearms, ammunitions and tooling than id like to admit.

 

[Huntersuave]

Great question. Started handloading back in the early 70's. My future wife worked in a small drug store. When ever I picked her up, I would check out the magazine rack. After looking at the hot car magazines I would eventually look at the gun rags. Hunting and shooting are deeply engrained in my genetics so it was kind of natural. Soon I started buying a few, Shooting Magazine, I believe was the one that inspired me. Load for rifle, pistol, and shotgun. Marriage, children, and work always came first. Retired early during the Obummer shortages and what I thought was a fine set up grew and grew. Kind of hard to think of what I don't have as far as shooting and reloading goes. I enjoy all aspects of the hobby and have worn the paint off my basement floor in my gunroom. Has helped me pass many cold winter days. Have reached a point where I have accomplished all I want to. All my stuff set up and dialed in the way I like and this past winter started de-loading and now just keep 50 rounds per rifle.
Spent the last 10 years of cold, dark winters on bedding stocks, refinishing them, up grading triggers, barrels, and optics. My hand loading has evolved into shooting, cleaning, processing my brass and handloading before my next visit to the range. Truly thankful I can spend my time doing something I love. Read and study Accurate Shooter to find more projects and new ways to better my craft.

good answer jackson1, i like this.

 

[358WCF]

It started as a necessity when I bought a 6.5 Jap x 257 Roberts with dies & a used RCBS Partner press. It expanded, turned into a hobby, took on a life of its own, & is now a hobby once again. A very useful pastime, it turns out, over the past year.

 

[Downhill]

Perfect activity for my OCD!

 

[Della]

I enjoy the distraction, but mostly I handload because I know that there’s nothing out there that will match the loads I tune to my barrel.

If I miss, it’s not the ammo.

 

[JohnKielly]

Shooting is a sin & handloading is your penance for doing it good.

 

[Patriot007]

Well the truth is. Once you go down that first rabbit hole, there's no turning back. With the right method that works for you. You can produce better quality ammo "TUNED" to your gun, than you can buy off the shelf. The best thing is, it keeps me off the streets. (The wife say's that's a good thing.)