How long does it take you to load ~80 to 90 rounds?

[D-4297]

Guess I'm in the PopCharlie / Ned Ludd group . Takes about the same time cause I'm not in a hurry . I prep all my brass within a day of shooting , normally . It then gets primed , and layered in USPS small boxes , ready to load . Comes time to load , I run a expander , charge , and seat . Never thought of it as a "Time" issue . Just another old guy with severe OCD issues ,, and time to do it that way .

 

[wkdickinson]

I try to work in batches of 100. Assuming I have brass that has been only loaded a couple times since being "prepped" (trimmed, inside/outside chamfered) and I have already sorted bullets, about 2 hours (not including tumbling). My normal operations - decap (Lee universal), anneal (Annealeez), clean primer pockets (Sinclair "uniforming" tool), lube (body with Imperial, neck with graphite dip), size (Whidden FL bushing die), clean with cloth, finish neck size w/mandrel, prime (Lee Bench Auto-Prime), charge (Chargemaster 1500), seat bullet (Whidden Micrometer).

When I prep brass I utilize my drill press a lot. I find that mounting my tools in the drill press chuck and running the drill press at about 1/3 speed (I have a VFD), not only speeds thing up a lot, but also gives me a very smooth and consistent finish on the primer pockets and case mouths.

I envy those of you who actually enjoy reloading, although I can't identify with you. I hate reloading, especially case work. But it is a necessary evil so to speak in order to make a rifle perform at it's best. Consequently, I try to do everything I can to speed up the process, short of spending a lot of money - i.e., using the drill press. When trimming I use a Forster trimmer with and electric drill, still slow, but it sure beats turning the crank. Unfortunately, some parts of the process really can't be speeded up, like charging. As I said I use a Chargemaster 1500 and I have tweaked it a bunch, but it's still slow.

A couple days ago I loaded up 100 rounds of 223 Rem, to just shoot in old Colt CAR (which shoots amazingly well). My plan was to throw those charges rather than use the CM 1500, but when I started checking the charge weights, I changed my mind LOL. So it took me a lot longer. But my product was ultimately a lot better.

 

[M-61]

Doesn't answer your question but I never timed it. In fact if I had to time anything I would not really consider it a hobby. A poor analogy would be cleaning and polishing my cars. Like reloading I enjoy it. Personal satisfaction and pride in a (hopefully) job well done.
The only thing I time is to make sure I have time to do things I enjoy.

 

[CA_Shooter]

The thing I really think is tedious is charging. I'm currently using the FX120i with a scoop and trickler. Takes me nearly 2.5 hours (with breaks) to do 90 charged, loaded, and measured.

I'm hoping the V4 comes available sooner to speed this process up.

When resizing, I noticed that if I feel a bit of pressure then I pause at the top longer.

For example, I can pause anywhere between 3 and 12 seconds to try to get my base to shoulder length consistent.

 

[flintcreek6412]

Edit: I actually like the case prep aspect of reloading; it's strangely relaxing. Priming and powder charging are what I really don't care for. I need a second auto trickler, and someone needs to figure out a way to motorize/automate a CPS.

That's funny. I hate prep and enjoy the charging and seating. Maybe because I know I'm near the end.

 

[XTR]

like a lot of folks here I prep brass and bullets in large batches, usually 500 or more.

1. anneal ~6 sec/case on my Benchsource
2. size and decap probably 5 sec/case
3. tumble about 45 min to an hour in corncob
4. inspect flash holes 5 sec per case
5. Expand on a mandrel 5 sec/case
6. hand prime again probably about 3sec/case

Call it 25 sec/case for prep plus tumbling…. Round it to 45 min per 100 in prep

i don’t trim often, but if I do on the Giruard about 6 sec per case

trim and point bullets takes about an hour per 100

charge and seat bullets using my Autotrickler is about 100 per hour.

so, per 100 total time probably run me about 2 hours 45min to 3 hours.

getting ready for a big match with 450 to 500 rounds = several long evenings

 

[Longtrain]

My loading is done in batches, i.e. depriming, cleaning, annealing, sizing then finally priming, charging and seating.

Everything prior to actually loading is done in blocks, days or weeks before loading.

Loading generally takes me about a minute a round, weighing an exact charge load. When I can dump charges with ball powder, it, of course, is much faster.

 

[ZenArchery]

A lot of variables
Scales, powder behavior, charge, etc…
Set up time is the longest 10 min to get first few rounds really dialed in. Excluding brass work and priming, once moving I average 110-120 an hour if things are running smoothly. But that’s with 2 digital thrower and 1 A&D FX scale.

 

[jackieschmidt]

If I decide to preload 90 rounds for a Varmint for Score Match, it takes me around 2 hours charging the cases with a ChargeMaster Lite. Often I will size and prime the cases and charge and seat the bullets at the range.

Usually though, I would rather load at the Match after each relay. Short range Benchrest Matches are geared toward shooters loading at the Match between relays.