I am semi retired. I retired from my career a few years ago and still have to work as my pension is not enough to pay all the bills. Im only 45 yet. Anywho, I love to reload and have for many years. Also load for a few guys I hunt with and my brother. My favorite part is working up loads and getting the best accuracy I can.

With that said, I have been thinking of starting my own business of developing loads for people that either don't have time to do it, don't reload but would like better accuracy and more variety of bullets, or don't have a range or time to spend on the range to work up loads.

I know these services are out there but curious if anyone has done this and what you charge?

I already have an attorney working up a waiver for the liability. He specializes in this area, not reloading but civil liability.

I just want to kind of add to my hobby and it would be nice to get a little extra income while I am doing it.

I am still in the research stage and trying to determine if it is worth it. Insurance I am sure is going to be the hard part.

Thanks for any help!

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I just want to kind of add to my hobby and it would be nice to get a little extra income while I am doing it.

Once you start doing it for money it becomes a job.

Would be easier to get a regular part time job.

Then turn you hobby into a job.

Would you then be selling the custom ammo to the client you worked up the load for?
That may make you an ammunition manufacturer and you "may" need a license of some sort for that I'm not sure, you'll be wise to check into that.

Self employment is a joy to some and a curse to others, not for everyone.

For some people a part time job would be a better option and keep your hobby separate.

There is no better way to "eff up" something you enjoy than by turning it into a business. Some customers seem hell bent on driving you out of business, using all your time and then not paying and using "bad reviews" of your business to blackmail you into bending to their wishes...

If you are going to sell reloads to the general public, you not only need a special manufacturer's permit from BATFE, but a local business license AND about a million dollars worth of liability insurance, as well.
you will also have to aquire an approved worksite, as well; you can't run a reloading facility out of your hobby room, either! This means inspected and approved by BATFE, as well as LOCAL'authorities'.

Yes, you need lots of things to manufacture ammunition for sale, and, you can't possibly work up loads without using the client's rifle. What works in your rifle will not work, in another. Better off using factory ammo than a load But if you are testing it with the customer's rifle, and then selling him the ammo, ok.

In answer to your query, there are entities out there that do offer, or used to offer, the service you describe. They do charge a lot for the service.

The client is unlikely to be satisfied with the recipe and a couple dummy rounds. They will want you to sell them ammunition as well. That would be a profitable venture.

There is a lot of overhead, the greatest part is acquiring all the required loading dies, and all the powder. You will need accurate, and durable dies. Spelled R E D D I N G (Boy, am I going to get an earful over that sentence!).

It would be good if your loading facility and your range are co-located. You would come to hate the drive to the range. Otherwise, you could do some of your "fine tune" loading in a camper on your pickup truck, at the range.

Having said that, there are certain loads for given calibers that will work well in most any decent rifle. Many cartridges respond to a specific powder. Example - Reloder 26 pushes a 130-grain bullet to 3,000+ fps out of a .270 Winchester rifle (especially with a 24" barrel).
Another example would be 45.5-grains of Ramshot Big Game under a 140-grain bullet for 2,840 fps.

You will have to become accurate, and fast in the art of diagnosing the cause of inaccuracy with a rifle/cartridge combination. You may need a bore scope, and a few very reliable scopes to swap out with the client's scope during testing.

It is a can of worms, to be sure. You will have to decide if the concept appeals to you enough to clear the hurdles inherent in the enterprise. Good luck.

Thanks guys. I should have included in my original, I am aware I need BATF permits, insurance, etc. I am pricing those things now. The overhead to get started is horrendous for sure. I have heard, by word of mouth, some guys that do this charge around $250 to do this.

Just so we are clear, I would taking their rifle, loading ammo to my specs, and working up the best load possible for their rifle using "X" bullet. I would then sell them the ammo that shot best for me.

There are also services where I load up different loads and they shoot them and tell me which series shot the best. I would be selling this ammo, I do not like this method, to much liability for them not following directions, but there are places that do this. My attorney is already telling me no to this method.

I was mostly looking to see if anyone knew of anyone that did this already so I could try to get some information from them.

Its a good business model as I know there are lots of guys out there who will pay for something they could do themselves but for various reasons, don't, won't, or can't after all. Just shipping rifles back and forth will cost the client $100. But the cost of dies is not that much in the overall scheme.
Dies? Redding is fine and so are all the others; and I do have several sets of all of them all the way back to Herters.

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Originally posted by dpcd:
Its a good business model as I know there are lots of guys out there who will pay for something they could do themselves but for various reasons, don't, won't, or can't after all. Just shipping rifles back and forth will cost the client $100. But the cost of dies is not that much in the overall scheme.
Dies? Redding is fine and so are all the others; and I do have several sets of all of them all the way back to Herters.

Agreed, All I use are Redding if I can help it. RCBS are my second favorite.

I got insurance quotes today. Two companies won't touch it and two others are outragous. My shop is at my Dad's house and besides giving him a cut, I need to check with his homeowners, they may not like it. The further I dig into this the more stupid bureaucracy there is. I may just end up doing it for friends and thats it. By the time you pay for everything to protect yourself there is no profit. Then someone will sue me for something they did and blame me.

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The further I dig into this the more stupid bureaucracy there is. I may just end up doing it for friends and thats it. By the time you pay for everything to protect yourself there is no profit. Then someone will sue me for something they did and blame me.

That is the best summary I have ever read, and the reasons why I was discouraged from doing this myself.

I have thought about doing this myself but never looked into it. I already reload for several friends and family members and that's enough. I have had a lot of complete strangers at the range ask me if I would load ammo for them. They don't really understand the time that goes in to developing a good load and think you load up a box and are good to go.
Not too long ago, I was sighting in my 7mm Mag. A gent on the bench next to me was also shooting a 7mm Mag and having a rough time getting it to group better than about 8". When the range went cold he asked me what I was shooting to get such good groups. I told him they were handloads. He was shooting Federal Premium ammo and said he should start reloading to get his rifle to shoot better. I said to him, If you will let me do the shooting, we could try some of my ammo in his rifle and see how it did but the Federal Premium he was shooting was pretty good stuff and said I would try it first. He agreed. My first group was about 2.5 inches, the second right about 2. He had been looking through my spotting scope the whole time and looks at me and says "Well, I guess I just can't shoot for shit!" I just smiled. We never did shoot any of my loads.

I think a lot of people can't shoot well and think handloaded ammo will save them.

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"Well, I guess I just can't shoot for shit!"

As a firearms instructor I have heard a lot of people blame their firearms.

There is normally silent after I shoot their firearms.

You're going to "work up" loads without actually having the rifle for which you're loading in your possession? Huh? Although such "mail order" customization is theoretically possible with A LOT of back-and-forth, in practical terms it is a fool's errand.

First, you'll have to start with loads that are assumed to be well below "maximum". Then, you'll have to resize the brass down to within SAAMI dimensional tolerances, not knowing whether the customer's rifle's headspace is stingy or generous, thus making for a sloppy fit in the chamber and short brass life.

But most problematic is that you would be depending on the rifle's owner to analyze the accuracy of the ammunition -- and you would have no control or knowledge of an incredible array of variables (barrel bedding, scope issues, unskilled shooter, ad infinitum) which might cause an otherwise excellent load to be rejected as a poor one.

You would also have NO IDEA what kind of velocity the loads were generating in the customer's rifle. In short, I can't see how your would-be services would benefit anyone any better than just having them pick up a random box of factory ammunition.

Or maybe I don't understand what you're proposing to do. If so, please inform me if I'm the victim of misunderstanding.