For me, it was to save money so that I could shoot a new AR-15 more. I found out that I shot more trying to come up with the "Perfect" load. I now load for around 10 calibers and I've yet to see the savings (counting equipment cost), but dang I'm having fun and it keeps me off the streets

Rick

Rick

Oh geez what a lame question, eveyone knows you start reloading so you can shoot for pennies on the dollar!


Now if the reloading companies were really smart, they would start telemarketing using their collection of phone numbers. I think as a group we have proven we will buy any reloading associated gizmo no matter what the price nor the dubiousness of the application.
"hey that kneeboard mounted priming machine sounds like a good deal!, let me get my credit card..... sure the 6 easy payment plan with no interest sounds like a good way to go too!....."

Good question IMO. I started reloading when I was 14 because I was given a rifle and was too young to buy ammo. But they could sell me reloading components.............DJ

Like everyone else I though that I was doing it to save money. BaaaaaHaaaaa what a fool!

I can't remember why I started reloading. I guess there are five or six main reasons, and it was probably one of them. Can't remember which shoe I tied first this morning either.

H. C.

Well, if I go by what's in my earliest reloading notebook, I was trying to make a 1 m.o.a. rifle out of my 1.75-ish deer rifle.

No, the best group I've shot with it is a hair over 2" at 200 yards.

I started reloading for the 8mm Mau. when the shooting itch redeveloped 22 yrs. ago. Loaded ammo. was almost impossible to get and very expensive when you could find it. Besides, it was loaded to ~ .30-30 Win. (.30WCF) velocity in deference to the older .318" bores. Reloading was also a way to feed some of the metric (i.e., hard to find) cals. such as the 7.62 x 54R and allow more frequent target practice with my other rifles. ...Maven

For the same reason as anyone else, to save money! Now if I'd have stayed with that lee hand tool,(hammer eveything together), I'd still be loading 8mm mauser for pennies on the $!

Next came making duck loads on a mec 250 in the then new AA cases that was deadly on ducks with lead 6's. Again if I'd have stayed with that simple equipment, just loading a few hunting shells, there'd be no problems. But we just have to have those progressivs, so we can save more money.

If I'd have spent the $1400.00 on ammo instead of the new 650 dillon, I'd have a bunch of shells to shoot! The end product would have been a pile of empty brass. Good heavens, we can't stand to see that go to waste! Gotta fill 'em up so we can shoot more!

Somewhere along the line I must have saved money, can't say just where though.

Fasination with detail and satisfaction from accomplishment. Desire to max out the 280 Rem. which is factory loaded for mediocrity started it.
It lead to 15 other calibers. Working up loads and testing them became (nearly) as much fun as shooting. That led to buiding a range out back, then a shop to load in.....and that's truly how spit happens. But, as you can plainely see, it did NOT result in a savings.

I believe I started loading for an old 7.7 jap because I couldn't find ammo and was about 12 and couldn't afford it anyway. Started by sticking the case nect into a vise and rolling it around while tightening the vise down, until the bullet would stay in the case again. Knoecked out the primer with a pin punch and reprimed in the vise. Hey it worked. Now I get just about as much fun out of refilling them as shooting. One other thing, at the range you see all sorts of people, but you can always tell a handloader. He might be richer than sin, but he's still on his hands and knees picking up 9mm or 223 brass.

Cause it was cheaper than drinkin beer and smokin dope.
Cause I had a S&W .357 mag that had a voracious appetite for ammo.
Cause I read in an old gun mag way back when that it was the only way to get good ammo.
Cause look at all the money I saved.....right !
Cause I had a ton of brass for .308, .357, 38 sp and a few others...each requiring a gun and to be fed.

"

quote:

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Originally posted by Paul Brasky:
I started reloading for the 8mm Mau. when the shooting itch redeveloped 22 yrs. ago. Loaded ammo. was almost impossible to get and very expensive when you could find it. Besides, it was loaded to ~ .30-30 Win. (.30WCF) velocity in deference to the older .318" bores." ...Maven

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Almost the same reasoning except I got a G43 in 1953 and couldn't afford to shot it much untill I started reloading in "57" All the cases were made from military 06 brass. That case work was just a whole lot of fun. roger

Cost, originally. And in the 1960's the difference between a factory centerfire rifle/pistol round or shotshell and a handload was much greater than today.

Rapidly, the reason evolved into a desire for higher quality ammunition, and sometimes for ammunition that was otherwise rare or entirely unavailable.

Now my reloading manifests itself in a well-deserved disdain for factory ammunition. It's almost an insult to shoot a game animal with such pedestrian stuff (except for pigs) .

Everything to with hunting, shooting and fishing is my hobby. I started just for the love of my hobbies. I had to stop loading for a while becuase of my unstable living arrangements but now I have no shortage of space out in the bush where I live.

I started out with an $18 Lee Loader kit, for my JC Penney 30-06. Had no instructions except what came with the kit. It was slow, but it worked, and the ammo delivered good groups.

The objective was to save money, of course.

In retrospect, it sounds sooooo absurd.

My neighbor, who professed to be an expert at reloading, was convinced that 168 grain hollow points were the ONLY bullet for deer.

Wish I had that rifle back.

My first wife was very small minded and could not see the wisdom of using the rent money for ammo. She also liked heat and water, even after I suggested that she could go over to her parents place once a week and get cleaned up.
Personally I thought the tent was right comfy.
Jim

TO SAVE MOENY OF COURSE. I started reloading to save money on my .44mag. Then I started loading for specific needs, like competition. Then got some wildcat rounds, have to reload for those. Then startyed hunting more & wanted "better" performance. Yeah, you save money on some calibers, others aren't worth the time & money anymore (9mm, 12ga, .223/.308 blastin ammo).

I like Steve's answer.

I like hunting and wanted to get more into it. This came at a time when I wanted a new hobby. It had nothing to do with a desire to save money although that's not what I told my wife. I've been at it for 40 years now so I must have picked a good hobby. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

at the time 25-30 yrs ago, it was money. I bought all my reloading equipment second hand and didnt pay much for it. I got brass from who ever would give it to me and loaded enough to hunt and sight in a rifle or two cause thats all I had money for.

For a few yrs I probably did save money. But those days are long gone, not sure what went wrong

I started loading Shotshells when I was 14 (35yrs ago) cuz it was cheaper. Didn't get into metalic reloading until a few years ago, not so much to save money but, to produce accurate loads and be able to shoot a hell of a lot more, made em gotta shoot em. Hell, I make my own fishing lures, sausage, shotshells it only makes sense that I build my own hunting and plinking loads. At leased that is what I told my wife.

I started reloading shotgun shells to save money.
My first centerfire rifle was a .22 Hornet. I ordered it bacause I liked the looks (a Ruger 77/22VHZ) and had no idea how much the ammunition cost.
I continued reloading to try to get the Ruger to shoot worth a damn.
Then, it turned into fun.
Now, I'm reloading for the Hornet, .19 Calhoon (you can't buy them anywhere), .17 Remington (about $1 per bullet at the store), .222 Remington, .243 Remington, and .45ACP.
Regards, George.

I started loading 12 Ga shells with a Lyman tool that roll crimped the shells.....I actually went to trap ranges and waited for everyone to go home so I could go out and pick up used wads. I was able to get shot at the Herter's store in Waseca MN that was called broken bags.....it was mixed shot sizes but it shot pheasants just the same.
Today the loading bench has a RCBS rockchucker, a MEC 9000G 12 Ga, a MEC 9000G 20 Ga, a MEC 600 Jr in 410, 28, and 12 Ga, a RCBS 20 Ga Grand, a Hornady 28 Ga 366, a Dillon 550, a Dillon 650 with case feeder, a Hornady lock and load A/P.

There's over 40 pounds of various powders, several dozens sets of dies, and probably more than 20,000 bullets and as many primers.

This sure has been one cheap hobby.....

I got started when I got a .44 special some years back. Ammo was about $25 a box, so started cooking my own to save money.

Then, once I felt the rush of something I did go "bang" and actually hit something, I was hooked. Following I bagged my first game with handloaded 45-70, and it really set its' hooks into me.

Haven't save a dime.

I couldn't help it. I was drawn to it by some unnatural force that still has it's grip on me.

my dad started me when i was about 6 on his 30 carbine...

then i started shootingstuff you couldn't get or couldn't afford to pay for... 348 win, then was 40 bucks a box... when 30-06 what 8.99....

and now the 500 jeffe-ry is 20 bucks a round, loaded...

or 2 bucks for each reload

jeffe

My Grandfather and my Father reloaded. I guess I just assumed that everyone who hunted also reloaded. When I spent my trapping money(1974) on a 788 Rem in .243, I also bought some reloading dies for it, and I have been hooked ever since!!! Those tiny 3 shot groups just made me feel sooo good!

Wow I must be lucky. I started reloading to save money and so far its worked. So far over the course of the year that I have been doing this I must have saved at least $10, maybe a little more. Except that over christmas I inherited a bunch of reloading tools and componants from my Grandad, my poor Bronco was a little overloaded on the drive back from Houston. So now, of course, I have to buy some more rifles and a pistol or two so that those reloading dies don't sit unused and unloved on my shelf. Oh what a horible problem

The reason I started is I didn't like "Wally Worlds" ammo selections.The gunshops around here weren't much better so I would have to order the ammo I wanted in special.Seems like everytime I found something that a particular rifle really liked he ammo co. would either drop that from there line or make some sorta changes.
I have a 270 Win. that loves Win.Fails Safes.Shot them well under an inch if I did my job.So I stocked up and bought 5 boxes.When I got down to the last box I ordered in 5 more.AND Winchester had changed them from that Lubalox coating to Moly coated.They shot at different points on impact so I had to resight in.Now I see Winchesters changed back to Lubalox on the Supreme Ammo Fail Safes again and the Component Fail safes are still Moly Coated.
This pissed me off to no end so I said enough is enough and went to reloading.Now when I run low I just load up more of what I need and don't have to worry about Ammo Companys changes.

Money it was just plain cheaper to reload then buy new. Now the price of ammo is a lot cheaper to what I make to what I made back then. But one still can save on the price of reloaded over factory. If one shoots a lot.

Now I do it for many reasons Money is one, its just plain fun I now shoot a couple of wildcats no other way to get ammo. I get more pleasure out of shooting my own. ect ect

Besides all of the good reasons everyone has already mentioned, I am financially supporting businesses that contribute heavily to the NRA. If I spent the same amount on loaded ammo, it would likely be the same result. This way I have more fun, get what I want, and probably spend more than if I didn't reload because I wouldn't shoot as much,

I started reloading because I could not find any ammo that would perform out of my 270win. It's 14 years later I wish I still had that 270. It's bin new rifles, new dies and there's no looking back now.

I purchased reloading equipment because I was a kid reading about Jack O'Conner and other writers reloading and wanted to be just like them. That was back in the 60s when I was just starint out on life and was poor. I bought the stuff and stuffed it in my closet and didn't use it. I fired factory loads. One day I decided to pull a part a box of factory 300 Winchester Magnums and test what a writer said about the disparity of the powder charge in factory loaded ammo. I had a ned RCBS 1010 scale, the one I still use some 30 years later. It weighed 70 to 75 grains disparity. That was the last box of factory ammo I owned. I started hand loading and improved my groups.

As far as saving money, anyone that believes that is nuts. True, it's cheaper on a per round basis, but since it's cheaper, you shoot more, and the savings soon evaporates. I wore the barrel of my last 300 win mag; put 5000 round through it.

I believe that I was born a gun nut. I remember hearing about guys reloading when I was a kid. I bought a Savage 340 .22 hornet in 1978. Back then all the gun writers and books said that hornets were obsolete. I could hardly find ammo. Many gun shops didn't even carry hornet ammo. I bought a Lee loader, a lb of WW 680 ball power, a box of Sierra 50 gr spitzers and 100 primers. I've upgraded my equipment just a tad since then.

I started reloading to make my 270 shoot better. After I pillar bedded and floated it, it still was shooting no better than 2 MOA with factory ammo. I just had to have a 1 inch gun!!! so I bought the rockchucker kit and now that's what I got.

quote:

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Originally posted by djpaintles:
Good question IMO. I started reloading when I was 14 because I was given a rifle and was too young to buy ammo. But they could sell me reloading components.............DJ

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like for me and the ammo did not exist anymore for that rifle.
reloading was the only way.

quote:

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Originally posted by RogerK:
I purchased reloading equipment because I was a kid reading about Jack O'Conner and other writers reloading and wanted to be just like them. That was back in the 60s when I was just starint out on life and was poor. I bought the stuff and stuffed it in my closet and didn't use it. I fired factory loads. One day I decided to pull a part a box of factory 300 Winchester Magnums and test what a writer said about the disparity of the powder charge in factory loaded ammo. I had a ned RCBS 1010 scale, the one I still use some 30 years later. It weighed 70 to 75 grains disparity. That was the last box of factory ammo I owned. I started hand loading and improved my groups.

As far as saving money, anyone that believes that is nuts. True, it's cheaper on a per round basis, but since it's cheaper, you shoot more, and the savings soon evaporates. I wore the barrel of my last 300 win mag; put 5000 round through it.

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exactly what happened to my first AR 15 Sporter SP 1.

To save money ofcourse. I had an interest in getting a pistol and rifle and start reloading for years before I did it. Then in 1967 I got orders from the Air Force for an assignment in Alaska. I bought a Win mod 70 in 30-06 and a Ruger .357 magnum while home on leave in texas. I also bought a book about reloading and a Lyman reloading manual. I read these two while my wife was driving. The Lyman manual also sparked an interest in bullet casting. Shortly after arriving in Alaska I bought both reloading and casting equipment. One of my new neighbors was a reloader and he gave advice(which I followed)on what brand and what equipment to buy. I had planned on a Lyman turret press but he recommended the RCBS Rockchuker. He also recommended a Belding & Mull powder measure.

When my father was alive, one of my favorite things was to go hunting with him. He passed away when I was 14, and I kept on shooting a lot, since he had got me started. I couldn't afford a lot of different ammo, so I put together a cheap reloading outfit, with borrowed and begged tools. From that day to this, there's always been a reloader on a bench somewhere at arms length. I'm now 48, and have reloaded literally thousands of rounds for rifle, pistol and shotgun. I hope to keep on for a while to go, as it is one thing that keeps me in touch with my past while providing the means for me to still shoot a lot. Most people don't understand the connection to your past that reloading, shooting and hunting provides, but then again, most people didn't have my dad. I've tromped more woods than most people, and to this day I never step foot in a field or woods that I don't think about how it all started, and suddenly I feel at home. It's at these times I feel more at home than anywhere else, including my own home. It's hard to explain, and even harder for others to understand sometimes.

I had no choice.

One of my first firearms was an old Rolling Block in .43 Spanish and there was no ammo for me to buy.

Since I also developed a fetish for odd military rifles, I now load almost 50 different rounds.

I spend more for dies and brass for some of my rifles than the actual rifle itself.

Obviously cost (or sensibility) has not really been a consideration. :-)

http://members.nuvox.net/~on.melchar/relo.html

Ken