Reloading - how to start?

[EddieWalker]

Prokop,

I'm gonna disagree with everyone. I have nothing against reloading, but after spending years doing it, I've come to the conclusion that it's not for me.

You won't save any mony at it unless you are shooting competitively. The price you pay for the equipment an supplies will take years to make up the difference you pay in ammo. If you just love to shoot and shoot massive quantities of ammo, then it's a toss up between buying cheap ammo or making your own. I'd use my time shooting instead of reloading.

The big advantage to reloading your own ammo is to create the perfect load for your rifle. Every rifle will shoot better with the exact perfect ammo in it. The trick is to figure out what that combination is. From the case to the primer to the powder to the bullet. You will litteraly have to come up with every combination possible to figure this out.

I found that my deer rifle shoots extremly accurately with IMR powder and Hornady boattail bullets. I was getting half inch groups pretty consistantly with this load at the range when I was really into it. Then I took it hunting and was suprised at how poorly those bullets did on game. I shot a few caribou, mule deer and blacktail deer with them before giving up on it. A year of work to figure out the most accurate combination just to find a bullet that didn't expand when it hit an animal.

I tried other bullets and spent more years working up combinations that shot well, but nothing came close to that accuracy.

I then read some articles about the premium ammo that the factories were putting out and decided to give them a try. Federal makes some very good ammo that shot under an inch in my rifle. I hunted with it and the results were very good!!!!

I wont even try to guess how much time and money I put into reloading, but in hindsite, it was a mistake. I'm not a guy who loves shooting. I like to hunt and I like to kill what I'm shooting at cleaning and quickly. Shooting is a skill that I had to learn in order to do this, but it's not something I enjoy. Reloading your own ammo means that you will have to spend many, many hours at the range shooting and cleaning your rifle. I'd go in the morning on a Saturday before all the "Yahoo's" showed up, or late in the evening when it was slow.

Target shooting at the range for me means firing five rounds and waiting ten to fifteen minutes for the barrel to cool. Then doing it all over again. If I changed loads, then I cleaned the barrel and fired a set of five rounds to foul it. There is no way to save money when you do this to find out the best load for a rifle. It's extremly expensive and time consuming!!!!!!!

If you have lots of time and are interested in this type of trial and error, then go for it. If you are interested in hunting and want a load that is accurate, then buy a box of five to ten different brands of Premium Ammo and spend a day or two at the range.

Most of the guys I met who were into reloading were doing it more for the fun of reloading. A few shot competitive and were fanatics about their loads. The rest didn't even know how to shoot and did it for a miracle that was never gonna happen. You need to be able to shoot sub one inch groups in order to take advantage of reloading for accuracy. The differences you are looking for from factory ammo compared to a handload are measured in thousands of inches.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[cp1969]

From strictly a hunter's standpoint, reloading wouldn't make sense. Most people that I know who reload are not just hunters--they are shooters who love to shoot, and not necessarily at anything alive.

 

[3RRL]

Well,
I reload my .378 Wby mag. Had to buy special carbide dies...had to send them fired brass for sizing. I've been reloading that round for over 15 years now but it was worth it for me for several reasons and has paid off. Plus the handloads are accurate and reliable. It is the only one I reload. In chronographing stock Weatherby .270 grain ammo, I found it varied from 3,200 to 3,490fps!!! I would never buy stock ammo again for this rifle. Plus, it's not something you can "pick up" just anywhere. Have you seen what Norma or Weatherby .378 ammo goes for now? Shees.
Now my 30:06 I don't reload. I shoot the 165 grain BTSP Interlock Hornady light mag at just over 3,000fps and my rifle loves that ammo. It keyholes at 100 yards with that out ammo of the box ....26" barrel, so I don't bother with it.

 

[Matt_W]

From strictly a hunter's standpoint, reloading wouldn't make sense. Most people that I know who reload are not just hunters--they are shooters who love to shoot, and not necessarily at anything alive.

I have to agree, I think there is a little savings per box, I think the last time I cost justified a box of 45ACP it was 2 or 3 dollars per box, Also depends if you cast heads then there is more of a savings, I used bulk military powder for certain calibers.
But if I went to the range with my AR15, 30 cal carbine or even my 45ACP you can shoot 200 or 300 rounds very quickly. I would have a thousand on hand so I would have time to reload the 300. With a semi auto rounds seem to disappear very quickly.

 

[SkyPup]

We reload .380, 9mm, .357 Sig, .44Mag, and 7mm Rem Mag as well as 12 ga. and 20 gauge skeet and waterfowl steel shot.

 

[dmccarty]

I think Eddie makes a good point. What I have read over the years and seems to be true is that if you reload, you shoot more for them same amount of money. Of course you are putting your time in to make the ammo. On the other hand Blaser make good, cheap 9mm ammo. No way would I reload 9mm would I could buy it cheap.

I used to shoot pistols quite a bit, 1,000 rounds every couple of months. Its easy to shoot 200-400 pistol rounds in an hour or two. But given time pressures it just was easy to buy the Blaser ammo.

But that is 9mm. Shoot 10mm or some other not so prevalent cartridge, then reloading gets more economical. Especially rifle rounds if matches are being shot. I would shoot 60 rounds per match at least once a month. That is a $60 in ammo easy. I could make it much cheaper than that and have a load that was just right for the rifle.

But if one is just hunting and firing a few rounds a year or even a couple boxes, its hard to justify reloading from a money point of view.

Later,
Dan

 

[Z-Michigan]

Now my 30:06 I don't reload. I shoot the 165 grain BTSP Interlock Hornady light mag at just over 3,000fps and my rifle loves that ammo. It keyholes at 100 yards with that out ammo of the box ....26" barrel, so I don't bother with it.

FYI - keyholing normally means that the hole in the target is elongated, looking like a keyhole and showing that the bullet flew through the target sideways, meaning the bullet is tumbling in flight. This is most often seen with very long bullets in rifle calibers typically set up for light varmint bullets (e.g. shooting a 75gr .224 bullet out of a bolt rifle with 1 in 12 twist). I think you meant that it shoots one-hole groups.

Whether reloading makes sense $$ wise depends on the caliber and how much you shoot. If you are only a hunter and don't shoot just for fun, I would stick with factory ammo, which is extremely good these days. But if you like to shoot a pricey cartridge in high volume, reloading makes a lot more sense. .357 magnum ammo is now running $15-20/50. I can reload it for under half that. The cost of the brass in the case is the main reason. Some calibers, most notably 9mm, are commonly available at cheap enough prices that reloading saves you little. However, this used to be true of .223, and now it's rare and expensive due to military demand. I wouldn't rule out any caliber for reloading, IF you're a high volume shooter. If "high volume" for you means two boxes a year instead of one, then no I wouldn't bother.

 

[cp1969]

I used to get a kick out of the fact that I could load a box of .45 Colt ammo for just a little more than .22 long rifles cost.

Bear in mind, this was back in the day when primers were a penny apiece, powder cost $4 per pound and I was casting bullets from discarded wheel weights.

Reloading and casting, for me, added another enjoyable element of shooting that you could do on days when you couldn't get outside or in the evenings instead of watching tv.

 

[gsganzer]

I agree with Eddie, that if you're reloading for economics that it probably doesn't work out. I also agree that if you're reloading for accuracy and performance, there is probably a factory load out there that already suits your needs.

However, I consider it similar to tying your own flies for fly fishing. You do it because you get the joy and satisfaction from mulling over, studying and selecting every last detail that leads to your success. It's just a matter of the personal satisfaction that you "did it all".

I'll start my loads for my .257 weatherby this weekend, in anticipation of deer season. This year the menu is Norma brass, filled with Reloader 22 and topped with a garnish of Barnes 100 gr TSX.

 

[3RRL]

Z-
This is not what I mean.
FYI - keyholing normally means that the hole in the target is elongated, looking like a keyhole and showing that the bullet flew through the target sideways, meaning the bullet is tumbling in flight.
What I mean is that round bullet holes touch each other like when one hole is on top of anther touching it. That looks like a key hole. At least that's what I grew up learning what "keyhole" means.