Why consider the value of your time when casting/reloading?

[FISH4BUGS]

I have never understood why people seem to value their time into the equation of the cost of casting/reloading.
That's the whole idea of the thing - down time to relax and do something with added value, and to create something useful. Your time is what allows you to do these things.
I do not have TV. Haven't had it for 25+ years. THAT is what gives me time to devote to my hobby.
I treasure the time I CAN spend sorting and prepping brass, casting, sizing/lubing, reloading and shooting. I NEVER lack for anything to do in the man cave.
My SO calls it "man knitting". I understand what she means. But when many figure in the cost of the reloads, they say "...my time is worth $50 an hour" or something like that.
No....your time is what allows this to happen. If that's the case, sleeping 8 hours every night costs you $400.
For those that don't have time, MAKE the time. Murder your TV. You would be surprised at how much you can get done with an hour here and an hour there. The TV is a vast wasteland that creates vegetables out of us. I have not missed the TV one bit since my son and I machine gunned it at the range (yes I cleaned up the mess). It was a very liberating act.
Time? For instance, I sized, swaged , trimmed and chamfered/deburred (now ready to load) 500 223 military over a week or so amount of time....an hour here and an hour there.
I'll set up for casting and do a run of 1000+ bullets. Then size and lube them....all over weeks of time here and there.
The use of your spare time is what makes up your HOBBY.
Rant over.

[smoked turkey]

I agree with the OP that handloading time is a time of relaxation away from the normal hubbub of life. I can go to my "handloading room" and concentrate on what makes me happy. I take the creation of ammunition very seriously. Especially when I read accounts of Kabooms, and other malfunctions that occur occasionally due to the nature of the product. I know that those that post such incidents do so for the admonition of us all. I don't do well with other distractions, especially TV. I am one that needs to concentrate on the task at hand: creating ammunition. I enjoy the whole process from ingot to cartridge. For the most part my wife stays away from the mess and let's that room be mine. I love our hobby and gain much satisfaction from it.

[GhostHawk]

Exactly so!

My wife and I agreed that from the time she gets home from work at 4:15 until 8 is family time. No puters, no running off to the casting room. It is OUR time.

The other 20 hours of the day are mine. Now I am retired, so if I feel the need to cast, or reload I do so.

But most of us do this because we LIKE doing it. In my case if I can reload for 6-10 cents a round I can shoot a lot more than if I had to buy my bullets.

Plus I enjoy it. There is something very soothing in sitting down and making nice shiny cast boolits rain. And in the brass prep, and reloading.

If someone offered me the deal, I'll give you lifetime supply of ammo for the guns you have, but you give me your casting tools and reloading tools, dies.

I would not take it.

I think those that talk about time probably would. They are there because they have to be there to do what they want to do. Not because they enjoy it.

[DerekP Houston]

Yup I agree, hobby time is hobby time I don't consider getting paid by the hour unless I'm on the job. If I wasn't reloading, I'd be playing a game, playing with my son, or watching a movie/walking around the malls. I can always find ways to kill time that are entertaining this is just one of them. I enjoy reloading for more accuracy and the essentially unlimited rounds I get to fire at the range without worrying about price. @ 20-30 a box, shooting 300 rounds at the range is quite pricey. With my 38's I shoot for around 5c each load now, making each box of 50 $2.50 (I don't add brass price in as these have been loaded ~10 times at least each now).

[JBinMN]

I think there is more to it than just "time=$$". At least to "me" there is...

What ammo company can offer you the ability to "dial in" loads to fit particular firearms? I have not ever heard of an ammo company offering to the general public, "ladder tests" per tenth of a grain for folks to find the best powder for accuracy. ( nor for bullet /boolit weight or any component in a cartridge)

How about working up loads like above, but for "powder puff/mouse fart" loads for kids or folks who have a hard time dealing with recoil but still want to shoot? No ammo company I know of will do that...

My missus for example has issues with her hands & wrists & loves to shoot. Factory loads make her cut short her shooting time & tolerance. The reduced powder loads I have worked up for her have allowed her more shooting time & that equals ( = ) shooting time with me, which we both value. She has now even started to help out a bit in the reloading room with de-priming/priming & cleaning/preppeing cases to help speed things up for me to create more rounds to shoot.

But a reloader can do these things if they want to take the "time", where I do not know of any companies that offer such services for $$.

I could prolly put up a few more examples, and other reasons, but just the ones I put there justifies it for me, anyway.


As I see posted... YMMV


P.S. - computer time can equal TV time if one wants to putz around social media like FaceBook or play games & such. I would rather go make ammo. ( or tie flies, cast & make jigs & sinkers, etc.) I haven't watched a TV show on the boob tube in about 10 years.



Interesting topic & thanks for posting it.

[mold maker]

If not reloading, you could get an education watching SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS. It seems many of our children are raised that way.
If I had gotten paid wages for the time I've spent loading I'd be a multi-millionaire, but alas, I'd just be getting a late start acquiring stuff and start loading at a furious pace.

[koehn,jim]

I started reloading in college and than casting to save money, as years went on I could afford to buy factory ammo but don't. I enjoy the challenge of casting and reloading well worth the time. I like to light a cigar and go out and cast or sort boolits and than powder coat them. I also smoke one when sorting or prepping the brass. For me its relaxing and worth whatever time it takes.

[lightman]

I've never considered the value of my time for my hobbies. I'm retired now, but when I was working free time was hard to come by. Especially in the Spring. Often I would have to choose between working and making money or being off and relaxing. But I never allowed myself to put a dollar value on my casting, loading, shooting, hunting or family time. I probably worked more hours than most but I drew a line between work and play.

[crowbuster]

I must agree. I also heat with wood, my back up heat is...wood. I love to cut, people think my butter has slid off my biscut. It has always been relaxing and a good way to keep in shape. Why waste all that time cutting n hauling n splitting when you can just buy wood they say? Same thing with my loading. But the same people spend hrs with there face buried in their fones and not consider that wasted time? I'll pass thanks

[historicfirearms]

I too am into reloading for the hobby aspect. Some people, on the other hand, have shooting sports as their hobby. They reload to be able to enjoy those hobbies more. If they don't enjoy reloading, then I can see how they would make the time comparison. Work an hour of overtime to buy ammo for the match or spend two hours reloading, that type of thing. Not all people are weird like us and enjoy time in the basement pulling a lever on a machine.

[Big Boomer]

Guns and reloading have fascinated me since I was a child. Born in 1940. However, having a mother who was rabidly anti-gun anything put the brakes on an early start into shooting and reloading. Then marriage and raising a son who was born when I was 21 required most of the money available so my entrance into the reloading and shooting fraternity was delayed until I was 33. However, I did see to it that my son got to spend plenty of time shooting a .22 rimfire during those interim years ... I could at least afford that. Then in 1973 I picked up a Ruger Blackhawk .357 from a friend for what he had in it ... $ 72.10 and a box of ammo. It's been downhill ever since. Now I have 20 + 5-gallon buckets (some are the taller ones) of wheelweight lead ingots (mostly clip-on but a couple of 5-gallon cans of stick-on) and an ample supply of tin and linotype to make whatever boolits I please. I cast boolits for .380, 9mm, .38 Spl., .357 Mag, .41 Mag., .45 Colt, .45 ACP, .223/5.56X45, .243, .308 & .30-06. TV is a waste of time (besides I can't hear any more and when the talking heads talk over each other, I can't make out what is being said), though I do occasionally watch a program on the Velocity channel (car or truck building, but mostly I like to watch where they rebuild classic cars from the '50s & '60s or older). I keep up on the news via the internet. My wife and I built a new house in 2007 and the basement is my man-cave, though she does have some "stuff" down there. To many people my basement would probably be classified as a disaster area but it suits me fine. I do all my smelting and casting outside the basement door when the weather is suitable. I can shoot all I want for only the cost of primers, the propane for smelting and the electricity for the casting pot. Several years back a friend and I purchased 150 lbs each of two bulk surplus powders that fuel most of my reloads. I already have all the brass I could use in several lifetimes. Beyond a great relationship with a wonderful wife, almost nothing quite equals the satisfaction of getting a load come together on paper and then put to use in taking out groundhogs, coyotes or other vermin. Beats me why everyone isn't into scrounging wheelweights, casting boolits and shooting guns. Big Boomer

[Reddirt62]

Agreed %

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[white eagle]

never have considered cost as a factor in my handloading
I do it because I can take full responsibility for the outcome
not some factory and I can control every aspect

[runfiverun]

they call it FREE time for a reason.

[fatelk]

I learned some years ago that our time here is limited, so if we're smart we'll use it wisely for the stuff that really matters.

Time spent working is important because it pays the bills. Too much time spent working just to sock away more money when you don't need it is foolish because it takes time away from other important things.

Time with family is precious, especially raising kids. If you don't spend enough time there you will seriously regret it. Making money is important only because it secures the needs of people. People are what really matter.

Time spent with a hobby is important because it helps you unwind and get your mind off your troubles and worries. It's also good because you make friends with a common interest. It's especially good when you can share the hobby with family and spend time with them in the process.

Too much time spent in a hobby is where I've had trouble in the past. I really wish I'd spent more of that time in my past doing something a lot more productive, like learning more or starting a side business of some kind so I wouldn't worry so much about how I'm going to take care of my family financially in years to come.

One thing I absolutely won't do at this point in life is turn down work because of my hobby. That OT pay is a lot more than I can "save" with my reloading. It's not money for money's sake, it's just that we need that money in the paycheck. I don't buy ammo with OT money; I still cast and reload so I can afford to shoot. Been casting, reloading, and shooting a lot less though, spending my time on more important things lately.

[johnho]

I've read many times some guy saying you have to count you time as money. Ridiculous statement. I've always responded that unless you have to take time away from a paying job and you are loosing money by reloading or casting then you have a point, otherwise it's BS. It's a hobby. Funny how they never comment back.

[Kraschenbirn]

When I first began reloading...using a second-hand C-frame press with pull-down milsurp bullets and powders...it was so that I could afford to shoot more but that was something over 50 years back. Now that I'm comfortably retired, those activities help keep me active and busy. A man can only read (and re-read) so many books or spend so many hours in front of a computer screen (television is pretty much a total write-off these days) so, I cast, reload, shoot, and tinker with my collection. Looking at it pragmatically, I'm probably still saving money because, if I wasn't puttering in my workshop, I'd probably be out doing something involving out of pocket cost.

Bill

[osteodoc08]

I rarely watch tv and the shows I do watch are on DVR and I skip the commercials.

May be blasphemy to some but I rarely watch sports on tv unless it's a social event.

[dragon813gt]

I don't consider it for monetary reasons. And before I had kids it had no value. Now that I have two young ones any time spent reloading is time away from them. Even more so because I'm gone Monday thru Friday for work. So any time I have at home is extremely valuable. Can't tell you how much it's worth because it's invaluable.

[DerekP Houston]

I don't consider it for monetary reasons. And before I had kids it had no value. Now that I have two young ones any time spent reloading is time away from them. Even more so because I'm gone Monday thru Friday for work. So any time I have at home is extremely valuable. Can't tell you how much it's worth because it's invaluable.

To each their own. My son likes to sit in my lap and help reload so i consider it part "family time" even thought i'm loading at 1/4 of the speed. His job is to hand me the brass and bullets. I make him wear glasses, he calls them his "power glasses" and we make a game out of it. I'm sure some people will naysay letting a 3yr old assist but we enjoy our time together.