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Thread: What or When or Who . . . motivated you to HAND-LOAD ?

  1. #21
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    i started reloading at 18 or 19yo. it was something that i "had" to do. an old gunsmith/gun shop owner(which i stayed at when i wasn't working) taught me . it was 10 or 12 years later that i learned how to cast. once again, he tried teach me. he died of a heart attack. he taught me much in small amount of time he had left. one time, we were shooting at target that was 200yards away. he "gave" me his 6mm-284 mauser and told me to shoot it. i did somewhere a 1" at 200 yards. i was only 20yo or so and 5 shots on a bench, i was so excited! then i watched him shoot a 5 shot group that went under 1/4" at 200 yards. i could have bowed and swore fealty to him. now this was back in early 1980's, when you(well at least me) didn't see 1/4" on a 100 yards let alone 200 yards. he had me hooked on douglas premium barrels!!!

    boy could that man shoot!!! he died way too young, 51 or 52yo. i think of him everytime i log on my computer.

  2. #22
    Boolit Master

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    I was invited to go with a buddy & his dad to shoot. We got to where the `gun range' which was a sand pit. He handed me a Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt
    and a box of his hand loads, `SAVE MY BRASS, BOY' was all he said besides be careful after his gun safety talk. I was 15 at the time and that guy hooked me good.
    After that afternoon he taught me to reload and a couple of yeas later taught me about casting.

    That was about 45 years ago, and still load for a .45 Colt as well as some other calibers. The old mentor died in 2012 but still remember his guidance and shooting
    that old Blackhawk of the hood of his old truck.

  3. #23
    Boolit Grand Master

    gwpercle's Avatar
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    A new 357 Ruger Blackhawk , a desire to shoot much more than I could afford and.....my best buddy's daddy, he owned 3 TIRE SHOPS, he told me I could have all the wheel weights I wanted, just come and get them.

    Next , my Dad. When I explained I wanted to borrow $9.95 from him to get a Lee Loader so I could load 357 ammo , he looked at me as though I had lost my mind. He went into his wallet and gave me 2 $20.00's and said "this is for any extra's stuff... don't tell your momma."
    With the money I got a the Lee Classic Loader, single cavity mould, powder and primers ...I was set !

    Thank's Dad...he never would let me pay him back. That $40 got the ball rolling

    Thank's Mr. Hutchinson , He always had wheel weights for me and would never take any money, even after I got a regular job. That kept the ball rolling .

    When his son wanted to build a new tire business, I didn't charge him for drawing the plans...I just felt that was only right.
    Gary
    Certified Cajun
    Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
    " Let's Go Brandon !"

  4. #24
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    Tom W.'s Avatar
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    When I first married in 1971 my BIL was loading shotshells on a MEC 600. I got interested then moved to Alabama. I soon bought a Lee Shotshell loader and used it for years. Then my buddy and I bought some Ruger .357 mags, a "tap and bang" lee loader, some primers, powder and a load book. I went from there to a Lee turret press, and bought sc Lee 158 gr. SWC mold. Been downhill ever since.... dies, muzzleloaders, presses, all kinds of molds, probably 50 different boxes of powder.... you know, you've been there, or are there now...or will be soon... why just this afternoon I managed to have a brick of small pistol primers follow me home..
    Tom
    μολὼν λαβέ


    Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?

  5. #25
    Boolit Buddy
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    Who was my dad when was too long ago for me to remember correctly. He got me loading his shotgun shells, paper hulls and fiber wads. He kind of Tom Sawyered me into it before I was old enough to know what tom Sawyered meant

  6. #26
    Boolit Master


    Walter Laich's Avatar
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    my Dad got us into reloading in '57 when I was 11. Rifle, pistol and shotgun

    I've added casting bullets to the mix as well as PC the bullets

    FWIW today 2-2-18 would have been my Dad's 104th birthday
    NRA Life
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    RVN/Cambodia War Games, 2nd Place

  7. #27
    Boolit Grand Master 303Guy's Avatar
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    I started loading 'cause it was another gun related fun thing to do.

    I was asking my Dad about reloading 22lr when I was still in primary school.
    Rest In Peace My Son (01/06/1986 - 14/01/2014)

    ''Assume everything that moves is a human before identifying as otherwise''

  8. #28
    Boolit Buddy
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    Literally started shooting when I was 5, you can ask my sister . I'm sure it was annoying to listen to me shooting for hours at a time on countless summer days behind the house . High school buddy showed me how to reload sometime in the late eightys about 88 or 89. Bought one of the Rockchuker kits and been reloading off an on for the last 25 plus years. My buddy lightman introduced me to casting last year and I fell down the rabbit hole. Now I spend large amounts of time thinking about lead and reloading stuff. BTW I'm still looking for the money saving s myself!!

  9. #29
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I was a kid in college and had a shiny new GP100 and couldn't afford bullets for it, so I got a Lee whack-a-mole and loaded thousands of them for cheap. That's all I used for 20 years.
    KE4GWE - - - - - - Colt 1860, it just feels right.

  10. #30
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    Because chics dig it.


    I always wanted to, and when my best friend's wife made him sell everything she deemed to be "in the way", I got his equipment for $50.00. That was all it took.

    Sent from my VS880 using Tapatalk

    US Govt mantra: If it's moving tax it. If it's still moving regulate it. If it stops moving subsidize it

  11. #31
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    Well, I guess you could say it was when I was 7 and spent a few days with great uncle Jake. We went shooting everyday and loaded ammo in the shop. When I was about 12 or 13, i bought my Hornady 366 to load shotgun ammo. About 15 or 16, I bought a RCBS RS 5 kit to start loading 243 rifle ammo. After that, it's been a continuous process. Some cast boolits back then, butreally geared up for cast about 10 years ago.

  12. #32
    Boolit Master

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    I was a shooter/hunter by the age of 8. But I didn't get into reloading until I was 19. I blame my wife! When we were dating, her father and her uncle were reloaders and got me started reloading 20 ga. shells. That Christmas, I got a present from the two of them; my own MEC 600 jr. I still have it and still use it and other than wad fingers, I've only had to replace one part. BTW, She and I have been together for 50 years and married for 44 of them.

  13. #33
    Boolit Buddy Steppapajon's Avatar
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    I started reloading so I could afford to shoot Skeet. I usually shot about 250 rounds every Saterday. That was back in 91.
    I haven't shot skeet since 97. But I do like to load for my 32 and 45 revolvers and the old 30/30 refuses to eat anything other than lead. Says jackets are for wearing not shooting.
    SPJ

  14. #34
    Boolit Grand Master GhostHawk's Avatar
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    I was 44, finally found my sweetheart. Had done enough hunting, fishing, camping, canoeing. I decided to hang it all up and give this marriage thing 150%. I HAD to make it work.

    Fast forward 15 years, step daughter is married, has 2 kids, and is solid.
    Wife is still working, and has some years to go. I am not working but can see Social Security income just around the corner. And my parents sold their lake place, split it 4 ways to us 4 kids. Call it early inheritance. Was a pretty nice windfall.

    Now I was not rich, but I could afford a few toys.

    So I looked around, played around, bought myself a pair of Mosin's and a Yugo SKS.
    And figured out that if I was not careful the money was going to be gone, and I would no longer be able to afford to feed them. It was time to get back to casting and reloading.

    That was almost 5 years ago. Some tools I still had, RCBS scale and powder measure.

    Some tools were way cool, new, like Lee hand press (still my main press) FA hand depriming unit, RCBS Universal priming tool. Couple other presses, classic C cast inverted for sizing/gas check.

    The better Lee Square O press for when I really need leverage. That is mostly used for primer pocket swaging these days.

    A series of Lee dipper pots, first old used, then new with rheostat, then bigger with the magnum melter. Man I have to admit I love the melter. But except for .45 cal boolits I run out of steam before I run out of lead. Not the way I'm used to doing it at all. But the bullets rain.

    I went lee 4 die sets for everything. I think exception is an old used 3 die 9mm set. But it works.

    The Lee breech lock hand press is and will likely always will be my main squeeze.
    I simply enjoy it. I enjoy the feel, even full length resizing is no sweat with a smear of Imperial sizing wax.

    Brass all gets deprimed, washed citric acid, double rinsed, primer pockets get cleaned, and each brass gets rolled down my leg on a cotton towel. Any split, fault, or problem jumps right out at you. Gets culled and keep moving. And I can do do it from the comfort of my recliner, with my drink at my left elbow and watching Youtube vids on the big screen, or an old movie. Sky is the limit.

    Most of my loading is done with Red Dot these days. I have some 20 lbs of other powders, rifle, pistol, shotgun. But the Red Dot is easy, it does not take much, is amazingly accurate if you just don't PUSH it, and is thrifty as even I can ask for. Good loads for 2-3 cents worth of powder, 3 cents worth of primer and 2-4 cents worth of lead.

    I take that all day long thank you very much.

    And of course the real reason I keep doing it. I love the casting and loading as much as the shooting. Keeps me calm, cool, collected and out of squabbles with my sugar pie.

    Life is good.

  15. #35
    Boolit Master
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    Father-in-law gave me his old Winchester 1894 in 32 Winchester Special. Had to search several stores to find ammunition and it was $35 for a box of 20. My next purchase was the RCBS starter kit (press, scale, loading block, powder measure, lube pad, hand primer) and a set of RCBS dies.
    Hick: Iron sights!

  16. #36
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    Bird hunting was my passion as a teenager--doves, quail, pheasants, and waterfowl. It did not take long to figure out that the weak, cheap-component "Dove Loads" sold in August would not cut it for pheasants and mallards--and the pricing on those high-velocity game loads induced MAJOR sticker shock on my 15 year old psyche. Dad told me that at age 16 when the Driver's License landed that I would also be feeding my shotgun.......well, I can't be without shotshells. Summer job, then a part-time job, which got the cash flow going--but not enough to buy store-bought shotshells AND take girls out on Saturday nights. MEC 600 Jr in 12 gauge followed me home from Berman's in San Bernardino at age 15, and some hands-on instruction from Dad and his partner Leo Reyes got me under way. I still have that machine, and use it 3-4 times a year.

    So, I have been at this for 47 years. Metallics followed in 1976, about a week after I bought my first handgun (S&W Model 28 x 6"). The Lee Loader got old in a hurry, and after driving a few primer seating rods skyward loading 38 Specials, I opted for an RCBS RL Special press. Then came the 223, and the 30-06, and the current caliber count is around 35. It is an addiction.
    I don't paint bullets. I like Black Rifle Coffee. Sacred cows are always fair game. California is to the United States what Syria is to Russia and North Korea is to China/South Korea/Japan--a Hermit Kingdom detached from the real world and led by delusional maniacs, an economic and social basket case sustained by "foreign" aid so as to not lose military bases.

  17. #37
    Boolit Master trails4u's Avatar
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    I think GhostHawk just nailed this thread....

    As for me....I guess my start was probably around 1988-1989. I had an uncle with some land in Ohio, and we spent a bunch of time there as he was building a house on the land. We were there just about every weekend for what seemed like forever, but I'm guessing it was actually a year or so. We collectively had a few 357s around, and we all liked to shoot, and my uncle was a tightwad who had apparently inherited a bit of reloading equipment from his father. The deal ended up being pretty simple.....cast it, load it, shoot it......and you can shoot all you want. Not a bad deal, at all. The most interesting part of this exercise was the source of lead...which happened to be the very land we were on. Not known when the land was purchased, but it had historically been a mortar firing range. They discovered shells, some live, when digging the foundation, and we soon discovered the craters from the mortar impacts all over the property. Literally we could dig a pound of 'lead balls' with just a few shovel scoops from any of the impacts.....and there were hundreds, if not thousands of them. We dug and loaded that lead....a lot of it. But dang, I think about it now....and we never even thought about how much lead was actually there. Would have been a lifetime supply for the entire family if we'd have thought about actually mining it.
    "Do not follow where the path might lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" Ralph Waldo Emerson

  18. #38
    Boolit Master

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    Five years ago I got station in California. I have been wanting to hunt for years and after a year of being there I decide to jump in head first. I couldn't afford a nice rifle so I ordered a cheap one off buds gun shop..... unfortunately California then made sure it was one of the most expensive guns I have ever bought. I had to save for another 3 months to be able to pay the taxes and fees. After taking the gun home I had to feed it and ammo was hard to find and expensive. I couldn't barely shoot it. So I decide to reloading and was able to shoot more. After a year I was looking at my expenditures and yes I was saving money by reloading but powder and bullets cost me the most. Cant change powder price but if I cast bullets. So after two years I transferred back to Florida. When I checked in I had to deploy. So it was a while before I could actually shoot cast. While deployed I read books and shopped around and would order things and have them shipped back home. So after I got home I had everything I needed and dove in head first with cast bullets. It now only cost me .17 cents a bullet for my riffle and I go shooting every weekend. Ammo is cheaper in Florida, but I still wouldn't be able to shoot as much as I do. I shoot about every weekend. Only reason I am not going shooting this weekend is because I need to cough up the 130 bucks to renew my yearly range member ship. So I have been reloading since 2014, and casting and shooting cast since 2016. Still not sure if I am saving money..... but I enjoy my sport and the science.
    "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
    ~Theodore Roosevelt~

  19. #39
    Boolit Master

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    Back in 71 my then wife was a cashier at the Globe Discount store and she got 10% off. The store she worked was closing out Lee Loaders at half price. Armed with my new Master Charge card. I was out the door for less than 10 bucks with a 30/30 Lee Loader, pound of IMR 3031, 100 primers and a box of Speer bullets. About three months later I invested in a RCBS Junior kit and the addiction began.

  20. #40
    Boolit Buddy DAFzipper's Avatar
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    I started in early 90's to save money. Turned into a life long hobby. Didn't end up saving money because of all the equipment I just had to have. But on the plus side I can shoot way more for less than factory ammo. With building up my component inventory I never had a ammo shortage when ammo and components where in short supply and over priced. Just made me the only one at my local range.

    Sent from my LG-H700 using Tapatalk

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check