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

[sparkyv]

1. 6mm Rem
2. Ammo shortage

Started handloading 5 yrs ago. Very hard to find ammo for the 6mm, and when I did it was horrendously expensive. I had saved my brass, with the ultimate goal of rolling my own "someday". Thanks to Obummer, I decided to start reloading to get around the shortages. I began loading my 223 Rem first with a Lee Loader before I invested into this hobby, and WOW was I impressed at how accurate my loads were. I was hooked, and there's no turning back! Thousands and thousands of rounds later, now I load for four rifle calibers and three for pistol on a Lee turret press. No more shortages for me. Couldn't be happier that I followed this path.

[EMC45]

I'm cheap......I like to shoot....A LOT!

[blackthorn]

In the mid 1960's I had finally saved up enough dollars from overtime work to afford to buy a 300 Weatherby Magnum. I paid $500.00 for the rifle, scope (4 power Redfield), sling and one box of ammunition. Store price of the ammunition was $20.00 for a 20 round box. That was a lot of money in those days. So I decided to reload. I got enough equipment and a good Manual and away I went. Brass was not cheap either and there really was not much around. I found out I could simply run 300 H&H through the rifle (surprisingly it was very accurate) and then reload it for the Weatherby (with adjustment to the load to account for different case capacity. From there, it was a short jump to reloading for all my firearms.

[slownsteady22]

When I Had to pay $50 for 20 shots of 300 wby and 325 wsm. Needless to say it didn't take to long for the rcbs kit to pay for itself.

[quail4jake]

1969, I was 8 years old and my uncle, the Internist, took me trapshooting. We reloaded paper Federal hulls with Red Dot and fiber wads using his MEC super 600 and shot alot of shells. We reloaded because everybody who shot any amount of trap did and, well, because I guess money was tight for Doctors back then...

[deetee]

I had no choice...

I bought a 9x57 Mauser, and it was either rebarrel or reload. I chose the latter, because she is such a beeyootiful rifle (to look at and to shoot).

Dan

[oldhenry]

The What: Early marriage, tight finances, a new born son & '73 Winchester in .38-40.

The When:1960

The Who: Mr. Davis @ Davis Pawn Shop/Sporting Goods across the river in Phoenix City, AL. He was the only dealer in The Chattahoochee Valley to stock reloading equipment/supplies. It was a ritual to visit this place every Friday night. One night he had everything & he was not bashful about showing everything. In the beginning he only had Lyman equipment, CCI primers & Speer boolits (bullets then). I don't think I got everything @ once , but ended up with a Lyman Comet press, cast iron pot & a cast iron ring to direct heat to the pot, a dipper & a single cavity Ideal (Lyman) mold. I scored a Lyman 45 lub/sizer & a Redding scale (they were brown then) used for $20.00. I made my powder dippers from hose ferules + a 1/8" brass rod for a handle. The .38-40 dies & GHI sizing die was special order by Mr. Davis. A friend later donated a Lyman bottom pour furnace & a #357446 2 cav. mold when I got my Combat Masterpiece (M15).

The Comet press is a single stage, but we loaded everything on it.....even shot shells (I still have the 20 ga. die set & shell holder). New that Comet cost around $15.00.....I gave it to our younger son years ago.

The early marriage has been a good one enduring 59 years & has given us 4 wonderful children.

[Harter66]

My Dad and Uncle loaded for accuracy and shot a lot trap in the late 60s and early 70s , I was around all of that and started loading shot gun when I was about 12 . I loaded 22-250 , 25-60' and 30-06' in I guess 1979-85' . Then I got family and work and far too often 14-16 hr days 6-7 days a week .

About the time steel became mandate for migratory game birds I started hunting again . $12-15/box would have been ok except that day came when I had 5 solid hits on a Honker at about 35yds in a heavy wind . I saw pellets hit . Shortly after that I inherited a Pacific 12ga press and started loading steel shot for about $5.60/box . So about 1994 .

In 1996 I started loading for my own 30-06' . Terrible beasty .
In 2001-2 I bought a 45/410 , that almost immediately lead to a lust for a real 45 Colts revolver . Those were $12/50 then . I bought some plated and 230 and 255 commercial cast at something like $32/400 . Then I got the RBH in 06' . 2 chambers were opening groups and 1 was just plain throwing it away . Factory shot better . The 230s were shaving and tumbling ..... That was it I started casting ......then i learned about throat dimensions . Then 45 Colts went to $38/50 .
Never looked backed .

[johnho]

I got into Bullseye shooting late in life. Found out immediately you can't get decent ammo unless you make your own. I tested and tested 45's using Star bullets. Then Star went out of business soon after and was told to cast my own. Best thing I ever did. Got a nice H&G 68 mold and it was heaven. No longer would I be dependent on someone else. Range I was at had mostly lead shooters so berm was full of lead after 20 years or more of shooting. Got all the lead I wanted FREE. Now all my pistols use lead and only runs me about $4 per 100. Guys at range in IDPA were kidding me about the smoke. Told them what it cost to shoot, they shut up. My first press was a 550b.

[Plate plinker]

Almost from the beggining I loaded .40S&W. My uncle started me out with shooting and he did the reloading thing too. Now I like to shoot a bunch so it I bought a rl 1050 and never looked back.

[fralic76]

I started to reload because my grandfather had given me 2 rifles that was very hard to find ammo for. 303 savage and 44-40, 2 calibers that are hard to find where I live. Then when I bought my first handgun the cost savings transferred to that. I now reload for 5 different calibers.

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[PhantomRider64]

I have been around firearms all my life, never shot much because of the cost. Since I did not know anyone that reloaded, the cost of the equipment, and life in general I never got into reloading.

Five years ago I started doing Civil War reenacting,,,BP long guns and cap and ball revolvers,,,I thought they might be fun to live fire. I have molds for both now.

Then I find out that my unit also has a group that does Cowboy shootouts. Well the C&B revolver worked for a while, but a Uberti 45Colt SAA followed me home one day. Now I needed blanks for the SAA, got talking to a couple guys at work and it was not long till I was set up to load the blanks. I have since made a bullet seating plug for the die that is long enough to pack the paper wadding. I also handload 20 ga brass shells with home made tools.

Since I had almost all the equipment to reload with, I got what I needed, did some reading, and now reload 45ACP and 45Colt.

Just recently I have been working on casting my own bullets,,,just how deep is this rabbit hole?



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[Seeker]

Obama. I seen the shortage coming. That is the 1 and only thing I give him credit for.

[Pigboat]

My first centerfire handgun was a Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Mag that I bought back in the early '80s. It sounded like a good idea at the time until I found out that factory ammo was around $30 a box even back then . I was reloading within a month.

[Victor N TN]

I had read the likes of Jack O'Conner and Jim Carmichel since I was about 14 years old. I happened upon a magazine article about the 25-06 Remington cartridge. That got me stoked. I had been married roughly 2 years and just started a factory job. $1 an hour. That was big stuff to a farm boy. A fried got me to shooting a 222. That thing was a real tack driver.

A year or so later I was looking in a gun shop in Knoxville and there was a Rem 700 Custom Varmint Special in 25-06. It was less than $200 (I don't remember exactly) but all I had in my pocket was $30. They let me lay it away for $20 and make payments until I got it paid for. It took me several months to get it out, but she's still the prettiest gun I've ever had. I think I bought 2 boxes of of factory ammo. After that I was back laying away an RCBS Rock Chucker kit to load for the 25-06.

That was either 1971 or 72.

I shot NRA Bullseye started in 1976. I would meet my friend at the range and he would let me shoot his pistols in the 2nd relay.

A few years later I had my own 1911A1 in 45 acp. IPSC came to town.

I started casting pistol bullets in 1982. And things went crazy after that. I've cast and loaded for 38 spl, 357 mag, 44 mag, 45 acp and just got the stuff for 45-70 a few months ago.

My wife tells me I talk too much. I'll cut it off for now.

[Thin Man]

Got married in 1970 and started handloading that same year. In 1973 I started casting. For me it was all about the cost of factory ammo (even the cheaper commercial handloads) versus the cost of rolling my own. Same with throwing bullets and the transition to boolits. It was a mission into economy. Both of these hobbies led to shooting more. Then came buying firearms where ammo was not readily available, or even at all, and I already knew in advance where to buy brass, dies, molds, etc. etc. for those odd duck calibers. And the addiction to adding yet another mold pattern to the herd, stocking up on brass and primers, and the never ending search for casting lead. It's an endless spiral. But I'm saving one heck of a lot of money...I think.

[woodbutcher]

This thread got me to thinking.The first time that I was introduced to casting and reloading I was about 6 or 7.My Grandfather was getting some stuff out and I asked what he was doing.I`m going to cast some bullets for my rifle,Would you like to watch?I said yes.So we proceded to do the cast boolit thing.Well,what he was casting for was his original TD Springfield 45-70.500 gr slugs.Then he lubed some and he showed me how he reloaded them.THEN he says want to shoot one?I sez yep.That friends was an adventure.Pulled the trigger,and wound up on my fanny.Grandfather looked at me with a straight face and sez want to try another one?I sez yep.That was the beginning.What fun that day was.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[murf205]

A 13 yr old with a penchant for shooting and not a lot of money. A Lyman Vandalia solved some of that problem for a while. Heaven only knows what the pressures were on some of my loads back in 1960. No wonder my Savage shotgun was a bit "loose".

[wmitty]

Dad had placed an '84 Springfield complete with bayonet over the mantle. At about 13 I asked him if we could shoot it. He took it down and I shot about half a box of old Peters ammo thru it. I was hooked...

[Bazoo]

I was hanging out at the local gunsmith and he had this old lyman spartan laying on his junk table. I asked about it, and he said 25 I think. So I gathered up some other stuff that was there, all in a box, and I got it all for 80 or 90. I cant remember what all I got 6 or 8 years ago now.