When did it stop being fun?

[dverna]

I recall as a high school lad having fun loading for my .222...the only rifle I owned. I had 40 cases and used a Lee Target Loader. It took a long time to load each one but it was fun. Getting a super accurate load was fun too and I relished the time at the bench (an old desk) and the range. I was poor and could never buy more than a box of bullets at a time, pack of primers, and a lb of powder.

I started competitive shooting in my early twenties and could not afford a progressive. Only Stars were available then, and they were about $1000, but my mentor had two of them so I would load at his place. Started buying components in bulk and started casting. We would mine the range for cheap lead to save money. It was still fun.

By the time I was 30, it stopped being fun. I love to shoot, so reloading was a way to make that affordable. I bought faster machines so I could spend less time reloading. By the time I was in my mid 50's, I had over half a dozen progressives ranging from a Star to two Dillon 1050's. But all that capacity to turn out ammunition did not make it "fun". It was a chore that needed doing if I wanted to shoot. I justified buying machines so I would not need to change primer systems or do caliber changes...I was addicted. I was not poor anymore and I spent a lot of money on reloading stuff.


I am down to a 550 and a 1050 currently. Sold one of the 1050's, 650, Star and two SDB's a few years ago. Recently sold the Spolar as well but kept the PW 800+. I have a used 550 and used 1050 waiting to be set up. I thought when I retired I would be shooting more but it has not happened. I was shooting 20k a year when I was working (and competing) but shoot less the 5k/yr now. It seems silly, but I am shooting less because I hate reloading....and I have oodles of time to reload!

I have decided to make it fun again. My reloading shop is a disaster area. I have **** all over the place. First thing is to clean it up, organize things and sell some stuff off. I cannot find things I know I have and that adds to the frustration. I will also teach my fiancé to reload. She loves to shoot as well so I am lucky.


Shooting, but more so competing, has allowed me to meet some of the best people I know. It is great hobby and it should be fun!!!!

[Don Purcell]

I hear ya'. In my 20's I was shooting at least every other day and always on the weekends regardless of weather. Did my casting with a double cavity Lyman 250 Keith .44 and loading on a single stage Rockchucker. I remember my first 8 pound keg of 296 and was in heaven. The only handgun I had was my 8 3/8 Model 29. Now, I have 8 and 10 cavity H&G molds along with a Master Caster and many other 4 and 6 cavity molds and load on an old Dillon 450 and new 550 and several 8 pound kegs of different powders. Retired almost 5 years ago and the total number of rounds fired in that time wouldn't match what I used to shoot in 2-3 months when I was younger. Seems upside down.

[Chihuahua Floyd]

Still using a RCBS Rockchucker. Still enjoy reloading.
Shot Cowboy Action for years, reloaded for 2 or 3 people per match. Sometimes shot two matches a month. enjoyed the competition and the reloading and casting.
Have not shot anything since May due to shoulder surgery. Hope I can get turned loose to empty some brass soon.
Could I buy a progressive, yes, do I need a progressive, I don't think so. Sold off or gave away some other presses, RCBS and Lee. only have two on the bench now, the Rockchucker and the MEC.
CF

[Tom W.]

Progressive reloaders look like too much trouble. I have been loading on a single stage since Early '70's, except when I had an early three hole Lee turret press that I used for my .357. My latest is an old RCBS Rockchucker I've had for I dunno how long. What isn't fun for me is trimming brass......all the rest is just fine and relaxing.

[Harter66]

This old guy said to me once "when you're joy becomes work and the work brings no joy it's time to stop either that which brought joy or change the work ".

Sometimes we have to step back and look at what brought the joy to what we used to do . Personally I can't imagine a more tedious task than loading with a whack a mole ........maybe bucking rivets. I love pouring those big 35 and 45s and the the other real pot sucker 4,5,6&8 cavities . Wanna see me depressed about having to pour bullets? Tell me it's time to pour 200 of anything in a single . That is right in there with whack a mole and rivet bucking . I don't especially like loading shotgun either . I suppose it could be the tools .

My money says a couple of campsite like when you were struggling to shoot and buy a new mould and a box or 2 of reduced need to have 5000 rounds next month mentor/teaching ammo followed by some Zen shooting or tablets of opportunity around the camp sight will rekindle the joy .

[RED BEAR]

i still enjoy loading most times but other times it is a chore that i don't like doing. i try to keep enough ammo on hand to fill my needs so i don't have to load if i don't want to. my biggest problem with reloading is my back and shoulder really hurt.

[mattw]

I feel sorry for you. Have been loading for 30 years with a rock chucker and uniflow. Wife and I shot IDPA for a few years, was loading about 1500 per week this way. Now, I am loading and shooting less, but loading and casting are just about as much fun as shooting for me. I have helped a commercial loader over the years with 1050's and big casting machines, but was always happy to take home the small odd lots and do them by hand.

[lightman]

I think we all go through a burnout phase with our hobbies. Like most, I started out on a tight budget. I slowly added nicer equipment as my income increased. I still enjoy the hunt for lead and making scrap lead into something useful and I still enjoy reloading. Over the years I have bought a few things to make it faster or easier. A progressive press, a Star sizer, gang molds, a Giraud case trimmer, ect ect. But I still enjoy sitting down and loading 40 cases on my Rockchucker for a match. The middle years of my career were so busy that I got away from the shooting sports except for deer season. Work was very demanding and my family was pretty active. Boy Scouts, camping, ball games, you name it! I'm glad that I kept my equipment through all of that.

[mold maker]

Reloading needs only a trip downstairs. The range requires loading the car and a trip that leaves Granny by her self.
At our age, the buddy system is safety for both of us, so I have an increasing supply of loaded ammo.

[Shopdog]

"The futile pursuit of happiness " was a paper written by a cpl of professors or ? back 'round the mid 80's or sumthin. I first read it when practical machinist forum first started back in the day. Worth looking up? dunno.

I'll no doubt mess this paraphrase up... but it goes like this. It's not the "thing" that brings you happiness, it's what you "do" with it. So,another gun... another press... another pce of equipment,etc,etc. Is just that,another. Using one of them should be the emphasis. I still lust after a new rig but... understand fully the implications.

My reloading room is almost spotless.... and still use equipment/presses bought "in the first place" 40 years ago.Handloading has always been about patients,relaxing,and chasing accuracy. Nothing more,nothing less.

[bikerbeans]

Over ten years ago i became very ill and was forced to stop working and go on disability. I had never planned to retire so i was kinda lost. I talked to a friend of mine and told him what was going on. His response was good, you have time to reload 45ACP for me. He is an addicted Bullseye shooter. Since that time i have loaded over 50k rounds for him and learned to cast so half of them have my cast boolits stuffed in them. I now load and cast just about anything, 410 bore to 10 ga slugs and buck, pistols, revolvers and rifles from .22 to .458 cal. I don't see me losing interest in reloading. There are days when i feel so bad i don't want to get up but i always make it out to the barn to load or cast, even if its just for an hour.

BB

[lefty o]

to be perfectly honest, reloading is never what id consider a hobby or fun to sit and do. for me, reloading is a means to an end.

[Preacher Jim]

Dverna you have caused me to think about my hobbies, I started with a Winchester nut cracker casting and loading because was only way I could shoot and hunt. Then a single stage Belton and mull. I think it lost the fun when my daughter grew up and I lost my shooting pardner. Still build and load because once in a while I get a day to shoot but now I pursue that perfect group one hole, 10 rounds 100 yards with a rifle I built from scratch.

[EDG]

When I see people focused on how fast they can load and huge volumes of ammo loaded with progressives I interpret it as someone who is in a big hurry to do something else.

I have been loading for 50 years and I still find it interesting. I challenge myself by loading odd rounds for old rifles and making some my own tools.
I will admit that loading pistol and shotgun ammo is about the most boring activity on the planet. So I don't load much of either.

[Freightman]

Dang I think I shoot so I will have empties to load, but to each his own! Have fun at what you like.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

I enjoy reloading, spent some time today on the Lee Classic Turret. It's not super fast, no bells or whistles, but it does the job on 9 mm and other pistol loads. Also talked to our oldest daughter about a shooting date, she has changed jobs and it sure messed up our every other week of shooting. The weather is cooling off and I will get to the range even if by myself.

I also have an old Pacific Multi Power 'O' type press for rifle a Pacific DL-266 for shotguns. It's still fun and keeps me active.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

[zymguy]

I used to say i shoot so i can reload, since i've gotten into casting i think i reload so i can cast.

[razorfish]

I’m definitely a shooter and I only reload/cast to support my shooting habit.

If I had unlimited funds I’d never pick up a piece of brass, cast a bullet or reload a cartridge again. The worst part of the whole process is cleaning and tuning my guns so I’d hire someone to that for me too.

But, with things being as they are, I will continue producing arguably the finest ammo possible. It’s oddly satisfying to see other shooters ammo jam up during a match while mine basically never fails.

Oh yeah, working with molten lead never seems to get old.

[Tom Trevor]

The fun went away when the last of the old time gentlemen shooters in our club died off. replaced one by one over the years by self centered experts who cannot wait to tell anyone who will listen they know everything and any other advise is stupid drivel.

[pworley1]

It has always been fun for me. I have been loading for almost 50 years and I still look forward to getting in the loading room.