I started reloading with a Lee Loader for my only rifle and my only pistol back in 1972. 22-250 and .38 S&W factory ammo was $5-7 a box! I couldn't afford that by milking cows! It was a no brainer for this kid- shoot more for the same money.
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I started reloading for 12ga in high school on a Lee press I bought at a garage sale. Over the years I started reloading pistol and rifle. The reason I reload is because I enjoy the process and using something I made for my enjoyment. Same reason I tie flys & jigs. And even made a few fishing rods. I really enjoy doing this type of stuff.
In our little town, the local gun show (two a year) would provide anyone with EVERYTHING needed to start and continue the hobby for around two hundred bucks. And I did just that for a buddy at the last show.
There are so many guys who have moved on from this world and their equipment is now on the market as a good deal for someone.
I'll admit though, they seem to have taken their primers with them.jd
It seems that people who do almost nothing, often complain loudly when it's time to do it.
midsouth had a few sets, as did natchezOriginally Posted by JimB..
I agree, however at the moment I don’t feel like it’s even my hobby lol! So that’s why it’s a bit odd feeling. But I’ll swing back round I’m sure.
Yes it’s true, it was on my list for those reasons so I’m happy to get this .432 stuff going. Then again I don’t even have tooling for 357 yet either! Gah!
Oh and I slugged barrel today but guess what, it’s 5 groove and I don’t have the machinists V block to measure those accurately so there’s another tool I “need” lol! I guess I’m back! I even organized the benches a bit today
I read here someone used shim stock of 0.008” to 0.010” thick wrapped around the bullet to measure the groove DIA of odd count rifling. Got feeler gages?
yeah I’m not a fan of that method vs the math and v block method particularly. Buying 3 reamers to make a go/no go block might be better but not cheap.
These work great.
https://www.amazon.com/Shars-Measure...ps%2C69&sr=8-1
Last edited by M-Tecs; 04-04-2022 at 04:17 AM.
2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. - "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
"Before you argue with someone, ask yourself, is that person even mentally mature enough to grasp the concept of different perspectives? Because if not, there’s absolutely no point."
– Amber Veal
"The Highest form of ignorance is when your reject something you don't know anything about".
- Wayne Dyer
I thought I was unique that way.
I bought a competition seating die first. I had no intention of getting a rifle for it, it was just cool to get the die.
Then I found a batch of new brass going cheap. So I bought the reamer as well, then had the rifle made.
I second that.
DrewP, look at the money you spent as an investment for being independent of shortages and political changes and whims. Now, more than ever, we know that these surely exist but you will be set to shoot/load at YOUR convenience-not the markets (assuming you have primers). Like I told a friend who was commenting on how many molds I had, "we might not be able to find bullets but we will never be out of BOOLITS.
IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us!
These days I consider reloading equipment and components as a shooting insurance policy. Also a good investment if you purchased before the madness.
Vintage firearms, vintage sports cars, vintage bamboo fly rods....yeah, I save money on all my hobbies.....in an alternate universe somewhere. In addition to dies, molds and perhaps even swaging dies, when you need a lathe and a mill, not to mention the tooling, to alter cases to fit your rifle so you can shoot it or, to make tools so you can form stuff, I'm so far in the hole that bottom looks like up.
"In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'
The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery
NRA Benefactor 2008
I also started cartridge making back in the late 70's. .45acp cause I could not afford it. The hammer type Lee Loader. Then I got a Lee Turret press when they came out. Then a 10lb bottom pour pot (pan lube). As time went on I acquired a progressive press and dies for other calibers. Then a 20lb pot and more molds. Rifles/pistols came and went. My interest in the hobby ebbed and flowed over the years. Now days it is long range rifle.
And, similar in my other hobbies, like fly fishing, motorcycles, golf, RC airplanes, etc. You spend money in order to spend more time on the hobby. And things like fly tying, bullet making and building models become hobbies themselves. And sometimes the hobby can become a business that does make money, like we did on RC model airplanes.
Have I 'saved' money reloading? Not really. The investment in reloading stuff just meant that I got to shoot more for the same amount of money. And, yes, I have guns I don't shoot much so I don't have dies/molds for them.
I have been at this for over 50 years and if I had bought all the rounds I have fired instead hand loading cast I would have gone broke years ago.
NRA Benefactor Member NRA Golden Eagle
i enjoy reloading as a hobby itself. i cast boolits because i enjoy that too.most of all i enjoy trigger time and i would have to cut back on that if i did not reload and cast.
Ah ha! This is the type of delusional thinking I love haha. The fact is true, but you’re not taking into account the reality that you probably would not have shot as many rounds, or even been tempted to, if you had not set up an ammo factory in your house. If I add up all the $ I’ve spent on reloading, it far exceeds the amount of $ I spent on ammo BEFORE getting into reloading, which accounted for many years of gun ownership and enjoyment. So, both can be true. Yes we enjoy shooting but I have to admit there have been times where I felt like I HAD to shoot more in order to free up brass so I could LOAD more lol. Those are the moments that simply do not happen in a non reloaders life.
You can see a "savings" in dollars by reloading IF......
For example, you may shoot IPSC matches twice a month, and practice the other two weekends. You may shoot 1000 rounds a month. That costs a certain amount. Now you reload. You shoot the same number of rounds but they cost a fraction of the commercial stuff. Over time you will end up 'paying' for your reloading gear and begin to 'make' money.
But, if the cheaper ammo means you compete and practice a LOT more, then you won't 'save' any money. You may end up spending more than if you never decided to reload, maybe even a lot more.
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| C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
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