Every year or so I used to see a list of the "most often reloaded cartridges" published by a reloading die manufacturer (like RCBS). Has anyone seen a list like this lately? I'm not finding anything recent by googling. Just curious to see what's rising on the list and what's sliding down.

If you are polling us:
.38 spl HBWC and DEWC targets, pinkers, and .38 spl standard and +p SD
.357 Mag, revolver JHP and lead SWCHP, and Ruger rifle and SA loads only
.44 spl, 250 gr SWC, close to factory loads, and Skeeter loads

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Heavily armed old man.

Likely 9mm and .223/5.56

I'll play:

45 ACP
9mm
38
.357

223/556
308/762
762x39 maybe

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

For me it is whatever I own and run short of. Lately 9mm. 38 special. No rifle recently as I have ammo and have not been shooting any of it in a while.

357, 44 special, 45ACP, 38 special.

I shoot Skeet and if you want a shell that is both easy on the shoulder and forces you to refine your precision it's the 410. It's also the least expensive shotshell to reload, so it's a winner all the way. As a result for me the 410 is my most loaded shotshell with 28 gauge coming in second.

For Handgun use it used to be the 45 ACP. Unfortunately Arthritis has reared it's ugly head and the 45 has become rather painful to shoot. As a result my current favorite is the 9mm with 38 special coming in second.

Rifle and Pistol or just one or the other?

My guesses are:
Handgun
.38 Special
9 MM
.45 ACP

Rifle
.223/5.56
.308/7.62X51
7.62X39

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USMC 1969-1993

I haven't seen one of the annual RCBS lists in a while, but changes in the list used to be just short of constant and they were gradual. Bet it's not like that now.

.357mag, .44mag, .45Colt, .45acp.

Found on another forum -
This is what I'm looking for but its from 2009: (The number after the cartridge name was were it ranked in 2005).

#1 .223 Remington 3
#2 .45 ACP 7
#3 9mm Luger 17
#4 .40 S&W 21
#5 .308 Winchester 4
#6 .30-06 2
#7 .357 Magnum/.38 Special (roll crimp) 12
#8 .243 Winchester 5
#9 .270 Winchester 8
#10 .22-250 Remington 6
#11 .44 Magnum/.44 Special 10
#12 .300 Winchester Magnum 9
#13 7mm Remington Magnum 13
#14 .45 Colt 14
#15 .223 Remington (Small Base)
#16 .30-30 Winchester 20
#17 .204 Ruger 1
#18 .25-06 Remington 16
#19 .380 Auto
#20 7mm-08 Remington 22
#21 .45-70 15
#22 .300 Winchester Short Magnum 11
#23 .270 Winchester Short Magnum 19
#24 .357 Magnum/.38 Special (taper crimp)
#25 .300 Remington Ultra Magnum 23

I'd like to find a more recent list.

Lately i've been loading 9mm and 32s of various lengths in the handgun realm, and for long guns, I have been shooting up reloads of an obscure wildcat I use for schuetzen.

Lately however, I've been casting bullets and loading BP rounds for the N-SSA Fall Skirmish. No primers just percussion caps! ;0

Froggie

Two all time great target shells if you have the makings...............
.410 & 28 Ga. are premium cases, price wise and they are also
two of the great skeet and light upland game shotguns of all time.

A O/U .410 & 28 Ga. test on the trap and skeet fields, should be on everyone's bucket list, just to feel and see what happens.

I'm not real rich, so my .410 is a Winchester pump.

According to what I used to find in the brass bucket at the range.

9x19, .223/5.56, steel case 7.62x39, 45 ACP, .357 in that order.

Never saw any 44 special. Must be a thing with cowboy action shooters.

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That's just somebody talkin.

I agree Judging by the spent brass on the ground @ a National Forest Range .223/5.56 & 9x19 are far & away the most Common then .308/7.62x51 & 7.62x39

In line with the original post, the die manufacturers list is based on sales of new dies. In the past five years I have purchased dies in .32 S&W Long, .38 Super, .40 S&W and 7.65 Argentine Mauser. All were used, so I had no impact on the list. I have yet to wear out a set of dies, some of which I've been using for 50 years. So my impact on sales of .44 Spl/Mag, .38/357, 9mm, .45 Colt (&ACP), .30-30 occurred during the Reagan administration.

The lists show what cartridges are becoming (or have remained) popular since the last list. Wanna bet the .40 and the .270 WSM aren't anywhere on the next list?

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RIP Bob, Jimx3, Rowdy, Rick

I mostly load 38 and 44 spec. for shooting steel.

For me,

Handgun: .45 ACP & .38 Special

Rifle: .308 Win .223


As for new dies sold, my best guess would be 6.5 Needmoor, 350 Legend and 9X19.

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It's A Sight, Ain't It...

That doesn't equate to the "most reloaded", though, just the "most fired."
It's unlikely you'll see a ton of .38 or .357 brass on the ground.

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Because of the metric system?

38, .357, 9mm

What a difference a year makes. Before the pandemic hardly anyone loaded 9mm. I did because of all the free brass.

I never stopped reloading 9mm, even when it was dirt cheap. I prefer to make my own ammo anyway and with my cast bullets it was cheaper than dirt cheap. Even buying primers today, it's about 14 bucks a hundred for 9mm, 38, 45acp, etc.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

My sentiments exactly... a “ground survey” of discarded brass is an indicator of what calibers are being shot and not retrieved the most, not of the calibers being reloaded. If anything there is a negative correlation here.

Froggie

Probably 90% or better of the shooters at our county run range do not reload. They usually have two to three 55 gallon drums of brass to be sold to the scrappers sitting around.

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USMC 1969-1993

I remember reading that the list was made from which new dies were the most sold.

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Front sight and squeeze

Small arms ammo of late is mostly............ 38/357 & 9mm.
90% of my ammo is for target work.

Rifle ammo loaded the most is my ........... 22-250 & 30-06,
both rifles have four (4) different weight & speeds for my use & yardage.

I did see in an article of The American Rifleman that RCBS is considering completely dropping their shotgun re-loaders. It seems that and the decline of the Cowboy calibers was high on their list.

9x19
.45 ACP
.45 Colt
.223/5.56

That's the way the RCBS list has always been compiled. It's hard to imagine a better way of finding out what's popular with handloaders. I doubt anyone knows or could accurately guess what the ratio of handloaders to non-handloaders is.

Based on what has been absent from shelves the longest and most difficult to find in my area, I'd guess:

.38 spl
.357
.380
9mm
.223/5.56
.44 spl
.44 mag\.45 Colt
.45 acp
10mm
.40 S&W
.300 AAC

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FBINA 213

Given prices of handgun ammo, I expect the rimmed revolver cartridges would be at or near the top of actual reloading activity, if not necessarily indicated by the purchase of new equipment.

In rifles, surely the 6.5 Creedmoor is in the running somewhere. I don’t recall ever seeing the industry get behind a new cartridge and push it as hard as the 6.5 CM has been pushed.

Shotguns, logic would point toward the small gauges, since field/target grade ammo for 12s and 20s has been pretty cheap, at least until recently, but there are so few shooters that actually use the small gauges that I suspect one couldn’t necessarily rely on that theory.

All in all, in terms of rounds actually made, not die sets sold, I’d be surprised in 9mm, .45 ACP, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and 6.5 Creedmoor weren’t somewhere near the top of the list.

Depends what kind of shooter you ask. Looking at component availability I'd have to say 9x19. Also reloading videos seem to largely be 9mm. Also with huge numbers of cheap 9mm plastic guns sold and readily available (and a trend to "tactical"), again I'd say 9x19. Long guns my guess would be 5.56/223. Same reasons "tactical thnking", and availibility of AR type guns. Also looking at reloading forums you will see many, many questions on these two cartridges...

My list would be for today, probably change next month;
9mm, (mostly JHP.)
38 Special (cast lead bullets).
45ACP ( variety of loads, bullets).

Those are the most reloaded for me lately, in the past it was 38 Special 44 Magnum, 357 Magnum and 45 Colt, but times and ideas change...

Until recently, 44 spl, 357 magnum. Now, 9mm. Specifically, subsonic 147 gr loads.
Didn’t reload 9mm, as it was more financially beneficial to reload other calibers with my powder and primers.

I reload to save money.

STOP LAUGHING.

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Reg. Magnum wants/Rossi wallet

For me, 6mm Mongoose.

For me, 9mm is my EDC so that's my pistol reloads.


.223 cuz I enjoy shooting it.


Went to the range this past Saturday and the 2 guys next ro me were burning through 9mm and 5.56/.223. when the range was cold and I was picking up my brass I asked if they kept theirs since I didn't want to pick theirs up. They said no and I could have it if i wanted it.


600+ of 9mm and 150 or so 5.56/.223 went into my range buckets.


it was like Halloween!

My friends that reload are loading the standard Handgun rounds: 380, 9mm, 38 Special 40 S&W, 44 Spec/Mag, 45 Colt, 45ACP!

In rifle it is 223, 308, 6 & 6.5 Creedmoor, 308, and 300 Blackout.

Also lots of 45-70, and some of the 375 Win. 38-55 Win. and 350 Legend.

Personally, I crank out about 300-400 338 Lapua Mag a year, but that is sort of unusual!

With the BAN of Russian ammo, 7.62x39 is on the uptake too! and a little 7.62x54R!

Ivan

I usually load 5k to 8k 410's a year and 4k to 6k 28 gauge for sporting clays! I bought a 725 Sporting in 410 to go with my Feather XS 410 & 28, So I'll have to be shooting more! ITB

A few years ago, my friends called me foolish for reloading 9mm, now they all do it.... most popular? I would guess 9mm and .223.

Just a SWAG, but I'd guess 9MM and 38 Spl are one-two with 357 and 40 calibers somewhat behind. The 44s and 45s probably come next with 41s of in the weeds somewhere.

those of us loading the various 32s are a dedicated bunch, but there aren't that many of us so the total loaded is smaller.

Long guns? I'm pretty clueless about rifles. The 223 sells in large numbers, but is the number of reloads may not be keeping up.

As for shotguns, you'll have to ask the guys who shoot at flying pottery. From what I've heard though, they can't get primers either.

Froggie

Let me muddy the water. I think an analysis of some observations is in order.

When I volunteer as a safety officer at GSSF events (which are lost brass matches), I see an abundance of 9mm. For every 30 rounds of 9mm, I may see 4 or 5 40 S&W, 2 45 ACP, and if I'm lucky, a 380 or a 10mm case. Most of the brass appears to be factory loaded (noted by crimped primers and sealant). If it were me, I'd shoot reloaded ammo in lost brass matches and not leave behind once fired brass. Very few steel and aluminum cases are present. To me, that suggests that 40s, 10mm, 357 Sig, and 45 GAP are either reloaded or not as popular as they once were in the GSSF matches.

When I take a walk through my club's pistol pits, not much spent brass can be found. What I am finding is a large quantity of spent steel and aluminum cases, 25 ACP, 32 ACP, 32 S&W Long, and a large quantity of 223 (most likely left behind by the police departments that train at our range), along with a large quantity of spent 22 brass. Rarely do I see many 38 Specials or 357 Magnums. Up until this past spring, you could spend an hour in each bay collecting 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45s, but revolver cases were scarce.

For our mid-range and long-range matches, none of our competitors leave brass behind.

Based on what I don't see, I believe that 38 Special, 357 Magnum, and some 44s have been reloaded since the scamdemic began. Of late, there appears to be an increase in reloading 9mm. I would suspect that few people are reloading the 223 that has been left behind because of the crimped primers.

Also, if you look at the sales ads for brass recyclers, revolver brass is scarce and higher priced, suggesting that while it is not a common cartridge, the brass is in high demand.

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Judge control not gun control!

Mostly 9mm, because I have a Lanchester and an Uzi SMG. Other than 9mm, I reload .44 Special and .45-70.

.45 something. [Colt, Schofield, ACP, AR, Webley]

Agreed. For my own .02 would add .44 magnum and .44spl.

A better handle on what's being reloaded right now might be indicated by looking at bullets being sold.

Granted, lots of flaws with that too - like home made cast bullets, bullets suitable for a number of popular cartridges (like .308 Winchester, 30-06, etc.), bullets either used but already on hand, or bullets bought but not yet used

And putting together together all the possible information for all bullet manufacturers would be daunting.

Still, it might be interesting (and doable) to look at what bullets were sold by, say Midway or a similar supplier, over the past year

Virtually every die I commonly use nowadays is at least 20 years ago, and I occasionally use dies I bought in the 1960's. Die purchases leave reloaders like myself totally out of the picture.

My most interesting set of dies, are a set I will most likely never use. Thee were given to me by Harvey Donaldson's cousin. The were Harvey's back-up set of dies when he developed and marketed the 219 Donaldson Wasp.

I don't own, but have held the #4 set of dies made by Ned Roberts for his 257 Cartridge. (They were with the #4 rifle at an OGCA show in the 1980's)

Ivan

Forget the range ground leftovers from shooters; and the die makers sales doesn't give us volume.

The answer to the OP's question is through Starline.


Their brass is probably the best source for all handloaders, not just new handloader folks.
Their data would not include shooters, just handloaders.

I wonder if we could get their sales by caliber for last year?

Prescut

Yep, the buckets at the range were full of 9x19 before the black death. Nada these days but being a brass rat I couldn't believe people were leaving hundreds of .223/5.56 and 9x19 brass in the bucket. Brass is brass. I had so much .223/5.56 I had to move some of it. Still debating about selling my 9x19 brass because of the situation with civil unrest and the possibility of a an economic collapse. If nothing else inflation is going to make it more valuable. When people will pay 0.50/rd for ammo, brass and primers becomes a gold standard for reloaders. Looks like about a nickel for once fired brass now. Two years ago you couldn't give it away. Many different powders can be used for 9x19 and you can cast your own bullets, but primers and brass is essential. Darn hard to make those yourself.

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That's just somebody talkin.

For many years the manufacturers of reloading dies reported the most popular calibers as .30-06 (rifle), .38 Special (handgun), and 12-gauge (shotgun).

I suspect this has changed since the spikes of interest in .223 (rifle), 9X19 (handgun). I doubt that 12-gauge has lost its premier position.

For my own uses the .45ACP and .38/.357 are tops in handgun, no doubt. .30-06 remains my most commonly used rifle cartridge, although I own a dozen others. Some of the vintage and antique firearms (.25-20, .218 Bee, .32-20, .300 Savage, .250 Savage, .45-70, .45-90, .44-40 and a few others) provide me with a lot of interesting experiences. Never got into shotgun reloading at all.

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Life of the party until 8:00PM

Last thing I reloaded was 12.7 x 42 and that was over a year ago. Back pain and beer virus rules have kept me away from the range.

It could be that there isn’t as much revolver brass on the ground because the guns don’t throw it there. I know shooters who are also reloaders who favor revolvers for just that reason. Likewise shot gunners who favor doubles over semiAutos for the same reason.

With the increased awareness for reloading, “dwell time” for brass on the ground at the range has also declined, so a casual survey will only show a record of what is left laying, likely the least popular rounds.

The question is indeed a complex one, but in my case, reloading boils down to what caliber(s) I want to shoot next. I don’t build up large stores of reloaded ammo like some of my friends do.

Froggie

At $2.25 to $3.50 a round.......
I would want to reload them, also !!