Do you shoot so that you can reload or do you reload so that you can shoot?
Randy

If I had to shoot factory ammo, I could not afford to shoot. Factory 38 ammo is like $14/50, I reload for about $4.25/50.

Yes..........

There was a day when I thought that I would save a ton of money reloading. That's a total misconception! Ammo IS cheaper, but we always just end up shooting enough to offset what we save.

Anyway, reloading and casting are hobbies themselves. To me they are just as enjoyable as shooting, not to mention all of the benefits and advantages.

+1

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It's around here somewhere!

What Pinger and others said. For example, tonight I had planned on meeting a friend at the local outdoor range after work, as both our wives are out for the evening. However as the rain seems to have set in for the evening we'll reload instead.

Why NO.1
Before taking up reloading we would stop shooting when I ran out of bullets ,(one or two boxes) Now we stop shooting when we get tired. (500 to 750 rounds)

Why NO.2
I can set the power level of the ammo to my comfort level. The .44 mag full power load is not fun to shoot but my hand load is just right. Light .38spl for the wife mid loads for me.

Why NO.3
Relaoding can be fun. Turns a dull rain day into a productive day.

Both reasons are good for me. I enjoy reloading and it keeps the winter doledrums at bay. Also some caliber's such as the .44 Special and .45 Colt really shine with reloads.

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Stay safe people!

I reload, so I can shoot more, so I can do more reloading, so I can shoot more, so I can do more reloading..........

Anyone else remember that commercial?

Better quality ammo tailored to my guns. Cheaper ammo.(I shot 200rds of .45colt today) Relaxing way to spend spare time.

+1
And CONSISTENT ammunition year after year, regardless of changing availability of different types of commercial ammo.

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Science plus Art

Hate to reload but couldn't afford to shoot otherwise.

Reloading is a hobby unto itself. I really enjoy cranking out some rounds that not only go bang, but hit the bullseye.
It is a little frustrating at times when developing a specific load for one of my guns, but those are few. Overall, it is very gratifying.
It really enhances my shooting experience as well as being a great past time.

I originaly started to save money as ammo was getting to expensive.

Now, so I can pass the time searching the internet and making phone calls to try and find components to actually reload something.

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Still Running Against the Wind

You supply the components and I'll do the reloadin'.

Like has been said, allows me to shoot more than I otherwise could afford to. I spend more, but not in proportion to the rounds I have launched had I had to purchase factory fodder in the same amounts.

And in times like these I don't have to worry because there isn't any ammo on the local store shelves.

I don't care if it's swinging a golf club, throwing a horseshoe, or kicking a football . . . if you want to do something well, you have to do it a lot - practice, practice, practice.

I know of too many folks who buy a gun and one box of ammunition, shoot a couple of cylinders or magazines, and store the rest thinking that now they're "protected" because they own a gun. Dangerous and faulty mindset, to my way of thinking.

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Qui plantavit curabit

Tough to really answer that question. I use a single stage press and load 50 or 100 rounds at a time. I enjoy the process of loading and take my time doing it- sometimes I'll sit in my shop and look at different load data and my reloading notes for an hour before I decide what I'm going to load. I have a 50 ft. pistol range set up in my backyard and usually shoot 25 to 50 rounds a day if the weather allows- sometimes I'll shoot several hundred rounds at one time- but only about once a month or so. Again, it's something I take my time doing. Whether I'm deciding what gun and load to shoot or spending time setting up the chrono, it's not something I rush through. I enjoy reloading and shooting about equally. So, in my mind they're really not separate hobbies but one continual process that integrates together.

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Andy

Finding a supply of lead, smelting the lead, making the ingots, pouring the lead into the boolit molds, sizing and lubing the boolits, developing the load, loading, shooting, and then doing it all over again. It's all a hobby to me. That doesn't even cover using store bought rifle bullets to develop loads for bench shooting or developing lubes for cast boolits or roundball flintlock shooting. I do it 'cause I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of it.

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War Eagle!!!

I like to - it's fun

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regards....roger (no sig)

Casting, you gotta get into casting!

I like to re-load/hand-load as much as I like to shoot.

I like to cast even better than that!

Plus, I don't have to wait for a delivery of bullets if I run out. I just go to the garage and turn the pot on and in about 20 minutes.............boolits, I mean, bullets.

Slipped there!

I'd love to, but can't seem to find a supply of lead in these parts . . .

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Qui plantavit curabit

Hey Goboling: shipping is on you....both ways....to central Indiana.6000 38's, 3000 357's, 3000 45acp's and 3000 44mags will do it for this summer. We'll talk next fall since I'm caught up for now; load all winter so I can shoot all summer. Oh, that of course doesn't include what'll be burned in the K22!

In my rifle reloading, I'm a long range shooter and varminter. I like to craft accurate loads for the smallest possible groups.

For general handgunnning, basically, I like to reload in volume.

In my hunting handguns, my reloading is geared towards powerful loads driving the best bullet possible for the big game I'm chasing.

ebay, do a search.

I've found a way to reload and shoot "for FREE"....

I got my supplies SO LONG AGO, compared with today's costs, they didn't cost ANYTHING. Some of these have been sitting there loaded and waiting, since before Y2K.

And I got to meet with my (now grown)son for a fine afternoon on the target range....that was nearly deserted but for us.

My NEW hobby is 'finding replacement components' because NOW is likely to be cheaper than LATER. And at 2% return interest on savings, I'd rather disburse the return on my prior investment, than 'roll it over' into the new dog-money economy.

We took 3 1911s, a 625, and a couple 9mms to try out the recipes. Shot up about 500 ACPs and 250 9s....

"All free"....*kaff*kaff*.....

Never could have afforded it with store bought ammo....

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

After I find myself disinterested in shooting a gun after i find the perfect load for it.
The search for that just right load is becoming most of my fun now..

"why reload" is the question. I have an addendum to my previous answer.

At the local gun range today, limit 2 boxes of ammo per customer, period.

At another local gun store today, no 380 ammo, others not available either. Steel case Wolf 223, still available, no others.

Why reload? If I stay informed, like some did at the middle part of last year, they bought components. Things were cheap and plentiful, we stocked up.

Now the "ammo well" is dry, that is, all except a few that were prepared and reload.

Hind sight is always 20/20 but if you learn from this situation, maybe, just maybe, you will have prescription glasses on before the next time it happens.

FWIW

because i never have to actually buy ammo ever again. have enough for my lifetime now. shoot5000+ per yr.

....also, in a weird way.....

"reloading" is rather like a fly fisherman learning how to tie his own flies....

It is a related yet distinctly different aspect of the Shooting Art....it soothes the spirit and deepens the appreciation for unpredicted enjoyment of what we do....

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

I got started in reloading when I got three FTF in my first ever centerfire rifle using factory ammo in my 222Rem H&R Model322.I HAVE NOT BOUGHT Factory ammo since.I have now started to reload pistol ammo .380ACP,357MAG Lee factory crimp carbide die sets never a problem feeding .firing or ejecting.Reloading only way to go for me!.Oh it's fun too.

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Retired Plumber

Sort of like "ambassador" although I didn't have any FTF's, I was finding a big variation in my factory ammo from round to round and box to box. I was shooting good quality factory stuff too...Winchester, Federal and Remington.

I don't reload because it saves me any money or because I shoot a lot - it doesn't and I don't. I don't reload because I am working up a MOA target load or anything like that. I reload just to produce a predictable, consistent product each and every round down the tube. That makes the shooting more enjoyable for me because then I don't feel like I'm just burning up mediocre ammunition for the heck of it.

I found that by reloading my own shells rifle or pistol I can tailor my rounds to suit my needs better. I shoot 44 magnum and I dont always want to shoot the full tilt shake your fillings out of your mouth loads but some informal plinking around 1000 fps. Or when I shoot my 30.06 rifle I can load small light bullets like 110 grain spire soft point to blast the coyotes from a far. It also saves me money and and lots of it with the price of ammo these days. It also fills my spare time with a very enjoyable hobby. Helps keep my mind sharp because you can't afford mistakes when you reload.

A factory equivalent of my .30-06 long range loads simply doesn't exist. About the only .30-06 target ammunition available is the obsolescent 168gr. load. I load a 200gr. Sierra Match King over IMR4350. No such thing in the stores.

If I didn't reload, I couldn't shoot. I came to that realization in 1979. Factory ammunition certainly hasn't gotten any cheaper since then. The only factory center fire ammunition I buy is self-defense ammunition and that purely for legal reasons.

I have reloading gear and supplies for every caliber I regularly shoot. I don't have as big a supply of components as I wish I did, but I won't be going to Walmart, hat in hand, for the foreseeable future.

When I used a single stage press I enjoyed reloading, then I got a 650 Dillon and then it was a job. But now I have a 550 Dillon and enjoy the heck out of it, loading is fun again. I still have the 650, but the 550 gets used 97% of the time. I load 9mm - 45 colt - 32 S&W Long and 45 acp on the 550. The 650 is setup for 38 Special and 223. Working up a load for a handgun or rifle is alot of fun. Plus I wouldn't be able to shoot like I do if I didn't load my ammo. I was happy this weekend because I got power for 18 bucks a pound .

I'm one of those lost souls who always has to do something or be busy. If I'm reloading, I can't nibble on junk food. Reloading ammo is really my diet plan that is fully approved by Rosie O'Donnell. I don't save a dime doing it because of the higher volume / lower cost syndrome. $50 of 2002 reloading components makes a lot more ammunition than $50 buys at the ammo counter today.

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S&WHF 366

Reloading made me a better shooter and I enjoy spending "quiet" time in the garage.

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Centennial Every Day

ain't that the truth!

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"Shall not be infringed"

why reload?

It keeps me out of my wife's hair.