what got you into reloading?

[BigBill]

My 1972 Mossberg bolt action rifle wasnt shooting tight groups to my expectations. Every new ammo brand I purchased just wasn't accurate. It was probably accurate enough for most shooters. I found a suggested accurate load for the 30-06 and from 1973 to this day the old gal can still shoot Nickle sized five shot groups. The 180gr Speer magnum mag-tips which today are called hot-cor are the only feed my '06.
Reloading is still affordable but if you want match grade accurate ammo with every round this is the way to go.

I purchased the RCBS ROCK CHUCKER and the ACCESSORIE KIT for $59 each. This got me going back then. Now I use the LEE Pro 1000 progressive press for reloading the handgun calibers. The rifles I still do one at a time for accuracy.

 

[Malpaso]

Cowboy Action Shooting. With my daughter and I shooting at least a match a month, and going through as many as 400 rounds per shoot, there was no choice. It just naturally carried over to all calibers.

 

[MN2944]

I love researching and acquiring new skills and equipment. Reloading seemed like a nice addition to my shooting hobbies.

 

[BennyS]

Being retired and shooting at least once a week I thought it would be a great hobby to go along with my shooting.

It took a lot of reading before I began but with that and the vast amount of forums, it is enjoyable and relaxing.

Never in my life, I'm 63, did I ever imagine creating ammo that was more accurate than the average store bought. I reload 9mm and 45acp pistol and .223/5.56, 7.62/.306 and just started 30-06 for my M1Garand.

 

[Adk Mike]

Missed a big buck . Easy shot too. I started reloading and shooting. Things did get better. 35 years ago.

 

[OKFC05]

Skeet. And a MEC 600JR in 1973 so I could shoot more skeet.
And then rifle loading, and then competition pistol: I'm beyond hope of giving up reloading now. When I started pistol competition, I should have just bought the Dillon 650 instead of "working up."

 

[novalty]

Started shooting handguns again about 6 years ago. Acquired a couple guns, and after some persuasion from my father-in-law, who pointed out to me how expensive factory ammo was versus reloading--plus I was already seeing supply issues as a result of the first election. I picked up a RCBS Rockchucker kit I found at a yard sale. Everything went crazy after that from 45's to 9mm to 38/357 to 25-35 to .223 to 30-30 to 308. Bullet prices increased so I took up casting under my father-in-laws guidance.

 

[italiansport]

What got me into reloading?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Nuff said,
Jim

 

[gwpercle]

In 1967 I bought a used Ruger Blackhawk, being in high school I had no money to buy ammo. My best friend's father was in the tire business....free wheel-weights, a single cavity mould and a $10.00 Lee loading kit ( the whack-a-mole one) and I was a reloader.
Gary

 

[moosedog]

The cost of 300 Winchester magnum ammunition way back in 1973.
Started on a RCBS Rock Chucker and still using it today.

 

[Erich]

I was a poor college student with no other way to be able to afford shooting my .38 Special revolver. A Lee Loader got me started - banging away on a chair in my dorm room, and a year (and maybe a thousand Lee-Loaded rounds) later I moved up to a Lee Hand Press (that I still use from time to time, almost 30 years later).

 

[SMSgt]

I started out as a lowly airman trying to save a few bucks. .38 SP cases were for the taking at that time so I said what the heck. Money is no longer a consideration. I enjoy the art of handcrafting ammo now. It's a rare day when I buy commercial ammo.

 

[MyDads38]

In 1980 I got my first centerfire handgun, a 6" Ruger Security Six 357 Magnum revolver. With the gun, I got a few accessories; one being a Lee Handloading kit, along with bullets, primers and powder. From that point on, I was hooked! At the time, Lee offered Full Length Resizers for most of the handgun calibers, and since I had problems with some rounds not wanting to chamber, I promptly ordered one.

From there, I bought a used RCBS Reloader Special press with a set of standard steel 38/357 dies. Wow, what a step up! Then while working for the Ind. Dept. of Corr., I was on the pistol team and Lee had just come out with the 3 hole turret press and auto-index; then the auto disk powder measure. I was in heaven! That press has served me well (and still does). My latest purchase/upgrade was the Classic Cast 4 hole turret w/auto index. From an Impala to a Cadillac The Classic Turret is so smooth and a joy to use. With the Safety Prime system, and auto disk powder measure in place; reloading is as quick & easy as I want to make it. Oh, and I save money in the process too! And of course there's the satisfaction of accurate ammo you loaded yourself and winning matches with it. And.......

 

[kcwheel]

Easy one. It was my grandfather's Stevens rifle in .25-20 Single Shot caliber. That ammo was harder to come by in the late 50s than it is now. Still loading and shooting it though.
Ken

 

[scott1970]

I purchased a couple of submachines eight years ago and decided buying shelf ammo wasn't a good option. Loading for 9mm and .45 acp quickly led to various other calibers. It didn't take too long before I got tired of sending lots of money to Precision Delta and Montana Gold, along with toting heavy boxes from the post office, and I jumped into casting with vengeance. I ain't looked back since, although I eventually sold off both the submachines.

 

[RobertJ.]

1979, I was 19. I had my dad buy me my first revolver, a 8 3/8" Virginian Dragoon in .44 Magnum. I couldn't go into a store and buy ammo, I wasn't 21. However, I'd watched my dad reload since I was 9, even helped with it, so I knew all the steps. He had sold his setup by then, so I bought a RCBS Junior kit, and went from there. I used to laugh about the fact I couldn't buy handgun ammo outright, but I could buy all the stuff to make my own, at a better price.

The .44 Mag is still my favorite to handload.

 

[brucev]

What got me into reloading. Money! Plain and simple! My wife and I were newly married and I had just enrolled in seminary. A box of Federal Hi-Power .30-06 cartridges was $9.00 at Schwegmanns grocery store. With a pound of Reloader 7, a $5.00 box of 130 gr. JHP's and a deck of primers I could put together 100 wonderfully accurate rounds of .30-06 that cost less then $18.00 total. I could realize similar savings loading .38 Special ammo. Just as happily, the ammo I made produced better on target results that the ammo I could find and buy in the local stores.

Nowadays, I reload for similar reasons. I can load ammo for my 1903 and 1903-A3 rifles that is much more economical to shoot and that will give better on target results in my rifles. I can load 1,000 .38 Special rounds for about $130 or so. That is just a slight amount more than what high end .22 LR ammo is running.

In about a month I will shoot in a local police match. I will be using a six inch 686 firing some nice service velocity .38 Special ammo. I will spend some time practicing w/ my handloads. Come match day... those same handloads will be the ammunition I use in the match. I think it will be interesting to see how things go.

 

[DaSandmanCometh]

44 Mag Desert Eagle, had to feed the itch somehow!

 

[Jinglebob]

I've been reloading for many years. My wife also shoots so it became a money saver for us. Reloading is the only way to customize rounds for each gun. With big bore revolvers, I can load wimpy rounds for her and stouter rounds for myself.

Reloading evolved to casting, saving even more money. Casting gives me the option to customize the hardness and weight of a bullet, for whatever purpose I need, at a very minimal cost.

 

[Grayfox]

Why? Lack of money.
Similar story. Young, newly married, flat broke and wanted to shoot. Got the wife's ok to spend $25 for a used Rockchucker press with a beam scale and some .38/.357 dies. The guy even threw in some powder and bullets.
I'm still using that press today.