This is a question I have on hunting with reloads

[Skeet 028]

Of the average hunters and reloaders on the board...How many hunt with reloads. I don't mean occasionally.. But most of the time. Including handgun and rifle. The reason I ask is because looking back over the years I seem to have used about 75% factory ammo for big game hunting. Varmints is almost all reloads.. For shotshell I mostly used reloads until the rules requiring steel shot for waterfowl. But big game is my focus. What say you hunters/reloaders?

 

[Peak53]

100% my own handloads

 

[Pisgah]

At least 90% of my big game hunting is with handloads, rifle and handgun. About the only time I use factory loads is when I am using my .270, which is only a few times per season, and that's only because I haven't gotten motivated to buy dies for it yet. (Come to think of it, I don't think I used the .270 at all last season...)

 

[sureshotbob]

For rifle and handgun always my reloads with shotgun factory loads. I just never got around to reloading shotgun.

 

[Cdog]

Why would any handloader buy factory rounds?

My first .257 Roberts rifle got me into handloading. The only factory ammo I've used for hunting since are for shotguns. All metallic centerfire rounds are custom crafted hand rolled.

 

[rwsmith]

One thing I like about reloading.....

I don't hunt anymore, but reloading let's me tailor my load to exactly what I want instead of just using what's on the dealers shelf. At about 1/3 the cost. I take a certain amount of pride in that.

 

[flintsghost]

I have only fired factory loads at deer when I was a kid using my grandad's Savage 99. As soon as I was the owner of a good rifle I began handloading because I could use Nosler's and get much better accuracy out of my Pre-64 Model 70 than any factory load could do. That was 1972 and I haven't used a factory load hunting since.

 

[twodog max]

Rifle and handgun is all reloads and has been for nearly 50 years.

 

[chud333]

Only reloads for any hunting for me (excluding shotgun).
I don't reload for shotgun.
But any animal worth taking is worth me sending one of my
own handloads down range. This includes varmint loads as well.
It makes the harvest that much more enjoyable for me to take
a game animal with something i put together.

Chuck

 

[MichiganScott]

The only factory loads that have ever hunted with are .22LR. I usually shoot a single box of factory loads with each new gun over a chronograph to set a baseline for accuracy and velocity.

 

[AveragEd]

Why would any handloader buy factory rounds?

I use only handloads for everything BUT handgun hunting. When I hunt with a handgun, it is my 629-3 Classic DX and if I'm lucky, I might shoot a half-dozen rounds per year. For that little bit of shooting, I can't see setting up my Dillon 650 for a different recipe. Several years ago, I bought two 20-round boxes of factory loads and there are still some shells left in the first one.

Conveniently, my handload of a 240-grain lead semi-wadcutter and that factory load shoot to the same POI at 25 yards and very nearly the same POI at 50 yards so I don't have to re-sight the gun in every hunting season.

Ed

 

[Steely85]

I can only think of one critter I've killed with a centerfire pistol/rifle round in the past 25 years that was with a factory loaded cartridge.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

All reloads for my rifles/shotgun & handguns(w/lots of cast bullets).......Only factory ammo I buy is .22LR.

 

[Warren Sear]

I have never in my life hunted with factory ammo. Many of my guns have fired handloads exclusively, and many of them have never fired anything but home-cast bullets. To me, that is all part of the enjoyment I get from shooting.

 

[Big Cholla]

Of the first 6 rifles I owned, 5 of them were wildcat cartridges. So, virtually all of my rifle hunting has been with reloaded cartridges. I had been reloading shotshells from the age of 16 so it was just natural to reload for my bird hunting too. In five years of competing in USPSA/IDPA I shot just under 250,000 rounds of 38 Super, 45 acp, 223 Rem and 38 special. All reloaded by me on one of two Dillon 550s.

 

[Homie]

Shot my first deer with my '94 and .30 WCF factory ammo a looong time ago- my own HANDLOADS since then, including trips to the Cowboy state.

Shoot factory in the .22rf, .22 Mag., .17 Mach 2, and the .17 HMR on gophers and close-in prairie rats-all the rest are my own.

Looks like I'm with the majority so far- interesting question.

 

[fredj338]

Since all of my hunting rifles are either wildcats or calibers with limited factory ammo, always handloads. In handguns, i prefer a good cast lead bullet, flat or hollow point, so also always handloads. This includes 4 trips to foreign countries, no issues.

 

[BUFF]

Handloads in everything centerfire since I started handloading in 1975, except for shotgun. I don't shoot enough shotgun to reload for that.

 

[retiredbadge8091]

Handloads allow me to squeeze the last bit of accuracy out of my rifle with a bullet taylored to my game.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I don't think I own any factory hunting ammo for my hunting rifles and more. Everything I hunt with is my handlowds. I can use the bullet I think is best at the velocity I want. My ammo is more accurate too.

For big game use quality components and you will not have a problem.