Why do I reload? I think I am gonna quit!

Being a rookie reloader, I have learned a wealth of information from guys like you and my other SW forum pals. As a new handgun owner and reloader something has sparked within. In addition to spending more time with my dad who is a reloader, I've also learned a little more about handgun shooting with my wife and two teenage daughters. I thank you and my fellow reloaders for sharing information on reloading in general that saves time and possibly lives. I've benefited greatly from this forum.

Hopefully this is just a slump your going through. I need guys like you!

Whatever you decide is your business, but I have a feeling this is a season your going through. I believe reloading is in your blood............. it has just gotten into mine.

Thank you, Richard
 
A few years back I went through a phase where I was shooting a lot of .22's. I began to question the need for the larger calibers since I was just shooting paper. But then the phase ended and I'm back to shooting centerfires. There's just something missing with the rimfire.
 
Mr. Forester Sir... Someone is showing off, no?? LOL

I was out Tuesday to do some handgun shooting with my oldest son.
I didn't realize how much I shot until I got home and put the spent brass away.

I fired:
200 rounds .38 Special
80 rounds .357 Magnum
50 rounds .32 Auto
100 rounds .45 Auto
150 rounds .22LR
I would call that a very good day at the range!!
Without reloading most of that wouldn't be possible but for the .22 ammo.

Wednesday was a rifle day at the range... :)
 
Rule3 said:
You hit the nail. As I mentioned reverse cabin fever. Every day it's raining, hot and humid. Mowed the lawn today, thought I was gonna die. I normally edge and weed whack, Forget it!.

I have been loading a lot, just don't want to go out and shoot.

I even have a deep cycle boat battery, inverter and big box fan. helps a little to blow the hot air around.;)
Click to expand...

I shot back to back IDPA weekends here, both days it was right @ the 100deg mark. Hydrate, wear a hat & some sunscreen & go shoot. Beats doing the lawn.
 
fredj338 said:
I shot back to back IDPA weekends here, both days it was right @ the 100deg mark. Hydrate, wear a hat & some sunscreen & go shoot. Beats doing the lawn.
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Damn, although there's not too many things that make me want to sit out a shooting day very hot weather like that comes close. You're right, hydration and cover are very important. Heat like that can make you sick, well, at least at my age it can...;)
 
No ArchAngelCD, I'm not showing off (too much)LOL. Living in NE Ohio put me in opposite yet similar circumstances as Rule3. I get to feel the same way in winter, January to March is just killer.

I would to go to a club that has a small shack behind the shooting line on the rifle range and bring a heater. Shooting in 20* weather with 5-15mph winds & 12+" of snow just made for less than ideal conditions.
From there I joined an indoor range (50ft). It's a bit of a drive to get there. They keep the range cool, 50* to save of heating expenses in the winter so I'd have to turn everything up & make a fire in the main rooms wood burner. It'd take a couple of hours for the range/main room to get up to temp. Shooting indoors the center fires had to be jacketed bullets, lead reloads smoked too much. So it was easier/cheaper to shoot 22's. One of the main problems with 22's are that they are temperature sensitive, match grade ammo will shoot to a different poa at 50* than it will at 70*.

So I started looking into pellet guns, at that point in my life they were nothing more than kid's toys to me. The more I learned the more respect I acquired for them. Now I own 3 of them, the 10m pistol, a 10m 4p rifle and a sporter. The rifles use the same front sight inserts and I'll put the different inserts in to mimic the sight picture of the various rifles that I shoot. It's so convenient to just walk in the next room & shoot for awhile rather than loading everything up, bundling up and going to the range.

When it's 20* out & snowing and blowing, I'll reload a little, pick up a pellet gun shoot a little then do something else for awhile then start all over again. When it hits the 90's* around here I say uncle & get in the AC and play around reloading, shoot some pellet guns & try to stay cool.
My last acquisition was a compact scope for the sporter pellet rifle. It's a mildot scope called a bug buster for a reason. Just something to think about, world class guns/triggers/accuracy, cheap ammo and can be used any time you wish in minutes in the comfort of your own home.
 
I feel your pain about "Is it all worth it?" Loaded 3,500 45 ACP, 500 44 mag, and almost done with 2,500 357 mag.

Yup it is worth it! I'm down to my last brick of George Bush small pistol primers, and just started on my first case of Ojama large pistol primers. I think I'll get by till 2012.
 
The problem is you're "reloading" and not "handloading". Crafting good handloaded ammunition can be more fun than shooting, but not if you look at it as a chore to just crank out paper punchers.
 
I can tell you that as much as I love shooting .22, I really love shooting my .38's and .357's. I don't know about you, but having seen the cost of ammo in the last year I can still save more by reloading. One of the problems I see when guys first start reloading (not saying this is you but have seen it from others) is that they go out and buy the top of the line everything to reload, and then wonder why they are broke. I say try the less expensive stuff first and see what you need later. When I reload, I only do 50 rounds at a time, it doesn't take a long time and it isn't tedious. I can get a couple of hundred rounds through in a week. Believe me, wait until next year when the new election comes around and then the whole Mayan "I got bored and stopped writing" end of the world calender just like the Y2K thing I can almost guarantee ammo prices shooting upward. Reloading supplies will be right there in the price hike as well. This is why I also took up bullet casting as well, to help cut down the costs and to make sure that I don't have to worry about having what I want in stock. My ammo is always in stock.
 
Take a true Sabbatical. Set yourself a timeframe ( 6 months? A year?) put your gear away and make a note on your calendar.

If you're still feeling the same way at that time, perhaps this pursuit has run it's course.

It is not a good thing or a bad thing, it's just a "thing". Relax, it's all good.
 
I'm going to the range today with nothing but MAGNUMS!

At least I will not have to search in the weeds for my brass.:D

Full house 44 MAGS!
 
Too much emphasis on the cost. Yes, you save money, but it is more than that. I like a manual shift car too, because I feel like I can get better performance than the guy next to me who just stomps on the gas pedal. Something about man-machine interface makes me want to do it better. That's why we targetshoot, right? When my shooting buddies want to trade their factory ammo for my reloads, because they believe mine deliver better accuracy, it just makes me feel good.

Yeah, it is hot and humid down here in Florida. On those days, I sit in the backyard and shoot my air-rifles.. great fun. Now, when the wife wants to watch American Idol or The Bachelorette, I thank God I can go into the garage and make my own music with my Dillon 550. You do too, you just forgot.
 
blujax01 said:
Take a true Sabbatical. Set yourself a timeframe ( 6 months? A year?) put your gear away and make a note on your calendar.

If you're still feeling the same way at that time, perhaps this pursuit has run it's course.
Click to expand...

Good advice. Remember the old saying: "A change is as good as a rest!" (And vice-sersa! :) )

Reloading isn't quite as economical as it used to be - that's for sure. Jacketed bullets can be outrageous, and even the things we can't make, like primers and powder, have gone up enough that it has affected the economics of handloading. And factory ammunition is much better now than it used to be, if my experience is any guide. Thanks to the internet and inexpensive freight, I believe it can be purchased comparatively cheaper than it once could. So there are some considerations out there that haven't always been. Like many older handloaders, I can remember when I had myself convinced I could shoot 38 wadcutters for the same money as .22s, or less. I don't feel that way any more.

But the weather is a separate thing. It doesn't get Florida-hot here in Indiana, but I don't enjoy shooting in the summer and do less of it that I used to. But I have found that by easing off in the summer, by mid-October, I am thinking of it again and am ready to go! Handloading takes another month or so. Usually by the time the white stuff flies, handloading is no struggle for me. :D
 
I don't get to shoot nearly as much as I would like, especially living in Maine, and no place to go in winter's. So reloading gives me another hobby for winter, and I can reload on for the coming summer--no pressures about getting to it. Hence why I reload on a single-stage, and not a progressive.
 
Sounds like boredom has set in.
Put the cover on your reloading press, put your stuff away, and spend time with your other hobbies.
I cycle through my hobbies. When I get bored with one, I shift my energies onto one of the others. Works for me.
If you sell your reloading equipment you will probably end up posting one of those "wish I hadn't sold" threads later on.
 
No. I am just sick of the heat and humidity.

I went to the range today, I must not be the only one in a slump as none was there.Which is fine by me.;)

I shot full house 357 mags and 44 mags until my hand hurt, still does.

Depending on what this storm/ Hurricane does, probably will not be shooting at the end of the week.

Filled up the gas cans for the generator just in case.
 
Hey! I went to the range today too! Full house 44mag as well! Only difference is that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, humidity is minimal, and a nice 77*F!

1400fps from my M629 Classic with 5" barrel! WhoooHoooo! They really thumped!

Someone left a softball there. Nothing left of it now! You should have seen what I did to a water jug with those babies!

Big boom, much smashum! :)

Snap out of it bro., before you drag someone else into the mullygrubs!

Need some boolits to try?
 
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