Do you enjoy reloading?
- Thread starter Rustydust
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MotoHunter
New member
I agree with Squeeze. I call it a mental distraction, you don't think about work while reloading, you think about reloading.
venatic
Active member
I do enjoy many aspects of reloading as a hobby. Getting to tinker with new loads whether it be the bullets,powder or a new round that you have not played with before can be fun and challenging.
Reloading will always have the mundane tiresome steps as well but these days we have so many wonderful toys that can make those chores seem less onerous.
Reloading will always have the mundane tiresome steps as well but these days we have so many wonderful toys that can make those chores seem less onerous.
Originally Posted By: crapshootOriginally Posted By: DAA
I don't use case lube. I never did weigh charges, still don't.
- DAA
Can you elaborate?
Well... Seems self explanatory? I don't use case lube, and I don't weigh charges?
I'm only loading for bolt guns. Use bushing neck dies w/out expanders for everything (all neck turned, too). Just no need for lube. So no need to clean it off, either.
Of course, I DO have to use case lube when initially forming wildcat brass, but that is a one time deal. And for FL sizing, but that's not something that happens very often. The rifles I use the most, with the working loads I use, cases can go many, many firings before needing FL sized. Or even, never at all. My .17 Predator, for instance, I've never needed to FL size or shoulder bump a case for it, ever. With the working load I'm using, primer pockets only last about a dozen firings and they haven't become hard to close the bolt on or needed a shoulder bump before then. Have a custom made FL die for it, that has never been used. It might come in handy if I ever need to make any more cases for it. But, I probably won't, unless the barrel goes kaput and I get a new one.
Weighing charges, I basically never have. Started handloading for a .270 Win. with a paper sack full of reclaimed 4831, would just stand the cases up in a cake pan and pour them all full and crunch a bullet down in them. Just never got in the habit of weighing individual charges. I get that for some applications, it's needed, or at least beneficial, but those aren't my applications.
I mean, I do know the weight of the working load charge and usually (but not always) use a scale to set the powder dump, but then I just dump them all straight into the case without using the scale. Working up loads, I often (but not always) use the scale too, but again, that's basically a one time deal.
- DAA
I don't use case lube. I never did weigh charges, still don't.
- DAA
Can you elaborate?
Well... Seems self explanatory? I don't use case lube, and I don't weigh charges?
I'm only loading for bolt guns. Use bushing neck dies w/out expanders for everything (all neck turned, too). Just no need for lube. So no need to clean it off, either.
Of course, I DO have to use case lube when initially forming wildcat brass, but that is a one time deal. And for FL sizing, but that's not something that happens very often. The rifles I use the most, with the working loads I use, cases can go many, many firings before needing FL sized. Or even, never at all. My .17 Predator, for instance, I've never needed to FL size or shoulder bump a case for it, ever. With the working load I'm using, primer pockets only last about a dozen firings and they haven't become hard to close the bolt on or needed a shoulder bump before then. Have a custom made FL die for it, that has never been used. It might come in handy if I ever need to make any more cases for it. But, I probably won't, unless the barrel goes kaput and I get a new one.
Weighing charges, I basically never have. Started handloading for a .270 Win. with a paper sack full of reclaimed 4831, would just stand the cases up in a cake pan and pour them all full and crunch a bullet down in them. Just never got in the habit of weighing individual charges. I get that for some applications, it's needed, or at least beneficial, but those aren't my applications.
I mean, I do know the weight of the working load charge and usually (but not always) use a scale to set the powder dump, but then I just dump them all straight into the case without using the scale. Working up loads, I often (but not always) use the scale too, but again, that's basically a one time deal.
- DAA
Originally Posted By: Redleg84I don't mind it, but I find myself buying equipment that speeds up the process. The less and less time I have anymore I try spend it shooting or hunting more than reloading.
Then again I'm about to move up north where I may have more time on my hands in the winter.
The summers here are almost as bad as the Minnesota winters. Of course I can just put up some shade even in August. Most of my load work ups are done in the heat..LOL
Greg
Then again I'm about to move up north where I may have more time on my hands in the winter.
The summers here are almost as bad as the Minnesota winters. Of course I can just put up some shade even in August. Most of my load work ups are done in the heat..LOL
Greg
WeaselCircus
New member
I find it a bit tedious to reload. I'd much rather be out shooting. If I come across a good factory round then I try to stick with that and skip the reloading. Conversely, I use to do some fly-tying a while back and that I found pretty enjoyable to tide me over during the winter. Although by the time spring/summer came round I had more flies than I could ever hope to fish with.
moonshine44
Active member
I shoot cowboy action matches, so I have to reload or I couldn't afford to shoot. I have a hundred yard berm out behind my shop so I can test fire loads all day if I want to. And I have steel set up along the back fence in my corral if I feel like CAS practice. I reload because I have to, because I can, and because I like to do it. The problem is that I'm running out of space in my reloading room...
Plant.One
Well-known member
for me reloading is a love/hate thing.
i absolutely love the reloading part and especially the UNloading part.... but absolutely hate the brass prep part
i still wouldnt give it up for the world though. Without reloading i wouldnt be able to afford to shoot but a small % of what i do now, nor with the accuracy i get.
and as long as i have components on hand, i can still keep shooting when all the yahoo's are scrambling for ammo during any future politically motivated ammo shortages crop up.
long live my reloading bench!
i absolutely love the reloading part and especially the UNloading part.... but absolutely hate the brass prep part
i still wouldnt give it up for the world though. Without reloading i wouldnt be able to afford to shoot but a small % of what i do now, nor with the accuracy i get.
and as long as i have components on hand, i can still keep shooting when all the yahoo's are scrambling for ammo during any future politically motivated ammo shortages crop up.
long live my reloading bench!
FairChase93
Active member
I absolutely love reloading, but! I'm self employed and my business has me stupid busy from march through October and any free time i get is usually used to catch up on paperwork, billing, etc. Thow a yound child and another one on the way plus just all your average everyday chores and obligations and it just doesn't leave much time for it anymore. My slow season im trying spend as much time as possible with my kid and trying to hunt Antelope, deer, pheasents, grouse, and especially coyotes so a bulk of my reloading is done late on a Friday night getting ready for a big tournament or what have you. More times than not it'll be the night before deer opener or something and I'll realize that I have 0 rounds ready to go so then its a rat race to safely and accurately crank out a batch. It just gets harder to enjoy it when your so busy all the time.
The one thing that I still make adequate time for is load development, its just so gratifying to play with all the variables and find a load that shoots lights out.
As time crunched as i generally am I have became far less picky about brass cleaning, primer pockets and such, once i learned to trust my powder measure that dramatically sped things up.
Its one of my favorite hobbies but it has become a bit of a burden no doubt which has kind of given me a love/hate relationship with it.
Now I need to get back to a rediculously complicated 100 page bill I need to get done for a customer, at 3:43 am on a Monday morning!
Ok now I think I need a vacation day to do some reloading, see what I mean love/hate!
The one thing that I still make adequate time for is load development, its just so gratifying to play with all the variables and find a load that shoots lights out.
As time crunched as i generally am I have became far less picky about brass cleaning, primer pockets and such, once i learned to trust my powder measure that dramatically sped things up.
Its one of my favorite hobbies but it has become a bit of a burden no doubt which has kind of given me a love/hate relationship with it.
Now I need to get back to a rediculously complicated 100 page bill I need to get done for a customer, at 3:43 am on a Monday morning!
Ok now I think I need a vacation day to do some reloading, see what I mean love/hate!
Phil Boyles
New member
I do enjoy it. Some nice time alone listening to Merle or Johnny.
AzDiamondHeat
New member
...and to clarify, I enjoy THAT I reload. It does bring a sense of pride and accomplishment. And I like the pretty bullets I make. I just don't particularly care for going through the motions. Never one that enjoys repetition.
steve garrett
Active member
Originally Posted By: DAAOriginally Posted By: crapshootOriginally Posted By: DAA
I don't use case lube. I never did weigh charges, still don't.
- DAA
Can you elaborate?
Well... Seems self explanatory? I don't use case lube, and I don't weigh charges?
I'm only loading for bolt guns. Use bushing neck dies w/out expanders for everything (all neck turned, too). Just no need for lube. So no need to clean it off, either.
Of course, I DO have to use case lube when initially forming wildcat brass, but that is a one time deal. And for FL sizing, but that's not something that happens very often. The rifles I use the most, with the working loads I use, cases can go many, many firings before needing FL sized. Or even, never at all. My .17 Predator, for instance, I've never needed to FL size or shoulder bump a case for it, ever. With the working load I'm using, primer pockets only last about a dozen firings and they haven't become hard to close the bolt on or needed a shoulder bump before then. Have a custom made FL die for it, that has never been used. It might come in handy if I ever need to make any more cases for it. But, I probably won't, unless the barrel goes kaput and I get a new one.
Weighing charges, I basically never have. Started handloading for a .270 Win. with a paper sack full of reclaimed 4831, would just stand the cases up in a cake pan and pour them all full and crunch a bullet down in them. Just never got in the habit of weighing individual charges. I get that for some applications, it's needed, or at least beneficial, but those aren't my applications.
I mean, I do know the weight of the working load charge and usually (but not always) use a scale to set the powder dump, but then I just dump them all straight into the case without using the scale. Working up loads, I often (but not always) use the scale too, but again, that's basically a one time deal.
- DAA
do you use the coated bushings from redding? is that the way your getting away from case lube? also how many firings do you typically see before the shoulder needs to be bumpped back with a body die? scratch that, I see you answered that question, put another way if you only got 5 firings from your neck size brass and the shoulder needed to be bumped back, does that tell you anything bad?
with primer pockets there is usually a small amount of carbon in there after a firing, do you just prime over that with a new primer?
I don't use case lube. I never did weigh charges, still don't.
- DAA
Can you elaborate?
Well... Seems self explanatory? I don't use case lube, and I don't weigh charges?
I'm only loading for bolt guns. Use bushing neck dies w/out expanders for everything (all neck turned, too). Just no need for lube. So no need to clean it off, either.
Of course, I DO have to use case lube when initially forming wildcat brass, but that is a one time deal. And for FL sizing, but that's not something that happens very often. The rifles I use the most, with the working loads I use, cases can go many, many firings before needing FL sized. Or even, never at all. My .17 Predator, for instance, I've never needed to FL size or shoulder bump a case for it, ever. With the working load I'm using, primer pockets only last about a dozen firings and they haven't become hard to close the bolt on or needed a shoulder bump before then. Have a custom made FL die for it, that has never been used. It might come in handy if I ever need to make any more cases for it. But, I probably won't, unless the barrel goes kaput and I get a new one.
Weighing charges, I basically never have. Started handloading for a .270 Win. with a paper sack full of reclaimed 4831, would just stand the cases up in a cake pan and pour them all full and crunch a bullet down in them. Just never got in the habit of weighing individual charges. I get that for some applications, it's needed, or at least beneficial, but those aren't my applications.
I mean, I do know the weight of the working load charge and usually (but not always) use a scale to set the powder dump, but then I just dump them all straight into the case without using the scale. Working up loads, I often (but not always) use the scale too, but again, that's basically a one time deal.
- DAA
do you use the coated bushings from redding? is that the way your getting away from case lube? also how many firings do you typically see before the shoulder needs to be bumpped back with a body die? scratch that, I see you answered that question, put another way if you only got 5 firings from your neck size brass and the shoulder needed to be bumped back, does that tell you anything bad?
with primer pockets there is usually a small amount of carbon in there after a firing, do you just prime over that with a new primer?
crapshoot
Well-known member
Originally Posted By: DAAOriginally Posted By: crapshootOriginally Posted By: DAA
I don't use case lube. I never did weigh charges, still don't.
- DAA
Can you elaborate?
Well... Seems self explanatory? I don't use case lube, and I don't weigh charges?
I'm only loading for bolt guns. Use bushing neck dies w/out expanders for everything (all neck turned, too). Just no need for lube. So no need to clean it off, either.
Of course, I DO have to use case lube when initially forming wildcat brass, but that is a one time deal. And for FL sizing, but that's not something that happens very often. The rifles I use the most, with the working loads I use, cases can go many, many firings before needing FL sized. Or even, never at all. My .17 Predator, for instance, I've never needed to FL size or shoulder bump a case for it, ever. With the working load I'm using, primer pockets only last about a dozen firings and they haven't become hard to close the bolt on or needed a shoulder bump before then. Have a custom made FL die for it, that has never been used. It might come in handy if I ever need to make any more cases for it. But, I probably won't, unless the barrel goes kaput and I get a new one.
Weighing charges, I basically never have. Started handloading for a .270 Win. with a paper sack full of reclaimed 4831, would just stand the cases up in a cake pan and pour them all full and crunch a bullet down in them. Just never got in the habit of weighing individual charges. I get that for some applications, it's needed, or at least beneficial, but those aren't my applications.
I mean, I do know the weight of the working load charge and usually (but not always) use a scale to set the powder dump, but then I just dump them all straight into the case without using the scale. Working up loads, I often (but not always) use the scale too, but again, that's basically a one time deal.
- DAA
Thanks for the explanation Dave. I have no experience with bushing dies so that what made me ask. And once a powder throw is set with use of a scale, it then throws powder by volume as opposed to weight. Still a measured amount just not necessarily a weighed mount. From what I hear, benchrest shooters do a similar thing as their powder throws have click indicators so they reference x-amount of clicks of 4350 for this round. Again not first hand knowledge.
Again, thanks for helping me understand.
I don't use case lube. I never did weigh charges, still don't.
- DAA
Can you elaborate?
Well... Seems self explanatory? I don't use case lube, and I don't weigh charges?
I'm only loading for bolt guns. Use bushing neck dies w/out expanders for everything (all neck turned, too). Just no need for lube. So no need to clean it off, either.
Of course, I DO have to use case lube when initially forming wildcat brass, but that is a one time deal. And for FL sizing, but that's not something that happens very often. The rifles I use the most, with the working loads I use, cases can go many, many firings before needing FL sized. Or even, never at all. My .17 Predator, for instance, I've never needed to FL size or shoulder bump a case for it, ever. With the working load I'm using, primer pockets only last about a dozen firings and they haven't become hard to close the bolt on or needed a shoulder bump before then. Have a custom made FL die for it, that has never been used. It might come in handy if I ever need to make any more cases for it. But, I probably won't, unless the barrel goes kaput and I get a new one.
Weighing charges, I basically never have. Started handloading for a .270 Win. with a paper sack full of reclaimed 4831, would just stand the cases up in a cake pan and pour them all full and crunch a bullet down in them. Just never got in the habit of weighing individual charges. I get that for some applications, it's needed, or at least beneficial, but those aren't my applications.
I mean, I do know the weight of the working load charge and usually (but not always) use a scale to set the powder dump, but then I just dump them all straight into the case without using the scale. Working up loads, I often (but not always) use the scale too, but again, that's basically a one time deal.
- DAA
Thanks for the explanation Dave. I have no experience with bushing dies so that what made me ask. And once a powder throw is set with use of a scale, it then throws powder by volume as opposed to weight. Still a measured amount just not necessarily a weighed mount. From what I hear, benchrest shooters do a similar thing as their powder throws have click indicators so they reference x-amount of clicks of 4350 for this round. Again not first hand knowledge.
Again, thanks for helping me understand.
Dirty Hippie
New member
I find my joy in reloading is proportional to my free time. When I have ample time for loading and shooting, both are relaxing and fun, but when time is short, reloading becomes more of a chore than a relaxing way to spend your time. Even if I could afford to shoot factory ammo at the same rate I shoot hand loads, I would still continue to reload for the more accurate, and task specific ammo we are able to assemble at the bench. So yes I still love the loading process, because Its kind of like eating a fine meal. If you lay down a bunch of cash and someone prepares it for you it's a nice experience, but when you put your own blood, sweat,and tears into preparing it yourself, it's just more satisfying.