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The family that reloads together...


nanopistol

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OK, a little bragging, and an enquiry.

Ever been to Red Lobster for all-u-can-eat crab legs, but you spend the whole meal cracking and the rest of the family enjoys the fruit(meat) of the labor? Well, that's me reloading.

Amazing how fast the teenager can burn through 200 .40s&w in his STI, but he has shown an interest in reloading recently, especially once I started precision loading .223.

Then an awesome thing happened this weekend: my wife asked me if she could help with my most recent batch of .223! And it turns out she's better at it than I am!

That's not to say she can punch em out faster, or knows how to safely fix a hiccup in the process better than me, but her attention to detail is better than mine (I was ADHD before ADHD was cool, I think...).

We get finished with 200 rounds, and she says "I would feel a lot better if I just measure final weight and OAL of every one."

What?!? OK, baby, you get right after that, I'll start on the next batch.

So we spent Sunday with precision reloading activities in the garage. I gotta tell you, it was kinda romantic. Now I have enough data to justify making a Gaussian distribution plot with a few minutes in a spread sheet.

SO my question: how many folks reload as a family, have brass sorting parties, etc? Maybe a poll is in order?

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Back when we were kids, my brother and I would team up on one reloader. He was the autodrive and case feed and I was the bullet feed, had 4 eyes on everything and could load over 1000 an hour and he only mashed my fingers twice.

These days I have made my reloading process as hands free as possable. My brass sorter will out pace a family of five and no one has to get their hands dirty.

Edited by jmorris
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after range trips, my wife helps me sort brass, take care of things and on occasion help me clean the guns. When I am reloading, she helps prep the cases, fill primer tubes, get bullets, gauge rounds, and put the new ammo in boxes.

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Back when we were kids, my brother and I would team up on one reloader. He was the autodrive and case feed and I was the bullet feed, had 4 eyes on everything and could load over 1000 an hour and he only mashed my fingers twice.

These days I have made my reloading process as hands free as possable. My brass sorter will out pace a family of five and no one has to get their hands dirty.

eeek...I've mashed the digits on my GR-x while resizing glocked .40, so your post made my toes curl a little :surprise:

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My wife has helped me in the past with simple stuff like depriming brass. She wants to get more into shooting and she doesnt know it, but that means learning how to use the 550 too :)

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My 3yo is a machine, he can run a press removing Glock bulges as fast as I can run the Dillon 550. This was his first time. His 5yo big brother, though...

Edited by Red_SC
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eeek...I've mashed the digits on my GR-x while resizing glocked .40, so your post made my toes curl a little
Yep, sometimes it sucks being a younger brother but I'd trade all of my automated equipment to be able to load with him again.
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My kids love helping. They are great at sorting by head stamp, and love to feed the bullets. And when done making them the love loading the ammo boxes and marking them. But the best part is watching them have competitions at the range to see who can pick-up more brass.... :)

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I'm not sure the kids love to help, but they get paid $.01 a brass, so they don't fuss.

I don't let them in on the actual loading of the rounds, but they do prep brass for me.

I usually have the 8 yr. old sorting brass because she enjoys 'organizing' like mom does, and the 11 yr. old deprimes and takes the Glock bulge out of brass before I throw them in the SS Media for tumbling. :)

I don't think they see it as an 'enjoyable' experience, but rather easy money! :)

Plus, I have them help me out at every shooting session. They're closer to the ground than I am, so they're perfect for picking up brass that's stuck in the grass or under a bench. :D Their eyesight is better than mine also, so that's a plus. I usually 'buy back' the brass from them that they pick up with an ice cream on the way home, or, if we are shooting at home, I take them out afterward.

There's no such thing as 'allowance' in my house. The kids 'earn' everything they get, so they don't feel entitled when 'pay day' comes around. :D

Edited by roostershooter
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Well my boyfriend and I both shoot. I try to help with the reloading but it seems every time i get near the reloading press I screw something up. So for now I scurry around like the brass squirrel at matches and the range, sort and tumble brass and then package the loaded ammo. I am hoping to master the press one of these days. Until then our arrangement seems to work out ok.

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Funny thread! I hate to break this to you guys but they want to learn so they can teach their boyfriends when you're gone :roflol:

Funny you mention that, much closer to the truth than I care to admit.

I told her that when I'm gone, there are 2 thing the "new guy" can't have, my guns stuff is one of them. :surprise:

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The wife and I have a matching pair of 550's :devil: Since we shoot both Cowboy Action and USPSA and hunt with our own loads, we are in the loading room quite a bit. Our son sorts brass and case gauges and boxes the loaded ammo. Eventually, he'll be loading his own too.

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The lovely Missus is MUCH better at brass pickup than I - once I described it as "shopping for on-sale or free stuff".

OMG, she's a brass shop vac at the range! I return other people's brass she's inadvertently picked up but no one seems to complain about watching her, even if she's picking up THEIR brass (did I mention she's quite attractive?). I've returned baggies of brass, each labeled with the names of whomever shot on my squad last gathering ...

Mark

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think that this is great for all of you. I do not want my wife, whom I love dearly, anywhere near me when I am reloading. She is a nice person and all, I just prefer to be alone when I am reloading. I like to hear only the radio, and the press.

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OK, a little bragging, and an enquiry.

Ever been to Red Lobster for all-u-can-eat crab legs, but you spend the whole meal cracking and the rest of the family enjoys the fruit(meat) of the labor? Well, that's me reloading.

Amazing how fast the teenager can burn through 200 .40s&w in his STI, but he has shown an interest in reloading recently, especially once I started precision loading .223.

Then an awesome thing happened this weekend: my wife asked me if she could help with my most recent batch of .223! And it turns out she's better at it than I am!

That's not to say she can punch em out faster, or knows how to safely fix a hiccup in the process better than me, but her attention to detail is better than mine (I was ADHD before ADHD was cool, I think...).

We get finished with 200 rounds, and she says "I would feel a lot better if I just measure final weight and OAL of every one."

What?!? OK, baby, you get right after that, I'll start on the next batch.

So we spent Sunday with precision reloading activities in the garage. I gotta tell you, it was kinda romantic. Now I have enough data to justify making a Gaussian distribution plot with a few minutes in a spread sheet.

SO my question: how many folks reload as a family, have brass sorting parties, etc? Maybe a poll is in order?

Does red lobster still have all you can eat crab legs? If so I'm all over that.

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My plan is to have my wife involved once I buy a press. The reason being is if she sees how it is done and enjoys it, then I am more likely to keep getting stuff to shoot! She is really loving shooting with me so this is all bonus time.

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