Finding reloading time?

[Butterpuc]

I have my reloader setup in my home office, nice easy access. I also have 2 children, wife, and dog. I spend 150-200 nights per year on the road, what I don't have is a lot of spare time. I have gotten to where I always keep 700-800 primers loaded in the tubes ready to go Large and Small. My goal is to load once very other month or so. As a matter of fact I have been home all week catching up on paper work and haven't loaded a single round, danggit... I should have loaded thousands. So, with all that being said, I do try to set aside some time to load 1000-3000 rounds over a couple of days when I'm home. Then it maybe a few months before I need to load again.

[broomy111]

I have my reloader setup in my home office, nice easy access. I also have 2 children, wife, and dog. I spend 150-200 nights per year on the road, what I don't have is a lot of spare time. I have gotten to where I always keep 700-800 primers loaded in the tubes ready to go Large and Small. My goal is to load once very other month or so. As a matter of fact I have been home all week catching up on paper work and haven't loaded a single round, danggit... I should have loaded thousands. So, with all that being said, I do try to set aside some time to load 1000-3000 rounds over a couple of days when I'm home. Then it maybe a few months before I need to load again.

Phew! 1000-3000 in a couple of days. What machine are you running?

[Butterpuc]

It's a Hornady LNL AP w/Case Feeder, but I wish I had a Dillon 1050.

[broomy111]

Still pretty solid output

[Butterpuc]

Still pretty solid output

Oh, it is painful. My hand will hurt for a couple of days after that.

[jtielke]

I leave mine set up and usually only do 200 rounds at a time. It doesn't take that much time to crank out 200, will usually do it while my wife is giving the kids a bath. Just do that 1 or 2 nights a week and I have enough to practice or go to a match on weekends.

[mjts]

Making time for reloading with a family can be hard. I usually reload after everyone is asleep (11 o'clock in the evening). I'll do all the case prep work Sunday morning before everyone gets up (empty/fill brass tumbler, fill primer tubes, top off powder measure). If I feel up to it I'll load 500 - 600 rounds Sunday evening or be set up for later in the week.

Mike

[Sarge]

I have my reloader setup in my home office, nice easy access. I also have 2 children, wife, and dog. I spend 150-200 nights per year on the road, what I don't have is a lot of spare time. I have gotten to where I always keep 700-800 primers loaded in the tubes ready to go Large and Small. My goal is to load once very other month or so. As a matter of fact I have been home all week catching up on paper work and haven't loaded a single round, danggit... I should have loaded thousands. So, with all that being said, I do try to set aside some time to load 1000-3000 rounds over a couple of days when I'm home. Then it maybe a few months before I need to load again.

Phew! 1000-3000 in a couple of days. What machine are you running?

With a 650 set up with a case feeder and bullet feeder I can easily load 1000 an hour in a pinch. Takes longer to gauge and package up than it does to load it. This is part of the reason I got all the add ons. If I find a few hours when it's raining or just too hot to be outside I can go to the loading room and load a few thousand and then take a few minutes here and there to gauge it all and box it up. If it were not for being able to produce ammo at that rate then the planning has to come into play and you end up rushed.

[Butterpuc]

A couple of good responses by jtielke and Sarge.

Earlier, when I was reloading, it seemed like 200-300 per loading session worked out well. By the time you get 7-8 primer tubes and a case feeder, it doesn't take to much longer and you can load 500-600 in the same amount of time.

For myself, I only generally only load one caliber for the season, so no swapping around frequently. I keep 7 primer tubes filled and the primer station full, so I have 800 primers ready at any given time. Plenty of powder in the hopper, thousands of polished cases ready at any given time and then when it comes to reloading it really isn't that bad. While I am sitting in my office watching shows on my computer (Netflix, etc...) I will load primer tubes, sort brass, and load my tumbler as needed (I tumble in the garage). So, even though I can load 1000+ rounds in a short amount of time, it does take being prepared.

[broomy111]

Man! I should have gotten the 650. Well it's alright, the 550 will help me get back into the reloading, and Christmas is right around the corner. Merry Christmas to myself, Santa brought me a 650, well what do you know!!! :-)

[kooyahdesigns]

someone gave me a tip to do...100 rounds a day. that usually takes less than 30mins. I also clean it up and get it ready for the next day. so If I can do 3 days that week. I am good to go for a small match on the weekend. It helps me a lot since I do not feel like I have to do hundreds of rounds in one sitting.

just my 2cents

[motosapiens]

someone gave me a tip to do...100 rounds a day. that usually takes less than 30mins. I also clean it up and get it ready for the next day. so If I can do 3 days that week. I am good to go for a small match on the weekend. It helps me a lot since I do not feel like I have to do hundreds of rounds in one sitting.

just my 2cents

that's what works for me. On my plain vanilla 550, 100 rds takes me 15 mins at a daydreaming pace, stopping every 10 rounds for a sip of beer or coffee (depending on whether it's morning or evening). I tumble and sort all my brass as I get it, so every piece except what I shot yesterday is already cleaned and ready.

If you watch *any* sports on tv (or really anything at all on tv), you have time to reload.

Lots of good ideas in here. Hopefully the OP can find something that will work with his personality. I certainly don't think anyone needs to have a super-fancy press in order to stay on top of a normal shooting schedule.

Edited June 2, 2014 by motosapiens

[Sarge]

someone gave me a tip to do...100 rounds a day. that usually takes less than 30mins. I also clean it up and get it ready for the next day. so If I can do 3 days that week. I am good to go for a small match on the weekend. It helps me a lot since I do not feel like I have to do hundreds of rounds in one sitting.

just my 2cents

stopping every 10 rounds for a sip of beer or coffee (depending on whether it's morning or evening)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7xTRt27FOI#t=32

[broomy111]

someone gave me a tip to do...100 rounds a day. that usually takes less than 30mins. I also clean it up and get it ready for the next day. so If I can do 3 days that week. I am good to go for a small match on the weekend. It helps me a lot since I do not feel like I have to do hundreds of rounds in one sitting.

just my 2cents

that's what works for me. On my plain vanilla 550, 100 rds takes me 15 mins at a daydreaming pace, stopping every 10 rounds for a sip of beer or coffee (depending on whether it's morning or evening). I tumble and sort all my brass as I get it, so every piece except what I shot yesterday is already cleaned and ready.

If you watch *any* sports on tv (or really anything at all on tv), you have time to reload.

Lots of good ideas in here. Hopefully the OP can find something that will work with his personality. I certainly don't think anyone needs to have a super-fancy press in order to stay on top of a normal shooting schedule.

Your right, I just need to figure out the schedule to keep the home life happy and the AR's happy too. :-)

[kooyahdesigns]

someone gave me a tip to do...100 rounds a day. that usually takes less than 30mins. I also clean it up and get it ready for the next day. so If I can do 3 days that week. I am good to go for a small match on the weekend. It helps me a lot since I do not feel like I have to do hundreds of rounds in one sitting.

just my 2cents

that's what works for me. On my plain vanilla 550, 100 rds takes me 15 mins at a daydreaming pace, stopping every 10 rounds for a sip of beer or coffee (depending on whether it's morning or evening). I tumble and sort all my brass as I get it, so every piece except what I shot yesterday is already cleaned and ready.

If you watch *any* sports on tv (or really anything at all on tv), you have time to reload.

Lots of good ideas in here. Hopefully the OP can find something that will work with his personality. I certainly don't think anyone needs to have a super-fancy press in order to stay on top of a normal shooting schedule.

Your right, I just need to figure out the schedule to keep the home life happy and the AR's happy too. :-)

Yea I do not have a fancy press....just my cheap LEE loadmaster

[Jaycwebb]

I tend to do it in stages. Stage #1 I will clean a few thousand rounds of brass. Stage #2 I will load primer tubes. My press is permanently mounted so I don't have setup to worry about. Typically I load after I get home from work before dinner. I will load until I run out of loaded primer tubes. I will then clean up and reload the primer tubes and be ready for the next session. I can crank out 500-600 9mm in about 45 minutes.

This is what I've found to be a good method.

Have dinner with my wife, help with dishes.

Hit the garage and load for an hour or 2 while she watches a show I don't like. Empty all tubes.

Come in and watch shows with her I DO LIKE, load primer tubes.

One night a week I prep brass.

[Nimitz]

I need roughly 2,500 rds/month but with my 650 I can do 700+/hr without working too hard. So I just spend a half hr every few days to keep up. I get too bored trying to reload for much longer than that .... This keeps me at 1,000+ all the time with plenty to shoot every week ....

[broomy111]

I tend to do it in stages. Stage #1 I will clean a few thousand rounds of brass. Stage #2 I will load primer tubes. My press is permanently mounted so I don't have setup to worry about. Typically I load after I get home from work before dinner. I will load until I run out of loaded primer tubes. I will then clean up and reload the primer tubes and be ready for the next session. I can crank out 500-600 9mm in about 45 minutes.

This is what I've found to be a good method.

Have dinner with my wife, help with dishes.

Hit the garage and load for an hour or 2 while she watches a show I don't like. Empty all tubes.

Come in and watch shows with her I DO LIKE, load primer tubes.

One night a week I prep brass.

I like it!

[motosapiens]

I tend to do it in stages. Stage #1 I will clean a few thousand rounds of brass. Stage #2 I will load primer tubes. My press is permanently mounted so I don't have setup to worry about. Typically I load after I get home from work before dinner. I will load until I run out of loaded primer tubes. I will then clean up and reload the primer tubes and be ready for the next session. I can crank out 500-600 9mm in about 45 minutes.

This is what I've found to be a good method.

Have dinner with my wife, help with dishes.

Hit the garage and load for an hour or 2 while she watches a show I don't like. Empty all tubes.

Come in and watch shows with her I DO LIKE, load primer tubes.

One night a week I prep brass.

Assuming you're not watching football, hockey, or motorcycle racing, that means you are wasting time and actually have even more time to reload. Perhaps you should volunteer to help out the OP.

Edited June 4, 2014 by motosapiens

[SISIG]

Early morning on weekend when there is no match.

I like another posting here load up bunch of competion ammo and then practice ammo and your good to go.

[I12RIDE]

I use it as some quality time with my 8 year grandauter (she lives with us). Teaching her keeps me from getting complacent. She loves it, everything from setting up each stage of the press, checking charge weights, measuring OAL and putting each and every one threw the case guage. She thinks it is fun I think it is educational with so much going on, there is math, reading and the sence of accomplishment when a loaded round is produced. She will be very self reliant when she grows up. I just hope she can find a man to keep up with her when the time comes.

[lavazhole]

I do 100 at a time of whatever. I set a timer on my phone every hour and go and do 10 at a time until I'm done w/ that part of the process. Before you know it you're done!

[DeputyDog25]

During the evening on certain nights, my wife likes to watch her favorite dancing an singing shows which I don't share her passion for. I will excuse myself for that hour or two and knock out a few rounds. I also have trouble sleeping most nights and since my reloading area is at the opposite end of the house as our bedroom, I usually end up in there with the door closed and pump out some rounds.

[Vincerama]

For me, after the kids are asleep, but usually by then I'm dead tired too. So, I do it in pieces.

One evening, maybe clean (in a bucket with dishsoap and water) a bunch of dirty brass, leave it to dry.

One evening, sort it (I made home made sifters) by caliber, maybe toss the caliber I want into the tumbler.

One weekend day, when the kids are at a birthday party that the wife has taken them to (in exchange for me taking them the week before to some other thing) ... load up as much as humanly possible as it will be a long time before I can do it again.

One problem I have is that I have a workshop out back with my stuff in it, so it's a mental effort to go out and do it. If I set the press up closer to being "inside the house" I might feel like reloading in the workday evenings.

I use a Dillon 550b, not a fancy 1050, or even fully decked 650, so my reloading days are not quite as productive as the guy with the auto-primer tube filler, case and bullet feeding 650. But given the limited time I have, it might not be a bad idea to invest in such a setup, but then on the other other hand, I reload to save money, not spend it.

[Rokihsa]

I reload as I need on my SDB. I might sit around a load primer tubes while the tube is on but I normally wait until the temp drops and go out to the garage and crank out the next weeks ammo, 400 ish rounds.

Sent using a Jedi mind trick.