BobT Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 I forget where I heard it, but someone put it this way: "Would you rather have store bought Chips Ahoy, or grandma's homemade chocolate chip cookies?..." I guess that depends on how well Grandma bakes.... Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1gcountry Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I think I've saved quite a bit of you figure in the next years supply I have. My challenge was always time more than money. An hour in the reloading room while the kids are asleep is actually faster than a trip to the store to maybe pick up 500 rounds. The factory ammo never really limited my round count during practice sessions, and I don't have any extra time to head down to the range, so I shoot about the same amount. It also helps that I have 24/7 access to a Dillon 650 for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armydad Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I've only been shooting competitively the last 3 years, and until recently, I had great ammo supplier with extremely favorable pricing. With that deal gone, I decided to reload primarily for the ability to shoot more while spending about the same money; secondarily for being able to customize loads, and lastly because it seemed like it would be an enjoyable hobby and it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJH Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I did it to save money, and have assuming I was going to shoot the same matches I do now, I have saved thousands of dollars. I cast my own bullets, and can load 9s and 45s for about .06 a round. Even if I didn't shoot matches I have still saved a tremendous amount. I have shot plenty of 44 mag and 45/70 rifle and the cost on those can be very prohibitive. The only way you could figure that it didn't save money was if I just didn't shoot at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdinga Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Because I wanted to shoot 200 swc in my 1911's and you could not buy them over the counter in the 80"s..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowenbuilt Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 I started loading when I was 12 years old. My Great Grandfather who was the watchmaker/gunsmith in the area gave me a S&W .32 caliber revolver for my 12th birthday. That Christmas, 3 months later, He gave me a Lee Loader and a 100 grain RN bullet mold along with a can of Unique and a brick of primers. He then showed me how to use all the stuff. I spent many a night whacking away at that Lee Loader with a plastic hammer so we could shoot on Saturday at his old farm. What a great time it was, it seems like two lifetimes ago but even in his 70's he could cut the bull out of a target at 25 yards with that little .32 and my whack'um hand loads. My Mom called them that and things got pretty exciting when priming a case with that plastic hammer when a primer would let go. Those were the fondest days of my childhood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 I started with a Lee Target Model loader because they didn't stock 300 H&H anywhere near where I lived at the time. They were slow but you could make excellent ammunition with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowenbuilt Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 I grew up in a single parent household so money was kind of tight. The following Birthday I tore the wrapping off of a single stage, worn out Lachmiller press. Once i had the paper off of it and was standing there admiring it my Mom said, "Well, what do you think"? i said it's great!........ What is it? She said, "It will talke all the excitement out of priming cases and I don't have to hear whack, whack, whack pow! all night" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1gcountry Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Nice stories bowen built. I have two (three?) Boys at home, 2, 4, and soon to be born. Lead is one of my big concerns with them so young. I wonder, did you have any issues with lead ever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jrb305 Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I bought a Steelmaster and shot some of my buddy's reloads out of it.....and now I shoot my own reloads out of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 B1gcountry, I'd suggest you look into wet tumbling, it's a cleaner operation, unless you do your tumbling and all outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vixty Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I started out with a single stage lee at the beginning of the year because I wanted to get into long distance rifle shooting and didn't want to pay the match ammo prices. I also like to tinker a lot so I figured I would have a lot of fun with it. Well after spending three months finding loads my rifles liked (6.5 creedmoor, 35 Whelen, 7mm-08) a friend took me to a USPSA match. Soon enough I had a lee turret press on my bench because I found a new love for shooting pistols. well sure enough I now have a 650 on my bench as well and I think I have shot more this year than I had in the past 5 years of my life. I used to be a pistol hater because I thought it was boring to stand there and shoot a piece of paper at 10 yards. Now I just cant get enough of it and wish I could afford to shoot 50k rounds a year....Maybe someday.. In the past I hated paying the prices for ammo but now I can shoot twice as much for the same price and I don't feed guilty spending a couple hundred dollars for powder primers and bullets. I'm fortunate enough to have a local range where I can pick up brass so I've never had to add brass as a reloading expense. While most of us do spend a lot of reloading stuff in the end in think it equals out but our quantity and quality or ammo is 2 or 3 times better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v1911 Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I had a custom gun being built. I wanted custom ammo to feed it. =D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proudprado Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Our options are rather limited down here and supplies of factory ammo is certainly not guaranteed. I have saved a lot of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) My brother and I started so we could shoot more. Went in 50/50 on the $130 Dillon SD over 30 years ago. Still have a 500 count box of bullets from back then, price tag...$11. I don't ever remember not being able to buy ammunition back then, guess they didn't have the same laws they do now but certainly never had a problem buying bullets, powder and primers at 13. Edited September 1, 2015 by jmorris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safeactionjackson Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 ^didn't have the same demand either. Saw an article yesterday that said since 2009 120 million firearms have been sold during O's reign. It is believed that there were already 140+ million in circulation before he entered office. ~g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgj3 Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I started to spend time with Dad. Started loading 12ga for dove hunting when I was 6-7 with him looking over my shoulder the whole time. He had me loading light .44mag rounds before I was 10 and then started loading his and my deer hunting rounds in my early teens; his .257 Weatherby and my .25/06. Got into IDPA and USPSA about 15 yrs later and now its for cost savings per round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowenbuilt Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 (Quote) Posted Yesterday, 09:02 PM Nice stories bowen built. I have two (three?) Boys at home, 2, 4, and soon to be born. Lead is one of my big concerns with them so young. I wonder, did you have any issues with lead ever? Back in those days I melted lead on the kitchen stove. I didn't know any better. I would turn the hood fan on over the stove to suck out the smoke when I added the wax to mix the lead and pour the mold full over an old towel to keep the lead off the stove. I eventually moved the lead melting outdoors on a Coleman stove to keep the complaining down. Those were the same days when they came around and sprayed DDT throughout the neighborhood to keep the mosquitoes down in the summer with all the kids running behind the big truck playing in the spray. The only trouble I ever had with lead was when my buddy dropped a wet tire weight into a hot pot of lead. We both got sprayed with hot lead when the pot exploded. I still have the scars from that episode. If I ever had a high lead level back then it was never realized. From some of the stuff we did when we were kids it's a wonder any of us survived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 If I ever had a high lead level back then it was never realized. From some of the stuff we did when we were kids it's a wonder any of us survived. They didn't check back then because none of your toys were plastic and all of them were painted with lead paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ogiebb Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Because I love to roll my own, oh wait we are talking about ammo ? :goof: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppknut Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 I started reloading to try to save $$. Then shortages hit and I was able to shoot as much as I wanted. It was/is nice. That said, I'm now up to 11 calibers and 3 gauges. I will never recoup the cost of all the gear I've acquired. Additional presses and lots of dies start materializing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevoWood123 Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 To shoot more for the money I was already spending. I was able to get started fairly cheap and acquired a lot of used stuff. I definitely could not shoot this much 38 if I were buying it, even in bulk it wouldn't be as cheap as reloading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightSh00ter Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Order of thought, not order of importance: #1) more ammo for the same money #2) better quality ammo than the cheap stuff #3) eliminate dependence on Wally World #4) omg 124gr minor PF loads feel awesome #5) to get some consistency Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunnar Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 This is strange. I got into reloading to spend more money.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolton916 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) For me it was buying my first pistol, came with a 1 year range pass and the day I bought it I put 650 rds of WWB thru it. Realized the pistol purchase was the easy part. Saved for a few months and bought a RL450, and started loading, that press purchase hurt but I was single and could get through it. That press has loaded well into the 6 figures and stills sees use. It's been joined by a few 550's and a 650. I'm fortunate to no longer have to reload but it's become something we all do as a family. It's part of a range day. I reloaded then to be able to shoot at all, now to shoot what and how much the family and I want to. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited September 17, 2015 by dolton916 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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