Do you reload?

[larryh1108]

This is posted here because the reloading forum would have skewed results.

Do not consider any rimfire ammo as far as reloading or in your total shooting. This is for centerfire ammo only. For this poll, rimfire ammo does not exist.

It seems like a lot of the members here reload, from reading the posts. So I wish to ask a very simple question. Do you reload for more than half your shooting needs. I know it's not always practical to reload everything you shoot.

*Now, do not answer yes if you plan to reload in the near future. (even if you have the stuff but haven't started yet)

*Do not answer yes if you used to reload but do not anymore (unless you are still shooting your own reloaded ammo).

*Do not answer no if you reload but have been buying ammo because you cannot get components and buying ammo is a short term answer. If you could get components, you would use your reloading equiptment.

*If you used to reload but your stuff is packed away until you ________ (move, get married, get divorced, get a job, find more time, etc) and you mainly shoot purchased ammo today then you are not presently reloading.

If you reload for some, but not all calibers (e.g. 9mm is bought) then estimate if you shoot more ammo purchased or reloaded in total. (Some reload only rifle and shoot 1000 rounds a year but purchase 5000 rounds of centerfire ammo. This is specialized reloading).

Seriously, I'd like to know the percentage of THR posters who reload. I'm guessing 1/3 do reload but that's just a guess. Hopefully a poll will tell us the real answer.

 

[alsaqr]

Do you reload for more than half your shooting needs.

Yes, i've been reloading since the 1950s. This year i will reload about 10,000 rounds of center fire rifle ammo.

 

[PJSprog]

Yes. I load all of my centerfires. 100%. Only on very rare occasions do I buy factory centerfire ammo.

 

[Rio Laxas]

No. I reload, but not for half of my ammunition needs. I only reload practice pistol ammunition in .45 ACP and 10mm at this time. I want to expand, but I am unable to find components.

 

[larryh1108]

I reload all of my needs. Until the ammo crunch, I did not load 9mm because it was <$10 a box of 50 for target ammo. Once I started reloading for it (9mm) I realized it is well worth it. Even if it ever cost the same I'd still reload for it.

I reload .25ACP, .32ACP, .380ACP, 9mm, .40S&W, .45ACP, .38/.357Mag, .44/.44Mag and 30-30. No shotgun. I don't own or shoot any of the "oddball" calibers but would have no issue doing it if I ever bought a gun that was "different".

The retail prices of .25/.32/.380 is so far out there and often hard to find, it would be hard to shoot these fun, little rounds without reloading.

a 10mm gun is on my list to have as well as .38Super. Actually, I have the parts to build them, I just haven't found the time to do it yet.

 

[Potatohead]

Si Senor

 

[Devilfrog]

Probably reload 95% of all my ammo for the range. I use factory ammo for my CCW and stockpile.

 

[burrhead]

I've reloaded for nearly 40 years. With the exception of shotgun shells (less than a box per year) and 22s, I haven't bought 10 boxes of ammo in my life. I've never fired a factory loaded rifle round in one of my guns. I only shoot about 3-4,000 rounds a year these days but, I keep a well stocked larder of components. When folks complain about "the component/ammo shortage" I shake my head in bemusement. It's a situation of the grasshopper vs. the ant.

 

[Ks5shooter]

100 % for 25 years

 

[doubleh]

Yes. I do not purchase loaded centerfire ammo.

 

[TennJed]

99.9% of everything (non rimfire) I shoot is reloads. I have not bought factory ammo in years. I have gotten a few boxes in trades, but that is it

 

[M2 Carbine]

Been reloading most of the ammo I shoot since 1961.

Why waste time watching the talking heads on the TV news, when you can spend that time loading inexpensive ammo?




When it get's to this point I consider I'm running out of that caliber. (I heard there is an ammo shortage.........really?)

 

[Grassman]

I reload maybe 75% of my ammo. The other 25% are guns I rarely shoot and/or are not practical(at least to me) to reload.

 

[Grassman]

And I buy most of my brass from the classified section here.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I handload for WAY more than 50% of my shooting. If it's not rimfire, I load for it.

Now going to school full time and working full time, I don't have as much time to spend at the range as I'd like so I only shoot probably 3k rounds a year right now. But I only bought 3 boxes of ammo last year off the shelf. They were all 9mm during the time you couldn't find any components.

I have a couple of guns that have never fired a single factory round.
Lately I have also gotten into shotshell loading as well.

So for me its probably 95% handloaded.

 

[horsemen61]

yep I reload for just about everything i own

 

[redneck2]

I have some factory stuff, but never shoot it. My reloads are cheaper and more accurate. Other than .22's, I haven't shot much factory ammo in maybe ten years.

 

[floydster]

Does a frog have waterproof ears??

 

[Dr. Sandman]

It seems to me that most who have opined not only reload, but are passionate about reloading. I believe that your poll has the selection bias of polling individuals who I would consider "firearms enthusiasts".

 

[Ignition Override]

Correction.
Despite having reloaded a fair bit, primarily to reduce costs, with 7.62x39 fairly cheap at .22-.25/round for commercial, less than half of the shooting is with .303 Brit. and .308.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I reload 100% of my Ammo and have since 1972. 13,14 calibers, I lost count.

 

[ngnrd]

I'm set up to reload for a dozen+ cartridges - everything I own except rimfire and shotgun. I even have dies for cartridges I've never owned, but thought one day I might.

At this point, I probably shoot about 80-90% homebrew - which, coincidentally, is about the ratio of components to factory ammo I have at any given time, too. The factory stuff is a good source of brass, and it gives me baseline velocity/accuracy data to compare with the handloads.

 

[dagger dog]

More than 50%, like Arkansas Paul, I have several centerfire firearms that have never had a factory round fired through them.

 

[Comrade Mike]

I reload about 90% of my ammo
Needs. I can't remember the last time I shot factory center fire ammo.

 

[JohnBT]

I'm a firearms enthusiast, but I have other things to do, like fishing and working on my 1916 house. I also stock up on stuff, which is why I'm still shooting when I like.

Last summer I learned how to do slate, soldered copper and hand-seamed standing seam copper work by working as the helper for a friend who was in the business for 25 years. We worked 6 or 7 days a week for 4 months redoing the entire front of my house and I didn't have to pay a helper for him. It was fun. Well, taking all the slate off 35 feet up in the air was interesting. So was putting it back on with copper flashing. Roofing with rocks is all it is. Very, very sharp rocks.

I can save more doing my own plastering, double-hung window rebuilding, tile work and roofing than I ever would reloading.

For example, my friend charged $110 an hour for just him and his truck when he was in business. I got a deal. Skilled labor - with the true skills to do the job the hard way - is expensive around here if you can find it at all.

John

My 10' x 21' front porch roof with built-in gutters on 3 sides. In this pic he has just begun seaming the first 3 pans. After they all go in, the bottoms are folded to the gutter and soldered. The copper pans run $9 per sq.ft. when you have them made. The installation is the expensive part.

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Okay, no more coffee for me today.