How Did You Get Started Reloading?

[Axis II]

In our late teens and early 20's my best friend loaded for a 45 colt conversion with a LEE C press and dippers and I always thought it was interesting until he started cracking cases. In my mid-late 20's I purchased a 223rem that didn't like anything but 55gr Hornady V max and then I joined a range 10min from my house. 55gr V max factory ammo was very expensive for my taste, so I decided to look into reloading. It started off with a borrowed Lee C press, lots of reading on this wonderful forum, but most of all the help from the great people on here. After some advice on here I purchased the RCBS 223rem dies, H335, 100 primers and a bag of brass and started at it. Once I found a load that printed 5 touching rounds it was all over with. I now load for 9mm, 38spl, 44mag, 45-70 and 223rem.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I wanted to reload for years so I could afford to shoot more, but early after college debt and early career uncertainty kept me from buying a house until I was older than I cared for. As a result I didn't have anywhere to set up in my tiny little rental home. So I was a shooter for about 10 years before starting to reload. But I saved and stored my brass.

Bought a house a few years ago with a finished attic. Seemed a good place to set up. One random day when I really needed some money I took a 22 revolver to the city with me to sell off. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on perspective, I spied a Dillon 550B that was on sale and priced below what the store offered me for my gun. So instead of paying off a bill I went home with a progressive press, a set of 45 acp dies, and a shell plate. Felt guilty, but I was fine, and I learned from that experience. Don't panic and start selling stuff at a loss for a short term problem. However, I didn't like the gun anyway, so it was going on the chopping block. Then the loader sat in the box for about a year while I read, figured out what I really needed, and got things set up.

Two years ago I actually started loading, and have loaded around 9000 rounds since then, and now reload 6 different cartridges. The hobby is going to last me a lifetime I can see.

 

[Jimster]

My first reloading equipment was a Lyman 310 “nutcracker” tool. Pretty tough on the hands for 45-70. Just sayin’.

 

[GBExpat]

How Did You Get Started Reloading?

In the late '60s my maternal grandfather (the source of our ancestral farm, where my house sits on the west-boundary ridge) gifted me a K98k BringBack that "Uncle" Somebody brought back from the ETO for him.

Dad thought it was an ideal opportunity for us to start a new hobby and bought a 7,92x57 Lee Loader++ (aka, Whack-a-Mole) ...

 

[Typetwelve]

I really got heavy into shooting around 2006. At the time I was shooting a 1911 and a large amount of 45 auto. I had taken my 1911 to my local gunsmith to have some work done when he asked me how much ammo I was burning through (it was a solid amount). When I told him, he told me I needed to get into reloading and ran me through one of his Dillon 550's he has.

I went home and dug into it and decided to pass (Hint: I shouldn't have). I didn't get into reloading until Jan of this year. With the large amount of ammo I've burnt through from 2006-2018...I would have paid for that equipment many times over. What finally tipped the scales for me was my getting into 38 and 44 special shooting. I run a ton of 38 special and it got expensive in a hurry over 2018.

 

[sequins]

I got into shooting in my 20s as response to being victimized in a violent street crime, and got started with a low dollar Small 9mm pistol. Eventually I bought into the 45 and 357 as other common "manstopper calibers" and somewhere along the way I just found I love target practice. TBH I think the SP101 is what really did it for me, it was sooo fun to shoot a revolver and I stopped buying CCW pistols and started buying full size revolvers.

I bought lots of ammo for my common caliber entry pistols, 9mm, 45, 357 but eventually I wanted a 44 mag and while the recoil and blast was acceptable the PRICE was excessive. I originally thought I'd just reload 44 but once I was setup I couldn't help myself, even 9mm is fun to reload, and now I no longer shoot factory.

I had no idea brass, bullets, powders, and primers were so complicated and fun to experiment with. Compared to factory reloading is a whole new ballgame. I've saved a fortune and rolled it into more guns and supplies and it makes calibers like 10mm, 41mag, etc so practical.

Getting a chrono also really upped the game. Subsonic 147 grain, supersonic 124 grain, 357 and 44 worked to maximum safe limits with authority. I started with more minimal gear like most but I've wound up with quite a setup over just the last two years. You always need one more thing to reload....

 

[stillquietvoice]

No worries, spellchecker always gets me.

 

[jmr40]

I bought one of the Lee Loaders that required you to hammer the brass into the dies probably 40 years ago. Only used a scoop to load powder. My loads were plenty accurate, but not much versatility to vary powder charge. I had to either load them pretty light, or the next size scoop was an over load.

About 15 years ago there was a custom rifle that had been sitting on a local dealers shelf for over 2 years in 338-06. It was priced at $2300 including the Zeiss scope. I asked the dealer if he would part with just the scope. He looked at the rifle and said he wanted it gone, said $1000 for everything. I bought it planning to keep the scope and flip the rifle. Unfortunately it also came with 20 rounds of ammo.

I figured I might as well shoot up the ammo before taking the scope off. That was a mistake. I had a friend who had gotten out of hunting and sold all of hit rifles but still had a complete reloading set. I made him an offer on everything at a fair price and bought 338-06 dies.

I eventually sold both that rifle and scope separately, at a profit. But I've been loading for other rounds since.

 

[CharliesHammer]

I'm a newbie to reloading. I shot a good bit in my youth only reloading shot shells for a couple of years. I stopped shooting regularly for 20 years as life/work/other hobbies mostly racing and fishing took over.

Last year my state went full *ard and implemented background checks for ammo. I jumped in with a progressive press. I'm 15,000 rounds in and loving the hobby. Recently bought 45 Lc. dies to justify a new revolver. THR members taught me a new trick.

 

[brassbullets12]

I bought my first 9mm, that was 1988,
I started reloading weeks later, I had 2 friends that reloaded. In the beginning I pulled bullets from 7.62x54 and made my custom ammo. Right after that I bought reloading supplies for guns, I didn't even own, then bought the guns later. I have taught probably 6 or 7 people over the years.

 

[lightman]

My Grandfather taught me and my younger Brother to shoot when we were little kids. It got to be an every weekend thing. If we were not at a gravel pit or range we were hunting. We even shot shotguns and small bore in competition at the local club. Grandpa got into reloading to save money. I'm the one that really got the reloading bug. I was loading metallic cartridges and shotgun alone at the age of 11 or 12. We also started casting bullets about that same time but I was not allowed around a pot of molten lead until I was 14 or so. Been reloading and casting every since.

 

[shootstraight57]

When I was around 10 years old my father started reloading. We went to a shop in Pa. and bought all the reloading equipment and supplies we needed. He reloaded on weekends when he had off and we would go to a sand pit on Sundays to shoot. Along the years we stared with rifle then pistol reloads. My father would try out his test loads of 380 in the basement until someone called the police about gunfire or fireworks in the neighborhood. When I became confident or proficient at reloading I started to reload myself.
My father stopped reloading and of course I picked up the hobby. First thing I did was buy a new press, tumbler, scale and powder measure. Off I went! Miss those days of standing next to my father with the veneers measuring the COL.

 

[entropy]

When my dad started shooting Skeet after he missed the tire on a perp's car and hit the passenger door instead, he bought a MEC 600 Jr. and started reloading, and I wanted to learn, as I had just started shooting shotguns, at the age of 9. I learned how to load shotgun shells at 9, rifle at 14, after I bought my aunt's 742 Carbine, and pistol at 15, when my Dad gave me his Colt Trooper MKIII. .

 

[Bartojc]

I'm a relative newbie to reloading (5-6 years), even though my age would suggest otherwise. My father was a farmer, and we had firearms for varmint control and the occasional small game hunt he was never a "hunter". I've had and shot firearms since I can remember, and started hunting when my fathers friends asked me to join them on their annual deer hunt in Wyoming. After that I was hooked and have hunted deer for the past 30+ years. Even though I've always hunted I never felt a need to reload. I only knew of 2 reloaders growing up, my uncle and a family friend.

I purchased my first handgun about 9 or 10 years ago. I really enjoyed practicing, and thus bought a second . Ammo consumption went up, and then came a shortage. I had a friend that was heavy into shooting and had 4+ Dillon presses, he suggested I get into reloading. Of course he suggested I "buy Blue" and buy the best but my budget dictated other. I got in on a budget so I could feed my desire to shoot more. I bought a Lee Classic Turret and started slow, reading as much as I could, and shortly after joined this forum. Of course components were just as hard to get at the time. He helped me out with supplies at a reasonable cost and I was addicted. I now reload for every caliber I shoot. I've bought a couple additional rifles, and 3 or 4 handguns in the 6 years I've been reloading, and the sickness continues. I do it because it is a hobby that I enjoy. I can make my own ammo when I want to and get good performance. I haven't saved a dime, but I do not worry about shortages as I used to..

-Jeff

 

[horsemen61]

I started in college I met my mentor at work and I’ll never forget he said
“You’ll be 4 times as accurate
Shoot 3 times as much
For 1/2 the cost”

so yeah I’m addicted to it

 

[Alemaniac]

I wanted to get start reloading in my 20s back in the mid 2000s but the equipment seemed so foreign and intimidating so I never bothered to research any of it. Fast forward to August 2018: I found a Type 99 Arisaka for a good price. Without thinking, I made the purchase, then I discovered that factory ammunition has been discontinued by even PPU and it seems like only PCI and some other company that I can't recall currently produce new handloads...but for an exorbitant price.

It was then that I knew I had to load my own cartridges for said rifle and I purchased my first single stage RCBS press and equipment a few months later. For a year now, I've been loading not only 7.7x58 but also acquired other WWII models and load for them as well. It's either that, or pay exorbitant prices for obsolete loads or purchase factory loads at over $1 per shot.

Reloading saves money, even if you're paying for unfired brass. I would never ever get caught paying $38+tax per box of 50x 44 Magnum, for example, (with an aluminum casing no less) and that's on the lower end of the spectrum for that cartridge that I've seen in stores around town.

Another thing that I enjoy about reloading is a much wider selection of bullets - from weirdly shaped projectiles, to extra light to extra heavy and all for fair prices. I've also noticed that the accuracy is wonderful - i.e. getting very nice groups while standing at 100 yards with my K31.

 

[Sammy_joe]

My wife’s idea. Let me explain. My wife is OCD. Everything must be in its place, neat and clean. Years ago at the range with my wife, she was picking up brass, appalled that folks would leave their trash just laying around. She asked if it were possible to recycle the brass. I answered that some folks reload the brass. She wondered if it were possible to save money reloading. My answer was “sometimes”. She suggested that I take up reloading to save money. I jumped at the opportunity. A few thousand dollars later she regretted that suggestion.

 

[KandBA]

At age 8 my father started me quail hunting with .410 shotgun at the “farm”. It wasn’t long before we moved on to 20 and 12 gauge. In the off season we shot trap almost every Saturday. We had two MEC 600’s and reloaded constantly. I didn’t have any money for supplies and Dad didn’t have the time to reload, it worked out well for me, I gained a lot of experience. Unfortunately the farm was no longer in the “country” and we could not shoot like we had in 1967. Time marches on, college, beautiful wife, two daughters. I hadn’t shot in years but my wife and I always threatened to. In February of ‘16 we took a basic handgun course at our local gun store. By April the two of us were shooting frequently and collecting handguns. My best friend and old shooting buddy showed me the reloading basics and I was hooked. I realized you don’t save any money but you can shoot more! Nothing fancy, just an RCBS single stage press and Lee dies, I load 380ACP, 9MM, 38 Special and 40S&W. With a range membership we try to shoot once a week. We jokingly refers to the one box a day goal as my reloading “quota”.

 

[Kp321]

I started reloading in around 1962. My dad and I did a lot of dove hunting, both of us shooting 16 ga pumps. Even then there were not a lot of choices in 16 ga loads so my dad decided we (I) needed to learn to reload. Bought a MEC 400, mail order from the original Gander Mountain. Paper hulls, cardboard and felt wads, Alcan powder.
A little later, two buddies and I started hunting jack rabbits every afternoon after school. They soon got too wary for 22's so we all drug out our sporterized military rifles to move the effective range out a few hundred yards. This got expensive in a hurry so I invested in a 30-06 Lee Loader. I soon rigged a way to use the MEC with the Lee, doing away with the Whack-A-Mole option.
The rest is history, after college I bought a Texan C press, then a Rock Chucker, finally progressing to a Dillon in 1982.

 

[sparkyv]

I'm a natural Tinker, that and the price and availability of 6mm Rem factory ammo led me down the reloading rabbit hole. I read alot before I began. I started with the Lee whack-a-mole Loader in 223 to be sure I liked reloading before going all-out for dies and a hand press for that 6mm. Eventually I got me the Lee "Value" turret press; I have had alot of fun modifying it such that it now sings, and now I load for 4 rifle and 5 handgun calibers, with two or three more on the list. Such a gratifying hobby; it gives me great pride sending lead downrange using my own custom handloads. Casting is my next challenge.

 

[woodshunter]

“You’ll be 4 times as accurate
Shoot 3 times as much
For 1/2 the cost”

That's Great! Sometimes you read something that sticks.....this will be one for me to remember. And what sparkyv said about going down the rabbit hole also rings so true...….I'm a lot farther and deeper in this fun hobby than I ever imagined I would be, and there's always something new to try. Also its hard to hunt with seasons over and fish when its 5 degrees and snowing but the reloading room is always there I've read every story and they all lead to the same conclusion...I'm among good company here. Woods

 

[Waldog]

My Dad was an avid handloader. He started prior to WW2. I started seating primers on a RCBS A2 press when I was about 10, I'm now 68 and still have the press. I reload for 12g. 20g, 28g, numerous rifle and handgun cartridges. Many of the rifle cartridges are obsolete and the only way to enjoy shooting is to reload. MY SON is an avid reloader. Taught him when he was about 16-18. (Earlier he was more interested in guitars and surfboards.) Recently, I taught my son-in-law to reload and he now loads shotgun, rifle and handgun. I'm also a NRA Reloading Instructor and have taught many shooters how to reload. IMO, shooting and reloading are a symbiotic relationship. I am amazed that more dedicated shooters don't reload. I currently live in the Peoples Republik of California and with their incredibly stupid and expensive "ammunition purchase background check laws", I thought MORE shooters would be interested in learning. Sadly I estimate that only about 10% reload and my local club. Go figure!

 

[fotheringill]

When I started shooting about 8 years ago and went from .22's to a bolt .223, I was appalled at the price per round for "target" .223 ammo. I then decided to reload. Little did I know I would still be bringing the price per round down to my calculational goal of about $.38 after all of the stuff I am using, even the cost of red wagon I use to get my rifle, ammo, front rest, rear rest and everything else down to the firing line as well as what I have in the basement in components, dies, etc.

 

[bob4]

Friend of mine told me I should try it. He owes me thousands!

 

[Highland Lofts]

Forty years ago I use to go woodchuck hunting in Upstate New York with the Sheriffs son. His father had a huge reloading area in his basement and showed me how to go about it and I boyght a RCBS Rockchucker press and everything that I needed to reload. After a few years I lost interest in shooting and sold my reloading stuff.
We have three of our grandkids living with us, I started taking my grandson out shooting when he was four. He is now eight and loves to shoot and I take him out for the day. I got back into reloading two years ago to keep him in ammo and I can make ammo for all of my guns.
I have a bunch of dies for what we shoot and I buy other calibers & set them up for friends that might want to come over and do some reloading. I always search these gun gorums and e bay for dies at a resonable price and I have a few of the six packs of the Hornady Lock n Load bushings on hand for dies I buy.
I will probably never recoup my cost of reloading stuff loading bullets. I have several thousands of dollars invested. I have a bunch of brass collected, primers, bullets and powder stocked up.
Next liberal administration fabricated shortage will not affect me at all.
I have a bunch of 22lr on hand, I need to stock up on 22mag and 17HMR.
My grandson does some of the reloading operations. Soon he will be able to go at it alone.