Just curious....
- Thread starter Viking357
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Bat Rastard
Member
Too much.
mstreddy
Member
Sometimes not enough, sometimes enough, never too much. At least for me.
Shooting and reloading, and now casting are my primary hobbies.
Shooting and reloading, and now casting are my primary hobbies.
LiveLife
Member
I am retired so I get to check on forum through out the day/night while doing daily chores and wife's projects which are endless.
Closest shooting spot is about 25 minutes away (out to 100 yards) and 45 minutes (out to 300+ yards) in BLM land so I get to shoot whenever I have free time when not taking care of my parents in the next state or between wife's projects/house chores and if weather is cooperating and fish are not biting in the ocean/river. I have shot as often as everyday to average once a week depending on if I am casually shooting/plinking recreationally, providing training or load testing/accuracy range testing (Currently doing 25+ 22LR and 2 rifle testing).
Wife temporarily moved a friend into my reloading room so I have my portable bench and much of reloading stuff into our bedroom so you could say I am spending 3rd of my day the reloading room.
Seriously, general purpose range blasting ammo are reloaded at my leisure to maintain a few thousand rounds par level and special load development or THR thread/myth busting specific rounds are loaded as needed.
I have 14 reloading presses and progressives are used for higher volume loads and single stage/ABLP are used for load development due to ease of caliber change.
Closest shooting spot is about 25 minutes away (out to 100 yards) and 45 minutes (out to 300+ yards) in BLM land so I get to shoot whenever I have free time when not taking care of my parents in the next state or between wife's projects/house chores and if weather is cooperating and fish are not biting in the ocean/river. I have shot as often as everyday to average once a week depending on if I am casually shooting/plinking recreationally, providing training or load testing/accuracy range testing (Currently doing 25+ 22LR and 2 rifle testing).
Wife temporarily moved a friend into my reloading room so I have my portable bench and much of reloading stuff into our bedroom so you could say I am spending 3rd of my day the reloading room.
Seriously, general purpose range blasting ammo are reloaded at my leisure to maintain a few thousand rounds par level and special load development or THR thread/myth busting specific rounds are loaded as needed.
I have 14 reloading presses and progressives are used for higher volume loads and single stage/ABLP are used for load development due to ease of caliber change.
Prowler53
Member
I try to shoot at least once per weekend, even if it's only for 30 minutes. If I take the wife and son it could be a couple hours and 400-500 rounds. I usually check the forums in the morning and then once or twice in the evening.
Reloading.....when time allows on the weekends, but I try to do most of my reloading in the winter months. I'm trying new bullets and powders right now, so I am working up loads between cleaning brass. I try to keep up with my brass cleaning rather than letting them build up. Then the guns need cleaning...........hmmm I don't have a clue how many hours I spend each week.
Reloading.....when time allows on the weekends, but I try to do most of my reloading in the winter months. I'm trying new bullets and powders right now, so I am working up loads between cleaning brass. I try to keep up with my brass cleaning rather than letting them build up. Then the guns need cleaning...........hmmm I don't have a clue how many hours I spend each week.
Prowler53
Member
I am retired so I get to check on forum through out the day/night while doing daily chores and wife's projects which are endless.
Closest shooting spot is about 25 minutes away (out to 100 yards) and 45 minutes (out to 300+ yards) in BLM land so I get to shoot whenever I have free time when not taking care of my parents in the next state or between wife's projects/house chores and if weather is cooperating and fish are not biting in the ocean/river. I have shot as often as everyday to average once a week depending on if I am casually shooting/plinking recreationally, providing training or load testing/accuracy range testing (Currently doing 25+ 22LR and 2 rifle testing).
Wife temporarily moved a friend into my reloading room so I have my portable bench and much of reloading stuff into our bedroom so you could say I am spending 3rd of my day the reloading room.
Seriously, general purpose range blasting ammo are reloaded at my leisure to maintain a few thousand rounds par level and special load development or THR thread/myth busting specific rounds are loaded as needed.
I have 14 reloading presses and progressives are used for higher volume loads and single stage/ABLP are used for load development due to ease of caliber change.
14 Reloading presses?? Dang you're in this way too deep
splattergun
Member
Too much, not enough.
14 presses, I"m envious. How many caliber do you reload for?I am retired so I get to check on forum through out the day/night while doing daily chores and wife's projects which are endless.
Closest shooting spot is about 25 minutes away (out to 100 yards) and 45 minutes (out to 300+ yards) in BLM land so I get to shoot whenever I have free time when not taking care of my parents in the next state or between wife's projects/house chores and if weather is cooperating and fish are not biting in the ocean/river. I have shot as often as everyday to average once a week depending on if I am casually shooting/plinking recreationally, providing training or load testing/accuracy range testing (Currently doing 25+ 22LR and 2 rifle testing).
Wife temporarily moved a friend into my reloading room so I have my portable bench and much of reloading stuff into our bedroom so you could say I am spending 3rd of my day the reloading room.
Seriously, general purpose range blasting ammo are reloaded at my leisure to maintain a few thousand rounds par level and special load development or THR thread/myth busting specific rounds are loaded as needed.
I have 14 reloading presses and progressives are used for higher volume loads and single stage/ABLP are used for load development due to ease of caliber change.
LiveLife
Member
Just a few - 380Auto, 9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP, .223, .300 BLK, .308
As to the number of presses, that's dynamic as I am constantly on the lookout for good used presses to pick up to "Pay It Forward" to those new to reloading get started.
And many THR members send me presses and reloading equipment/component to PIF as kits to deserving new reloaders ... It's really a team effort of greater good and goodwill to humankind that spreads the notion of PIF all around.
I have been lazy (actually overworked by slave driving wife
) and sidetracked by family issues/projects but currently in the process of sending out another complete Pro 1000 reloading kit to a THR member and another member LeftyTSGC is going to PIF a noted member rcmodel's press along with engraved mementos rcmodel sent to me to share with THR members after his passing (I am thinking about a good way to do this PIF along with some other reloading equipment thrown in) ... So stay tuned.
sparkyv
Member
I try to shoot every other Saturday (2hr range session) and reload on the off Saturdays (4hr reloading session). On the firearms forums about an hour most days.
Heir Kommt Die Sonne
Member
Id say not enough. Always out of one component, or before I can get too serious into one caliber, I quickly get interested in the next.
I reload basically everything I want to now expect for 30.06.
I've never had my own dedicated reloading room, so I've still been using my Lee hand presses all these years.
Sometimes it feels like reloading takes up more of my enjoyment of the hobby, then again my interests and goals change yearly.
I reload basically everything I want to now expect for 30.06.
I've never had my own dedicated reloading room, so I've still been using my Lee hand presses all these years.
Sometimes it feels like reloading takes up more of my enjoyment of the hobby, then again my interests and goals change yearly.
spitballer
Member
Haven't trekked to the range in over a year, mostly because of a medical condition. I reload for personal achievement, not for profit, and only for .223. I try not to run my mouth about other calibers or firearms that I'm not familiar with but I visit THR almost daily to stay informed and to stay motivated.
LiveLife
Member
Time to replace the girlfriend with someone who thinks "not enough"
Take my word, your marriage will be much happier.
When my wife's friends/neighbors complained about how much time and money I spent on reloading and shooting, she would ask them if they checked the bottom of the golf shoes to see if they were dirty when their husbands "claimed" they were playing golf.
She told them she knew exactly where her husband was when I was reloading and shooting as she often joined me to the range.
Every one of her friends/neighbors are divorced now and we are still happily married after 26 years. And whenever I buy a gun (I do not have to get her permission), she wonders if she should get one too.
So choose your girlfriends/wives carefully.
If they are already complaining about your shooting/reloading, keep on looking until you find one who doesn't. And no, my wife doesn't complain about over $175,000 I spent on shooting/reloading cost during our marriage, most of it on reloading 600,000+ rounds, just for pistol (I don't keep track of rifle rounds reloaded).
And she likes boating/fishing too and just gave me the green light to buy a 97 Chris Craft center console with new 15 HP Honda kicker motor (90 HP Johnson) and new $1800 Lowrance fish finder. When I was shopping for a $200 canvas bimini top, she said I should get a $2000 Stryker T-top.
Once again, choose your girlfriends/wives carefully.
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CptnAwesome
Member
Exactly! You beat me to it
bassjam
Member
I spend 40 hours a week in my reloading room.
Since the covid stay at home orders happened I converted my reloading bench to my home office.
Since the covid stay at home orders happened I converted my reloading bench to my home office.
Can't put a number on my time, but I have waaay more time for reloading and "playing" with my gun stuff than I have for shooting, and I try to get in an hour daily in my shop. I do a lot of research for finding new/different components which is a lot of computer time and about an hour each morning checking in on my forums...
If you include thinking gun stuff, trying to see what gun the Duke is shooting in a movie, stopping by the gun/ammo counter every time I go to Bi-Mart, checking my jeans pockets for brass and gun parts, talking to my friends about gun stuff before church, maybe 20+ hours per week...
If you include thinking gun stuff, trying to see what gun the Duke is shooting in a movie, stopping by the gun/ammo counter every time I go to Bi-Mart, checking my jeans pockets for brass and gun parts, talking to my friends about gun stuff before church, maybe 20+ hours per week...
375supermag
Member
Hi...
How much time in the reloading room???
Well, it depends. Some weeks I spend several hours a day doing case prep and some weeks I don't do any case prep at all
Some weeks I can spend several hours each day loading ammunition and some weeks I don't load any.
I do go shooting just about every weekend with my son and we can usually burn up several hundred rounds of handgun ammuntion, particularly when we are shooting .45ACP, 9 and 10mm. Same goes for .357Mag and .45Colt.
It seems we don't shoot as much .44Spl and .41Mag as we do the other calibers...still we manage to go through at least about 500 of each of those calibers per month according to the amount of bullets we purchase on our monthly bullet orders. We have been ramping up our shooting of .38Spl lately as well.
So basically it just depends on what we are shooting.
My son does almost all of our rifle cartridge reloading and we only shoot large amounts of .223 and 7.62x39. We go through those in the hundreds, sometimes thousands per month. Cartridges like .243, .25/06, .270, .308, .30/06 and 7x57, .30/30 and 7mmMag are shot in quantities of several hundred a year...so it doesn't take a great deal of time to keep our supply of loaded ammunition stocked up.
I used to do most of my reloading over the winter months, but since I retired I find myself reloading on a fairly constant basis. More time to shoot means I need to reload more ammunition and do it more often. My son reloads our .357Mag, 9mm, 10mm and .45ACP in batches of 1000 rounds on the Hornady LnL progressive presses. I reload the rest of the straight wall revolver cartridges in batches of 3-500 rounds as required on my RockChucker.
So between us, we spend a fair amount of time in the reloading room.
How much time in the reloading room???
Well, it depends. Some weeks I spend several hours a day doing case prep and some weeks I don't do any case prep at all
Some weeks I can spend several hours each day loading ammunition and some weeks I don't load any.
I do go shooting just about every weekend with my son and we can usually burn up several hundred rounds of handgun ammuntion, particularly when we are shooting .45ACP, 9 and 10mm. Same goes for .357Mag and .45Colt.
It seems we don't shoot as much .44Spl and .41Mag as we do the other calibers...still we manage to go through at least about 500 of each of those calibers per month according to the amount of bullets we purchase on our monthly bullet orders. We have been ramping up our shooting of .38Spl lately as well.
So basically it just depends on what we are shooting.
My son does almost all of our rifle cartridge reloading and we only shoot large amounts of .223 and 7.62x39. We go through those in the hundreds, sometimes thousands per month. Cartridges like .243, .25/06, .270, .308, .30/06 and 7x57, .30/30 and 7mmMag are shot in quantities of several hundred a year...so it doesn't take a great deal of time to keep our supply of loaded ammunition stocked up.
I used to do most of my reloading over the winter months, but since I retired I find myself reloading on a fairly constant basis. More time to shoot means I need to reload more ammunition and do it more often. My son reloads our .357Mag, 9mm, 10mm and .45ACP in batches of 1000 rounds on the Hornady LnL progressive presses. I reload the rest of the straight wall revolver cartridges in batches of 3-500 rounds as required on my RockChucker.
So between us, we spend a fair amount of time in the reloading room.
mstreddy
Member
OP, since your question is rather open, let me expand a bit on my previous post.
Reloading/shooting/firearms is by far my preferred hobby. I probably visit this forum and Castboolits at least once a day. Here I spend most of my reading time in this (reloading) section. At castboolits, the sales or group buys section -- dangerous place, I tell you! Many a dollar has disappeared down those rabbit holes.
Before this current pandemic I would go to the range about once a week. Mostly to shoot handguns, with occasional rifle here and there. (indoor range). Since this madness hit, I've only been to the range twice. I usually spend around an hour or two a week, sometimes three-four in the reloading room. Coincidentally that's my garage and it's way too hot to be there in the afternoon these days. So, I'll go in there in the evenings once things have cooled down some and the wife is watching one of her shows on TV and the kids are in bed.
I need to fire up the casting pot and get some boolits made, but it's been too hot lately. But, I picked up a couple of old 32 Long revolvers and the molds so I need to feed them.
My other hobbies, are (in no particular order) messing with computers, Pi's, NAS, etc., Christmas lights (animated/blinky-flashy) just learning this. Working on my 40 year old decrepit Vette that hasn't run in over 10 years. (just started down that rabbit hole). Oh, and while not strictly a "hobby", the Air Force Reserves takes up at least one weekend of my life every month.
During this pandemic, I kept on working, half days, but every day, and then I was fortunate to do some telework/consulting for my old job as well. I thought I would have more time for my hobbies, but it didn't work out that way. The one good thing has been that at least with traffic being less, my afternoon commute is only about a half-hour instead of the usual hour. So, I have more time to mess with the car and other things. But, did I mention it's been HOT!?
mmb617
Member
I'm retired and my wife of 42 years died last year so I have a lot of time on my hands. I usually spend a couple hours each morning on gun and car forums if I don't have anything else in particular to do.
I usually go to the range once or twice a week as it's close and never crowded. If I go during the week I go alone but on weekends a lot of times my son joins me. He doesn't have any guns of his own so he shoots mine and I supply all the ammo. A normal range day we'll go through a few hundred rounds of 9mm and .45 then hit the rifle range and run a few mags through the AR.
I do all my reloading on a single stage and need to make about 400-500 rounds total of 9mm, .45acp and .223 just to replace what we shoot each week, plus I'm building a stockpile so I spend a fair amount of time at the reloading bench. So far this year I've loaded a little over 14k rounds all together.
I don't have any intention of giving up my single stage press but do look for some other ways to expedite parts of the process. I built a annealing machine based off plans I saw on the forums and it really helps with that step, and I just bought a Lee APP which made sizing, decapping and expanding the pistol cartridges much easier and faster.
There's rarely a day that I don't either go shooting or spend time reloading.
I usually go to the range once or twice a week as it's close and never crowded. If I go during the week I go alone but on weekends a lot of times my son joins me. He doesn't have any guns of his own so he shoots mine and I supply all the ammo. A normal range day we'll go through a few hundred rounds of 9mm and .45 then hit the rifle range and run a few mags through the AR.
I do all my reloading on a single stage and need to make about 400-500 rounds total of 9mm, .45acp and .223 just to replace what we shoot each week, plus I'm building a stockpile so I spend a fair amount of time at the reloading bench. So far this year I've loaded a little over 14k rounds all together.
I don't have any intention of giving up my single stage press but do look for some other ways to expedite parts of the process. I built a annealing machine based off plans I saw on the forums and it really helps with that step, and I just bought a Lee APP which made sizing, decapping and expanding the pistol cartridges much easier and faster.
There's rarely a day that I don't either go shooting or spend time reloading.
U.S.SFC_RET
Member
I shoot once a week in a pistol league, one of those not so formal things. Back into reloading again, this time 41 Mag, 38,357 etc. I am semi retired so plenty of time to catch up on things.
Dudedog
Contributing Member
To much, not enough.
Retiring soon so it will be as much as I want.
Retiring soon so it will be as much as I want.
Tusker10mm
Member
I spend ,many hours a week in the reloading shop, with one thing or the other. Loading, brass preparation etc. Have one range I visit for a couple hours a day 3/6 days a week. Just joined another range just up the road a ways. Abit of a drive, 30 minutes, but a nice informal place. A drive there will put me on range a few hours per visit to make it worth the trip. On brass prep. I am quite concerned with the condition of my brass and quite by accident, I discovered an even better solution for my Lyman Sonic Cleaner. Besides what else I use, the metal cleaner,from Hornady, combined with my other soup , nets me brass that looke better than new. I changing over my solution today, I am amazed at the crud in the bottom of the cleaner. no way do I want to send that stuff down the barrels of anything I shoot. 
no way do I want to send that stuff down the barrels of anything I shoot. 
Riomouse911
Member
I’m working 45+ hours a week so I only get to shoot about every other week. I get limited time at the reloading bench as well, but since I haven’t shot much I had months to stock up a little at a time.
Since Coronageddon shut my State down in March I’ve only been to the indoor range once, that was last Friday. I tried to go again yesterday but there were 20 cars in the lot and several people already in the chairs waiting to go inside about ten minutes after they opened, so I left. (Lotsa new gun owners wanting to shoot their new purchases. I don’t blame them!)
The wife and kids are out of town this weekend so I spent about five hours at the reloading bench Friday and Saturday loading plated .38 wadcutters for me to shoot indoors with my new-to-me Colt bullseye gun.
Stay safe.
Since Coronageddon shut my State down in March I’ve only been to the indoor range once, that was last Friday. I tried to go again yesterday but there were 20 cars in the lot and several people already in the chairs waiting to go inside about ten minutes after they opened, so I left. (Lotsa new gun owners wanting to shoot their new purchases. I don’t blame them!
) The wife and kids are out of town this weekend so I spent about five hours at the reloading bench Friday and Saturday loading plated .38 wadcutters for me to shoot indoors with my new-to-me Colt bullseye gun.
Stay safe.
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