Your longest reload session.

[lgbloader]

Hey fellow shooters -

I spend time at my loading bench and this weekend was pretty much my standard, 4 hours of range time and about 10 hours of tinkering, brass prep, loading, record keeping, maintenance for my tools and clean up and was curious to see where everyone else is with their bench time or do I need to perhaps see a psychiatrist for my illness. My record for a bench session was a solid 15 hours with bathroom breaks and thermos refills followed up with a 10 - 12 hours session the following day. Of course I didn't have to load again for like a couple of months... and my wife s*&% twinkies because I had to mass order again for bullets and primers and powder.

Let's hear your story...

 

[evan price]

8 hours of 9mm. 1500 rounds. Not doing that again.

 

[freakshow10mm]

I've got a busy schedule right now but I'm either casting, swaging, or loading for about 4 hours a day in addition to another job, school, and family.

 

[catbite45]

My longest time ever was years ago, making three hundred 30/06 rounds on a lee single stage. I had a lee measure and a casegauge.

I still remember how bad it was. I did 50 with the sizer, into the tumbler. Then I did the next 250, and dropped the 50 out of the tumbler and put more in.

Case gauged, set aside any that were long, and started with the lee auto prime. Then I powdered those and set the bullets. Then it was back and forth to the tumbler reloading it, priming, powder, seating.

Yuck. I did have a good case block so with checking the throw on a scale every once in a while and doing the flashlight check on powder I did fine. It still was no fun.

It took over four hours.

On a progressive I would say the longest has been about 2 hours, plus set up with the measure and tumbling the cases. But I usually tumble as soon as I get home so the total time there is about 10 minutes of my time spaced about an hour apart.

 

[cpttango30]

I have ADD so I like to keep my loading sessions short and sweet. about 1 maybe 2 hours with smoke breaks in there.

I will take 50 rifle cases clean them. Come back and trim, chamfer, and deburr them. Go away then come back and clean primer pockets.

Comeback and prime them.

Comback and power and bullet them.

 

[jmorris]

My longest nonstop session was 3 hours and 48 minutes and 27 seconds. 4500 rounds with a 650 GSI bullet feeder and RF100 primer filler. An average of just over 50 minutes per 1000. I did that just to see what could be sustained, I generally only load a few hundred at a time.

 

[armoredman]

Nope, I do it for fun and relaxation first, productivity second. If I cramp up, I am done. Longest session I can recall was about 1.5 hours, dong 100 rounds of 9mm, and 100 rounds of 38 Spl on my RCBS single stage. I cast separately, and will get between 150-200 good bullets before my back says "enough", and I shut down.
I love loading, and I never want it to feel like a chore.

 

[dmftoy1]

My longest would be a little over 4 hours . . . .but it was because the in-laws were visiting and I wasn't feeling social.

I'm with the other guys . .1.5-2 hours is about my limit most of the time. If I go longer it feels like work.

 

[45ACPUSER]

8 hours of 9mm. 1500 rounds. Not doing that again.

That is about 3hrs work l.....from set up and inspection. Get a Dillon! Assuming cleaned and ready to go cases....but I got a couple 5gal pails of brass ready to go!

 

[Floppy_D]

I did 500 rounds of 40S&W on a single stage, and it took me all... day... long.

Now I keep my press ready to go, but with a dust cover and a bicycle chain lock on it (prevents an overzealous 3yo from being "helpful"). This way I if I have a half-hour to burn, I can still manage to productive.

 

[Asherdan]

I have to manage my free time so I wind up doing a lot of steps in batches. For example, this week during lunchtime I'll be de-priming, sizing, belling and priming a couple hundred 45-70 and 44 mag. I like to have brass ready to go at home so I can drop powder, seat bullets and crimp for an hour or so in my open time.

Last October when the canyon next to work was on fire they shut the office down. I went home and loaded up all my prepped brass in seven hours. Everyone else was at school or work so it was just me and the tools. That was a great day.

 

[Dirtypacman]

About 4 hours - And that was plenty for me.

If I had more time on my hands I am sure that would increase but with time limited thats about the max i will dedicate at one sitting.

 

[EddieCoyle]

I once used up 9 pounds of powder in a single day of reloading handgun cartridges.

 

[Walkalong]

My record for a bench session was a solid 15 hours

Never going to happen. I'll take a break long before that.

If you can stay focused that long, I applaud you.

 

[elkhuntingfool]

I have ADD - 2 hours max

 

[lgbloader]

Walkalong, after that weekend, I had to re up on alot of components, I load 9mm, 38 spcl and 45acp for me and my wife and 223, 308, 30-06, 300 WM, 338 RUM, and 375 RUM for myself. The only rounds I don't load are shotgun and rimfire oh and my a.k. and masin nagant rounds which I rarely shoot anymore, so you can imagine how pissed my wife was when I showed her my new receipts. (Bullets, primers and powder, WOW!!!) With that plus that fact that she only likes for me to load for 2-3 hrs max on week days or 4-5hrs on weekend days, she finally said, "Hell with it, Go get yourself the 650 (Dillon)!!!" so I went and bought two of them!!! Now I run batches of 200 rounds of handgun and .223 or 50 rounds of Rifle and that's it!! I found the balance that keeps both me and her happy

 

[Ben Shepherd]

I've done 16 hours in 1 day before. With 2 half hour breaks for food, mental distraction, stretching etc., a couple stops to lube/clean the reloader, or switch calibers.

Don't remember exact round count, but it was over 10,000 rounds that day. I know I was over the 10,000 mark because I remember throwing away that many primer sleeves.

Kept me in ammo for quite a spell, but I won't do it again. Keeping yourself focused requires a lot of concentration. The caliber changes helped in that regard.

 

[JGAreddog]

Me and a buddy of mine went 14 hrs with maybe 1 1/2 hours of eating, bathroom, stretch, ect... Ended up loading 11,500 rounds in 223 and 45acp as well as tumbled 35,000 cases and completely cleaned the work space. And yea...never again lol

 

[lgbloader]

Ben and JGAreddog...

You guys are animals!!!! I wanna party with you guys.

 

[phil218b]

Gentlemen:
I live in Oregon the land of grey sky for 6 months a year, if it were not for my anal reloading sessions I would need therapy. 40 years of tinkering and working on the perfect load and equipment to load with is about all I can say has kept me off the therapy couch. Everyone needs to have a few marathon sessions under their belt just to find their sanity. What I find is after 5000 rounds of 45, 7000 rounds of 223, and a few other caliber loads in a session, when I shoot them I tend to find another recipe that shoots better and do it all over again. This is my kind of therapy!

 

[FM12]

As joint aches and pains set in, way less now than in younger days...(heavy sigh).

 

[amlevin]

I started a reloading session several years ago and haven't quit yet. I just take longer breaks than most

 

[lgbloader]

LOL! Now that is one reload session!!

 

[45ACPUSER]

I started a reloading session several years ago and haven't quit yet. I just take longer breaks than most

Just stopping for potty breaks, food, and some income generation to pay for the reloading?

 

[K3]

2 hours max. Any longer and my mind begins to wander. Usually I keep it to an hour.