Is reloading on the up?

[Livefast123]

I've noticed that there seems to be a flurry of people on the forum getting interested in or starting reloading and plenty of people at my club are now starting. Is reloading on the up and what do people think the reasons are:

 

Cost of ammo

Pleasure of reloading

Accuracy

Need a hobby

 

It can only be a good thing for shooting and hopefully with increased demand will come lower prices as places buy more.

[bluesj]

I've just started because I kept having problems with supply of the ammo I wanted

[Benthejockey]

The catalyst for me was actually having to wait for my variation I ran out of ammo for my guns. It occurred to me if I had a bit of a stockpile of reloading bits and I ran out of factory ammo I could make my own and keep blasting away.

 

Then I saw the cost benefits of it - I haven't worked out the precise cost of reloading my first batch but primers and bullets come in boxes of 100 and total about a tenner plus the cost of the powder about £35 so roughly £45/50 to make the equivalent of 5 boxes of factory ammo which id estimate at £125. 50p a pop doesn't sting half as much as £1.25 a pop!

 

And lastly after having a go last night it's actually quite good fun.

[dob]

I am starting because I want better accuracy.

[Redgum]

Availability by stocking large amounts of components, money saving ,accuracy, good excuse to sit in the shed away from wife and teenagers, the satisfaction of eating what you have shot with your homeload. I often hear ' but do you really save money with the cost of setting up', well unless you only use a few rnds a year yes you do, the years go by and the kit lasts along time.

[rjimmer]

It's generally accepted that you can load more consistent ammunition than you can buy, unless you are very lucky with a factory round. If you are loading expanding bullets, you will have to have a large holding limit on your F.A.C. to accommodate lots of different weight bullets while you are working up a load. Some calibres that have a reputation for short barrel life need to be chosen with care, because the barrel might have had it by the time you arrive at the best load for it.

[TONY R]

Yes i think reloading probably is becoming more popular, i think an ever growing number of shooters look beyond the ecconony aspect of reloading and see the benefits reloads offer in rifle and shotgun.

There will always be those who want to push the envelope that bit more get the extra and reloading gives these people that option, when factory gives up reloading takes over.

With rifle ammo i load exclusively have done for the past 30 years, if i have fired more than 50 factory rounds in all that time i would be suprised.

Cost has never come into it ever with me and i truthfully have no idea what factory ammo costs for any of my rifles ( apart from .22lr) . Accuracy and tayloring performance as been the key throughout with me.

As a hoby it is ok but i would not say i get a lot of pleasure from it acctualy loading ammo is a bit of a chore for me, but working up the loads i get an awefull lot from that, and that is where you can waste /spend some money sometimes. RELOADING RIFLE IMO goes hand in hand with rifle shooting one has to go with the other and evewn if i found a factory offering that was perfect in a rifle there would always be that niggling doubt about its consistancy accuracy and performance, these doubts are not a factor in my reloads and i am confident in them and confidence in ones equiptment is important and often overlooked in this game.

 

SHOTGUN RELOADING. This is slightly different to rifle reloading for me in that i do use some factory ammo for shotgun, I rerload most of my pigeon loads and clay loads but i do buy some now and again, Now wildfowling is another thing 90% of my duck loads and 100% of anything i shoot geese with is reloaded .

Reloading shotgun ammo can save money and as with rifle it can offer performance levels above anything produced in any factory offerings i have seen . This as been amplified to an even bigger degree with some non toxic shot in its vareious forms some shot types are just not available in factory ammo, and factory ammo available to us here in Europe wont come near to reload performance even when considering steel ammo.

With reloads you get everything if you want it better patterns/ downrange performance and good ecconomy its a win win win sittuation with non tox all things concidered.

I dont get a huge ammount of pleasure from reloading shotshell but i get a great deal from developing and patterning working up the loads. pressure testing them and getting my own equiptment for pressure testing as just added another aspect to this i find facinating overall i enjoy reloading and useing reloads and i think the benefits far outweigh the extra work involved.

Edited March 9, 2016 by TONY R

[Guest cookoff013]

Yes i think reloading probably is becoming more popular, i think an ever growing number of shooters look beyond the ecconony aspect of reloading and see the benefits reloads offer in rifle and shotgun.

There will always be those who want to push the envelope that bit more get the extra and reloading gives these people that option, when factory gives up reloading takes over.

With rifle ammo i load exclusively have done for the past 30 years, if i have fired more than 50 factory rounds in all that time i would be suprised.

Cost has never come into it ever with me and i truthfully have no idea what factory ammo costs for any of my rifles ( apart from .22lr) . Accuracy and tayloring performance as been the key throughout with me.

As a hoby it is ok but i would not say i get a lot of pleasure from it acctualy loading ammo is a bit of a chore for me, but working up the loads i get an awefull lot from that, and that is where you can waste /spend some money sometimes. RELOADING RIFLE IMO goes hand in hand with rifle shooting one has to go with the other and evewn if i found a factory offering that was perfect in a rifle there would always be that niggling doubt about its consistancy accuracy and performance, these doubts are not a factor in my reloads and i am confident in them and confidence in ones equiptment is important and often overlooked in this game.

 

SHOTGUN RELOADING. This is slightly different to rifle reloading for me in that i do use some factory ammo for shotgun, I rerload most of my pigeon loads and clay loads but i do buy some now and again, Now wildfowling is another thing 90% of my duck loads and 100% of anything i shoot geese with is reloaded .

Reloading shotgun ammo can save money and as with rifle it can offer performance levels above anything produced in any factory offerings i have seen . This as been amplified to an even bigger degree with some non toxic shot in its vareious forms some shot types are just not available in factory ammo, and factory ammo available to us here in Europe wont come near to reload performance even when considering steel ammo.

With reloads you get everything if you want it better patterns/ downrange performance and good ecconomy its a win win win sittuation with non tox all things concidered.

I dont get a huge ammount of pleasure from reloading shotshell but i get a great deal from developing and patterning working up the loads. pressure testing them and getting my own equiptment for pressure testing as just added another aspect to this i find facinating overall i enjoy reloading and useing reloads and i think the benefits far outweigh the extra work involved.

 

sometimes the performance or cost benifits justifies itself. either thumping down geese with BB / 6mm or shooting duck with a taylored 24g #2 at 1500fps.

 

[Savhmr]

I get through maybe a few hundred rifle cartridges per month, so it's a no-brainer for me. Shotgun cartridges are still cheap enough to buy a few bricks a year and not bother reloading. For the rifle, when using them for longish range vermin control (on my land I have little option so 100 to 200 yd shots are the norm although by others standards, that's not long range at all) I want to be sure of ammo consistency and having confidence in POI for every shot hence just getting into reloading as a means to an end and because you learn such a hell of a lot of useful stuff about ballistics.

[Jaymo]

I do it to get away from the wife n kids --- hideaway in my little play area...

[Livefast123]

I do it to get away from the wife n kids --- hideaway in my little play area...

 

I forgot to add that little gem!

 

I enjoy the reloading aspect of rifle shooting as it has given me a whole new interesting subject to learn about, it gives me cheaper and more consistent / accurate ammo and I am free to dream up whatever load I think will work (within reason) and not be tied to factory loadings. There is also the feel good factor of seeing something that you have engineered producing results either on the range or bringing food home.

 

In most cartridges you could almost exist with one gun. A lower power light bullet load for target / rabbits, mid power for fox / longer range and a high power load for deer / long range shooting. Only problem would be sighting in each load and changing.

 

Onwards and upwards

[Remimax]

cost and availability has always been an issue in my area so reloading center fire ammo is a must if you shoot a lot.

you also get a lot of satisfaction when it all comes together with good grouping.