Thinking of reloading

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Leavenworth

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Let’s say you may acquire all the basic reloading equipment to get started as in passed down to oneself .Good Equipment .
How long does it take before your up and turning out cartridges ?
I’m 70 doesn’t even make sense to get into reloading ?
Thank You
 
Leavenworth said:
Let’s say you may acquire all the basic reloading equipment to get started as in passed down to oneself .Good Equipment .
How long does it take before your up and turning out cartridges ?
I’m 70 doesn’t even make sense to get into reloading ?
Thank You
Click to expand...
If you have someone to mentor you when initially setting up your gear, you can turn out quality ammo in a single afternoon session!
Without a mentor, it can take a very long time, lots of reading , and maybe even then you will be missing stuff essential to making good ammo.
Cat
 
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I started reloading not all that long ago.
Couple years.
When I started, I was turning out viable cartridges in a matter of an hour or so.
I now reload 8 different cartridges and have observed significant improvement in ammunition performance across the board.
it's also fun.

You are never too old ! especially if you already have the gear
 
Really depends on the amount of shooting you do, or the "customizing" you want from your ammo?

If you hardly ever shoot more than one pack or less a year, reloading is not for you! Realistically I think one needs to shoot hundreds of rounds or more to make it worthwhile. Even then you can get bulk packs of say 6.5 CM at a decent enough price to even consider the need to reload.

If you are fine with the accuracy you are getting from factory ammo, and some of it is amazingly accurate, then reloading is not for you!

At 70, if I even make it that far, I can see myself with a low recoil rifle, sitting at the bench and shooting to my hearts content. But I love shooting and can sit and plink for hours. That itself would necessitate reloading, just to be able to feed the need!
 
Depends on how fast a learner you are. Do you have someone to teach you, or are you going to learn strictly from a book / youtube?
I'm 70 & still loading; there's folks on here that still reload & they're in their mid-80's.

How much do you shoot? That will be a big determinant on whether or not it's worthwhile. That & how much time do you have available in order to develop & devote to a new hobby.
 
wallz said:
Really depends on the amount of shooting you do, or the "customizing" you want from your ammo?

If you hardly ever shoot more than one pack or less a year, reloading is not for you! Realistically I think one needs to shoot hundreds of rounds or more to make it worthwhile. Even then you can get bulk packs of say 6.5 CM at a decent enough price to even consider the need to reload.

If you are fine with the accuracy you are getting from factory ammo, and some of it is amazingly accurate, then reloading is not for you!

At 70, if I even make it that far, I can see myself with a low recoil rifle, sitting at the bench and shooting to my hearts content. But I love shooting and can sit and plink for hours. That itself would necessitate reloading, just to be able to feed the need!
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I totally agree with waltz.
Many shooters I know shoot about a box a month if that , some only shoot one box a year.
Hand loading is the least of their worries when it comes to learning how to shoot.
Cat
 
Well I don’t put may rounds down range as I’m a moose and deer hunter ,
So at 100 yards with factory ammunition I get fairly decent shots
I may edit the above sentence !

I don’t take long shots on game as I want to try and make ethical shots

Now I just started pistol shooting and I suck ! I own three pistols and have access to to more and also revolvers . So I want to be better at it , a LOT better .
So does reloading make sense ?
 
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I started "back in the day" (1970's) with "whack a mole" type Lee Loader - slowly got other tools over the years - some actually better than others for my needs and understanding. I found that reloading components for rifle - primer, powder and bullets - have increased in cost a lot - in some cases, if you can even find them to buy - but even components do not do you much good without the tooling to re-load - which can vary among people. I would think that most pay more to load faster - not always necessary to do that, if you have time to reload.
 
I picked up a few different Lee Loaders for the rounds I shoot the most of, 308, 30-06, 243. I use the same powder for all 3 so I only need to purchase one kind. Used brass is always available at the range if you do t mind using once fired. I shop around for deals on bullets and primers. Cost is about $0.45/ round for me, plus my time if you want to factor that in. Yeah it's slow but I'm only making up a bat h for the range the next day. It's also kinda fun.
 
I think I could be daunting to have no experience/knowledge and be handed a pile of used loading gear. A lot of what I taught myself came from a slower, more organic approach. Learn as I go/make choices that suit the caliber/application.

Just another way of saying;

1.you’re not too old
2.get someone experienced to walk you through it/help you set up. Might seem like a hassle but you’ll shave days/weeks at least and be safer/get better results

It’s been true for all the years I’ve been loading but even more true since Covid/inflation=if your motivation is just saving money? Don’t bother.

As a fulfilling hobby and to see better results downrange? Full steam ahead.
 
It's never a bad idea to learn something new. It's also a good pass time with satisfying results. Tons of info available on YouTube or via publications. I would suggest reading the abc's of reloading and then decide if its for you.
You don't need to be a high volume shooter to reap the benefits of reloading. Another nice thing is that most of the equipment even components dont depreciate much so even if you decide to get out of it, you'll get most of your investment back.
 
Perhaps my journey will help you. In the fall I bought a few books and reloading manuals, and once I had enough base knowledge I began gathering equipment over the winter. I read the books again, and watched a lot of youtube videos and read online forums, basically sorting out in my mind the processes and steps that were unclear or confusing. At this point, I had all the knowledge and was chomping at the bit to load some rounds. By taking it slow and being deliberate, and by making sure I used quality components and equipment to maximize consistency, my first handloads were shooting exactly as well as my preferred match ammo. You can make it as complex as you want, but the basics of it are not very difficult.

As exciting as the result was for me, I found the whole process truly enjoyable. As others had told me, its brings a new and different sense of joy to the hobby.
 
Leavenworth said:
Well I don’t put may rounds down range as I’m a moose and deer hunter ,
So at 100 yards with factory ammunition I get fairly decent shots
I may edit the above sentence !

I don’t take long shots on game as I want to try and make ethical shots

Now I just started pistol shooting and I suck ! I own three pistols and have access to to more and also revolvers . So I want to be better at it , a LOT better .
So does reloading make sense ?
Click to expand...
Yes absolutely!
Cat
 
I started reloading back in the early 80's, had an older gentleman that helped me get going, no internet back then so it was reading reloading manual's, over the years I have reloaded over 100 thousand rounds of pistol, shotgun and rifle. I shot thousands of cast bullets over the years and I still reload but just for my rifles now and I still get a good feeling when I ring a gong at 1400 yards with my loads.
 
I’m 66 and started reloading approx 4 years ago. Did a pile of research. Reloading manuals like Lyman and Hornady are indispensable. Acquired the kit I thought I needed and proceeded to make bullets. I’ve since added some things to streamline my procedures. I reload rifle and revolver ammo. Really handy when I couldn’t buy 32 win spl anywhere. Until rifle primers became unobtainable, unless you were willing to pay a buck apiece. I’ve slowly acquired enough “supplies” to see me through the next shortage or two. It has been a fascinating journey so far. Always something new to learn. Go for it!
 
leeaspell said:
I picked up a few different Lee Loaders for the rounds I shoot the most of, 308, 30-06, 243. I use the same powder for all 3 so I only need to purchase one kind. Used brass is always available at the range if you do t mind using once fired. I shop around for deals on bullets and primers. Cost is about $0.45/ round for me, plus my time if you want to factor that in. Yeah it's slow but I'm only making up a bat h for the range the next day. It's also kinda fun.
Click to expand...
So, back in the day, a friend of mine had a 308 Win rifle and I had one - his fired rounds would go into my chamber, but mine would not go into his. I read that the original "Lee Loaders" would only "neck size" - so sometimes you have to full length size the picked-up brass to fit in your gun's chamber. I personally have bought much brass that was sold as "once fired" - many times there are clues to it that it was multiple times previously fired - some would not fit into my gun until I full length sized - one batch even required the use of a sizing tool to get right close to the front of the belt - where the regular sizing die did not seem to have much lasting effect. So do not think that range pick up stuff is always going to work in your rifle - unless you have the gear to re-form it.
 
I am going to be 69 this July and have been reloading since I was 18 , I have never bought factory ammo other than 22’s and load for handgun and rifle. A truly enjoyable hobby, the only problem is the time I take to stop and admire the rounds as I load them . As for getting to be a better handgun shooter, practice does not make perfect , perfect practice makes perfect. If you are not doing it right to begin with, practice will only make you better at being so so to bad. Watch only the front sight and really concentrate on the trigger squeeze. Dry firing is the best , cheapest practice you can get because you can see if you are yanking on the trigger. When the guys go to the Army Marksman Training Uint at Ft Benning, they dry fire every day for a month before they ever give them live ammo, then , they don’t hit anything but 10’s.
 
Everything you need to know is on the internet. I would buy a couple of books but for the beginner, all the info is out there. Buy a single stage kit to start and a decent electronic scale. Once you get into it, it won't matter what caliber you shoot. You will always have components. I'm 65 and just getting warmed up.
 
Books buy a few books and read them, if you still think it is something you wanna do then finding a mentor is the best, makes life easy! A friend of mine has a 6mm Remington and wanted to reload since he had the components but not the gear, he came home and I showed him the basics and the same afternoon we were hitting the 200m clanger all day. It was fun if only for the learning experience for him!
 
Leavenworth said:
Well I don’t put may rounds down range as I’m a moose and deer hunter ,
So at 100 yards with factory ammunition I get fairly decent shots
I may edit the above sentence !

I don’t take long shots on game as I want to try and make ethical shots

Now I just started pistol shooting and I suck ! I own three pistols and have access to to more and also revolvers . So I want to be better at it , a LOT better .
So does reloading make sense ?
Click to expand...
I think since you have the equipment and you wanna shoot more hand guns I would think that reloading make sense, but one thing to consider is usually handgun reloaded have different set up for hand gun reloading than they use for long gun reloading, I don’t reload handguns so some one will correct me if I’m wrong.
 
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