I started reloading when I got into shooting in 2006 when I was in the Army.
It was very traumatic for me when I released but reloading gave me a reason to do one of the things that kept me connected to my memories of my time as a soldier: being a brass chicken (Canadian soldiers have got to be biggest brass chickens on the planet), only instead of having to give an ammo declaration to my Troop commander, I keep every piece of brass I find.
I was in my garage reloading workshop the day my wife went into labour with our oldest daughter.
I'll never forget the first time I went to the range to fire my first hand loaded 9mm rounds (I was so scared I did something wrong and would KB, I wore body armor, thick leather gloves, and a leather jacket).
After I fired those first rounds without a hitch, something clicked in my head where I realized, "Holy sh*t, I can load my own ammunition."
It was like realizing I could create my own kryptonite.
Over the years, I have so many happy memories related to reloading.
Plinking with my own loads.
Directing kids matches, demoing my own loads.
Shooting bullseye matches with my own loads.
Shooting IDPA and USPSA matches with my own loads.
Shooting 3-gun matches with my own loads.
Shooting Swiss matches with my own loads.
Talking to guys at gun shows.
Talking to guys at gun stores.
Talking to guys on gun forums.
It wasn't just the ammo though. It was the camaraderie.
Between stages or relays, breaking the ice with other shooters talking about how I wet tumble, how I case prep, how I sort, how I trim, how I do this and that and everything in between with reloading.
There's probably a hundred different faces I can remember with conversations with other shooters about shooting and reloading that all spawned from the fact that I reload.
The second you start talking about how you source Pewter from thrift stores to work up an alloy for your .45 loads, or how the Giraud tri-way trimmer is literally life changing if you're into bulk rifle reloading, or the exact stroke technique you use on a Lee Pro 1000 to not have it spill powder on the bullet seating station, or the exact ratio of brass to pins to dawn to lemishine with time spent tumbling to get your brass sparkling like new... you've instantly made a new friend...
As a veteran with PTSD, those are some of the most sustaining moments I have when I spiral into a trauma or flashback loop.
Then there's the fact that during the COVID years, the only refuge I had from the insanity of the world was the range, on my own, spending hours just picking up brass, working through my thoughts and feelings.
Picking up brass is unbelievably good mental and physical exercise, and I probably have 100k pieces of sorted and wet tumbled brass, sorted in 5 gallon buckets in my garage to show for it.
I say I make back my range membership fees each year with the melt-value of that brass, but honestly I just look forward to meeting my future grand children and showing them those time stamped buckets and saying, "When the world went insane for 4 years back in 2019, I was picking up brass and sorting it with your mom/auntie in my shop. That's honestly how I didn't go crazy like everyone else."
That's the most important thing for me about reloading, is as a caregiver to a permanently disabled child, I spend almost every morning inside my second reloading room doing small projects with my daughter.
(I have 2 reloading rooms, one in my basement for the "clean" jobs, 1 in my garage for the "dirty" jobs. I spend most of my time reloading with my daughter in the "clean" room.)
Wet tumbling, de-priming, case trimming, resizing powder coated cast bullets, 3D-printing accessories for my shop... you name it...
Some days the only way I can cope with the paralyzing despair I feel at the fact that I've changed her diaper every day for the past 11 years (and may have to do so every day for the rest of my life) is the years she's sat with me while I clean and sort brass, case prep, and reload the ammo I use to compete at matches.
To the extent that she is independent - her ability to speak, use a toilet in the daytime, sit still, respect people's boundaries, and not wander off and accidentally hurt/kill herself - most of it was as a result of her sitting with me at 5am, 7-days a week, year after year, inside my reloading/gun room...
She's my little gunroom helper, despite how badly disabled she is, and I'm so proud of her when she says to me in the morning, "Daddy, let's do brass."
No matter how tired I am (and I'm permanently as tired as a Private Recruit, 7 weeks in on Basic Training), I'll always get on the bench and do something with her when she asks.
Honestly, most reloading tasks, once mastered, are simple enough you can do in your sleep, and satisfying enough you feel a sense of satisfaction at having completed. That feeling can lift your spirit when you feel absolutely crushed, as I do pretty much all the time.
My daughter couldn't speak or use the toilet until she was 5 years old, and most of her childhood she was in the kind of agonizing pain you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy... but she got through the worst of it with me inside my reloading room, watching me do small things like sort air-dryed .223 brass by head stamp.
I won a few Sharpshooter medals over the past few years with my Swiss Rifle club that I hung up on the wall of my shop, and I like to tell people, "I won those medals with ammo my disabled daughter helped me reload."
Almost 20 years ago, when I was getting into it, I just thought about the cost savings.
I know in terms of ammunition costs, I've more than made back the cost of all my equipment.
In terms of the memories and experiences I've gained as a serious reloader, I'd say I'm actually a very rich man because of it.
Couldn't recommend enough getting into it if you're thinking about it...
If you are, start small.
I bought a Lee hand press, a Lee 9mm die set, a Lee hand primer and rock polishing kit to start... I still have them in my shop to this day and use them from time to time for small projects.
You don't have to spend a lot of money to get into it, and once you do, you can spend decades mastering the craft and find something new to do.
In my shop, I have a brand new, unopened Lee Load All shotshell press and a set of 12 gauge slug and buckshot molds I bought with my saved up Canadian Tire money during a Boxing Day sale 2 years ago.
I haven't cracked them open yet, but know someday I will...
I joke with my non-disabled teenage daughters somedays that I wish they would get boyfriends so they could help me start up projects like that.
I know my future son-in-laws would think my workshop is unbelievably cool, and not just because my beautiful daughters spend so much time with me there... but also because they can learn how to make kryptonite with me...
