What % of hunters hand-load?

I'm like Sask_Hunter, the only big game animal that I've shot with factory ammo was my first deer, which was back in about 1982. Every animal that I and my two primary hunting partners have shot since then has been with handloads.
 
While the percentage of hunters that reload on CGN is likely quite high, overall in Canada I would think it to be quite low. Any poll you create here would probably reinforce the former.
 
I did handload for 90% of my needs, in the last 5 years commercial ammo drasticly improved and i use them a lot more often now... JP.
 
Duffy said:
I find it interesting that often when someone has a question like "should I get a .260 or a 6.5X55" often one of the first replies will be "do you hand-load ..."

I know hunters who are serious hand-loaders and only shoot factory loads to get the brass. I know some who do some loading for some cartridges and by factory for other guns they have. And i know some who just by factory and have never rolled their own ammo. Perhaps a poll with those three categories would give us an idea what % hand-load.

Loading component companies seem be doing ok and there are a lot of them so there must be a pretty good market.
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IMHO, purchasing factory ammo for the brass is an expensive way of getting it. If, on average, we get 5 reloads from a piece of brass before the primer pocket loosens, loosing one firing to the factory load is of questionable value. I suppose however, one could pull the bullet, and recycle the powder, to duplicate his preferred load. I'm a great proponent of handloading, and IMHO handloading increases the versatility of your rifle, your interest in it, and your proficiency with it. Its an excuse to shoot more, and the more you do something correctly, the better you get at it. I'm willing to bet that handloaders as a group are better shots than those who limit themselves to factory ammo, but that's not surprising as handloaders are the enthusiasts, where as factory ammo shooters are simply participants, whose interest in actually shooting is less than the reason they might choose to shoot.
 
I hunt. I handload.
For scatterguns all my small game is taken with handloads but I'm slowly switching back to factory for trap and skeet. $53/flat why bother reloading. But rifles yes. Any rifle I acquire I will load my own for
 
Its kind of an open ended question. Some stuff i load for, some stuff i don't. I have dies for a dozen or so calibers, but only seriously load for 2 or 3. Several rifles that I use for bush hunting are milsurp and/or iron sights, which will never drive nails without being scoped. I have an old model 70 carbine 30.06 that just LOVES cheap 180gr power points, so i don't load for it. I tend to only load for ammo that I cannot get, can improve accuracy over factory/commercial ammo, or greatly improve the cost of shooting. And yet further considerations that have not been mentioned in the OP, stuff like 30-30 and 7.62x39 soft points are cheap and offer good enough accuracy for their intended purpose that there is no point trying to improve them. Time for reloading is also valuable, not just components. I spend my time loading only where it does make a noticeable difference.
 
Where in Southern Ontario do you find flats for $53? Back on topic I use hand loads for 75% of my hunting not including shotgun.
 
I hand load everything now, if it was possible to reload rimfire, even if more expensive, I would reload those too! Nothing is more gratifying than rolling your own. I started with 16 gauge when I was barely a teen, then reloaded for all the other shotshells. Then quickly moved on to rifle.

However after all these years I still only know three people that hand load in my area, out if hundreds of hunters that I know. I still think the overall percentage is quite low.
 
I reload for all my rifles and pistols, even 7.62x39 with SP bullets. I am getting 7.62x 25 dies and brass for my Tokarev.
I reload 28 ga shells as they are really expensive, $13.00 per box plus taxes at Wholesale Sports.
But with 12 ga target shells running at $6.00 per box, and with lead being hard to find, I buy factory
 
There is a very high per-capita hunter population here in NB with only a few of those being handloaders.

If you can buy the ammo at CDN Tire, it's a VERY popular chambering here in NB. Reloading components are very sparse here in Saint John (population over 100,00).
 
Overall I think the majority of hunters Canada wide shoot factory. The majority of hunters on CGN probably hand-load. The majority of hunters Canada wide are probably not on CGN and most likely only shoot their guns during the hunting season and a box of 20 will likely last them several seasons. I know guys that are using the same box or 2 for many years since they only get off a couple shots a season, if that. When I got my .308 it came with a couple of boxes of ammo, one of the boxes still has a price tag on it. Bought at a Pro hardware Store for $6.45 for a 20 box of Winchester Super X Silvertip 180gr. The box is yellow and on the back it says 'Made in Canada by Winchester, Coburg, Ontario.'
 
joe-nwt said:
While the percentage of hunters that reload on CGN is likely quite high, overall in Canada I would think it to be quite low. Any poll you create here would probably reinforce the former.
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Joe, you took the words right out of my mouth!
 
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