Has anyone here quit reloading? Why?

[MarikinaMan]

I am looking to start reloading. My primary motivation is that match ammo is so expensive. But the more videos I watch, and the more articles I read, I realize and see the time and care that goes into reloading.

I'm starting to think, shoot, I don't want to do all that. I already hold down a full time job and I have a home business as well. I may not have time and energy to reload.

Has anyone started reloading and quit? Why? I have no doubt its fun and saves money.

[Barbarosa]

I started reloading in my teens when I had more time than money. When I got older and had more money than time I gave it up. I kind of miss it and have been thinking about getting started again. I go through about 300 rounds (total)a week, a mix of .38, 9mm, .45 and a few others. Might start with .38 wadcutters and go from there.

[CSACANNONEER]

Many people quit different hobbies for different reasons. Reloading is a hobby by itself and isn't for everyone.

[PatC415]

If you think reloading will save you money, wait until you see how much more you will shoot! It's a trap!
Start up cost can be high, and take a long time to recoup, but the satisfaction of knowing you are crafting quality, accurate ammo, and the pleasure you get from learning the craft, is worth the price of admission, period.
Now that the prices are down on target ammo, I find myself buying case of ammo rather than using up stockpiles of powder and bullets. When the prices go up again, and I'm sure they will, I'm sure I'll start the presses up again. Until then, brass is filling up the buckets.
I enjoy sitting at the bench on a rainy day, listening to the radio and tuning out the world....it's the kind of therapy you can't buy.

[GW]

I didn't quit. I went on hiatus. The first time, back in the day, .308 was so cheap it wasn't worth my time to reload. Other times, I just got bored with it. But no, I have never quit.

[MarikinaMan]

I started reloading in my teens when I had more time than money. When I got older and had more money than time I gave it up. I kind of miss it and have been thinking about getting started again. I go through about 300 rounds (total)a week, a mix of .38, 9mm, .45 and a few others. Might start with .38 wadcutters and go from there.

Yeah. Im middle aged and am really busy at this point in my life. Im the kind of person who will enjoy reloading if I could have leisurely hours doing it. As it is, I have to really schedule in time just to shoot.

Im a little disappointed. Reality bites. Reloading may not be as practical for me as I thought. Im here thinking about gear, and there are 3 high end bicyles in my home shop that I need to get to.

I was thinking about getting a Dillon 550. I may just get a single stage press for small runs if I can't shake off the bug.

[rero360]

If time is a concern, but you want quality and money is not really a concern then I would consider a Dillon progressive coupled with a Giraud trimmer and annealer, toss in a thumbler rotary tumbler with some steel pin media and you'll be cranking out ammo as fast as you can go.

But if you are looking for super match ammo and money is truly not a concern, replace the Dillon with a good single stage press and order a Prometheus powder dispenser. Keep everything else the same.

Quality dies are of utmost importance as well obviously.

It's really how much you want to spend, the more you do, the longer it will take to break even and start seeing the savings in reloading.

I think I've started to see savings, I've been reloading 45 and 308 since around 2005, and 223 for about 3 years now, buying components in bulk and saving all your brass and using it as many times as possible helps a lot.

[anothergunnut]

I started reloading in college to save money. I reload today because it is part of my hobby; economics isn't important to me. I enjoy having custom ammo and never having to worry about the latest run on ammo.

[Bigtwin]

CSA is 100% correct!

I myself enjoy reloading. I also save money by reloading. I don't shoot much more than I did prior to reloading. I shoot more quality ammo now!
Therefore I do save money by reloading.

[MrElectric03]

Personally I really enjoy reloading. I went big when I started, not so I could load 10,000 rounds in a day but so that I could load 1,000 rounds quickly. I don't have time to sit in front of a rockchucker for 5 nights a week just to load for the weekend. That said look for some used stuff, easy to to get your money back if you hange your mind.

[mif_slim]

I reloaded and shot 100s of 1000s of rounds for about 10 years. Got married and had 3 children so i stopped. 2 dollar for 100 primer spend that 2 on diapers? Now that their all older, im picking up on it again. You dont quit, you just rest a bit. Haha.

[Garand1911]

an hour a day isn't much time to create some quality ammo.

[smle-man]

I started with a Lee Loader in high school reloading .30-30 cartridges and have been reloading steadily since 1972. You don't have to acquire all the stuff and the biggest and baddest press immediately. I used an RCBS Junior press for about 35 years before graduating to a Lee Classic. No Dillon press for me.

It is slow but steady when I reload. It will take a week to reload a couple hundred rounds of handgun ammo because I only do one step a night. I'm not rushing things when I reload. Volume isn't what I'm after but quality is.

[L84CABO]

Personally I really enjoy reloading. I went big when I started, not so I could load 10,000 rounds in a day but so that I could load 1,000 rounds quickly. I don't have time to sit in front of a rockchucker for 5 nights a week just to load for the weekend. That said look for some used stuff, easy to to get your money back if you hange your mind.

I realize with better equipment you can load faster. But how long does it take you to load 1000 rounds and whats the "buy in" to be able to do that?

Or can you give someone like me who doesn't reload some type of baseline? What does a basic setup cost and what type of production rate can be achieved with that?

And then what's it cost for a decent progressive press and how much/fast can you load with that?

[LexLuther]

I realize with better equipment you can load faster. But how long does it take you to load 1000 rounds and whats the "buy in" to be able to do that?

Or can you give someone like me who doesn't reload some type of baseline? What does a basic setup cost and what type of production rate can be achieved with that?

And then what's it cost for a decent progressive press and how much/fast can you load with that?

I started on a Dillon 650 and still use it almost exclusively. Rough numbers, $1,500 buy in, loads 1000 rounds in 3 hours, cost is easily 25% less than your best buy on
Factory ammo. Just rough numbers, but they will give you a ballpark...

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