When/how did YOU get into reloading?

[balmo]

I just started reloading this summer. I had just discovered action pistol and I'm having a blast. By my 2nd uspsa match, I as was loading up my magazines, one competitor saw my factory ammo boxes and exclaimed: "your shooting factory ammo?!!" I told him yes and asked why he was surprised. Then he explained to me about reloading. I googled and searched and realized that even if I get the lowest price reman/reloaded/factory ammo out there, I would still be saving a whole lot if I reloaded my ammo.

Got myself a Lee Classic turret and started loading 9 and 45. After 2k or so reloads, so far everything has been great. I found out though that I do not have the endurance of most reloaders here and can only reload 100 rounds on a turret press before my concentration falls off. So I reload back to back nights for a match (~200 rounds).

[Altahick]

i got started last year, i had been wanting to get into it for along time. it all started years ago when i got my first bolt action a Savage .243. i always shot the cheap federal 100 grain soft points, back then they were $9.00 for a box of 20. i started to get more into precision shooting and wanted to try match ammo, but factory loaded match ammo was a little to expensive for my blood. then the ammo crisis hit and .243 ammo went up to $20.00 a box for the cheap stuff. i cant stand paying those high prices so i got a Lee classic single stage kit and never looked back. now i make really nice ammo for a fraction of the cost. ive never actually calculated the actual cost per round, but i know im saving some money. and my hand loads are equivalent to the higher end factory ammo.
the first time i had actually ever reloaded a round was about two years ago. i went to another Calguns members house to trade some 7.62x54 for some .40 cal reloads to shoot in my M&P. when i got to the guys house he showed me his reloading setup. the last few rounds of the .40 i was receiving were unloaded and he let me put together the last few. that definitely sparked my interest.

[OpenSightsOnly]

have been reloading for rifle only for almost 3 years. got started by signing up for a reloading class at ASR. life is good!

[krwada]

I started reloading about two years ago before the panic struck. I needed a cheaper way to feed my Ar15 and my Springfield XD. My timing really couldn't have been better.

I'd have to say that my first introduction into reloading was in 2010 in the game Fallout: New Vegas.
In that game you could create handloads for your weapons and it really blew my mind that reloading was even possible.

Fast forward to mid 2011, I started buying reloading equipment piece by piece and building up my knowledge base here on the forum. I now load for at least six different calibers and can no enjoy some independence in case another shortage occurs.

I started reloading with the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme kit in around November 2010. I was a bit amused that Fallout New Vegas had reloading benches sprinkled liberally throughout the Mojave. I am also an avid video game player, and the Fallout-3 franchise just really rocks!!!

I have loaded several thousands of rounds, (rifle and pistol) since then.

I have never, and will never turn back.

I am thoroughly bitten by the bug.

Shoot to reload .... Reload to Shoot!

It is all good!

[Mr Blu]

I started earlier this year, in order to make a precision/hunting load.

I've been trying to find this middle ground so I can save money on components for when I find something that works nearly year 'round.

It's not working out too well because I may have a technically "bad" barrel, as in one that was made just a hair off spec. The result is consistent inconsistency.

Besides, reloading feeds my OCD very well. I just wish I had the income to fund it properly.

[Swagman00]

If it wasn't for my first gun (and the choice of it), I may not have started till later if at all.

My first firearm was the $99 Mosin 91/30 Big 5 special (when it was still around) that was just too cheap to pass up. Armed with my new rifle and three boxes of Wolf 150 gr. bimetal FMJ in steel, I went to the range.

Being that I didn't have a recoil buffer of any kind for the brass buttstock and feeling like a big honcho wearing nothing but a T-shirt, I was left with a large purple welt that grew over the next few days and my right arm working at a less then optimal level with pain every time I rotated it.

Looking into lower pressure loads (and a recoil buffer), I sought to "reduce" the power of the 7.62x54 round. Coming across a Lee kit and set of dies for under $150, my reloading experience started...and still continues today for over two dozen calibers.

[knucklehead0202]

having around a dozen calibers to load for over 20 weird, old military rifles, reloading was a necessity. luckily, I've been reloading or helping since I was about 11 so it didn't take much. that said, you never know everything and the moment you think so, you'll f**k up. I'm still developing loads for some of the weirder calibers, as they do not conform to "normal" standards. if you reload for 6.5 carcano or 8x56r austro/Hungarian, you might know what I'm talking about.

[mike.h]

I started a couple years ago with a Lee Classic Turret to reload .45ACP. This was done in an effort to save a little money....However there is no savings because you shoot more. (That the good part) Then more dies, etc to reload 9mm, still doing ok. Then I started reloading .223, ... more dies, more scales, more brass prep stuff.
With the 308....no saving whatsoever, because I now reload for (more) precision. Another press, more dies, more precision dies, electronic scales and powder dispensing devices, another set of calipers, headspace stuff, bullet comparators, match brass, match primers, lots of bullets, lots of powder, and more brass prep tools, more manuals, more, more, more....... doesn't stop. Reloading has became an integral part of the sport. I now enjoy tweaking loads almost as much as shooting. Almost.

[Mstnpete]

I started reloading in 1994, when I was set on going for competition shooting.
My first press was a Dillon 550. Had to load 400-600 rounds every week to shoot a Saturday and a Sunday Match.

[19K]

I bought a 30-40 krag in 2009 and was not going to pay $40 for 20 rounds.

[bohoki]

i started reloading when i had to pay more than $10 a box for 45acp

then i started reloading 9mm when it hit $10 a box

then i started reloading 223 when wolf hit $6 a box

[cruddymutt]

I bought an RCBS "A" press for $25 and it sat in the garage for about a year. Then I bought a Henry Big Boy in 45 Colt and knew the time to use the press had come. That was 3 years ago. I now load 20 or so calibers as well as a few wildcats.

[drdarrin@sbcglobal.net]

I started in 1968 with a RCBS Jr press for 30-06, a scale, primer pocket reamer, chamfering reamer and a reloading manual. My brass was all milsurp from WW-II. No mentor.
Primers were about $0.90 / 100.
H-380 and H-4895 was under $4.00 a pound.
Bullets were about $10.00 / 100 for Speer/Sierra. Same price but half as many for Nosler partition.

[ap1040]

Started May 2011 with a Lee Turret press, still using it. I have saved money reloading 9, 38, 45 and 30 cal carbine. Only two problems:

1. It seems I spend as much time picking up brass at the range as I do shooting.
2. When I get low on components I start to panic (doesn't matter how many completed rounds I have). And its close to panic time again

[MrElectric03]

I actually just started this year. My brother in law and I were planning on shooting on St Patricks day while his brother was in town. Two months before I tried to buy ammo at WalMart to find empty shelves. I bought a thousand rounds of .40 from a couple CG members, sold one of my dirt bikes, and bought my Dillon XL650, a rockchucker, and eventually found powder, primers, and bullets.

I've only loaded .40 so far and have been far too busy to shoot as much as I'd like. I've recently been getting stuff together to load .30-.30 because I haven't shot that rifle in almost two years. As money allows I'll be buying more anymore guns so the reloading will come in handy, I'd also really like to get into long range competitions so will come in handy for that as well.