Christmas Reloading Story

[mosin of nagareth]

This is the first year I've been alone for the holidays. No more family. So I figured I'd watch a few Spaghetti Westerns on Christmas and maybe do some cleaning. That or sleep a lot.
About a week before Christmas, I saw a thread in this section about Reload, the new reloading store in Anaheim. So I called the owner, Brian, and asked what it would cost for help setting dies and configuring my machine.
In the last few months, I've spent countless hours either destroying brass before seating bullets or missing the crimp grooves afterward. The machine was becoming just one more thing to be depressed about.
So I figured I'd initiate an intervention and call Brian. Of course, I didn't tell him that my family life sucks, only that I was having problems reloading. Brian told me to bring in my machine when I got a chance and he'd help me for free. No charge.
December 22nd, Brian spent over two hours with me, adjusting the press and explaining various aspects of reloading. And I spent the remainder of Christmas week making ammo, over 600 rounds. I had a good holiday thanks to Brian's generosity.
Rather than succumbing to sadness, I accomplished something. And I'm looking forward to shooting my reloads soon. Plus, I feel like new opportunities are on the horizon. I love old lever-action Winchesters, but never before considered owning one because of ammo cost. Now that I reload, maybe I'll get myself one next year for Christmas.
Thanks again to Brian. He's a good guy and deserves our business.

[keenkeen]

Good stuff, enjoy the new year!!!

[farmdogg]

cool bryan sounds like a solid dude.

[3RDGEARGRNDRR]

Im glad you found a diversion from lifes ills. we all need that, thanks for sharing.

[Eat Dirt]

A good Chrismas story


Don,t shoot your eye out kid's......

[Squidward]

Life is hard. Glad you are staying positive.

So the moral of your story is; When life hands you a lemon, make ammo.

[JTROKS]

Great story! Kudos to Brian!

Reloading is a very good way to relax and learn. There a great satisfaction shooting ammo that you put together especially when you get awarded with reliable and accurate results. Shooting is also a great way to meet people. If you're into western style shooting there's the single action shooting society that dresses up in authentic western attire and shoot club matches.

I'm glad you are doing well dealing with family issues. Sometimes life takes a bumpy turn but it opens up new opportunities in your life. Have a great new year.

[pacrat]

Way to go.

Brian sounds like the old school LGS guys from days gone by [1960s] that I learned from.

[CGT80]

Great story. Hopefully all that ammo is now loaded correctly and will function as you expect. I have learned to do a few test loads and make sure it is setup right, before I do a reloading marathon.

West End Gun Club, near Fontana, has a lever action silhouette shooting match. It is laid back, and we don't dress up. It is just a way to have some fun with the old lever guns.

It costs me around 7 cents per round of 30-30 ammo to reload. Of course I pickup lead at the range, cast my own boolits, and then load up some 180 grain boolits over some shotgun powder for a nice 1300 fps load. You could buy some plated, moly coated lead, or wax lubed lead bullets and still load them up for less than 20 cents each.

It is great to hear about a LGS guy that will provide some great info and a great service vs. all of the FUD or nonsense that we often hear about.

[Enfield47]

Good story and glad to hear that Brian was kind enough to spend the time to get you set up correctly. That is what the shooting community is all about.

[rcslotcar]

Sounds like Brian is a stand up guy. I'm going to drive the exra miles to vist his shop. Thanks for sharing your story.

[BB-Stacker]

Good to hear you found some peace. I recently met Brian at his shop. He is a welcome asset to our community. I bought some bullets not because I needed them or that he had the best price. I bought them because he is charting his life's passion into a service our shooting community woefully need.

I STRONGLY encourage everyone to stop in and meet Brian. He's a great guy. His store is across the street from the new ARTIC transportation center in Anaheim near the Angels stadium.