Thread: What are YOUR aims with reloading?

Originally Posted by steven

Technically interesting, I find it relaxing and for shooting ranges high accuracy. I also load each 308w round for around 90cents, I cant get competition ammo at anywhere near that cost, probably cost me $2 each or even more.

So I load 350 rounds, using 1kg of ADI 2208 so I dont store any powder, ditto 303, Im then set for 3 months or so.

My reloading kit is around $1k, should pay for itself in under 2 seasons.

regards

My kit was about the same price as the Lee anniversary kit and included the RCBS powder thrower, 5-0-5 scales, Lee Turret press (not the best but dies the job), couple of set of pistol dies, measures, lube kit, and heaps of other bits. Would have paid for itself in savings with the first 400 rounds easily. Cost 95c/ round for the 243 and $1.05 for the 308.

I run a 270WSM and the initial idea was to product cheap rounds. I'm not sure if this is the actually outcome as new I fire a heap more. If I was not reloading I would be shooting less.

Sure the cost per round is cheap, but the total cost would be more than if shooting factory ammo.

With the creation of the 223 Maximus, I've done the development and testing. It shoots great, but I'm now done with it and am looking for another project............. Of course I'll still hunt with it and make a few tweaks here and there.

I finally started reloading as I wanted to run Barnes projectiles. I did some research before hand so knew it was not going to save me money…lol

I also like the thought of stalking and shooting a deer with a reload I have made, with a rifle I put together.

Bloody good fun and only wish I had started reloading earlier.

Cheers

Dino

I reloaded to start with based on cost , as I thought it would be 1/2 the cost of self stuff , reality is the cost/money you spend willnot reduce to 1/2 the cost of factory stuff, in simple terms , by reloading your own , cost stays at the same as factory ammo , BUT you end up with 2x as much ammo to use .

For me now , its all about being able to pick the exact bullet I want to use , and the speed to some degree , rather than just whats available in NZ shops , so in short the ammo I want to use is not ready available in NZ shops , so I have to reload , end of story .

Cheers Chris

My aim is to start this winter and get reasonably priced, tailored rounds for my rifle. Currently it shoots Fed 80gr powershok really well - I shot a load of roos at the weekend with these out to 452m. However - the softpoints are too heavy for the softbody wallabies, and the Federal are difficult to get now including a cost that has gone up from $35 to 45 in two years!

Originally Posted by scottrods

My aim is to start this winter and get reasonably priced, tailored rounds for my rifle. Currently it shoots Fed 80gr powershok really well - I shot a load of roos at the weekend with these out to 452m. However - the softpoints are too heavy for the softbody wallabies, and the Federal are difficult to get now including a cost that has gone up from $35 to 45 in two years!

Not too heavy, Too hard

The aim for me is consistency, and enjoyment. I have full control over what components I choose and what I want to achieve. I can custom tailor rounds to meet certain requirements, whether that be speed, accuracy, effective killing at close or longer distances, or all of them combined. Nothing beats pulling off a difficult kill on a domestic beast with ammunition that you have custom made for that exact situation.

I like to tinker, and reloading is taking my love of hunting to a higher technical level. Also it can become a good social activity when you start doing loading sessions with mates.

I believe my costs are the same as buying factory ammo but I am shooting 2x as many rounds. This becomes even more true when you are loading for multiple calibres, as the cost is spread through them all.

I can load super flashy ammo for the same cost as basic factory ammo, and for the likes of some rifles, I can load accurate, functional ammo for half the cost of factory.

Most of all I find it fun, challenging (at times) and relaxing.

I reload simply to try and get the best value for money and learn more about what I'm doing and why I'm doing it.

I've worked out depending on projectile my .223 costs about 50c per round and the .308 is about 80c so that beats the hell out of $50ish for 20 quality but still soft loads.

In the end as we all know it ends up costing more as we shoot more..... yet to find a problem with that!

Consistency, and narrowing down as many excuses of missing the target to only shooter error.,

Originally Posted by EK9132

In the end as we all know it ends up costing more as we shoot more..... yet to find a problem with that!

I don't see a problem there. I reload so I can shoot more.

Originally Posted by gadgetman

I don't see a problem there. I reload so I can shoot more.

No, thats a good thing .. better accuracy .. because you're shooting more .. and better accuracy , because reloads are more accurate

Win all round

That was my thinking exactly.

Originally Posted by gadgetman

I don't see a problem there. I reload so I can shoot more.

I also shoot more so I can reload more! Certainly value my quiet time at the table with no nagging.

Originally Posted by gadgetman

When I started in my engineering course one thing was drilled into us. To define our desired outcomes and and what point we should abandon a project. At the time there were a large number of government projects sucking huge amounts of money out of the economy, and as they came up with problem after problem they just sucked in more money to overcome them. Typically they came in at 4-10 times their initial budget.

So on that note when you took on reloading why did you do it and what it your aim to say a load development project is complete. Conversely, at what point do you pull the pin and say it is a failure and look to a new project? What do you want to achieve?


I went into reloading with what I saw as a realistic view of what I wanted to achieve from a reasonable weight and inexpensive hunting rifle. Not knowing my capabilities, being new to shooting, I figured 25mm at 100m was all I was after with half the size of the heart lung zone on a deer and the energy/distance table of the cartridge I was using (400m). Figuring half the zone would give me a latitude for greater error for shooting in the field.

The main things I was after was reasonably low cost per round and initial set up. So I bought a second hand kit and just added a few extras to match what I was shooting and to speed up a couple of bottlenecks I identified (de-priming die, untrasonic cleaner and off press priming). Yes, I'm a proud tight arse. And yes, the other reason is that the process fascinated me and it was an itch I had to scratch.

So what are your thought?

Look at this thread which posits your question about some thing which already works.

Thumler's tumbler mods post your pics

Initially I was forced to reload as I bought a Sako Hunter in 7mm/08 from Reloaders Supplies. This was in January 1988 and was probably the 1st 7mm/08 Sako to be bought in NZ and I had 1st choice of the five they'd obtained. It was a new chambering for Sako. It was years later before A.G. Mitchell (the official NZ importers of Sako back then) started to import rifles in that calibre. There was no factory ammunition available and every hunter I came across had never heard of the cartridge and most of them kind of looked at me sideways for buying such an oddball. Ron Dent the owner of Reloaders had the nous to bring in some Remington brass and dies with the rifles. In twenty years I owned that rifle I never once fired a factory round through it nor needed to. Ron Dent was a pioneer and a very smart man and we owe him a debt of gratitude for his foresight in lowering the cost to hunters and shooters of quality firearms and ammunition. He stood by his grey imports too.

Rolling your own is not a cost saving exercise for hunting. However, the benefits can be substantial as pointed out in previous posts. If you do target shooting then it is almost a necessity to reload. I put thousands of handloads through my 6mm PPC Sako in N.Z.D.A. competition and shudder to think what the cost for that would've been if using Sako factory ammo (which apparently was very accurate in their 6mm PPC rifles) as it was prohibitively expensive.