Reloading- why did you start?

[Oldbloke]

For me:
1. Cheaper ammo.
2. Reliable supply that didn't vary.(control)
3. Better accuracy.
4. The satisfaction/enjoyment.

1. For shotgun that was achieved quickly. For rifle it took a long time due to my low round count and higher initial cost.
2. Achieved pretty quickly.
3. Achieved as i learnt and upgraded.
4. That came later.

[wrenchman]

I got into it for cheaper better ammo and its some thing I do with my son

[No1Mk3]

1. Cheaper ammo, after school jobs didn't pay much and I was saving for a motorbike at the time. I never noticed any difference in accuracy, target shooting at the time was done with a 303 Range Rifle and issued Mk7 ammo so my reloads were purely for hunting. Satisfaction of succesful kills with my own ammo was very much a part of it after cost I do admit.

[Wm.Traynor]

In the Olden Days there was no factory ammo for the 303/25, so I had to make my own . Started with a Simplex Straightline tool. The chemist weighed out some surplus 4740 into a few sawed-off cases and from that I made a dipper I was in business

[Bugman]

To save some money, to have loads that worked well in the firearms I was using, and to experiment with the "science" that is reloading.
I still enjoy it to this day.

[Finniss]

To increase bullet choice so I could push game size up a bit for chosen cartridge.

[Billo]

I got into reloading cause the premium European Moose pills I wanted to shoot weren't available in any Factory ammo.

I still shoot the same pills today 20 years later

[bigpete]

Dad was a fox shooter and did,so I did. Plus my first rifle was a Martini 222 rimmed

[bladeracer]

For me:
1. Cheaper ammo.
2. Reliable supply that didn't vary.(control)
3. Better accuracy.
4. The satisfaction/enjoyment.

1. For shotgun that was achieved quickly. For rifle it took a long time due to my low round count and higher initial cost.
2. Achieved pretty quickly.
3. Achieved as i learnt and upgraded.
4. That came later.

I really can't recall why I did, it just seemed silly to me to buy ammo that somebody else had made. I was reading lots of magazines at the time, before I started buying rifles, so I guess the reloading sections just caught my eye and it made sense to load my own. The .222Rem and .243 I never bought factory for, I bought brass and bullets and loaded for them from day one. On the other hand, I don't think it ever occurred to me to make my own shotshells. I did save the hulls so perhaps it was in the back of my mind but I don't recall ever making moves in that direction. I was shooting quite a lot of 12ga. at the time but perhaps it was cheap enough that I just didn't worry about it. I never bought any factory rifle ammo at all until I got my first 6.5x55mm rifle. It was a lot of rifle for the small game (rabbits, crows, foxes, cats and the occasional goat) I was shooting at the time, so I wasn't shooting a lot of it. The only 6.5x55mm ammo readily available at the time was the Norma FMJ stuff, which was Berdan-primed. I suppose if brass and bullets were readily available I probably would've loaded for it as well.

As I still do, when I was a kid I used a lot more .22LR ammo than anything else. I did use a lot of 12ga. shooting starlings and galahs but I would think I used more .222 ammo on foxes, crows and rabbits.

As for your points, I'm sure I am many thousands of dollars ahead on the amount of centrefire rifle and pistol ammo I've used, way in front. I keep plenty of stock on hand so I can't recall ever running short of ammo, it's not something that even comes to mind as I replenish stock as I use it. I can't say for sure whether I get better accuracy than factory ammo as I have used so very little factory rifle ammunition, but I get accuracy that it's very much sufficient for my uses. Enjoyment of the process and never having to rely on outside supply, goes nicely with the satisfaction that comes from using ammo you've made yourself. I equate it to the little smile that comes every time I fire up an engine I built myself.

[Oldbloke]

For many years I mainly shot rabbits and ducks. So 12g shells were my main ammo. Hence that's how I started.
Then, having a mortgage and young family when I bought my 30.30 money was tight. I'd buy a box, 6 months later couldn't buy same brand. So, by another and waste, time, fuel, ammo and checking zero.

So, when I traded it in on a 30.06 bought a Lee Loader. After abt 12 months a "0" press and dies, ver looked back.

[GQshayne]

Back when I started it was cheaper than factory stuff, and also the projectiles in the factory stuff were a bit light compared to what experts recommended for the .243 for pig hunting. I had been loading 30/30 with my old man for both our rifles, so when I got the .243 i bought some dies and carried on. The 30/30's we had was in about 1984. Got my .243 when I was 16, in 1986. Still have it.

[deye243]

I started back in the 80s as the Remington 17r rifle I had didn't like the factory ammo and shooting foxes soon payed it all off .
I got back in to loading again in the 90s for pistol shooting and still do ...... and also for roo culling and my 3 LR rifles.

[OyKurwa]

I started amidst the absolute cluster of commercial ammo supply issues during and after Covid.

I have never been the type to keep a lot of ammo around. During this period I kept running into an issue where I would go to get ammo and find what my rifle was sighted in for to be out of stock. So I'd get an alternate, and have to burn rounds re-sighting in, only to find the next time I went for ammo that the alternate was out of stock.

So I decided to reload, that way I could buy the projectiles I wanted In bulk and as long as I had powder and primers on hand, not run into that issue.

I haven't looked back since. I have everything on hand for all the calibers I shoot and knock rounds whenever I'm going out for a shoot.

[Vince24]

Why did I start?

- came to Australia with military rifles in 7 different calibres, and only 1 gun shop around, offering crazy prices
- came to Australia with 2200 shells in my container - the guys at the custom did not trust my declarations and counted them again 1 by 1 )
- someone got me a $50 dollar press and introduced me to the science of reloading
- red manuals and watched videos, found it absolutely interesting
- got keys of the range to be able to shoot off hours to do my testings
- by only buying bargain components in private sales, the average cost of my rounds remains between $0.8 and $1.1 at worse
- and accuracy of my reloads in my milsurps is at least as good as with factory, but generally better with less recoil
- I have managed to not fall into the spiral of always more expensive equipment - still using my $50 press, my Hornady perfect powder and all my other very basic tools.
- I love reloading - it's my stress-free happy place on Friday evenings after a busy week!

I am not looking back!!!

[cadet]

Handloading is the only way to get cartridges for a lot of the stuff I enjoy shooting; some of it - eg .577/.450, 8g - is long obsolete and hasn't been made in generations, others - eg double rifles - need very specific combinations to regulate. Cost saving? Not a chance: by the time I amortise the cartridge-specific dies, moulds, amortise general equipment like powder thrower, trimmer, press, scales, include the cost of the components, burn extra primers, powder and bullets to work up the load, it's not especially cheap - even before I factor in time for case prep, casting, cutting wads, etc.

[Gunstruck]

It's been over fifty years since I started reloading as shooting is a sport and hobby for me. Not worried about the cost as I find it relaxing, and, as a collector now I can make my own ammunition for some of the discontinued/hard to get cartridges.

[madang55]

Yup, gets me out of the house into the man-cave where I am left alone to ponder the questions of the universe, marriage, children, and reloading.