Handloading is its own hobby and source of enjoyment for me. I sometimes find deals in the local "Pennysaver" mag. and get great deals on bullets. The last I figured, I can load good, accurate ammo for my AR for about .16 cents a round, although that goes up when I am using,say, Nosler Partitions for my SD loads. I recently was given about 3k Lake City .556 cases from a buddy in the military that he picked up from the range on his base and got a few hundred old Hornady 55gr. JSP's from a friend who got it from a nieghbor lady whose husband had recently passed.
I have also come up with several different loads in .45 Colt that vary greatly in power and bullet weight for my Ruger SA's. Everything from plinkers to
T-Rex killers, not to mention my everyday do it all load.
I am one of those who goes shooting sometimes just to have more brass to load
! One way I look at it is that I do not save money by handloading, I just get to shoot more for the money I spend!
The time I spend sitting at my loading bench is very much quality time, like fishing, it is kind of a "Zen" thing. For me, anyway.
I also get to tailor my rounds for what I intend to use them for, and have made some pretty darn good loads for most of my firearms. that is worth a lot in itself.
Willy