Reloading as a Hobby...in itself. - Page 2

Jim243 · November 3, 2010, 09:36 PM

Quote:

which is more challenging?

Rifle needs more attention to detail than pistol or revolver.

Jim

grubbylabs · November 3, 2010, 09:41 PM

I started out like many wanting to make a higher quality ammo for less, now it is also a hobby all of its own. And I am starting to hoard ammo, and get into casting just so I can have more bullets on hand than any one or one hundred people could use in a life time, I cant wait to cast my first bullet.

As far as difficulty goes I think it is just a matter of how strict you want to be with your loading practice. On my 308 I load exactly 43 grains according to my scale, for my 45 I just check every 10 rounds to make sure I am .05 or closer. So loading for my 308 is more time consuming since I am very strict about tolerances but my 45 not as much.

T B Good · November 3, 2010, 11:04 PM

I shoot to reload, let me explain how much reloading means to me.
Reloading for me started when I was first married. My future father in law got me into shooting, but when we first married I was making $4.65 an hour.
Well, I bought a single stage press and started reloading. My bride knew that I had a learning disability and knew I could not keep up with reading my beloved gun magazines, so as I reloaded, she would read the articles to me.
As we aged my child would come and listen to my wife read to me, and she would read as well.
Today, I reload within the week I shoot the brass empty. I still use a single stage press and it takes about an hour to do 50 rounds, plenty of time for my bride of 30+ years to read an article or 2 to me.
Reloading is a family tradition now.

Xfire68 · November 3, 2010, 11:50 PM

I find reloading rewarding and fun. I also can find it tiring at times but, for the most part I enjoy it.

I really like trying out new loads and getting new projectiles to try out. I need more calibers darn it!

I am one that started reloading to save money back in the days of being a young Airmen with no money and shooting a 30.06. Even back in the early 90,s 30.06 was too expensive for 2 stripes!

NWPilgrim · November 4, 2010, 02:32 AM

I could stop reloading any time I want...honest!

I am guilty of actually going shooting on occasion to empty brass for a special reloading session.

I greatly enjoy both hobbies. Reloading is like having a factory, science lab, and another reason to have more tools all rolled into one activity. And the bonus is that it produces the very supply of product required for that other hobby at the range or field.

My dad was a hunter, pure and simple. He was a former WWII Marine and as far as he was concerned there was only four things you did with a firearm: clean it, shoot it to sight in, shoot to hunt, and shoot for self defense. He couldn't conceive why someone would want to shoot a bunch of perfectly good ammunition at a paper target. And he was the most excellent natural rifle shooter I ever saw. He fired maybe five shots an entire year but was a dead eye on every round, year after year. He once had a misfire on an elk using a reload from a friend and swore off reloaded ammo from then on.

He did enjoy shooting a few rounds out of the Arisaka he brought back in his sea bag. And late in his life when I bought a CMP Garand he lit up at shooting it for fun. Those were exceptions.

I kind of stumbled onto target shooting handguns, and the eventual .44 mag lead to a need to reload, which resulted in finding a fascinating scientific industrial hobby.

bpratl · November 4, 2010, 05:00 AM

I started reloading in 1960-1965 until I was drafted. I picked it up again in 1985-1989 until starting new business. I Restarted again in 2006 and enjoying it again because I am now semi retired and have more time to play, reload and shoot. I am using the same reloading equipment with many add-ons.

GP100man · November 4, 2010, 06:49 AM

Old Lincoln asked :

If you reload more than you shoot and have surplus, is it okay to sell that to those you know? Is there a law?

Reason for asking, I don't want to re-load, but want to pistol range shoot and can't afford retail ammo.

To Legally sell any home manufactured ammunition part ya need a 006FFL & an insurance writer is my understanding.

4runnerman · November 4, 2010, 07:25 AM

Two Votes for rifle. Pistol is a breeze,Very easy. Rifle one just wants to be a little more cautious with.Pistol,no lube needed,do have to crimp though. When i first started to load pistol i was amazed at how lilttle powder is in those things. I load 45 ACP-4.1 gn of titegroup is like 2 shakes of a salt shaker.ok maybe 3 or 4. I also noticed how accuracy is so much better in both cases with my own loads.

Uncle Buck · November 4, 2010, 07:36 AM

I posted earlier and came back to read what others had posted. Made me think about some of the dies I have.

I have dies for cartridges I do not have yet. I have had my .30-06 die for almost a year and just began reloading for it.

I also load shotgun shells.

For me, reloading the pistol cartridges (straight walled) are a breeze, reloading rifle cartridges are more time consuming because I go much slower. Shotgun shells are the most frustrating, because you should be swapping different components.

floydster · November 4, 2010, 04:06 PM

I am the mirror image of Huskerguy, now that I am retired the hobby has generated a new interest in me--- just love it!! And some of my old tools

Crashbox · November 4, 2010, 07:15 PM

I also enjoy reloading just for the fun of it, especially when the weather goes south on us here in Northwest Washington. I currently only reload for .357 Magnum but have the necessary goods for my .40 S&W. Whether single-stage loading the nuclear-strength rounds or running my LNL AP to crank out moderate paper-punchers, it is truly enjoyable for me.

Glad you also find it as such.

ArkieVol · November 4, 2010, 10:52 PM

I'm a loadaholic...

I've only been hand/re-loading for about a year and didn't realize I might have a problem until I ran out of brass one day. It was only then, when I checked my ammo cabinets, that I realized having three thousand+ loaded rounds and a need to load more might foretell a creeping addiction...LOL. Shot up seven boxes this weekend and need to shoot up a bunch more to get the brass for winter day load time.

Seriously, I just enjoy it for what it is. Therapy was mentioned before...true. Also mentioned was cost saving, custom round building...true again. But I see a few other things too...a sense of accomplishment (I did it myself), a sense of personal pride, and the mastery of a skill. All of these things taken individually or taken together justify hand loading as a good and proper hobby.

My previous hobby/addiction was motorcycles but a crash (truck driver didn't see me) and the loss of the use of my clutch hand forced a search for a new hobby...glad I found this one!

grubbylabs · November 4, 2010, 10:56 PM

Well Jack it sounds like you have a problem. You ran out of brass, so go get some more, if you look it is not that hard to find.

darkgael · November 5, 2010, 04:43 AM

Quote:

. If you think you have an addiction now, just wait until you try casting your own bullets! Different moulds to try, both modern & obsolete, alloys to experiment with, sizing diameters to play with, paper-patching, not to mention a whole new field..blending your own bullet lube's. I soon got bored with just reaching in a box of bullets , setting one on a case mouth & pulling a handle...With casting, I'll never live long enough to get bored!

Oh, yeah. That's the truth.
Handloading has led me from trying to make enough .45 match ammo to practice and shoot throughout the year to all of the above and more.
Picking up odd rifles or antique pistols and finding or forming or making the cases and bullets needed to shoot them. I started out with a Lee Classic loader and now - some decades later - I look at my reloading benches - there are three of them in two houses. I have thirteen presses - five for shotgun ammo, four progressives for rifle and pistol cartridges, a Corbin swage press, and a number of single stage presses for various tasks. The hobby led me to a small lathe and a host of other tools used to tinker with bullets and brass.
I could go on.....but so could many of us.
And then there are muzzleloaders.
Pete

flyguy958 · November 5, 2010, 06:37 AM

"Reloading for me started when I was first married. My future father in law got me into shooting, ..."

T B Good, what a family!

BlueTrain · November 5, 2010, 07:02 AM

Oh, it got to be that way for me, too. It got so that shooting was a way to justify the handloading exercises. Frankly, there's a whole lot of other things you learn when reloading, as opposed to actually shooting. And it is something you can do at home, too. Virtually all of my reloading was of handgun cartridges and I never did any bullet casting. I also never thought the cost of the equipment was all that great, especially when compared to the cost of a range membership, which ultimately was the main reason I quit shooting.

I used to enjoy reading what Dean Grennell wrote, which was mostly about reloading. His writing was so good that you would enjoy reading it no matter what he wrote about. If he wrote a manual on a parking lot line painter, you would stay up late reading it. He wrote mostly for the old Gun Digest magazine, one of the less pompous gun magazines when he, Jack Lewis and Tom Ferguson were there. (Shooting Times wasn't bad either). Grennell also was supposedly responsible for the .45 Magnum.

Reloading requires some care, obviously, but that probably makes it a lot more interesting. I'd have to say all you muzzleloading enthusiasts are missing out on something (just kidding).

OldLincoln · November 24, 2010, 08:21 PM

Old Lincoln asked : "If you reload more than you shoot and have surplus, is it okay to sell that to those you know? Is there a law?

Reason for asking, I don't want to re-load, but want to pistol range shoot and can't afford retail ammo."

GP100man replied: "To Legally sell any home manufactured ammunition part ya need a 006FFL & an insurance writer is my understanding."
===============

Thanks for your reply. I thought there must be some kind of law especially here in CA, but wanted the answer for when asked.

farmerboy · November 24, 2010, 08:55 PM

Got into reloading back years ago because I thought it was neat to be able to roll your own, have rounds more accurate than commercial rounds, cheaper therefore shoot more and after I got to rolling I cant honestly say which I prefer to do more, shoot or reload. I love both!!! As far as saving goes, well I use to only shoot approx. 10 boxes of ammo a year now that I reload I shoot way more now but have abundance in stockpile.

Wag · November 24, 2010, 08:56 PM

I reload to shoot and I shoot to reload.

When I'm at the range, I lose track of time. Sometimes, I'm just standing there making holes in paper, other times, I'm at the bench on a rest, making sure I'm getting the best possible prints with every gun so I can determine the groups and the quality of my ammo. I absolutely love shooting.

The only thing I don't like so much is picking up all of my brass. Note, I said "MY" brass. Don't you touch it! I pick it all up, regardless, and separate it all at home. I have quite a bit of brass for calibers I don't have so I'm going to have to sell it eventually.

At home, first thing is, I pitch a bunch of my brass in the tumbler right away. Seems to clean faster and better if I get it started right off rather than wait for that fouling to set up in there.

Then I clean guns.

Then I start reloading. Something. Anything. It doesn't matter. It's a great way to pass the time.

And I lose track of time again.

--Wag--

TXAZ · November 24, 2010, 09:12 PM

I'm curious: How many of you reloaders spend more money now that you did before you started reloading?

Wag · November 24, 2010, 09:26 PM

Spending quite a bit less money and shoot quite a bit more.

My last box of .357 magnums calculate out to $7.00 a box. If I hunted around for better prices on bullets, I'd be spending even less.

--Wag--

k9cougar · November 24, 2010, 10:20 PM

to justify reloading enough to always have at least a thousand rounds on hand. I really enjoy reloading. You can put your troubles behind you as you pull on the handle, repeat, pull, repeat....... You can immediately see that you have accomplished something and have had a great time doing it. I have a single stage press right now. Occasionally I think of going to a progressive but then I wouldn't be able to afford to reload as much as I would want to and that would kind of suck.

AK Shooter · November 24, 2010, 11:02 PM

I spend a lot more money now than before I came across Sinclair's website

T-Mac · November 26, 2010, 08:46 PM

Accuracy was my original intent. Now, I have reloads that my guns will shoot way better than I can.
So... now I do it because I have all these components to use up.

But... I never seem to run out of everything all at once.
So I buy more of what I am getting low of....of course.

Sheeese!

JohnMoses · November 27, 2010, 09:06 AM

I, too, started reloading to save money. Casting bullets with a single cavity Lee mold, cake lubing, & hammer pounding them thru the sizing die. It is my mission to create enough ammo to recoup the cost of the dies & components, wich sometimes means shooting a lot. Darn it. Mass quanity in pistols, benchrest quality for certain rifles, gentle loads for old veterans, forming ammo unavailable anywhere. I find myself buying a new gun in a caliber I don't load for just to start the adventure again. Sometimes I happen upon die sets that make me search for a matching gun. Anyone got a 444 Marlin?

November 3, 2010, 09:41 PM	#27
grubbylabs Senior Member Join Date: October 11, 2009 Location: Hansen Idaho Posts: 1,465	I started out like many wanting to make a higher quality ammo for less, now it is also a hobby all of its own. And I am starting to hoard ammo, and get into casting just so I can have more bullets on hand than any one or one hundred people could use in a life time, I cant wait to cast my first bullet. As far as difficulty goes I think it is just a matter of how strict you want to be with your loading practice. On my 308 I load exactly 43 grains according to my scale, for my 45 I just check every 10 rounds to make sure I am .05 or closer. So loading for my 308 is more time consuming since I am very strict about tolerances but my 45 not as much. __________________ * (Swinging club) Whack! whack! whack! * Nope, the old nag's still dead . (Capt Charlie)

November 3, 2010, 11:50 PM	#29
Xfire68 Senior Member Join Date: March 31, 2010 Location: Communist State of IL. Posts: 1,562	I find reloading rewarding and fun. I also can find it tiring at times but, for the most part I enjoy it. I really like trying out new loads and getting new projectiles to try out. I need more calibers darn it! I am one that started reloading to save money back in the days of being a young Airmen with no money and shooting a 30.06. Even back in the early 90,s 30.06 was too expensive for 2 stripes! __________________ NRA Life Member, SAF Member

November 4, 2010, 02:32 AM	#30
NWPilgrim Senior Member Join Date: September 29, 2008 Location: Oregon Posts: 2,346	I could stop reloading any time I want...honest! I am guilty of actually going shooting on occasion to empty brass for a special reloading session. I greatly enjoy both hobbies. Reloading is like having a factory, science lab, and another reason to have more tools all rolled into one activity. And the bonus is that it produces the very supply of product required for that other hobby at the range or field. My dad was a hunter, pure and simple. He was a former WWII Marine and as far as he was concerned there was only four things you did with a firearm: clean it, shoot it to sight in, shoot to hunt, and shoot for self defense. He couldn't conceive why someone would want to shoot a bunch of perfectly good ammunition at a paper target. And he was the most excellent natural rifle shooter I ever saw. He fired maybe five shots an entire year but was a dead eye on every round, year after year. He once had a misfire on an elk using a reload from a friend and swore off reloaded ammo from then on. He did enjoy shooting a few rounds out of the Arisaka he brought back in his sea bag. And late in his life when I bought a CMP Garand he lit up at shooting it for fun. Those were exceptions. I kind of stumbled onto target shooting handguns, and the eventual .44 mag lead to a need to reload, which resulted in finding a fascinating scientific industrial hobby. __________________ "The ultimate authority ... resides in the people alone. ... The advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation ... forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition." - James Madison

November 4, 2010, 05:00 AM	#31
bpratl Member Join Date: March 15, 2009 Location: Gloucester, MA Posts: 47	I started reloading in 1960-1965 until I was drafted. I picked it up again in 1985-1989 until starting new business. I Restarted again in 2006 and enjoying it again because I am now semi retired and have more time to play, reload and shoot. I am using the same reloading equipment with many add-ons. __________________ .222 rem-Sako, .204 - Savage, 6 mm BR - Savage, 7-30 Waters - T/C, 270 Weatherby - Custom Muser, 22-250 - Savage, .222 rem - T/C, 204-T/C, BP .44 & .36 Bob

November 4, 2010, 06:49 AM	#32
GP100man Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2007 Location: Tabor City , NC. Posts: 1,969	Old Lincoln asked : If you reload more than you shoot and have surplus, is it okay to sell that to those you know? Is there a law? Reason for asking, I don't want to re-load, but want to pistol range shoot and can't afford retail ammo. To Legally sell any home manufactured ammunition part ya need a 006FFL & an insurance writer is my understanding. __________________ GP100man

November 3, 2010, 11:04 PM	#28
T B Good Member Join Date: May 20, 2008 Posts: 95	I shoot to reload, let me explain how much reloading means to me. Reloading for me started when I was first married. My future father in law got me into shooting, but when we first married I was making $4.65 an hour. Well, I bought a single stage press and started reloading. My bride knew that I had a learning disability and knew I could not keep up with reading my beloved gun magazines, so as I reloaded, she would read the articles to me. As we aged my child would come and listen to my wife read to me, and she would read as well. Today, I reload within the week I shoot the brass empty. I still use a single stage press and it takes about an hour to do 50 rounds, plenty of time for my bride of 30+ years to read an article or 2 to me. Reloading is a family tradition now.

November 4, 2010, 07:25 AM	#33
4runnerman Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2010 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,577	Two Votes for rifle. Pistol is a breeze,Very easy. Rifle one just wants to be a little more cautious with.Pistol,no lube needed,do have to crimp though. When i first started to load pistol i was amazed at how lilttle powder is in those things. I load 45 ACP-4.1 gn of titegroup is like 2 shakes of a salt shaker.ok maybe 3 or 4. I also noticed how accuracy is so much better in both cases with my own loads.

November 4, 2010, 07:36 AM	#34
Uncle Buck Senior Member Join Date: June 21, 2009 Location: West Central Missouri Posts: 2,592	I posted earlier and came back to read what others had posted. Made me think about some of the dies I have. I have dies for cartridges I do not have yet. I have had my .30-06 die for almost a year and just began reloading for it. I also load shotgun shells. For me, reloading the pistol cartridges (straight walled) are a breeze, reloading rifle cartridges are more time consuming because I go much slower. Shotgun shells are the most frustrating, because you should be swapping different components. __________________ Inside Every Bright Idea Is The 50% Probability Of A Disaster Waiting To Happen.

November 4, 2010, 04:06 PM	#35
floydster Senior Member Join Date: May 26, 2008 Posts: 472	I am the mirror image of Huskerguy, now that I am retired the hobby has generated a new interest in me--- just love it!! And some of my old tools

November 4, 2010, 07:15 PM	#36
Crashbox Senior Member Join Date: November 3, 2009 Location: Lynden, Washington Posts: 199	I also enjoy reloading just for the fun of it, especially when the weather goes south on us here in Northwest Washington. I currently only reload for .357 Magnum but have the necessary goods for my .40 S&W. Whether single-stage loading the nuclear-strength rounds or running my LNL AP to crank out moderate paper-punchers, it is truly enjoyable for me. Glad you also find it as such. __________________ Four Rugers, three SIG Sauers, assorted rifles. NRA, GOA and SAF Life Member.

November 4, 2010, 10:52 PM	#37
ArkieVol Member Join Date: April 8, 2009 Location: Arkansas Posts: 86	Hello, My name is Jack... I'm a loadaholic... I've only been hand/re-loading for about a year and didn't realize I might have a problem until I ran out of brass one day. It was only then, when I checked my ammo cabinets, that I realized having three thousand+ loaded rounds and a need to load more might foretell a creeping addiction...LOL. Shot up seven boxes this weekend and need to shoot up a bunch more to get the brass for winter day load time. Seriously, I just enjoy it for what it is. Therapy was mentioned before...true. Also mentioned was cost saving, custom round building...true again. But I see a few other things too...a sense of accomplishment (I did it myself), a sense of personal pride, and the mastery of a skill. All of these things taken individually or taken together justify hand loading as a good and proper hobby. My previous hobby/addiction was motorcycles but a crash (truck driver didn't see me) and the loss of the use of my clutch hand forced a search for a new hobby...glad I found this one! __________________ Pay attention...it pays to win

November 4, 2010, 10:56 PM	#38
grubbylabs Senior Member Join Date: October 11, 2009 Location: Hansen Idaho Posts: 1,465	Well Jack it sounds like you have a problem. You ran out of brass, so go get some more, if you look it is not that hard to find. __________________ * (Swinging club) Whack! whack! whack! * Nope, the old nag's still dead . (Capt Charlie)

November 5, 2010, 06:37 AM	#40
flyguy958 Senior Member Join Date: June 27, 2009 Location: SC Posts: 200	"Reloading for me started when I was first married. My future father in law got me into shooting, ..." T B Good, what a family!

November 5, 2010, 07:02 AM	#41
BlueTrain Senior Member Join Date: September 26, 2005 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 6,141	Oh, it got to be that way for me, too. It got so that shooting was a way to justify the handloading exercises. Frankly, there's a whole lot of other things you learn when reloading, as opposed to actually shooting. And it is something you can do at home, too. Virtually all of my reloading was of handgun cartridges and I never did any bullet casting. I also never thought the cost of the equipment was all that great, especially when compared to the cost of a range membership, which ultimately was the main reason I quit shooting. I used to enjoy reading what Dean Grennell wrote, which was mostly about reloading. His writing was so good that you would enjoy reading it no matter what he wrote about. If he wrote a manual on a parking lot line painter, you would stay up late reading it. He wrote mostly for the old Gun Digest magazine, one of the less pompous gun magazines when he, Jack Lewis and Tom Ferguson were there. (Shooting Times wasn't bad either). Grennell also was supposedly responsible for the .45 Magnum. Reloading requires some care, obviously, but that probably makes it a lot more interesting. I'd have to say all you muzzleloading enthusiasts are missing out on something (just kidding). __________________ Shoot low, sheriff. They're riding Shetlands! Underneath the starry flag, civilize 'em with a Krag, and return us to our own beloved homes! Buy War Bonds.

November 24, 2010, 08:21 PM	#42
OldLincoln Member Join Date: April 4, 2010 Posts: 49	Old Lincoln asked : "If you reload more than you shoot and have surplus, is it okay to sell that to those you know? Is there a law? Reason for asking, I don't want to re-load, but want to pistol range shoot and can't afford retail ammo." GP100man replied: "To Legally sell any home manufactured ammunition part ya need a 006FFL & an insurance writer is my understanding." =============== Thanks for your reply. I thought there must be some kind of law especially here in CA, but wanted the answer for when asked.

November 24, 2010, 08:55 PM	#43
farmerboy Junior member Join Date: May 16, 2009 Location: Central Texas Posts: 1,343	Got into reloading back years ago because I thought it was neat to be able to roll your own, have rounds more accurate than commercial rounds, cheaper therefore shoot more and after I got to rolling I cant honestly say which I prefer to do more, shoot or reload. I love both!!! As far as saving goes, well I use to only shoot approx. 10 boxes of ammo a year now that I reload I shoot way more now but have abundance in stockpile.

November 24, 2010, 08:56 PM	#44
Wag Senior Member Join Date: October 22, 2010 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 988	I reload to shoot and I shoot to reload. When I'm at the range, I lose track of time. Sometimes, I'm just standing there making holes in paper, other times, I'm at the bench on a rest, making sure I'm getting the best possible prints with every gun so I can determine the groups and the quality of my ammo. I absolutely love shooting. The only thing I don't like so much is picking up all of my brass. Note, I said "MY" brass. Don't you touch it! I pick it all up, regardless, and separate it all at home. I have quite a bit of brass for calibers I don't have so I'm going to have to sell it eventually. At home, first thing is, I pitch a bunch of my brass in the tumbler right away. Seems to clean faster and better if I get it started right off rather than wait for that fouling to set up in there. Then I clean guns. Then I start reloading. Something. Anything. It doesn't matter. It's a great way to pass the time. And I lose track of time again. --Wag-- __________________ "Great genius will always encounter fierce opposition from mediocre minds." --Albert Einstein.

November 24, 2010, 09:12 PM	#45
TXAZ Senior Member Join Date: September 5, 2010 Location: McMurdo Sound Texas Posts: 4,322	I'm curious: How many of you reloaders spend more money now that you did before you started reloading? __________________ Cave illos in guns et backhoes

November 24, 2010, 09:26 PM	#46
Wag Senior Member Join Date: October 22, 2010 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 988	Spending quite a bit less money and shoot quite a bit more. My last box of .357 magnums calculate out to $7.00 a box. If I hunted around for better prices on bullets, I'd be spending even less. --Wag-- __________________ "Great genius will always encounter fierce opposition from mediocre minds." --Albert Einstein.

November 24, 2010, 10:20 PM	#47
k9cougar Member Join Date: February 21, 2010 Posts: 74	I use the zombie threat to justify reloading enough to always have at least a thousand rounds on hand. I really enjoy reloading. You can put your troubles behind you as you pull on the handle, repeat, pull, repeat....... You can immediately see that you have accomplished something and have had a great time doing it. I have a single stage press right now. Occasionally I think of going to a progressive but then I wouldn't be able to afford to reload as much as I would want to and that would kind of suck.

November 24, 2010, 11:02 PM	#48
AK Shooter Member Join Date: September 26, 2007 Location: Anchorage Ak Posts: 26	I spend a lot more money now than before I came across Sinclair's website

November 26, 2010, 08:46 PM	#49
T-Mac Member Join Date: January 18, 2006 Location: Townsend, MT Posts: 99	Accuracy was my original intent. Now, I have reloads that my guns will shoot way better than I can. So... now I do it because I have all these components to use up. But... I never seem to run out of everything all at once. So I buy more of what I am getting low of....of course. Sheeese!

November 27, 2010, 09:06 AM	#50
JohnMoses Senior Member Join Date: April 11, 2008 Posts: 197	I, too, started reloading to save money. Casting bullets with a single cavity Lee mold, cake lubing, & hammer pounding them thru the sizing die. It is my mission to create enough ammo to recoup the cost of the dies & components, wich sometimes means shooting a lot. Darn it. Mass quanity in pistols, benchrest quality for certain rifles, gentle loads for old veterans, forming ammo unavailable anywhere. I find myself buying a new gun in a caliber I don't load for just to start the adventure again. Sometimes I happen upon die sets that make me search for a matching gun. Anyone got a 444 Marlin?