Mid-Life Reloading vs. Buying Ammo Crisis

[RetiredSniper]

Well it's winter up here in Northern New Hampshire again. Plenty of time to stay in and warm and reload. I can watch it snow and anticipate how much longer it will be till I can go empty some shells again wile I am reloading. I get more reloading done in the winter than in the summer. Summer is shooting time as well as choirs around the house and OH YES, My Honey Do List which can become quite long over the winter! LOL!

 

[Tarheelpwr]

Agree with the above. I slowly bought everything to reload. Then life happened. Day job, side businesses, and now 3 kids.

I never even opened most of loading things. I have lived just fine shooting factory. I can't say it has held me back.

I still have everything NIB for when I move and life slows down at some point. Until then, I expense as much ammo as I can with work and buy the rest.

 

[iShoot17]

I value reloading probably just as much as I do shooting. I consider them both to be huge hobbies and I look forward to each in their own regards.

If you could find a little time here or there to carve out to get a little reloading done, I'd say keep at it.

With that said - if it means you can't play husband or dad, as they are required and expected, then reloading is a far cry from your priority list.

 

[Pootyng]

Prioritize what's important and what you enjoy.

 

[SCSCHNUR]

I reload because it is relaxing and I really enjoy it. When times get tough like when Obama was in office you couldn't find powder , primers or factory loaded ammo so I keep enough on hand to reload my own. Now I am at the age (retired) that I just enjoy having something to do when I have the energy. Physically I can't do as much as my mind wants to do so I do what I can split time shooting and reloading. Yes you can buy good ammo but it isn't as enjoyable as rolling your own. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Okanogan]

It doesn't sound like you have much of a choice if the question is shoot or not shoot because of time constraints. I reload for a lot of reasons but a primary one is because I can get greater precision and closer to exactly what I want than if I buy factory ammo. If I don't have time to go to the range and shoot it to try different things out, then it isn't any better to me than factory ammo. (And might be worse as I learned in my younger days of loading based only on hand book data)
I'm retired now and have gotten more serious about reloading than in my younger days. I have most of the kit you mentioned and well stocked inventory of components. I think the majority of the equipment and materials you have now will keep just fine until life slows down again, provided you store them properly. I am still using the RCBS Rock Chucker I had when I was 14 as one of my presses. As somebody in the thread previously pointed out, there may come a day when you can't freely buy what you have now so I wouldn't be in a hurry to fire sale it off.

 

[Greyfox]

I currently retired but confronted the same dilemma for 10 or so years prior. I personally found that instead of removing the reloading step, which IMO was necessary/critical for me to meet my precision shooting needs, I chose to reduce the scope of the varied shooting activities instead. Rather then shooting in five different forms of competition, or varied types of game hunting shooting with numerous different cartridges, I chose to prioritize an important few. IMO, I ended up with more time then otherwise without trading off the quality and development of the specific shooting/hunting activity. As good as factory ammo seems to be getting, it just doesn't meet "my" particular requirements and limits progress. Now retired, I'm glad I took that approach. I can now do more. Narrow the scope of activity, not the important steps....IMO

 

[rewiltshire]

I shoot prairie dogs and I go through a LOT of ammo - 17 Mach IV, 17 Remington, 223 Remington and 22-250 Remington. We go up for a week about every month between say May through October. So buying that much commercial ammo is expensive. Also by now I have my cartridges setup "just right" for each rifle; primer, case, bullet, powder, COL - etc. So for me reloading is the only way to go. I also shoot CAS, 38 Special, 44-40 and 45 Colt. There is what our club calls "Practical Pistol" and two and three gun matches so throw in 9mm and 300 Blackout. Now deer hunting I us a TC Contender in either 7-30 Waters or a 357 Max, try to find ammo for those and a 6mm Remington rifle (limited on what is available). The 30-30 and 30-06 went to the grandson a while back, but I still load for him. I also shoot a 40-65 WCF in a Sharps and a Rolling Block.
So between my odd ball stuff and my high volume shooting, reloading is a must. Now granted I'm an ROF (Retired Old Fart) and still in good health, the reloading is a way to pass the cold Nebraska winter.
In my Rifle and Pistol Club we do a lot of "trading around". I just picked up 500 pieces of one fired Norma 22-250 for $25.00. We also had a club member pass and his wife donated all his reloading stuff to the club. He had primers and powder up the ying-yang, which makes it a lot cheaper than you can think How about $10 for a brick of primers or $100 for a 8# keg of powder. I do always look out for sales.
Yes I have a lot of $ tied up in equipment and supplies, don't tell my wife (LOL), but that will make my nephews and grandson happy when I go to that big shooting range in the sky.

 

[ThSimpson]

I used to spend all day, days on end shooting Prairie Dogs. Reload, reload some more, try to figure out how to pay for more reloading supplies. Then I changed jobs. I can now buy whatever I want, but don't have the time to go shoot dogs any more. Life happened. Kids, no sports,(thank goodness) but they liked trap shooting. So Perazzi's for all! We can all shoot, travel. But for shotgun I have boxed my shotgun reloading equipment and buy factory.

 

[Rem7mm08]

My reloading gear was boxed for several years. No time for it. However, I recently built a new reloading/gun room. It is great mental therapy after a stressful work day/week when I can't get into the woods.

 

[Mikecr]

With especially good hunting(in another state), I ran out of my reloads for my son's gun (which we were using). With this emergency, I stooped to buy factory ammo.
I bought 4 or 5 boxes of different brands somewhat close to my ammo specs.
With testing/re-zeroing, it turned out that one box was actually as good as my reloads.
In every respect the external ballistics matched.

Stunned(even to this day), I went out and bought every box of that lot of ammo from every source in a 100mi radius. Cost a fortune, we stopped hunting, and instead had a ball buying and validating that ammo on paper targets to 500yds.
So now my son has ~100boxes of good ammo + a final reload session of my ammo for his gun. I won't ever have to mess with that one again.
40yrs reloading(back then) and never imagined I would do anything like that.
But there is a new peace in something so simple. Just pulled plastic out of the wallet and had fun.

If I could do this with every gun I have, I would.
I would stop reloading.

 

[Pointman]

one day it might be where you can't or allowed to buy factory ammo and reloading supplies I like to reload wildcat calibers

California is on the road to "banning" ammo purchases. Now you're required to go through a "background check". They actually charge for this "privilege. "Since I'm feeding several long guns, reloading is a must for me. I'm retired and have the time and the equipment that I have accumulated over the decades. Can I make better loads that I can buy? I believe so. Do I save money? Definitely considering one of my ammo "eaters" is a 338 LM. I cast the bullets for my hand guns. Besides, I enjoy the precision, retired engineer speaking here. Am I a bit "anal"? dam straight.

 

[swe123]

One grand misconception is that reloads are always better than factory.

 

[tony d willIiams]

I was shooting factory ammo, groups at 1/4 mile, ±10 inches sometimes more, no good at all. Figured either my rifle, scope, set-up or I had a problem.
Being retired, (by force), I decided to reload to bring the cost down. And later to make more consistent ammo.
The price per shot has dropped from $6 to $2 per. The groups, same distance, ± 3/8 inch. Now it is time to reach out and touch at double the distance.
I have time, already invested the money, trying hard to keep my mind active, I have a 22LR rifle and 22 WMR for plinking and putting rabbits and squirrels in the pot. Hunting rifles for game or the excuse to just get out and enjoy the desert or woods. And my long range puppy.
And living in ☭california where it seems that they are trying to follow the footsteps of communist countries by outlawing ammunition because our 2nd amendment keeps them from outlawing guns, reloading seems to be the answer.