I have been pondering taking the jump myself, but I honestly have no clue where to start, nor do I have access to a mentor so to speak. I shoot a lot of .223, educate me if you will on where to begin. Then maybe I'll have your mafia buddy hook me up with the goods. 8)
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I reload and have done so for years. My dad has reloaded since the mid-50s so I have always been around it.
I think that one of the benefits of reloading is that you learn much more about ammo and bullets and their effect on shooting and the interaction of everything. Thus you learn more about rifles and pistols which should be a plus. It should make you smarter.
There are two type of people who make their own ammo:
1) RELOADERS - toss the components together mainly to save money. If it goes bang - then things are good. Own 1 or maybe, just maybe, 2 loading manuals. Money is a major concern at all stages.
2) HANDLOADERS - Interested in carefully crafting the best ammunition for the application. Constantly looking for ways to improve the product and often go thru exhausting testing. Own more tools than the reloader and still buying more gadgets. Often feel that crafting the ammo is a major part of their enjoyment of shooting sports. Don't dare look at some of the money spent in pursuit of their goals.
:twisted: Beware lest you start out the first and end up the second - it can happen to the best of us.
You can tailor loads exactly for your firearm, which should be a plus. In essence, you are making custom and, hopefully, premium ammunition. This can mean that you are getting full velocity, or it can mean you have a nice reduced load as well. There is a lot to be said for this option. You can use the pricey premium bullets and save $$$ over premium-bullet factory ammo. Often you can improve accuracy.
You can shoot more for the same money - you may not save money because of this, but you will get more bang for the buck.
A lot of guys like to tinker with mechanical stuff and like tools and if so, reloading is right up your alley. It is fun to mess with. Our reloading gear outfits for the most part make quality, lifetime tools so you can be using the same stuff to reload 50 years from now which helps amortize the cost.
There is immense satisfaction when you kill game, or even shoot a good group with ammo you rolled yourself. Hard to put a price tag on this.
You can swap reloading recipes with your reloading buddies just like a bunch of women swapping cake recipes :roll:
And there is the chance that you will save money or get better ammo for the same cost.
For example: The last gun show had Armscor .223 M193 FMJ ammo going for $320 case/1000.
I figure that for the same cost I could load up the same amount of .223 with really good (and more accurate) varmint or match bullets. Or save $100 if I went with the same M193 type FMJ-BT bullets.
THEN - I can reuse the brass again for the next go-round, saving money right there.
Good luck with whatever you do.
I think that one of the benefits of reloading is that you learn much more about ammo and bullets and their effect on shooting and the interaction of everything. Thus you learn more about rifles and pistols which should be a plus. It should make you smarter.
There are two type of people who make their own ammo:
1) RELOADERS - toss the components together mainly to save money. If it goes bang - then things are good. Own 1 or maybe, just maybe, 2 loading manuals. Money is a major concern at all stages.
2) HANDLOADERS - Interested in carefully crafting the best ammunition for the application. Constantly looking for ways to improve the product and often go thru exhausting testing. Own more tools than the reloader and still buying more gadgets. Often feel that crafting the ammo is a major part of their enjoyment of shooting sports. Don't dare look at some of the money spent in pursuit of their goals.
:twisted: Beware lest you start out the first and end up the second - it can happen to the best of us.
You can tailor loads exactly for your firearm, which should be a plus. In essence, you are making custom and, hopefully, premium ammunition. This can mean that you are getting full velocity, or it can mean you have a nice reduced load as well. There is a lot to be said for this option. You can use the pricey premium bullets and save $$$ over premium-bullet factory ammo. Often you can improve accuracy.
You can shoot more for the same money - you may not save money because of this, but you will get more bang for the buck.
A lot of guys like to tinker with mechanical stuff and like tools and if so, reloading is right up your alley. It is fun to mess with. Our reloading gear outfits for the most part make quality, lifetime tools so you can be using the same stuff to reload 50 years from now which helps amortize the cost.
There is immense satisfaction when you kill game, or even shoot a good group with ammo you rolled yourself. Hard to put a price tag on this.
You can swap reloading recipes with your reloading buddies just like a bunch of women swapping cake recipes :roll:
And there is the chance that you will save money or get better ammo for the same cost.
For example: The last gun show had Armscor .223 M193 FMJ ammo going for $320 case/1000.
I figure that for the same cost I could load up the same amount of .223 with really good (and more accurate) varmint or match bullets. Or save $100 if I went with the same M193 type FMJ-BT bullets.
THEN - I can reuse the brass again for the next go-round, saving money right there.
Good luck with whatever you do.
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