frozen asked:
I overheard an employee at a gun shop saying that not many people reload anymore because the materials have become expensive, and it is not really worth it.
I overheard an employee at a gun shop saying that not many people reload anymore because the materials have become expensive, and it is not really worth it.
I was considering learning how. It would be for my 30-06 which I use in the fall for deer and moose, and maybe for my 410. for which the shells are pretty expensive.
All answers appreciated, but would be good to hear from someone in Canada.
I also live in Ontario..
I don’t really shoot a lot either, mostly during hunting season. I could save more than 1 dollar on 20 by going to Walmart instead of the gun shop!
Beth
Willie
I was looking at it the other day for my .303, but once you got right down to it, I would have saved maximum one dollar per 20. I don’t shoot a whole lot, so that isn’t a good enough savings for me to get into it.
PS. I live in Ontario.
Sheila
Depends on what type of shooting your into. A home load can be far more consistent than factory loads. If its accuracy and a consistent shot that counts then $$$ doesn’t come into it. Or does it?
Harvey
Unless you take into account the ability to control your load or the “hobby” factor… It is not really worth the initial $$$ you will need to spend to up-fit to reload, unless you shoot frequently. But if you were going to justify it; you picked two good reasons: 30-06 (If you have saved some of your spent brass, reloading “rifle” bullets always saves money.) .410 shotgun shells (Although lead shot has gone through the roof, I suspect that you can still save money loading these expensive little shells. You can load a lot of 410 shells with a pound of powder and a 25lb bag of shot!)
If you only hunt and do no target or competition shooting, you would really have to look at it as a hobby to justify the initial up-fitting and loading supply costs.
Cathy
Mostly depends on the type of ammo. For my .40cal its quite a bit cheaper to reload, for the 12 gauge, or .22 not even close to being worth it.
Leroy
Some people who reload here in the U.S. claim they can save as much as 75% by reloading their own ammo.*
Leo
In my experience, it is only worth it to reload these days if your gun needs a load (for best accuracy or performance on game) that the ammo factories don’t make. Otherwise, if you are shooting a fairly common caliber and don’t shoot that much, you are probably better off to buy the ammo at a large chain store.
I found that handloading is itself a good hobby – so much so that sometimes I go to the range just to ‘empty them out’ so that I can try another combination of bullet and powder. I shoot much much more by making my own ammo. The store stuff is boring; I can make .38 revolver cartridges that are quiet, accurate, and cheap for teaching new shooters at the club. The same effort and very little more money makes major-class .40 cal ammunition for IPSC practice. And occasionally I will load some big boomers just to keep the dust off my .44 magnum rifle. Need any telephone-book confetti?
And we can only shoot for a couple of hours once a week; but I can happily spend an hour a night right through the week in my hobby.