I tried reloading for a few years, and gave it up.
I wanted cheaper ammo than factory or even commercial reloads / remanufactured ammo.
But the best I could do was equal the prices of bulk-quantity remanufactured ammo, or imported military-surplus type ammo (or Wolf FMJ).
As for quality, what I put out in handgun calibers was plenty good, but when I tried making .308 and .30-06 ammo for my rifles, I had issues both with cycling semi-autos AND group size at 100 yards.
Rather than spend more time and more money getting better at reloading, I just sold everything and went back to factory ammo.
Y.M.M.V.
P.S. The only time I'd consider reloading now would be these 3 scenarios:
1.) I want to build precision rifle loads that are a perfect match for my gun's chamber specs, with bullets and powder loads that give the best barrel harmonics.
2.) I want to make some oddball loads that just aren't available from the factory. Wax or plastic bullets. Homemade AP rounds. Exploding bullets. Weird stuff like that, but even weirder.
Or, I want to make mousefart loads for a .38 revolver that give the same recoil as a .32 S&W or .32 ACP would. We're talking 90 grain lead bullets coming out at 700 fps. No factory load for the .38 special goes that low.
3.) Or, I just enjoy the experience of reloading. I like putting stuff together and seeing how all the components come together to form a pew.
..
I wanted cheaper ammo than factory or even commercial reloads / remanufactured ammo.
But the best I could do was equal the prices of bulk-quantity remanufactured ammo, or imported military-surplus type ammo (or Wolf FMJ).
As for quality, what I put out in handgun calibers was plenty good, but when I tried making .308 and .30-06 ammo for my rifles, I had issues both with cycling semi-autos AND group size at 100 yards.
Rather than spend more time and more money getting better at reloading, I just sold everything and went back to factory ammo.
Y.M.M.V.
P.S. The only time I'd consider reloading now would be these 3 scenarios:
1.) I want to build precision rifle loads that are a perfect match for my gun's chamber specs, with bullets and powder loads that give the best barrel harmonics.
2.) I want to make some oddball loads that just aren't available from the factory. Wax or plastic bullets. Homemade AP rounds. Exploding bullets. Weird stuff like that, but even weirder.
Or, I want to make mousefart loads for a .38 revolver that give the same recoil as a .32 S&W or .32 ACP would. We're talking 90 grain lead bullets coming out at 700 fps. No factory load for the .38 special goes that low.
3.) Or, I just enjoy the experience of reloading. I like putting stuff together and seeing how all the components come together to form a pew.
..
