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Obama nomination ammo panic got me into it.

Same here, that was what pushed me to take the Red pill (so to speak) to jump down the rabbit hole... A good friend loaded up some 30-06 rounds for my hunting rifle years ago but I didn't have time for it cuz I was too busy fishing!!!:eek::eek::eek:
Since then I've gained a lot of knowledge from friends and gun forums.
I've built the ultimate gun/reloading room and now have more guns, presses, accessories and components than Carter has liver pills...:p:p:p
It really has taken over my life since I was forced to medically retire.;)
 
I have #9 as I was a couple years ahead of you but it was what 'directed' a lot of my initial efforts - along with a couple library checkouts of some other manuals as well, such as the 'ABCs Of Reloading' - heck I wonder if these are even still in libraries - as well as any OTHER gun related books.

They probably all got purged by the book commies.:mad:
 
I bought a Lee Loader in .30/06 at a gun show or flea market for $5.00. A new brother in law gave me a Lyman 45 edition manual. Components from BiMart. Got me by for at lest ten years . Many books , you tube videos, magazine articles, many more new and used pieces of equipment. Many more calibers.
 
Did you learn how to reload from a relative or friend? A workshop or class? Self-taught? Inquiring minds want to know. (Well, at least one does.)

Thanks. :)
I was walking downtown one night and passed this shifty looking guy on a street corner. As I passed him he's like pssst "Hey man you wanna buy some primers". Next thing you know I'm reloading for 20+ cartridges.
 
I got into reloading back in 1968 when I tried to buy affordable ammunition.

Now I MAKE affordable ammunition for everything I shoot bar .22rimfire. If I didn't reload, I'd have to give up shooting all of my rifles [and handgun] bar one. Ammunition prices here in UK are just LUNATIC. Pal of mine does not reload, but shoots .375 H&H for the heck of it - at almost $3.60 per bang. He just won't be told...
 
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I bought 1000 S&B 45ACP rounds for what I felt was an exorbitant amount from the LGS about 3 or so years ago. Thought I could make it cheaper, was wrong there. But if I can't make it cheaper, maybe I can make it better by customizing the bullets and powder. Eventually as all the equipment was paid for, it was finally getting cheaper to reload. Throw in the pandemic, and I can make some pretty cheap ammo if I could get the parts in. Wrong there too.

Started off with 9mm, then 30-30, 45ACP, 223, and 308 soon followed.
 
I learned reloading from a friend too many years ago while we were both college students. He had RCBS Rockchucker. We reloaded revolver cartridges. This is when I developed my love for S&W and Colt revolvers. Now I have a Dillon 550.
Same here, except we started after graduating from EWU. He learned from one of his neighbors in Cheney, we started with .38 Specials on his Rockchucker, then moved to his .270 Win. When I bought my first center fire rifle (Winchester Model 70 Westerner .243 Win. with a 4x Weaver scope for $199.99 at White Elephant in Spokane), I also grabbed a set of RCBS dies, a pound of IMR-4064 and a couple sleeves of CCI-200 primers ( I think the primers were .99 per 100). I too moved on to my own RCBS Rockchucker and later went in with two friends on a Dillon 550-B. The Dillon stayed at my one buddy's shop, so we could all access it. In the 30+ years since, I am still the only one who ever used it. To be fair, they each had a couple thousand rounds loaded on it by me. Since my barber buddy passed several years ago, I now have sole possession of it. I wish it was still at his shop. :(
 
Eventually as all the equipment was paid for, it was finally getting cheaper to reload.
Yea while 'cheaper' on paper like you said as the equipment ages on you slowly begin to see a 'return' - little by little.

Also the convenience of being able to load at home and not have to chase around for ammo (sometimes at the last minute) to go shooting saves on gas.

And if reloaders kept stocked up on components during the various 'shortages', well enough said!
 
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I bought a Lee Loader in .30/06 at a gun show or flea market for $5.00. A new brother in law gave me a Lyman 45 edition manual. Components from BiMart. Got me by for at lest ten years . Many books , you tube videos, magazine articles, many more new and used pieces of equipment. Many more calibers.
I started with a used Lyman turret press kit, directed by a Hornady Third edition, a Lyman 45th, plus a little bit of insight from the friend I bought the setup from. I bought the Hornady manual new and the Lyman came with the press. I believe that was 1989. And, yes, I'm in the club of taught by and idiot.
The reason was the 41 Magnum Ruger I loved to carry and shoot a lot. I'd found a good deal on many boxes of ammo when Pay-Less dropped their sporting goods. Otherwise new ammo was very expensive and components were not hard to come by. I killed some pieces of brass, but never a gun or a person damaged since. 👍
 
As a kid we worked rice fields shooting black birds with shotguns. We would shoot a case of shells a day each. Started reloading shells to help keep up with ammo to shoot birds with. We had a Bear six station progressive and a MEC. I cannot remember how many thousands of hulls I have loaded. After that I started loading for 38 special and bought a set up from an old guy I knew. I got everything from him I needed to get going. I ran single stage for years. Then about 5-6 years ago I had to get a Dillon 650 to keep up with my pdog fodder. At the time I was shooting 6k rounds March through May on squeaks.

Now I load for .223, 20 practical, 45 acp, 45 Colt, 40 S+W, 9mm, 357 magnum, 38 special, and 450 Bushmaster. I use a lot of 357 and 38's between myself and the wife.

Somewhere in the shop is a bucket of plastic hulled Activ shot shells that I reloaded in the late 80's. I don't load shot gun anymore and don't play with my shotguns much. I would like to get a nice over under to shoot sporting clays with as I kind of like that game. My 28" full choke barrel 870 does really good on the far shots but those up close one's fly right on by. I can hang with the big boys on the far shots and even beat them....but all those close shots drop my score to the kiddy table.
 
When was this? I can't remember exactly but seemed like it was the early 2000s.

I see Payless is re-emerging but I doubt Sporting Goods will be part of it.
I probably bought the ammo in 1989. I think that's the year I bought the Blackhawk and started loading, too.
 
got into reloading about "78" we were shooting a lot of rock chucks back then so we loaded .22-250, .220 swift, 6mm rem, .243, things just progressed from there. .300 Savage, .308, .30-06, ..300 win mag, .338 win mag. .357 mag, .44 mag .38 sp. now I load for .257 Roberts, .270 short mag, .327 federal, and still load .308, and .338 win as well.
 
Self taught at the ripe old age of 12 with the watchful eye of my dad to get me going. Dad had bought a reloading set from my oldest brother I think mostly to help him out at the time and didn't have a real desire to hand load. It did intrigue me, however, so with his permission I started reloading ammo for his 6.5x55 so I could shoot it on trips in addition to the family 22.

Equipment, which he passed along to me, was an RCBS Jr press, Ohaus scale, RCBS dies, and the usual bits and pieces and a 1960's Speer reloading manual which had very good instructions I followed to the letter, with most things double and triple checked.

Up until the time I bought my first AR 95% of all centerfire ammunition I shot were my own hand loads.

The press is now mostly used for decapping with a Dillon 550B doing most of the loading since the late 1980's. Scale is still my go to, and I still love leafing through the Speer manual to read the write ups of the different cartridges.
 
Yea while 'cheaper' on paper like you said as the equipment ages on you slowly begin to see a 'return' - little by little.

Also the convenience of being able to load at home and not have to chase around for ammo (sometimes at the last minute) to go shooting saves on gas.

And if reloaders kept stocked up on components during the various 'shortages', well enough said!
Since I started reloading, I really can't see wasting any money on factory ammo. With the Dillon stuff, I can put out rediculous amounts of ammo very quickly and consistently. It is getting cheaper to reload, I just would like to be able to pick up supplies at the LGS since hazmat shipping is astronomical.
 
Self taught. After I bought a Husqvarna 30 - 06 at the Rod & Gun Club on base, in 1958, I bought a Lyman 310 Nutcracker, an RCBS scale and a Lyman Reloading Manual.The range on the base supplied all of my brass and I was in business. As I was using a bolt action, I didn't need to full length size my brass, so everything was portable. I reamed out the primer pockets with a pocket knife. Bullets, primers and Norma powders were cheap at the club and I had free access to the base shooting range. life was good. :s0023:

Don't forget the lead. If I didn't cast the bullets/balls for most everything I reload, I couldn't shoot my .458S for .35 cents a round. :)
 
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