Reloading Thoughts

[Nosferatu]

The last thing I want is someone yapping at me while I'm performing a task that requires my utmost attention or could result in a serious or fatal injury.

If you want social time, join a book club.

As far as what happens to all my crap when I kick off, don't give half a damn.

 

[Croat]

I have reloaded with dad and grandpa as long as I can remember. until the internet came along I had no idea so many reloaded .
at least half the equipment I own came from garage and estate sales. a lot of that the sellers had no idea what it was. I'm willing to bet a large amount of loading equipment ends up in the trash because they don't know what it is, or who would want it.

I will say this, The internet has been a great place to read about what others do and how they set up their benches. before the 90's and home computers I read every book and magazine on reloading. I still have a large library. My kids can't believe I keep that stuff. Everything they need to know is on YouTube!
but what happens when the net is down? or you are looking for info on an old cartridge.
For a while I got interested in paper patched bullets. There is not much on YT about Paper patching! DR

Half your stuff from garage and estate sales? That's impressive. You give me hope and now I want to start going to more...

 

[Local Loader]

Half your stuff from garage and estate sales? That's impressive. You give me hope and now I want to start going to more...

Remember you'll have to go early, about an hour or two before it is listed to start or you might miss it. There are also people that post on different sites that they are doing garage/estate including Facebook and Twitter, some even lost the items that get are selling or even just pictures.

 

[Bobbygun]

a lot of that the sellers had no idea what it was.

GUILTY as charged! Heck, I've been reloading for over 45 years, but some of the stuff my wife's step-dad gave me was just sitting around in a couple of boxes. I put it on Craigslist for what I thought was a reasonable price. A couple of guys made me offers well under asking price, but another guy seemed anxious to get it at full price. I met up with him and was thrilled to walk away with $100 for some stuff I would never use. He was more than thrilled. He called me later and asked me what kind of beer I drank, then later insisted I come over to his house to pick up my six pack. When I did, his wife said he was just like a child at Christmas going through those two boxes. When I sold them, I figured the buyer would part them out and make some dough - more power to him. Well, this guy had a couple of the items displayed on his fireplace mantle. I was more than happy to pick up my six pack of Alpha Centauri and see how much joy I brought to another human being.

 

[dangerranger60]

I once bought a box of miss matched dies and parts just to get the lock rings. I paid $10 for a big box full. When I got home and started matching them up I found about 20 complete die sets. But the real jewel was swaging sets for turning spent 22 rimfire brass into 22 and 25 cal rifle bullets! Theses are probably worth $500 per set.
My best guess is the loader kept then on a shelf and who ever went through his shop swept them into a box all mixed together. Not knowing what they were or that they were sets.
I bought my Dillion 550 from a blind guy! He had lost his sight in a car wreck. He was cleaning his shop and garage to move into an apt.
My kids that want to reload have all started on single stage presses that I have rescued. I have a RCBS jr press that I'm soaking off the rust right now. It will go to my youngest son. He is looking for his first house, and this will be a housewarming gift.
But I go to a lot of sales. Garage sailing is a form of entertainment for the wife and I to spend a Saturday. DR

 

[CLT65]

I used to go to more garage and estate sales and see reloading stuff occasionally, but not so much anymore. I know it is like Local Loader says about guys who prowl the sales snapping that stuff up. Old gun nuts in general are often cheap buggers, and as infrequently as I stop at garage sales, I'm surprised at how often I've heard another customer ask the seller if they have any "gun stuff". Apparently garage and estate sales are a well known source for bargains, and they go early and fast.

As to cheapskate shysters trying to swindle poor widows, yeah I'm sure that happens. It happens in every hobby and culture. Some people take the bargaining/dickering thing too far and laugh all the way to the bank when they're able to screw over a victim. Many years ago my mother inherited her father's car. A cousin of mine was into fixing up cars and reselling them occasionally. I trusted him and thought he was a good guy. He low-balled her on the car, tried to practically steal it. I knew the offer would be lower and that didn't bother me, but what did irritate me was the way he lied to her that that was all it was worth and nobody would ever pay more for that old thing. She sold it for double a few days later. I think he was so used to living in that world of dickering and bottom feeding, that he would have swindled his own grandmother and not felt a thing about it.

There's a guy who does a lot of estate sales who I've talked to a few times. He said that most gun stuff never even makes it out onto the tables. He knows several people who have given him their numbers over the years who get first dibs, and he makes sure that his customers get a fair price. I'm sure a fair "garage sale" price is nowhere near retail, but neither is it a giveaway. At least that's how I took it.

I've found a lot of my reloading stuff, especially older stuff, at gun shows. Yes, there are occasionally some real bargains among the overpriced junk! I recently picked up a nice, older RCBS Jr press at a show from a seller here, for a great price (thanks Misterarman!) A good friend recently expressed interest in reloading, so it will be a gift for him along with some other older gear to get him started. I owe him a lot more than that, really. He was up on my roof in the hot sun this last summer, helping me roof part of my house!

 

[orygun]

The mighty 41 Magnum is why I reload. Way back then (88-89) I had a good friend that learned to reload with me. We didn't have anyone to teach us, we read the instructions and went to work with the Lyman set I bought from a friend. Frank moved away 10-12 years ago and not one single friend of mine reloads.

Geeze, I hardly reload anymore...

 

[ma96782]

"I know a guy....."

LOL. HInt : check the classifieds.

Usually.....there are certain Sellers who are posting again and again. They have equipment at pretty good prices. I believe most of the equipment might just be 2nd hand because they get them from "friends of friends" or "estate sales".

I'd bet that once you get to know them a little better they might just be in a "teaching mood". Aka : getting you interested in buying more of their stuff.

Mind you that IMHO....it's a Good Thing....to have someone with connections and sources.

Note : You didn't say which part of WA you are from. Anyway, there is a well known seller of Dillon Products right here in Vancouver, WA.

Aloha, Mark

PS.....Story Time.

I bought my first press, dies, scale, powder measure and some other small stuff USED from a newspaper classified ad (back when I liven in Hawaii). Part of the deal was that he would teach me how to re-load ammo. He was more than accommodating to my request. And, I went back several times to discuses "problems" as they came up and buy more items from him.

 

[Local Loader]

The mighty 41 Magnum is why I reload. Way back then (88-89) I had a good friend that learned to reload with me. We didn't have anyone to teach us, we read the instructions and went to work with the Lyman set I bought from a friend. Frank moved away 10-12 years ago and not one single friend of mine reloads.

Geeze, I hardly reload anymore...

Might be worthwhile to organize an event for the folks on here who reload, get together and share knowledge with each other and to also get to know others who reload. Maybe even do supply trades or help teach folks who are just starting or wanting to start reloading.

 

[gmerkt]

My cousin taught me to reload; we were the only two gun guys in the family at that time. If I live long enough, I'll pass my reloading stuff on to my grandson. He's near 13, I don't know if I'll last. He is the only other person in my contemporary family line-up who's interested.

I used to have a lot of extras that I bought inexpensively along the way. Several years ago, I decided I didn't need two or three of everything, I was going to have plenty without all the redundant stuff if the world came to an end. I've added some shotgun stuff last year, but the centerfire stuff is all that I need to do what I want. Stuff that I tried and didn't like went away. Like my Dillon 550 equipment, it wasn't for me. And a Forster coaxial press. Cool as it was, I didn't like it.

I've had a few good deals come my way. A couple were connections at ranges where I was a member. One guy put an add for some estate stuff in the club newsletter. I guess nobody bothered to look into it. I arranged to see the stuff, made a minor buy and left. A couple of months later, the guy was still trying to sell it so I went back and it looked to me like he hadn't sold anything since my previous trip. That time, he made me a ridiculous low price for the entire lot. I was a couple of months selling all that stuff online. It turned out to be a little gold mine.

Another time, a local auction company took on an entire shop of reloading gear and supplies. I went out to the preview, the guy was a carpenter and he had a loft above his shop that was completely given over to the reloading process. Lots of little-used, sometimes fancy and expensive equipment. The auction company had broken it down into lots. It was an on-line auction. It resulted in my obtaining a lot of nice equipment, powder and primers. That's where the Dillion outfit and the Forster press came from. I was able to afford them for trying out, whereas I wouldn't ordinarily have bought them at full price.

I've gotten some deals on reloading stuff at gun shows. Table space is worth money; the bulky stuff often winds up under tables where people can't see it. That's one area where I've gotten some deals. The last show I attended, there was a guy there trying to sell a couple of MEC shotgun presses. He didn't have a set price on them, he was fishing for a price but my impression was that they were very cheap. And possibly problematic, because there are a number of little pieces that go with those outfits and I wasn't familiar enough with them to know what was missing. You can get buried in a "bargain" that needs a lot of work or parts.

Here on NWFA, I've noticed some ads where people were bailing from reloading and what they had would've been worth pursuing. If I lived in Oregon, that is.

 

[gmerkt]

wondering if there are "clubs" or "gatherings" of reloaders like there are for other hobbies?

The closest thing I know of like this is the Castle Rock Cartridge Collectors Show, once a year, I think around March, maybe? As the name suggests, it's about cartridge collecting but I've seen reloading stuff there, lots of like-minded people in attendance. Mostly old people like me. Which is an apt segue to the next idea.

a different time where men had tools and knew how to use them. As time has past the concept of men with tools and the knowledge to use them has turned into let's throw it a way and buy a new one.

This is an unfortunate fact. Young people today don't typically get interested in projects that require the use of mechanical skills. Throw-away society -- if something like that of mine breaks or quits working, I'll take it apart even if I don't know anything about it to see if I can repair it.

 

[front_sight]

wondering if there are "clubs" or "gatherings" of reloaders

Over the last 20 years I have gone to a ton of estate sales and garage sales looking for another non-gun related item, and as a fun activity with my wife. I have not seen a lot of reloading equipment and I agree with someone earlier who said that most gun stuff never makes it into those sales. If the person downsizing or deceased was into reloading then they also had some decent guns. And whoever was called in to facilitate the gun sales also handled moving the reloading stuff. The few times I did run across gun stuff it was the peripheral items such as reloading books, and the two cardboard boxes full of plastic ammo boxes that was the best reloading thing I ever scored at a garage sale.

I moved to WA from Texas six years ago. I had lots of friends who reloaded and we would get together just to chat and a few times I reloaded with a buddy. I agree that you must not get distracted - especially when reloading on a progressive press where if you have a problem at a station you must be on your toes to prevent not charging or double-charging a case. But reloading with a buddy can be fun.

I don't know many people here in Olympia and certainly no reloaders. This is not exactly a town where guns and reloading comes up in conversation. I would love to meet some gun people and especially reloaders. I keep intending to be more involved at UNSC to meet people and now that I am retiring in a month I will have some time to do that. I have 45 years of reloading experience and feel I could truly mentor new reloaders with basic knowledge on up through accuracy reloading.

I wonder if people here in WA might be more reluctant to gather with self-declared gun enthusiasts who they don't know. Plenty of gun people fly under the radar except when they are among other gun people they know, or who are fellow club members or people they meet at a range. As much as I would like to meet and get together with other reloaders, there would certainly have to be some kind of public meetup (and my own vetting process) before I would invite a stranger into my home and gun / reloading room.

Hopefully I will know when the time comes to sell my reloading gear and components, and it will be long before I am done shooting for fun. Hopefully I will still be at my club and can sell the equipment there or even here in the classifieds. Even better would be if my son in Texas would take it up. He was not that into guns when I lived there and so never expressed interest in reloading. Somehow he has gotten into shooting in a big way in the last 5 years and now shoots a $5000 Staccato rig in competition. When he visited me last summer we sat down and over the course of two hours I explained and demonstrated reloading to him. I let him load a box of 9mm on my Dillon 550 and he confirmed he absolutely has no interest in reloading when he can buy his 9mm 4000-5000 rounds at a time every few months. He is also getting into precision rifle and so maybe he will get tired of buying factory 6.5 Crede.

I would be interested if this leads to some sort of reloading meetup.

 

[dangerranger60]

My cousin taught me to reload; we were the only two gun guys in the family at that time. If I live long enough, I'll pass my reloading stuff on to my grandson. He's near 13, I don't know if I'll last. He is the only other person in my contemporary family line-up who's interested.

I used to have a lot of extras that I bought inexpensively along the way. Several years ago, I decided I didn't need two or three of everything, I was going to have plenty without all the redundant stuff if the world came to an end. I've added some shotgun stuff last year, but the centerfire stuff is all that I need to do what I want. Stuff that I tried and didn't like went away. Like my Dillon 550 equipment, it wasn't for me. And a Forster coaxial press. Cool as it was, I didn't like it.

I've had a few good deals come my way. A couple were connections at ranges where I was a member. One guy put an add for some estate stuff in the club newsletter. I guess nobody bothered to look into it. I arranged to see the stuff, made a minor buy and left. A couple of months later, the guy was still trying to sell it so I went back and it looked to me like he hadn't sold anything since my previous trip. That time, he made me a ridiculous low price for the entire lot. I was a couple of months selling all that stuff online. It turned out to be a little gold mine.

Another time, a local auction company took on an entire shop of reloading gear and supplies. I went out to the preview, the guy was a carpenter and he had a loft above his shop that was completely given over to the reloading process. Lots of little-used, sometimes fancy and expensive equipment. The auction company had broken it down into lots. It was an on-line auction. It resulted in my obtaining a lot of nice equipment, powder and primers. That's where the Dillion outfit and the Forster press came from. I was able to afford them for trying out, whereas I wouldn't ordinarily have bought them at full price.

I've gotten some deals on reloading stuff at gun shows. Table space is worth money; the bulky stuff often winds up under tables where people can't see it. That's one area where I've gotten some deals. The last show I attended, there was a guy there trying to sell a couple of MEC shotgun presses. He didn't have a set price on them, he was fishing for a price but my impression was that they were very cheap. And possibly problematic, because there are a number of little pieces that go with those outfits and I wasn't familiar enough with them to know what was missing. You can get buried in a "bargain" that needs a lot of work or parts.

Here on NWFA, I've noticed some ads where people were bailing from reloading and what they had would've been worth pursuing. If I lived in Oregon, that is.

I started pulling the handle for my grandfather, and then dad. I taught my kids the same way. My youngest is now in his 30's and I did not think he would ever take it up, but he is now wanting to shoot more and teach his kids. DR

 

[2ndtimer]

Only the oldest of my three sons has shown a high degree of interest in shooting and reloading. The two younger ones like shooting, but only on occasion. The eldest has far surpassed me as a hunter, but my 45 years at the reloading bench has me content to load his ammo for him. He has the tools, but why bother when his old man is willing to buy the components and do all the work for him? Some day he will have to set up his own bench, but until then, I am happy to do it for him. (He is one to maybe push the envelope while I am content with adequate velocity and strive for best accuracy). My will states he receives all my guns and related stuff with an offset of cash value for his brothers.

 

[Horn Ridge]

I'm a reloading loaner and that's the way I like it - ha! I'd have stuff all sorts of screwed up if someone was in the room with me trying to carry on a conversation. It's my me time and no one, no phone, no perusing the interweb. Just me an whatever I happen to be playing with that day. I look forward to it and it helps keep me right with the world. When the day comes, I know one or two folks who I will offer up my entire hobby to for the price of come load it up, appreciate it and enjoy it as much as I have.

 

[Pete F]

My Dad was the reloader of the family although my brother and I helped and learned from him.

He bought a used and broken Dillon 550 at a gun show cheap, sent it back to Dillon and got back a 550 that worked like new. He already had one, so he could do two calibers at once.

When we visited, we would drop off our empties and take a box of reloads back with us. I never had to pay for several calibers that I shot the most. - like thousands of 5.56x45/.223 and 9mm. At the peak of my shooting, I went through 700 centerfire rounds in a day.

My brother took some dies, but otherwise the equipment was sold.

I only reload for a couple of hard to get and expensive cartridges like .375 Winchester, .41 AE and .32 H&R Magnums with a single Hornady press.