# Anyone enjoy reloading and shooting?



## old medic (Sep 2, 2020)

I started over 25 years reloading pistol ammo for a rare Russian imported Makarov.  Great weapon, but ammo was expensive (well for that time) and hard to come by. Used the great lie of, Its cheaper and ill save money.... the wife fell for it....LOL....
The experimenting with different components for the best performance, of course shooting a lot more....
even got a set up and load shotgun....  and now wanting to start casing bullets too....
Cant wait to retire and have more time....


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## Don M. (Sep 2, 2020)

I do some reloading.....270 Cal, 44 mag, and 9MM....mostly.  Since I do very little hunting anymore, I just do a little target shooting.


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## win231 (Sep 2, 2020)

I handloaded for 44 years - mainly pistol calibers.  It's the only way to afford enough practice to shoot competitively.


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## Aunt Marg (Sep 2, 2020)

My husband does reloading. He has a little room in the basement with all of his stuff.

Extra-added grains of powder added to cartridges, dear husband refers to as "hot rounds".


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## Lewkat (Sep 2, 2020)

I used to years ago.  Haven't done so in eons.


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## I'mnotdeadyet (Sep 9, 2020)

Yes and yes. I haven't reloaded in a few years but the press is set up. If memory serves I can do .30 Carbine, .38/.357, .40 Smith, 7.62 x 39, .45 ACP, and .380. Never bothered with 9 because it was so inexpensive to purchase. I used to do some rifle but sold off all the stuff. Seems like I was loading .35 Remington, Thutty-Thutty, and .30-06. At one time I started loading shotgun but never really go into it. 

I belong to a local sportsman's club, my son and I shoot once in a while.


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## Ken N Tx (Sep 10, 2020)

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=277611866738812


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## chrislind2 (Jul 16, 2021)

I started reloading when I bought my first handgun. Right after the movie Dirty Harry I bought a .44 magnum revolver. I then started reloading .44 magnum rounds. After I got married my wife was not happy with my hobby and wanted me to stop, so eventually I sold my reloading stuff. Then 34 years later, wife is gone, the kids are grown and I started reloading again. That was 10 years ago. I reload about 12 different calibers. It is time consuming and they say it doesn't really save money for shooting, but I really like doing it and shooting the ammo. I have never loaded "hot" rounds. Was letting my daughter shoot some .38 specials I reloaded for awhile, but it is not a good idea to let other people shoot your reloads. I have never had a problem with my reloads, but if I make a mistake it should be on me and not someone else.


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## cdestroyer (Jul 16, 2021)

I reloaded my .44 mag with 'hot loads'. after some trials with shooting I found that caliber just a might to big for most uses and downgraded to .357 mainly because you can also shoot .38specials...


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## win231 (Jul 16, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> I reloaded my .44 mag with 'hot loads'. after some trials with shooting I found that caliber just a might to big for most uses and downgraded to .357 mainly because you can also shoot .38specials...


If you want to make a .44 Mag seem tame, just try a 500 Magnum S&W.  When I tried mine out, I thought, "Good thing I didn't have any loose fillings or crowns."     After 40 rounds, my hands were numb.


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## chrislind2 (Jul 16, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> I reloaded my .44 mag with 'hot loads'. after some trials with shooting I found that caliber just a might to big for most uses and downgraded to .357 mainly because you can also shoot .38specials...


I shoot .44 specials in my .44 magnum revolver and it shoots very nice that way. It is hard to find .44 specials so I reload them. I believe the brass is different, but I would have to look in the reloading book.


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## cdestroyer (Jul 16, 2021)

oh you think 500 mag is bad? try twin 20mm antiaircraft machine gun:


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## win231 (Jul 16, 2021)

chrislind2 said:


> I shoot .44 specials in my .44 magnum revolver and it shoots very nice that way. It is hard to find .44 specials so I reload them. I believe the brass is different, but I would have to look in the reloading book.


As with 38 Spl/357 Magnum, the 44 Magnum brass is a bit longer to prevent it from being chambered in a 44 Special, which would be dangerous.  But It's great to load light & use the 44 Magnum brass.  It's thicker & will last almost forever.  Plus, it's more accurate because the bullet will have less free travel before it hits the rifling.


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## chrislind2 (Jul 16, 2021)

win231 said:


> If you want to make a .44 Mag seem tame, just try a 500 Magnum S&W.  When I tried mine out, I thought, "Good thing I didn't have any loose fillings or crowns."     After 40 rounds, my hands were numb.


I used to have a Ruger .44 Redhawk with a 9.5 inch barrel. I ordered a 6.5 inch but they sent the long one and told me the price was the same. I could only fire about 20 rounds out of that and it stopped being fun. I sold that gun to a friend who is much younger and he loves it. I now have a Taurus .44 magnum with a 5 inch barrel and I shoot .44 specials in it and it is really fun to shoot.


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## win231 (Jul 16, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> oh you think 500 mag is bad? try twin 20mm antiaircraft machine gun:
> View attachment 174052


Hey, that's not a fair comparison.  A 20 mm is not small arms.


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## chrislind2 (Jul 16, 2021)

win231 said:


> As with 38 Spl/357 Magnum, the 44 Magnum brass is a bit longer to prevent it from being chambered in a 44 Special, which would be dangerous.  But It's great to load light & use the 44 Magnum brass.  It's thicker & will last almost forever.  Plus, it's more accurate because the bullet will have less free travel before it hits the rifling.


My best light loads were .45 acp for my Colt New Agent. It's a small 1911 for carry. But with factory ammo that gun was as bad as the .44 magnum. I experimented with different bullet weight and powder and now have the perfect formula that makes that gun fun to shoot. Really makes reloading worth the trouble.


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## cdestroyer (Jul 16, 2021)

no it might not be 'fair' but you said " "Good thing I didn't have any loose fillings or crowns."" and I garuantee you wouldnt have any after firing this big baby.....and on that subject is 'recoil' rather difficult to keep on target with this big gun because of the rise during rapid fire! also on subject I quite shooting because of too much hearing loss from weapons!!


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## win231 (Jul 16, 2021)

chrislind2 said:


> My best light loads were .45 acp for my Colt New Agent. It's a small 1911 for carry. But with factory ammo that gun was as bad as the .44 magnum. I experimented with different bullet weight and powder and now have the perfect formula that makes that gun fun to shoot. Really makes reloading worth the trouble.


Recall on the Colt New Agent:
https://www.tactical-life.com/news/...k and possibly prevent the pistol from firing.


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## bowmore (Jul 16, 2021)

win231 said:


> I handloaded for 44 years - mainly pistol calibers.  It's the only way to afford enough practice to shoot competitively.


Very true. The course of fire requires 30 rounds, not counting practice. I used to shoot once a week, so it really added up.


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## cdestroyer (Jul 16, 2021)

and this is target practice with a 20mm

water buffaloes litterly explode. this gun "called an oerlikon cannon accounted for 1/3 of all japanese planes shot down during wwii in the pacific....as a navy radioman it was not my job to use this gun but I am not gonna be in a war zone and have weapons I don't know how to fire


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## Irwin (Jul 16, 2021)

I bought a cheap 9mm 4 years ago and have yet to fire it. One of these days I'll make it out to the range, but it's not high on my list of things I want to do — mainly because of the noise. I kind of like peace and quiet in my old age.

I've been thinking about getting a bow for target practice out in the side yard. That seems a like more peaceful hobby and one where I wouldn't need to leave the house.


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## Nathan (Jul 16, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> I reloaded my .44 mag with 'hot loads'. after some trials with shooting I found that caliber just a might to big for most uses and downgraded to .357 mainly because you can also shoot .38specials...


I actually never buy .357 rounds for my Ruger P101, just the lesser expensive .38 special lead round nose.


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## win231 (Jul 16, 2021)

Nathan said:


> I actually never buy .357 rounds for my Ruger P101, just the lesser expensive .38 special lead round nose.


Yeah, that old 158 gr police load from decades ago, crawling out of the barrel at 700 fps.  Some people claimed they could spit tobacco juice faster.


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## Nathan (Jul 16, 2021)

win231 said:


> Yeah, that old 158 gr police load from decades ago, crawling out of the barrel at 700 fps.  Some people claimed they could spit tobacco juice faster.


I've seen people spit tobacco juice faster.     That 158gr load will put a nice hole in..._something_.


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## Nathan (Jul 16, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> oh you think 500 mag is bad? try twin 20mm antiaircraft machine gun:
> View attachment 174052


Looks like you might be in the Nam.  What craft is that?


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## cdestroyer (Jul 16, 2021)

that one


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## chrislind2 (Jul 16, 2021)

win231 said:


> Recall on the Colt New Agent:
> https://www.tactical-life.com/news/colt-announces-recall-of-7-models/#:~:text=0 Comments-,Colt's Manufacturing Company is recalling certain COLT model pistols.,DEFENDER, sold since March 2007.&text=The Guide Pad might crack and possibly prevent the pistol from firing.


Mine is about 4000 past the last number. I was hoping they had an up date for the trench sight. It's not bad but I would prefer a normal sight. It would cost a lot to have it done.


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## chrislind2 (Jul 16, 2021)

win231 said:


> Recall on the Colt New Agent:
> https://www.tactical-life.com/news/colt-announces-recall-of-7-models/#:~:text=0 Comments-,Colt's Manufacturing Company is recalling certain COLT model pistols.,DEFENDER, sold since March 2007.&text=The Guide Pad might crack and possibly prevent the pistol from firing.


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## chrislind2 (Oct 14, 2021)

Just bought an M1A Springfield rifle. Had to sell another gun to buy this one, but it still didn't cover the cost. Hope I don't have "retired" buyers remorse. Can't wait to try it out. Don't think I will reload for this one, but we will see.


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## Colleen (Oct 14, 2021)

My husband is a competition trap-shooter. He has a 12 gauge and reloads his own (when he can get supplies, which are scarce these days). He has a shed that everything is in.


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## Tom 86 (Oct 14, 2021)

I use to reload a lot of different calibers for rifles & handguns.  I got a Lee ?? loader wheel they go round in a circle & when do you have a bullet ready to fire.  It has 5 stations on it.   I kept buying different dies at gun shows along with bullets, brass & power.   I haven't used it for a few years as it's too hard for me to get down into the basement.

Also, The gun shows have gone the way of the dinosaurs, so it's hard to get powers shipped anymore & the price is outrageous.  That also makes a federal paper trail so the feds know where it's all going.


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## bowmore (Oct 14, 2021)

win231 said:


> I handloaded for 44 years - mainly pistol calibers.  It's the only way to afford enough practice to shoot competitively.


Absolutely! The standard course of fire takes 30 rounds: Slow, timed, and rapid fire. do that every week, that is over 1500 rounds. I gave all my reloading stuff to my younger son. We flew a private plane down to deliver it to him. The interesting part was loading it in the back of the plane:
A .50 cal ammo box, a wooden crate from mortar rounds, and all the reloading tools.
One problem I had was my.22 ammo was so old the lead bullets oxidized and would not chamber.


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## Don M. (Oct 14, 2021)

chrislind2 said:


> Just bought an M1A Springfield rifle. Had to sell another gun to buy this one, but it still didn't cover the cost. Hope I don't have "retired" buyers remorse. Can't wait to try it out. Don't think I will reload for this one, but we will see.
> 
> View attachment 189203


I bought an M1 Carbine, .30 caliber, years ago, at an estate auction.  It was made by IBM in 1942, and is a nice "collectable".  It came with 3 32 round clips, and I loaded it up one time, and fired a full clip...what a hoot!  Now, it just sits in the safe, and about once a year, I put 5 rounds through it, clean it up, then it goes back in the safe.


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## old medic (Oct 15, 2021)

chrislind2 said:


> Just bought an M1A Springfield rifle. Had to sell another gun to buy this one, but it still didn't cover the cost. Hope I don't have "retired" buyers remorse. Can't wait to try it out. Don't think I will reload for this one, but we will see.
> 
> View attachment 189203


Very sweet looking weapon...
I just finished building a AR-10 .308 and hope to load up some test rounds this weekend.


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## chrislind2 (Dec 27, 2021)

I needed some hard to find rifle primers and RCBS had a deal that is if you bought the dies for a rifle round you could get 1000 primers with it.
It was a deal too good to pass up and I now can reload for my new M1A 7.62x51. Have to go shoot a box first to have the brass to reload.


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## fmdog44 (Dec 27, 2021)

The luckiest man in the world. Listen for the sound of the 50 cal. bullet coming back to him.
50 cal ricochet: Rifle Range ... Read before watching clip .. - Bing video


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## old medic (Dec 28, 2021)

chrislind2 said:


> I needed some hard to find rifle primers and RCBS had a deal that is if you bought the dies for a rifle round you could get 1000 primers with it.
> It was a deal too good to pass up and I now can reload for my new M1A 7.62x51. Have to go shoot a box first to have the brass to reload.


I have a ton of 7.62x51 Brass..... Funny story... I have several friends that shoot/reload, we swap and trade. Well a few had a bunch of 308/7.62 brass they just gave me, and I collected with the intention of giving it to another buddy.... When I told him he said thanks, but already has a couple thousand rounds already....  So I have all this Brass, a pile of bullets...since I shoot 30-06, 300BLK plus molds to make more. so I just needed a rifle and Dies.... My buddy I had saved them for to begin with up and gives me a set of dies he had extra... so I had to build my 308.


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## chrislind2 (Jan 9, 2022)

bowmore said:


> Absolutely! The standard course of fire takes 30 rounds: Slow, timed, and rapid fire. do that every week, that is over 1500 rounds. I gave all my reloading stuff to my younger son. We flew a private plane down to deliver it to him. The interesting part was loading it in the back of the plane:
> A .50 cal ammo box, a wooden crate from mortar rounds, and all the reloading tools.
> One problem I had was my.22 ammo was so old the lead bullets oxidized and would not chamber.


I once fired some old .22 rounds my grandfather had in his closet. They were in a leather belt on loops, and they were all green and dirty. I fired several with no problem and then one exploded in the chamber. It sent the bullet, but a trap door on the bottom of my rifle apparently made for such things opened up. I checked for damage and did not shoot any more of those green shells. Gun was fine fortunately.


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## win231 (Jan 9, 2022)

chrislind2 said:


> I once fired some old .22 rounds my grandfather had in his closet. They were in a leather belt on loops, and they were all green and dirty. I fired several with no problem and then one exploded in the chamber. It sent the bullet, but a trap door on the bottom of my rifle apparently made for such things opened up. I checked for damage and did not shoot any more of those green shells. Gun was fine fortunately.


You probably already know it, but in case you don't, don't fire any ammo that's in bad shape again.  You're fortunate that it was a .22 & not something that was higher pressure.
A gun is a bomb that you set off a few inches from your face.


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## Don M. (Jan 9, 2022)

I took my "collection" our of the safe, this past Fall, and put a few rounds through each, cleaned them, and put them back in the safe.  Then, back in early December, we were in Columbia, MO., for a bit, and I stopped by a large Ammo supplier...Midway, USA...and was amazed at the lack of ammo, and the Huge increase in prices.  That place is usually one of the best places to buy ammo, but they looked no better than the local Walmart.  I did buy some extra powder, and some bullets, to reload the cases I used.  

Between the BLM riots, and this Covid, it appears that gun and ammo sales, and prices, have gone through the roof in the past couple of years.


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## Tom 86 (Jan 9, 2022)

I've got a Lee press set up in the basement.  I started out reloading SW 40 Cal for my S.I.L.  I also loaded 223s for my you know what.  Then went to 257's, SW 38 specials, 9 mm, 380 ACP  & a few more I forget.   

  Since It's hard for me to go up & down basement steps I don't do any right now.


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