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At the urging of a friend at work who is an experienced reloader ( I still think reloaders are a bit "touched", likely at least on "the spectrum" to some degree) I am going to try my hand at reloading, primarily for Long Range Precision Rifle purposes. I am still going to rely solely on factory ammo for any serious preparedness purposes.

Reloading is going to be and extra thing I do, not for fun, not for any perceived cost savings, not to for therapy, not to replace my normal preparedness practices (I am still gonna "buy it cheap stack it deep" factory ammo, well at least "stack it deep")

I was inspired to get into reloading because of an experience that I had with a particular rifle that would not group well for spit no matter what ammo I used with it. I had never had this experience before and always had good luck with rifles that I could usually find something off the shelf that worked well enough for my needs. I always had an interest in long range precision shooting but after several serious considerations always deemed it a rabbit hole that I didn't want to go down.

I sold the rifle that would not shoot and bought another and tried factory off the shelf match ammo and immediately I was able to push the rifle to its limits of precision. I was now convinced that this was the primary reason I would get into reloading/handloading if I ever did. To try to wring the most accuracy out of any rifle I had (mainly bolt action .308, perhaps single feed AR-15 for special purposes), more out of a personal challenge/goal than practical need. So down the rabbit hole we go!

However, regarding my initial post regarding "retarded reloader math", which is a thing....

If you saw my factory ammo stash you would think I could shoot into infinity.

The bottom line is that in the onset of a a problem arises or Ammo Crisis you never have more than what you already started out with. You only can rely on what you have on hand and if you are lucky and paying attention, a small window of time of what you can reasonably acquire before things get hard.

This is true for both factory ammo and for reloading. Excess components dry up and they go to make factory ammo. Factory ammo gets hard to find and prices skyrocket. Reloading doesn't make anyone ahead of the curve. BEING PREPARED makes you ahead of the curve. I've never met a prepared factory ammo guy that had nothing to shoot. I have met a lot of reloaders without primers who have had nothing to shoot.

I always ask people why they reload and one of the most responses I get is "because I will be fine, I will be able to reload XYZ amount of rounds" as if it is an advantage over factory ammo. And they always with out fail say it with such confidence and arrogance that it always makes me laugh. Pondering reloading this time around was no exception. You can reload XYZ amount of ammo only if you already have the right mix of components on hand to do it with. If you are missing anyone component you are screwed. To me this is not a reason to reload. This is a fallacy many reloaders whether they realize it are not fall into is that somehow simply reloading gives them a preparedness advantage.

I can buy off the shelf factory ammo and be as prepared with XYZ amounts of ammo and be just as prepared, even more so. That is because my factory ammo is already complete, portable, ready to be loaded into magazines and immediately ready for use. Your reloading components and equipment are not highly portable, requires effort to assemble and is not immediately ready for use. You are even more limited if you are relying on brass from ammo you haven't shot yet to supplement your ammo count. Good luck trying to reload and prepare for battle as zombie hoards descend upon your home base or as Red Dawn Russian/Chinese commies paratroopers rain down upon the landscape.

I am not trying to say that reloading is without merit, but have realistic expectations.

And one more reason to reload so I too can look and non-reloaders with righteous indignation and pontificate about all my superiority because I reload.

mr surveyor wrote: Sat Nov 09, 2024 12:48 pm As one that started late in life in reloading/handloading (January, 2011), the only thing that makes me believe that my "math is retarded" is that I waited so long to begin.

The "math" thing is just not understood. My first couple of years was spent in a beginner's learning curve, only on a couple of calibers. I shot all of what I loaded during that time period until my loading skills began to reach the point that the loaded inventory started building up. After a couple of years, and continued buying components, the cost savings became apparent and I started reloading for 6-7 different cartridges that went to the range with me. Now, I have a couple hundred loaded rounds on hand for each of the less used cartridges, four or five hundred rounds for each of the most often used cartridges, and enough components on hand to load at least a couple thousand various rounds.

I'm reduced down to only one trip to the range per week. and then only shoot about 50-60 rounds ... but I still load 50-100 rounds most weeks. If I were depending on factory ammunition, even if were magically available when I wanted it, I'd have to reduce my shooting by 30-50%.

jd

If you keep on buying components, and shoot less than you reload, you will certainly build up a stock of ammunition. That is called being prepared.
Likewise, I always replace what i shoot and buy a little more factory ammo in bulk periodically. No changes to my shooting habits. That is called being prepared.

However, in both cases, we can each only rely on what we have on hand at any given time and you cannot produce more ammunition than the amount of components that you have on hand. So back to my initial assertion, cost/benefit aside, if I have 1000 rounds of factory ammo and you have 1000 rounds of components we each have 1000 rounds.

I don't reload, it's totally not worth it for me. If you reload then good for you!

However there is one reloading fallacy that I continually hear from reloaders that perplexes me and that is the is the reloader math when it comes to the implied reloader claims of being able to reload to infinity with finite resources.

The implication being that reloaders are better off because they reload in terms of being able to have perpetual ammo during hard times vs those who don't reload.

Example:

I have 1000 rounds of factory ammo. Therefore, I have 1000 rounds, ready for use and easily portable.

A reloader has 1000 rounds worth of reloading components. Therefore he has the potential to have 1000 rounds. They are not ready for use and not easily portable.

In ammo shortages (where surplus components either scarce or nonexistent because they are going to supply factor ammo manufacturing) and a problem arises, it comes down to preparedness and what you have on hand.

You can only reload with components you have on hand. I can shoot only what I have on hand. You can rely only with what you have on hand being the lesson. Be prepared and plan ahead.

Reload if it's worth it to you but don't buy into the fallacy that reloading = perpetual ammo in hard times.