Passing on reloading skills

[Stang66]

Yes, I have done this at my local range, my target club and mentored many new shooters and shown how you can either just reload to make your gun go bang for less money than factory, or to load precision ammo that costs more than factory but also out performs it by tenfold.
I see the new trend of just buying factory, because companies are very good at sprucing their new cartridges, whether fact or fiction, they get the majority believing their BS.
Shooting comps is always a learning deal, if you don't learn new techniques, try new ideas, then you're probably wasting your time…

Cheers.

Hec I did basic reloading in the winters instead looking at the idiot box (tv/computer ) Then I decided I wanted to shoot 1000 yards….now down the rabbit hole I've gone.

 

[Stang66]

Hec I did basic reloading in the winters instead looking at the idiot box (tv/computer ) Then I decided I wanted to shoot 1000 yards….now down the rabbit hole I've gone. It has been a learning curve for sure that I am still working on. The best thing that happened is I met world champion Erik Cortina and now follow his PRS series on his forum. I had been going to a range watching the f-class matches for about 8 months (2-1/2 hour drive) I was hooked…but before all that happened I bought commercial rifle thinking it was what I needed boy was I shocked when I went to that first match and saw the setups…
So with my setup I'm go to go for 600, 300.

 

[1maineguide]

One of my fondest memories is sitting on my grandfathers knee in front of a fireplace with a pot of lead sitting in the coals, a dipper in one of his hands and a 25 caliber mold in his other hand. I was fascinated that something liquid would turn into something hard and be able to shoot it thru his rifle. I believe I was five or six when this happened. I got the bug bad, very bad. I still have that ,257 mold. It cost $3.00 hand written on the Ideal box by hand. Than he would sit and reload with an Ideal 257 Roberts hand tool. I have all of his shotgun reloading hand tools, rifle reloading tools and all of his molds, lead pot and related items. Even an unopened pound of Bulk powder for shotgun paper hulls and primers and boxes of the old wads. They have a place in my reloading room and I believe they still talk back to me at times. That was the early sixties. I now have new reloading tools and equipment and have taught my son to reload. Now I am teaching a young man how to reload. Trying to pass this craft to a new generation. Hopefully he will stay the course and continue this journey.

 

[victor3ranger]

I teach my grandchildren, start them off with the resizing part first and go through all of the case prep and explain why every step is needed.
When the loading part starts I will put them at a station and that's their job in the process.
I don't run anything progressive instead I have 4 single stations setup. I know it probably sounds stupid but when the time comes to kick out a pile of ammo I have son-in-laws, grandkids, friends, or whoever else wants to do it, we make it a bonding time but since I have done it for much longer I do the quality control and make sure each step is consistent and right.
When they shoot the ammo they made it means much more to them knowing they can actually make their own and be confident.
I am now teaching some of them how to reload 22lr and 22mag

 

[Philward]

I remember as a kid in 70's always hanging out with dad in his little hidden room where he did the reloading. He was always doing something up there. Watched him do many different things and load lots of ammo, then he started letting me do some for myself for my use. He still uses the same press, RCBS Junior I think, that he bought back in about 1965 when he started. At 87yo now it's a little harder for him to get into that room and his vision is not good from right eye(he's right handed), so not shooting much either. He had a knack for making accurate loads. I remember he cut off the barrel of a Savage 110 with a hack saw, squared it and re-crowned in a drill press. It shot way better than originally and he used 70g hp bullets that made a ragged hole at 100. He killed many deer with that rifle with 90-100g bullets until he sold it to a relative and it subsequently burned up in a truck fire. So most everything was learned from him and his experience and lately from any interesting threads on this forum. There is always someone with a little different take on what to do and some of it may be useful at some time.

 

[sailorjim]

I firmly believe that reloading is a skill that is being lost bit by bit. It's far to easy to just go buy it new rather that attempting it. Some say, "it's the cost of getting started". There's always a cost in anything you do.

But ultimately, the skill is dwindling.

Have any of you mentored anyone? Taught classes? Showed what you know?

I'm talking about "in person" mentoring/teaching only.

Yep, I've been able to teach 4 or 5 people over the years. Some have dropped out, a couple have continued and are advancing.

 

[victor3ranger]

One of my fondest memories is sitting on my grandfathers knee in front of a fireplace with a pot of lead sitting in the coals, a dipper in one of his hands and a 25 caliber mold in his other hand. I was fascinated that something liquid would turn into something hard and be able to shoot it thru his rifle. I believe I was five or six when this happened. I got the bug bad, very bad. I still have that ,257 mold. It cost $3.00 hand written on the Ideal box by hand. Than he would sit and reload with an Ideal 257 Roberts hand tool. I have all of his shotgun reloading hand tools, rifle reloading tools and all of his molds, lead pot and related items. Even an unopened pound of Bulk powder for shotgun paper hulls and primers and boxes of the old wads. They have a place in my reloading room and I believe they still talk back to me at times. That was the early sixties. I now have new reloading tools and equipment and have taught my son to reload. Now I am teaching a young man how to reload. Trying to pass this craft to a new generation. Hopefully he will stay the course and continue this journey.

Bugs around the smelting process can be a very bad thing.
I was making a bunch of 45 bullets one day during the summer, it was like slow motion I saw a June bug fly past my right eye and it did a kamakazi dive into melded lead, in flash it was like a bomb went off blowing off around 4lbs of molten lead.
I got hit in face, arms, hands and pretty much everywhere. A painful lesson learned

 

[Keith M Sheehan]

I firmly believe that reloading is a skill that is being lost bit by bit. It's far to easy to just go buy it new rather that attempting it. Some say, "it's the cost of getting started". There's always a cost in anything you do.

But ultimately, the skill is dwindling.

Have any of you mentored anyone? Taught classes? Showed what you know?

I'm talking about "in person" mentoring/teaching only.

I'm 80 yrs old. I started loading on Christmas Day in 1958. My father got me a pre-war M70 in .30-06 and a Lyman 310 tool to go with it. I was completely self taught with the help of some early loading manuals and I've never looked back. Over the past 65 years I've amassed a huge amount of knowledge and it has been my pleasure to teach my children and my grand children the art. There's a segment of hand loading that you're missing, though. I highly recommend getting together with some long time handloaders and spending a day of loading together. Yeah, yeah, I know; hand loading is a mostly solitary vocation, but, believe me, swapping stories and maybe a beer with friends of like minds is very gratifying and maybe it will re-kindle a desire for your friends to want to teach some of their friends.

 

[victor3ranger]

I'm 80 yrs old. I started loading on Christmas Day in 1958. My father got me a pre-war M70 in .30-06 and a Lyman 310 tool to go with it. I was completely self taught with the help of some early loading manuals and I've never looked back. Over the past 65 years I've amassed a huge amount of knowledge and it has been my pleasure to teach my children and my grand children the art. There's a segment of hand loading that you're missing, though. I highly recommend getting together with some long time handloaders and spending a day of loading together. Yeah, yeah, I know; hand loading is a mostly solitary vocation, but, believe me, swapping stories and maybe a beer with friends of like minds is very gratifying and maybe it will re-kindle a desire for your friends to want to teach some of their friends.

That's some really fun times, I have three good friends that reload and when we get together to push out a big batch of whatever, it's good times

 

[emp1953]

Tried teaching my boy few times.But he keeps burning threw my ammo.Dad its opening day and I have 3 rounds-ME, so I told you to reload this winter

Tell him to make em count.

 

[Raudy707]

Yes, I have done this at my local range, my target club and mentored many new shooters and shown how you can either just reload to make your gun go bang for less money than factory, or to load precision ammo that costs more than factory but also out performs it by tenfold.
I see the new trend of just buying factory, because companies are very good at sprucing their new cartridges, whether fact or fiction, they get the majority believing their BS.
Shooting comps is always a learning deal, if you don't learn new techniques, try new ideas, then you're probably wasting your time…

Cheers.

I also have seen at least two or three hunting and shooting shows on TV stating there's just no need to shoot handloaded ammo any more. They shot a group and yeah it was good with Hornady ammo at like 500 yds around 0.5 moa then said see you can just go buy a box of Hornady ammunition and it will duplicate or be better than your Dad's handloads. I was surprised. But it's sponsors so I guess I'm not too surprised. It a dying art form for sure.

 

[Oldtime Shooter13]

I am constantly on the lookout for those interested in learning. I find that unless you are immersed in something (organizations in general), it is difficult to find people outside family and friends, interested in process oriented pastimes. Why go through the trouble when I can buy a rifle and factory ammo and hit what I want?
It seems the younger generations are more distracted than ever. We have taught them to be a disposable people. We crave instant gratification and thus seem to be result driven ( I make a strong distinction between hunting animals and shooting them).
I see the same thing in fly fishing and other sports. Most want to take the path of least resistance due to time constraints and success is too often defined by harvest with little regard for stewardship.
Sorry if this seems like a rant. When I come across those interested, I will try to help them. If they take to it and are passionate about it, I glom onto them and pour into them as much as possible and usually learn a great deal from them and about myself in the process. I find that these relationships cover far more ground than the sport and turn into personal relationships that are mutually beneficial. Process people enjoy every aspect of what they do. They seem to be increasingly rare, but when found, are worthy of our time and efforts.

 

[dwcars]

I used to be anal about reloading. Meticulous cartridge prep, weighed each individual of powder, carefully seated bullet, and measured each OAL. Got pretty serious about precision shooting too when there were places to shoot with 10 or 15 minutes drive. Today it's another story. You can't find components, and when you do, they're priced in the stratosphere. IF you do find everything you need, how many times each week are you willing to make the 1 hour drive to test your new 'ladder' and be shoulder to shoulder with "GI Joe" rapidly emptying his 30 round magazine to the left of you and the "Great White Elephant Hunter" shooting his .450 Nitro Express on your right~? Seems to me that the 'anti-gun-movement has grown like an insidious cancer, and what was once like eating an ice cream sunday had grown to be like taking a dose of castor oil~!!

 

[victor3ranger]

I used to be anal about reloading. Meticulous cartridge prep, weighed each individual of powder, carefully seated bullet, and measured each OAL. Got pretty serious about precision shooting too when there were places to shoot with 10 or 15 minutes drive. Today it's another story. You can't find components, and when you do, they're priced in the stratosphere. IF you do find everything you need, how many times each week are you willing to make the 1 hour drive to test your new 'ladder' and be shoulder to shoulder with "GI Joe" rapidly emptying his 30 round magazine to the left of you and the "Great White Elephant Hunter" shooting his .450 Nitro Express on your right~? Seems to me that the 'anti-gun-movement has grown like an insidious cancer, and what was once like eating an ice cream sunday had grown to be like taking a dose of castor oil~!!

I never get to really go much to a official civilian range but if that's me seeing all that going on I would be like a kid in a candy store picking up all that spent brass