This kinda sucks….

[WanderingGoatie]

I just came in from my insulated garage after turning off my sunflower heater. Just put together 350 rounds between my 2.5 year olds nap and bedtime. Everyone goes through these things. We just need to figure out better time management.

I've decided to reduce the calibers I have and sell off anything that isn't 223 and 308.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

This is your brain…

This is your brain when married..

Any questions?

 

[newmexkid]

When I started reloading, not gonna lie, ignorance was bliss…. To a point.
The more I learn, the less confidence I seem to have.
I used to be able to go down in my mancave and screw around with this till wee hours of the morning, go shoot any weekend I wanted.
Fast forward a couple years and I have my wonderful daughter who is about to turn 2, my family and I moved and I no longer have a mancave inside the house, I have an insulated/heated garage but only kept about 40 degrees in the winter so reloading in the winder is cold.
I have very little time to go shooting and equally as little time to reload.
I think I may be at a point where it is just more practical to sell a couple rifles that I reload for and get something that has quality factory ammo offerings….

Anyone else been in my shoes?

I haven't thought much about "custom ammunition" yet at this point.

Probably most responsible fathers have been in your shoes. Don't worry, just plug along. It will get better.

 

[akdad]

I appreciate all the responses. Didn't think this would resonate with so many people.
My fiancé and I (I call her my wife cause we've been together for so long) tried for years with multiple unfortunate circumstances before we were blessed with our Charleigh and she is everything to us. Man oh man is she a handful . Wouldn't trade any of it for anything. But I already miss the baby stages . And NO! Not having another! It's been 2 years and Coty's (my fiancé) body is still recovering, yes been a long road.

After reading some of these, I do think I am going to look into Custom ammunition until I get back to it. It might be awhile cause we are talking about moving again, put up a house on her folks farmstead so gma and gpa are even closer to their one and only grandchild.

I sent a request out to North American Ammunition Co and Unknown Munitions.

There is a lot to be said for being able to buy a case of ammo in your cal. For a lot of people a case will last a long time.

 

[K.E.C.]

Howdy, as others have mentioned been there done that. Family comes First.
They grow up faster than you think.
My little girl will be 34 this year, memories are like yesterday. Cherish and enjoy every day. Pick your favorite guns and a 22 rimfire ( for her to shoot) you will have time to shoot and hunt. When time allows reload and buy factory ammo.
Your whole family will have Fun Shooting at the Range. It's a lot of fun teaching and watching them. Take lots of pictures.
Hope this helps, life is what you make of it.

 

[sp6x6]

As other have said, plan some time to fit in doesn't take that long.Do it in steps if you need prep brass, prime,etc.I mostly reload in winter also.I found I have to many calibers I don't shoot anymore, so I let my kid take over that.Iwould put a space heating in garage or hang some plastic and make a way for it to work.Kids grow up fast.My kids 30, and ended up back at home.AND, Ive still had to load him some ammo so he could hunt.Still trying to teach him the craft.Military ruined him, giving him thousands of rounds to shoot.

 

[cjl2010]

I've got two boys, ages 5 and 6. I spoke to the wife and she agreed that upgrading my equipment to buy back time was a reasonable compromise. AutoTrickler, Henderson trimmer, Dillon 550 press, and arbor press were all able to give me back time spent in the reloading room to be with my family.

 

[tydaws]

I've been in a similar situation, and I did downsize. I've taken a quality over quantity approach with my rifles. Although I'm setup to load for 7 or 8 rifles, 90+% of my loading is for 3 custom rifles in different calibers. My only son is about to be 10 years old and LOVES to shoot & help Dad load. I've been fortunate enough to upgrade my loading tools over the last 4 or 5 years to the point that I feel that I've reached peak efficiency. I've also got proven loads worked up for all of my rifles, so I'm not doing much development or tinkering at this point. I've spent the last 4 or 5 years trying to get to this point & its a huge relief. There was a time (7-9 years ago) when I had similar thoughts about getting out of hand loading, but I'm sooooo **** glad that I didn't. Hopefully your little girl develops an interest in shooting and hunting. I know it seems like a long ways down the line, but the years fly by. Good luck!

 

[Hudge76]

You'll be the time back to reload, it not the time back to spend with your children. They grow up too quick! I didn't start reloading until I had retired from the military and completed a one year overseas contracting gig. By then, my kids were in college and high school. I came home, started a new job, and pulled out the relaoding stuff I had bought over the years and started it one evening. The youngest is a sophomore in college and only home in the summer and winter break. The oldest is full time NG, and lives with some buddies from college. I have plenty of time to reload now, but I sure miss watching the kids sports, school programs, etc. Those things you'll never get back, but I can reload anytime I want now or not reload, and it will still be there tomorrow.

 

[DakotaFire101]

When my wife and I got married I sold my house and moved in to hers as it was financially a better move than keeping mine at the time. 2 years later we had our baby boy and time became scarce due to my wife working almost every weekend and me having to be a stay at home daddy on the weekends for the most part. Over the years I've always maintained a small reloading corner of our unfinished basement but it has sat more or less unused, usually only squeezing in 20 rounds here and there to get me through hunting season. My son will be 3 this month and I recently spent the winter finishing the basement and improving my facilities and am able to tinker with loads again and bring him with on trips to the range. I have a cheap set of binos that I let him "watch" through although they're so old you can barely make out what you're looking at. He doesn't care, all he knows is he spent the winter "helping" dad build something cool and he loves helping me sort brass and watching dad ring steel. It all comes with time, I used to view having him as an inconvenience but I wanted to have my cake and eat it too so I worked my a$% off to build a scenario that would work with my new life. Now I wouldn't want it any other way, I love my little range buddy and they really come in handy for picking up brass when you're all done shooting.

 

[nwmnbowhunter]

Soon to be 3 kids under 3 here...

Only focus on one or two rifles at a time.

Simplify your process to the least amount of steps possible.

Find a small spot to leave everything setup with a sheet you can throw over everything.... look at f class John on YouTube bench setup.

Do small batches and leave a detailed note of what you have done to that batch and what is left to be done. You might think you'll get back to it tomorrow, but it might be a month.

Only work with one powder and one bullet at a time.... use extreme safety.

Don't sell primers.

If you haven't shot a rifle in two years seriously consider if you are ever going to use it. If not, sell it, unless it has sentimental value or is just that awesome of a rifle.

 

[Mark37082]

It seems like a blink of an eye and they move away. They do tend to come home, and you can take them to the range.

 

[GetReel]

Soon to be 3 kids under 3 here...

Only focus on one or two rifles at a time.

Simplify your process to the least amount of steps possible.

Find a small spot to leave everything setup with a sheet you can throw over everything.... look at f class John on YouTube bench setup.

Do small batches and leave a detailed note of what you have done to that batch and what is left to be done. You might think you'll get back to it tomorrow, but it might be a month.

Only work with one powder and one bullet at a time.... use extreme safety.

Don't sell primers.

If you haven't shot a rifle in two years seriously consider if you are ever going to use it. If not, sell it, unless it has sentimental value or is just that awesome of a rifle.

I have consolidated a lot over the years already. I'll use one rifle as my example.
It's a custom 6.5x284. I picked it up from the gs 2 years ago. Last year I loaded 20 rounds to break in the barrel. When I shot them over a chrono and on target they shot well, slow but well, I decided I'll load up a few more and go hunting knowing I'd keep shots shorter. Well I never shot at game this past year so I pulled the bullets.
Telling you all this to say in 2 years only 20 rounds…. I would only sell this rifle for an equally awesome rifle in a caliber that is easier to get quality ammo (6.5 Creedmoor….. ugh, can't believe I said that….. 6.5prc or 7prc).

I truly think I'm going to go down the path of custom load development from someone so all I do is go shoot when I have time. Less stress and more practice. Comes at a cost but it's the cost to spend time with my family. Well spent I feel.

 

[nwmnbowhunter]

I have consolidated a lot over the years already. I'll use one rifle as my example.
It's a custom 6.5x284. I picked it up from the gs 2 years ago. Last year I loaded 20 rounds to break in the barrel. When I shot them over a chrono and on target they shot well, slow but well, I decided I'll load up a few more and go hunting knowing I'd keep shots shorter. Well I never shot at game this past year so I pulled the bullets.
Telling you all this to say in 2 years only 20 rounds…. I would only sell this rifle for an equally awesome rifle in a caliber that is easier to get quality ammo (6.5 Creedmoor….. ugh, can't believe I said that….. 6.5prc or 7prc).

I truly think I'm going to go down the path of custom load development from someone so all I do is go shoot when I have time. Less stress and more practice. Comes at a cost but it's the cost to spend time with my family. Well spent I feel.

get a ts custom or gunwerks and let er buck!!