This will probably be of no interest to veteran loaders, but I wanted to write this to encourage shooters that may never have reloaded their own shells. Reloading can be a very enjoyable hobby. I reload shotgun and pistol. I think some people have the idea they will blow themselves up or something and as a result never try it. Shotshell loading is very, very simple. Pistol and rifle gets a lot more involved but is still learnable and easy once you get your feet wet.

When you start shotshell, always learn on a single stage loader. It is a step by step process and pretty hard to goof up. The great part about single stage is you can stop right where you’re at, correct the mistake, and move on. There are 6 basic moves. First deprime and size the shell. Next put a primer in. Then add powder, wad, and finally shot. All that’s left is to crimp it and voila! If you make a mistake like double load of powder, you will know because the shot will be very high and a crimp almost impossible or very humpy looking. It’s kind of a sense of pride when you finish a box, plus you don’t have to pay those store prices. I reload my own steel for about $6-$7 a box compared to $14 at the store.

Sometimes shooting buddies can share the expense of buying the loader and components. When I first started my cousin and I shared everything in the loading process till I got my own. It was fun getting together and sharing some laughs while we got our shells done.

Pistol is more involved in that you have to lube the cases, spread the necks and be careful of no double powder loads. Your best bet here is have a person who does it teach you. It’s kind of funny, but as soon as you get 3 or 4 boxes of 38’s or whatever loaded you have this urge to go shoot them so you can load more. It’s a great pastime especially in the winter when you have cabin fever and want something to do. The savings in this is quite a bit. You can really shoot more cause of cost reduction. If you have a buddy that does either of these, ask him if you can stop by and watch. I guarantee it will be fascinating and before you know it, you’ll be saying, “I can do that”. Then when the wife says to take out the garbage, you can say, “Not now I’m in the middle of powder loading and can’t stop for safety reasons”.

Seriously it’s a lot of fun and I hope you give it a shot!!
 

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