I finished up several boxes of Remington Core lokt ammo for my .30/06 that I had been using to hunt deer. I bought a couple more boxes of the same load (150s) and I don't know what Remington had changed but instead of 1.25" they shot 3-4" groups. I bought some 165's and the groups shrunk back to 1.5" or so and I went hunting. I had bought a basic reloading press and kit a few years before but had never found the time to use it. Well, during the off season I took that stuff, bought some dies, bullets, primers and powder and went at it. I quickly discovered that my rifle that would shoot most factory loads (except that one batch of Remingtons) into 1.25" to 1.5" would actually do 0.5" to 0.75" with carefully loaded ammo.
I still shoot some factory ammo in that rifle and others, mostly because of time issues. However, I do enjoy loading my own. In addition to all the advantages you guys have mentioned like working up loads, economics, shooting more, etc. The thing I love most about it is that when I sit down at the loading bench and load ammo, I can't do anything else. I can't think about work, or bills, or responsibilities. You have to totally focus on what you are doing. I find that incredibly relaxing.
