Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Do you reload or buy factory for your deer hunting??

I was taught to load at the age of twelve by my uncle who purchased an original Wby MK V in 257 Wby in 1958, the year I was born. At that time there were no commercially loaded ammo mfr’s for Weatherby magnums. It was a purely roll-your-own investment.

I too, have loaded nearly every rifle cartridge & most handgun ammo I have ever fired. I did hunt with a 280 Remington for a couple of seasons that was purchased specifically as a back-up rifle for use with commercial ammo. Once the primary weapon was repaired the 280 went back in the safe.

I reload my handloads. Can’t recall the last deer I took with factory. Rifles come and go here without tasting store-bought.

Sticking to the basics and keeping schidt easy is something a lot of guys lose along the way. They try to complicate things, with hardly any gain at all. Unless you are a benchrest competitor or shooting for money, there is no reason to use a lot of the crap guys mention here a lot. Load straight ammo with as little fuss as you can and you will be way ahead of the game. Or you can go down the rabbit hole and get lost or lose focus. Keep it simple, is the approach I take..

hope the young guys on here learn to reload centerfire ammo ,its a great joy to use your own ammo you made for target shooting and for hunting . good luck,Pete53

I started reloading when I was 12. Will turn 70 next month. Have never killed a big game animal with a factory round. And everything my son and wife killed was with my reloads.

I reload all of my hunting ammo for both rifle and handgun. Been that way since 1997. Youngin’ I know 😎

Factory ammo has been a good source of brass. The 17 Hornet on the other hand is great from the factory. I have some factory 300 H&H ammo, but they have set on my shelves for a couple of years. Maybe if I run out of brass I’ll shoot them.

I spent part of the morning processing, sorting and sizing 30-30 brass. It's a mix of once fired Win, Rem, and Fed brass. I have come to the conclusion that Federal brass is caca. It is softer and the primer pockets are looser than the other two brands. I'll load it due to the shortage of 30-30 brass, but it will not be used again. I also have a bunch of Rem-umc brass that seem to last forever. They just don't make stuff like they used to.

Roll my own. Absurd prices on our shelves here for factory.

Only buy factory when it's the only way to get brass for a cartridge I don't already load and have brass for.

This is an interesting thread, would not have thought so many reload but then again this site is a magnet for gun nuts!! I've reloaded for 15 years, started with a Lee loader for my 308 savage 99. If I ever think that my rifle collection is out of hand, it's nothing compared to how my reloading equipment has grown. I shoot oddballs a lot like 284 win, 6.5-284, 358 win, 9.3x57 Mauser, 6.5x55 and 300 savage. If I'm going to practice much with any, I basically have to reload. Also shoot plenty of 30-06 and 308, even stated reloading for my daughter's 223. Being able to choose the correct bullet like trophy bonded bear claws I got for that 223 from a very generous member here on the fire makes me more confident in my gun's ability to perform its job. And I feel like the 223 is a prime example of a chambering that may be marginal for deer but when loaded with the correct bullet becomes very capable at reasonable ranges.

Oh yeah, plus it's fun.

MM

Me too, clean burr out of flash hole, full length size, because I have multiples of many cartridges, clean primer pocket, chamfer case,load and shoot.

All of my rifles have been fed handloads for the last two decades. I did pick up some ammo at Walmart when they were closing it out for less than $5 a box in 243 and 30-06.

I just started reloading for slugs. It’s been a lot easier than I expected. I bought primed shells from BRI and slugs from slugs r us. Used a roll crimper on the drill press. Found some green dot locally and put together a subsonic slug that shoots about 1.5” groups at 50 with a rifled choke in a Turkey barrel on an 870. Exactly what I wanted on my home property where I wanted to keep it “quiet” to not disturb the neighbors too much. Now just need a deer I want to shoot to stand in front of me.

Same. A lot of what I shoot is a bit oddball and there's not a lot to choose from here for odd ammo.

I have been deer hunting for 60 years and have never killed a deer with a rifle factory load. Started hunting with buckshot though, as a shotgun was the only gun I owned. Took off a few years from deer hunting when I was in college. When I started deer hunting again it was with a rifle. By then I was already reloading for varmint rifles, so it was natural to load for the deer rifle.

All hand loads,40 plus calibers

A couple cousins come up for Prairie Dog shooting annually. They bring factory ammo for their 223’s and 22-250’s. They take the brass back to Texas and sell them, normally. I asked to buy their 22-250 brass one year. They gave me a life time supply of brass in that one prairie dog shoot.

I have maybe a dozen partial boxes of factory ammo for 303 Brit, 6mm, 25-06, 270 & maybe some others. Sometimes at a gun show people will have sold their rifle and get rid of the factory ammo at less than brass prices. Over the years, I’ve bought maybe 4 partial boxes of 375 H&H ammo loaded with 300 grain solids for a song. Funny how they mostly had 15-18 or so loaded cases in a box I’m suspecting that in these cases the owner didn’t like the ammo for some reason. I love gun shows.

I hand load everything for the last 35 years or so but do it because it is something to do and fun... and after all these of buying and collecting brass, and powder - components, the cost now for me is much lower than buy factory

I reload for rifles only. In the past, I would for pistols too, but never shotguns. I stopped reloading for pistols because they’re not as accurate as rifles and I don’t think I’m a good pistol shooter. At least not as good as I expect to be. The other reason is that it takes too long to load for them with the set up I have. I might get back into pistols if I get a good deal on used equipment that can spit out a lot of rounds. My set up for rifles is pretty good. I keep up with technology in dies, dispensers, chronographs, and case prep. I’m engaged in loading every week. I’m not anti factory rounds, but don’t usually buy any. One time worth mentioning is when I just had to buy 300 WbY rounds because of circumstances and the factory Weatherby®️ cartridges were as accurate as any hand loads I made for that rifle. So much that I thought it was a fluke and bought more and found them to be just as accurate. I still hand load for it and they do fine, but I do it for cost purposes as I shoot it a lot.

I don't follow "conventional wisdom" very much...

Most of my brass for a couple decades has been picked up off the ground at our local range after people leave without even picking up after themselves.. What I don't use or can't use due to not owning a caliber in that chambering, I clean, tumble and give it to friends that have rifles in that chambering...

If I shot 100 rounds a day, I don't think I'd run out of brass for the rest of my days..

I tailor my loads to what I am after. I do things like extend brass life dramatically, use loads that have less recoil than factory stuff does, and also dramatically extend barrel life. I get a lot more shots out of a pound a powder, that most who load and get max velocity. I don't need a 500 yd elk load to take down a 100 pound black tail at 100 yds..

I shoot a lot of sage rats every season, which last 5 to 6 months....a minimum of several thousand a season.. sometimes as high as 8000 of them some seasons... with loads that I get 400 to 500 rounds or more out of a pound of powder...been using Unique a lot lately, as I have a bunch of it... plus started using other powders that are available...shot gun and pistol powders in 223 bolt guns.. 700 to 800 rounds out of a pound of powder, yet still can ring steel targets the size of my hand print at 300 and 400 yds...

handloading allows 1000 times more opportunities than factory ammo EVER could...and that stretch out barrel life spans way beyond most people would ever believe...