03-22-2020, 03:59 PM
oldhunter1954,
if your rifle likes a hunting load you can buy off the shelf, and you're happy with the performance of said bullet on game, and your only interest is in hunting, then it probably doesn't pay to reload.
the advantages i see for reloading, as pointed out by many so far, is you can tailor the particular bullet and powder charge to get the tightest accuracy in your individual rifle. if your rifle already shoots the hunting ammo you like to use under 1 MOA you may not consider tightening the groups further to be of any more value for big game hunting. if you can't find a particular bullet you'd like to use for hunting, then of course you'll have to hand load. if you live in the communist republic of Kalifornia, then you have to use non lead bullets to hunt with. i am not aware of a factory non lead bullet hunting load yet. so you will have to load them yourself. and even so there may be other hunting bullets you'd like to use, like the 125gr. Nosler Partition, for example, that aren't loaded as a factory round as far as i know. if on the other hand, Hornady SST, Federal Fusion, Remington Corelokt work for you and your rifle and you can find them, then you may not need to reload. buy a case of whatever it is you like and you'll be set for life in terms of hunting ammo. and if you really start enjoying plinking, there is also plenty of factory ammo for that too, if you don't want to reload. as pointed out above as well, reloading is a nice hobby too. once you have the empty cases, re-loading them does save some cost, though not as much as it use to.
have fun
-tdbru
if your rifle likes a hunting load you can buy off the shelf, and you're happy with the performance of said bullet on game, and your only interest is in hunting, then it probably doesn't pay to reload.
the advantages i see for reloading, as pointed out by many so far, is you can tailor the particular bullet and powder charge to get the tightest accuracy in your individual rifle. if your rifle already shoots the hunting ammo you like to use under 1 MOA you may not consider tightening the groups further to be of any more value for big game hunting. if you can't find a particular bullet you'd like to use for hunting, then of course you'll have to hand load. if you live in the communist republic of Kalifornia, then you have to use non lead bullets to hunt with. i am not aware of a factory non lead bullet hunting load yet. so you will have to load them yourself. and even so there may be other hunting bullets you'd like to use, like the 125gr. Nosler Partition, for example, that aren't loaded as a factory round as far as i know. if on the other hand, Hornady SST, Federal Fusion, Remington Corelokt work for you and your rifle and you can find them, then you may not need to reload. buy a case of whatever it is you like and you'll be set for life in terms of hunting ammo. and if you really start enjoying plinking, there is also plenty of factory ammo for that too, if you don't want to reload. as pointed out above as well, reloading is a nice hobby too. once you have the empty cases, re-loading them does save some cost, though not as much as it use to.
have fun
-tdbru