Its Hand Loading "Season"

[charles p]

I'm certain that if I check the dates on the remaining ammo I have on hand, I'd find that 75% of it was loaded in January and February.  I think it is because deer season is over, it's cold outside, and I need something to do with my time.  It's certainly not because I need more ammunition.

Anybody else seem to do most of their reloading during these dreary winter months?

[Graybeard]

Nope definitely NOT. I reload in my unheated garage and that is NOT a place I wanna be during winter. I do have an electric heater out there and can open the door to the living room to let some heat from the house get out there but even so it's not much fun having to bundle up as if I were going outside just to reload.

[stimpylu32]

Been doing it that way for years , atleast the bulk of it anyhow , cast in the summer and load in the winter . If I get a new gun or mold that I need to work up , then its when ever I get it , but for the most part its winter loading season ! 

Did up another 30 cal ammo can full of 38 spl the other night and started another batch of 41 GNR's today .

stimpy

[Jal5]

I am planning on a Jan-Feb reloading schedule this year even if I do have to dress warm in the basement! It passes the time.

Joe

[luckydawg13]

yep thats the plan

[375supermag]

That's the way I do it every year...reload from around mid-January until around mid-March.
Then it is shooting season with several thousand rounds available in every cartridge I shoot...or rather my teenage son shoots.
By the time he gets done with a couple of Saturday or Sunday shooting sessions, I will need to start processing brass by the time May comes around. I swear he thinks that ammunition is free, at the rate he shoots it. Still, it is great fun and affords us a lot of time for father-son bonding.

[buck460XVR]

Ain't the way I like it, but weather generally dictates it that way. Been under 10 degrees every weekend since the week before Christmas. I don't mind wading thru the knee deep snow, but I do prefer to shoot my handguns without frozen fingers or wearing mittens. Today is no exception...started out @ 9 below this morning and is supposed to remain in the single digits for a high. Sad part is, I'm all outta empty brass.

[Cheesehead]

I do the same thing. Loading thousands of rounds on the coldest winter days on my 550 is a very efficient use of my time, and gives me a great feeling of accomplishment. Mostly 44 mag, 308 and 6.8SPC.

Cheese

[1 farmer]

Seems like I get alot of static electricity due to the low humidity during winter. Does anyone else worry about that when relaoding besides me?

[john keyes]

even though I'm not looking forward to the end of hunting season (it ends Jan 17) I am looking forward to shooting all of the stuff that I have been loading for years

through my new chrono


I'll probably be laughing my a$$ off when I see how slow some of my stuff is, I usually load just a bit over the starting loads....

but it will be very cool at the range because it will be cool temps and the urgency/hysteria is over, just me and a few die hards will be out there at a relaxed leisurely pace

[Siskiyou]

Winter is a good time.  I have bundle up days because my reloading benches are in the garage.  I go for the layer system but it is not enough some days.  I pull the wife's car out of the garage and get my 15,000 BTU tank top propane heater going.  It is setup about 10-feet from the bench. I am not concerned with it falling over, but there is a 4-foot barrier between it and the bench.  I am fortunate to have an off-set area to load in from vehicle parking.

Normally it is warm enough by the time powder is out that the light bundle mode works.
Currently I have two projects coming up; the first is helping/teaching son-in-law, and grand-son-in-law how to reload approximately 200+ 30-06 cases.

Project #2 is to teach a friend how to load 9mm ammunition.  I have told her what practice bullets to buy, and to purchase small pistol primers.  I will provide the powder.  I will teach her how to reload her cases.  She is a very methodical person and most likely will be a better student than the other two. 

Years ago I taught the son-law-how to reload and he does a good job, he just needs a refresher course.

I am looking forward to working with the great-grandson-in-law.

Hopefully this will help the keep the interest in reloading alive, and maintain political support for the activity.
I accomplished a lot last winter-spring period but there is much to do.

There are times I enjoy load, and other times it is a means to an end.  Last year a member took a shot at me because I like loading in large batches once a load has been developed and tested on the range.  I feel it is a good use of time.  Having spent my working life as an emergency responder I never knew when I was going to be gone.  My time was better spent loading than watching TV.

It does not take long to use a few hundred pistol rounds enjoying one ’s self.

I have some small carpets in my loading area with rubber backing for comfort.  They are a good for catching a primer rather then roll on concert.  I have had no apparent static issues.

[stimpylu32]

Seems like I get alot of static electricity due to the low humidity during winter. Does anyone else worry about that when relaoding besides me?

A trick I learned some years ago , take a plastic butter bowl full of water and place it next to the heat duct , as the air blows across it , the moisture is picked up and spread around the room , sort of like lake effect show . 

Works well if the lab comes in too , she can get a drink . 

stimpy

[Graybeard]

Since our humidity down here stays above 75% almost every day of the year and is more commonly 90% we sure don't need to add more moisture to our air.

[Dand]

Yep great time to load.  I try to load during bad weather - year 'round but much of it is done from Nov to April here in bush Alaska.  Guess I'm lucky. I insisted that I have bench space in our warm basement pantry when we first moved in.  We have 9 degrees, 25 mph winds from the NNE, gusts to 47 for a -11 chill factor. Good time to be inside.  BUT I get to surfing GB here when I should be doing more loading now that the kids are asleep!

[cwlongshot]

Same here!! My loading room is in my basement. Its The FIRST room I built in the house when we got here!! 

I do my casting in the late winter/early spring. You know on the occasional warm days. I open the overhead door and back door of the garage. Then turn on the BUKU BTU propane construction heater. (Sounds like a jet engine!!) I get ready weeks ahead and cast most of the day/weekend. Both bullets and fishing sinkers with the junk lead. I size the previous seasons bullets as needed.

CW

[mdi]

I can appreciate the weather affecting reloading/casting, but I've never experienced that. I just fled Southern CA where the weather is just BLAH; rarely too anything. I relocated to Southern Oregon and anticipate reloading or casting with considerations for the weather (been here about 40 days and it's rained prolly 30 of them! I love it!). I'll have to research damp weather storage of my reloading components and guns, though. "Keep yer powder dry"; need to think on that...

[Old Fart]

Back before uncle arthur started coming to see me each winter I did most of my reloading/casting in the spring.
And it wasn't uncommon for it to spill over into early summer.

Now days my reloading all happens in the winter.
I bought a portable building a few years back that was fully insulated and wired up, I call it the man cave.
I keep a little oil filled electric radiator out there.
Usually keep it set at about 3/4 max heat this time of year.
I go out most days after work and piddle fart around.
My wife's dog has gotten used to her afternoon runs.
When she finishes she come in the man cave and keeps me company.
It's a regular ordeal for us.
This year using my single stage I've reloaded about 8-900 rounds of 38 spl.
Which I go through  like candy in the summer plinking.

I've got a couple thousand more rounds to load.
I took advantage of some moderate temps in November to cast up a few coffe cans of 148gr ws's.

I've got a bunch of other rifle rounds to reload.
For the most part they will all be cast bullets.
I've gotten re-interested in the old milsurps this past couple years so there's those to be feed also.
I guess it's theraphy for empty nest syndrome

..or rather my teenage son shoots. By the time he gets done with a couple of Saturday or
Sunday shooting sessions, I will need to start processing brass by the time May comes
around. I swear he thinks that ammunition is free, at the rate he shoots it. Still,
it is great fun and affords us a lot of time for father-son bonding.

Sounds just like my grandson, who by the way has been introduced to reloading.
I told him you shoot them, you reload them.....he does almost all of my depriming/resizing.

My son learned reloading early in life, he still comes by to help.
Working on learning the son-in-law.

I'll probably be laughing my a$$ off when I see how slow some of my stuff is,

I've gotten where most of my rounds are loaded light on purpose.
Old hands don't like the constant banging of hot magnum rounds these days.