Gents,
As indicated above, folks reload for several main reasons:
1) To save money, especially if you shoot as much as some of us do,
about 20K to 25K a year on average.
2) To get the perfect load needed for say, competition. Take the
venerable 45ACP for example. Factory loads are high power factors.
If you shoot (say) IDPA, the factory load is about 195 but IDPA
only requires you to meet 165. That is a huge difference and when
you download it to 165, the 1911 shoots very nice and soft.
3) 'Cos the damn ammo is not easily available. Getting harder these
days to find large qty of 5.56mm ball. We normally buy several
thousand rounds at a time and we cannot seem to find Federal
Eagle's 5.56mm in stock these days. Everything points to the
so-called 'war effort'.
Now, not all factory ammo is expensive and holds a high power
factor. For most of our guys who compete in 9mm, if we're buying in
bulk, it is almost always cheaper for us to purchase as a group.
The cost is about the same as reloading. That said, we do not buy
brand new ammo but reloaded ones from a reputable company that
supplies to the US Army Marksmanship Team.
