What's your minimum amount of brass

needed for you to even consider breaking out your RL gear and start pressing?

I just dropped over $500 on ammo at Walfart (.38, 9mm, .44 & .45) and it seems like a very small quantity; reloading wise.

Do you gentlemen have a minimum number of potential loads (per caliber) you MUST HAVE before setting up your press?

i like to do at least 500 if i am setting up the progressive for handgun.

if it is rifle on a single stage i'll do as little as 5-10 sometimes.

Well, that's very encouraging.

I was expecting numbers in the multiples of thousands range.

I've never loaded more than 500 at once.....usually 50 to 100 rounds at a time depending on what I'm reloading.

Having only one press, I will load any amount of the caliber already set up. If I am changing dies out, then I like to load at least enough for a good day at the range, so, 30+ for rifle or 100+ for pistol. But lately I have been doing sizing, depriming/priming, and the sorts periodically so when I sit down to reload all I have to do is charge, seat, and crimp. I find that helps my motivation regardless of the quantity I'm reloading.

I usually try to load somewhere between 25 to 100 depending on how much time I have and the mood I'm in. Sometimes though I'll get to itching to reload late at night and may not load but 4 or 5 - just enough to ease the reloading fever lol!

I'll try to load a block of 50 either rifle or pistol,just because I use the old plastic case holders to stack as I load. when there is nothing on the boob tube I go hide in my reloading room.
Don

i usally load 50 pistols and 20 rifles i have 4 of the 50 count boxes when one gets empty i fill it up lol! and the same with rifles!

Thank you for all the replies and setting me straight.

IT IS much appreciated!

I usually reload somewhere around 50 rounds at a time.

I have been known to do one if thats all i got. I'm telln ya I got it bad ... Hi my name is Dan and I am a gun/handload/swage/cast aholic

Rifle 50

I load pistol until I get sick of loading up that stupid primer tube

While I count how many I reload, I just go until I decide to quit.

Sometimes I load all day, sometimes just until it's time to do something else.

I mostly load during the day when my kids are in school. With Christmas break (sorry if that offends anyone because I did not use the PC "Winter" break) coming up, I will not get much loading time.

Hard to load when you have an 8 and 10 yo crawling over you.

Primers come in packs of 100 ,so that's my minimum

Six is my minimum. Last October, I mean October of 2010, the boy across the street, who was in the fifth grade at the time, came over while I was piddling around in the garage getting ready to reload. He looked interested so I asked him if he wanted to make some ammunition. We made six rounds of .30 Carbine. He seemed to enjoy it ok but he's never asked to do it again. Kids these days got soccer and such I guess.

RichBirdHunter wrote:Rifle 50

I load pistol until I get sick of loading up that stupid primer tube

A truer statement has never been made Rich.... ( I am dreaming of one of the automatic primer filler tube loaders just way to much $$$)

I load pistol usually 500 to 1000 at a time... and basic rifle 50 to 500...

but I have a dedicated pistol press and a rifle press.... and match rifle stuff is single stage only.... about 50 to 250 rounds per lot...

I lot out my match ammo by day... so what I get loaded this day is a lot and tomorrow is another lot.... only because humidity and air density effects the ammo performance slightly.... and my rifle gets zeroed to that lot until that lot is all shot out and then a new lot, and new zero... but then again I am probably just way to anal about my match ammo....

If I'm doing load development, I seldom load more than 20 rounds at a time. Once I have settled on a load, then the production begins. For handguns, I try to load at least 500 rounds at a time. For rifles, it depends on the application. If it's groundhogs or other varmints, then at least 100. Plinking ammo for the .223s or .308s - usually 500 rounds minimum.

To date, I've never loaded more than 2,000 rounds at a time, but then I don't have to feed any belt-fed or subguns, and I'm only loading for me.