Reloading is taking off as a hobby, in part thanks to several great resources across the web. With so much talk also comes misinformation, and some people are wondering whether a reloading press is necessary.
Let us assure you, it is. To prove it, let’s go through the top reasons why you should be using a reloading press both in general and for the reloading hobby at large.
How Essential Is a Reloading Press
1. You Can Make Custom Ammunition
Arguably, the most well-known benefit of having your own reloading press is that it allows you to make your own custom ammunition.
While this may seem like a niche benefit, it's actually the main drive behind the handloading or reloading hobby.
If you're at all interested in reloading your own ammunition by collecting brass casings and putting your own powder loads in the cartridges, you’ll need a reloading press.
This allows you to use different styles of cartridges with your rifles or other weapons. Gunsmiths and firearm enthusiasts can get a lot of mileage out of the customization options opened up by a great reloading press.
2. They’re Adaptable for All Bullet Types
Another big benefit of reloading presses is that they can be adapted for virtually all bullet types. You don’t usually need to buy multiple types of reloading presses to handle multiple types of cartridges.
That’s because the sizing and other casing adjustment procedures are handled with dies that are placed within the bullet reloading press itself.
So you really only need to buy one reloading press for your entire reloading hobby.
That’s extremely cost-effective, particularly if you plan to make multiple types of ammunition over the next few months or years.
3. You Can Use Guns that Take Old Ammo
Furthermore, reloading presses allow you to make ammunition that might not be mass-produced or easy to acquire anymore.
Scoop up brass casings from the firing range and shape them into the right style for use with an older firearm.
Let’s say you had a favorite rifle that you have difficulty using these days because even online vendors don’t have the right ammunition or the right powder.
A reloading press will let you use your favorite rifle once again. You’ll be the one in charge of how much power goes into the cartridge, what the cartridge looks like, and other factors.
There are few ways to take as much pride in your firearms and ammunition than through using a reloading press.
4. You Can Reload Quickly and Efficiently
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While true “hand-loading” (i.e. using hand tools to perform all the reloading procedures) is certainly possible, we’d always recommend using a reloading press.
It’s far and away more efficient and easier to use a machine like a press as opposed to hand tools.
It’s just a matter of machine efficiency. A reloading press can size, crimp, seat, and trim bullet cartridges altogether depending on the accessories you have for the press and your experience level.
Reloading tools that you use by hand can usually only do a single function one at a time, and it’s a lot slower altogether.
Reloading presses allow you to blast through lots of casings in rapid succession.
5. You Won’t Injure Yourself Very Often
Speaking of quick reloading, trying to rapidly resize your brass casings by hand may lead to cuts or other injuries on your hands.
Reloading presses are much safer to use and will result in fewer messes to clean up. Again, the machine is just plain better at sizing brass and doing all sorts of high-strength tasks because of its design.
Take it from someone with experience: reloading presses are much better options than trying to reload all your cartridges by hand with manual tools.
Have you used a reloading press? We'd love to hear your thoughts about it in the comments section!
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