Does hand-loading increase your enjoyment of shooting?

[Itskeith]

Background to the question (skip this bit if you want):

I have noticed that some guys in the Hi Fi world prefer listening to vinyl over streaming. Putting any sound quality differences aside, the reasons I’ve heard for this in the past for this include: enjoying the ritual of physically handling and cleaning the vinyl, and the ‘connection’ from placing the stylus on the record etc.

So, do you think handloading your own ammunition increase your enjoyment of shooting in any way (as opposed to using factory loaded ammunition)?

Cheers.
Keith

PS. I think i mean hand-loading and / or reloading!

[Alpha1]

Hand loading is an hobby in it self it is addictive once you go down that rabbit hole there is no going back. I shoot so I have empty cases to re load.

[shotgun sam]

It is a slippery slope to go down, the search for the perfect reload and then trying to improve on that.

[Vossie]

I spent my day making black powder 44-40 loads, switching to BP loading makes shooting that rifle so much better.
For me it's about enhancing the enjoyment and experience, as I also load BP for Martini Henry.
I do reload 38spl, but that is more of a chore than a cheer.

[1066]

Yes, reload for all my calibres - I can't remember the last time I bought a factory round - Thats not true as I sometime buy military surplus rounds for the .223 if I see it cheap.

Yes, enjoy looking for the perfect load.

[PeterN]

I have reloaded for all the calibres I shoot. For some, reloading is a necessity as factory ammunition is not available here for some calibres I shoot such as 8x52R Siamese, 8x50R Styr, 6.5 Japanese, 7.7 Japanese, 6.5x58 and 7.65x53 Argentine.
Regards
Peter.

[Pete]

There's certainly more satisfaction to be had when you get a good score with ammo you made up yourself.........and it's cheaper.

Pete

[The Gun Pimp]

No - not at all - but shooting top quality ammunition does and there's only one way to get that.......

[Blackstuff]

Yes and no for me. I find the process of working up a load annoying and tedious. As is case preparation. However, the instant availability of the exact round I want/need makes it worth it. There are small savings to be made if you're not too fussy about what you're shooting and/or are using cheap bullets e.g. 55gr FMJ .223

I also load my own solid slug for shotguns and the savings to be made there are ridiculous (My slug load is now cheaper than buying factory birdshot and 1/3 the price of factory slug! ). There's also no case prep if you just use new primed cases each time.

[Jorden]

I put it in the same league as tying flies for fishing, there is the greatest satisfaction in starting from scratch and ending up with the best you (and your equipment) can do, often better than bought products.