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One just starting out at my club, shooting exclusively 22lr at present but will move onto centrefire shortly. Obviously there is a wide range of prices across the calibres but within the calibres there is also a decent spread. The most obvious is between factory loads and reloads.
I don't know much about reloads but presume as the brass has been fired previously there may be less precise fitting between components. For a new target shooter should this be something to avoid, or as I'm pretty crap will I not know the difference?
I'm using club guns so they are generically zero'd which again will make them less accurate.
Apart from accuracy are there any other factors that I should be aware of if I opt for reloaded ammunition?
Cheers.

You have it slightly backwards, factory rounds have to fit all rifles of that particular calibre so are generally a looser fit, whereas a reload can be tailored to your particular rifle, think more of them as hand loads rather than reloads, part of the process is resizing brass back to a known size, which again can be specific to your rifle and won't necessarily chamber in another rifle of the same calibre .

One of the best pieces of advice I have been given is never use ammunition that someone else has reloaded!, only use handloads that you have made yourself.

Handloaded ammunition is usually more accurate than mass produced factory ammunition and can be tailored to obtain the optimum accuracy from an individual firearm whereas factory ammunition is made to allow it to be safely shot in a wide range of firearms with varying tolerances....a one size fits all if you will.

Handloading can be immensely satisfying but safety must be paramount, read as much as you can on the subject then read it again and if you start double check everything and then check again!.

Chances are there are members at your club that reload, they will be able to give advice and maybe take you under their wing if you decide you want to try reloading.If you spend some time watching an experienced reloader it is time well spent.

Ah, thanks for that. It's strange that they are offered at the club for general purchase then isn't it?

Bovril wrote:Ah, thanks for that. It's strange that they are offered at the club for general purchase then isn't it?

Under NO circumstances should reloaded ammunition be offered at your club for general purchase!

LL

Bovril wrote:Ah, thanks for that. It's strange that they are offered at the club for general purchase then isn't it?

Just because handloads *can* be made for a specific firearm, they don't have to be. They can also be made and tested to the same interchangability specs as factory ammo.

I've never tried to buy any and it may well be that they would be flagged as for particular rifles should I attempt to.
I'll ask next time I'm in.

all depends who reloaded it, HPS offer commercially reloaded ammo, as do others, which may be what they are selling.

Lancs Lad wrote:Under NO circumstances should reloaded ammunition be offered at your club for general purchase!

Because...?

The biggest issue with selling reloaded ammo is the liability insurance. If you cannot get the insurance you shouldn't sell, there will be no accountability or redress.

I have to keep samples of every batch I make in case there are any issues later on. The insurance company insist on it and they also are quite strict on the recipes I use, there can be no 'free styling' with load tweeking.