is it necessary to load your own ammo for hunting?

[2legit]

Hey guys, another question, bet its been brought up. Is it really necessary to have reloading equipment for better accuracy when hunting? Practice makes perfect, but is there that big of a difference with accuracy when hand loading over factory ammo?


thanks!

[ROEBUCK]

depends what you call a big differance ?
if you call the differance of 1.5" groups(factory) to .5" groups (reloads) nothing to worry about then factory is fine but nowhere near as satisfying when you squeeze the trigger

[Mr. Dean]

You can now get pretty good ammo off the shelf that shoots fine. But it's fugly expensive.......

[r106]

depends more on the rifle. If you have a rifle that shoots well with factory ammo then no if you have rifle that doesn't then yes

[rocksteady]

No it is not necessary to have reloads for good enough accuracy for hunting, however, reloading causes you to:

Spend more time testing your loads at the range, so you get a couple benfits of it a) trigger time (practice trigger control so that you know exactly where the loads are going, that you are not pulling them) b) more intimate with your rifle ( you will learn to "feel" when the trigger is about to break over c) MORE confidence with your rifle (if you get a clover leaf at 100 yards with 5 shots and practice at longer ranges) for those hunting scenarios where that confidence helps you make a clean quick kill...

For the amount most people shoot per year, reloading has no financial benefits....

[BCBRAD]

my 370 Sako costs around $120 for a box of 20 rounds, if you can find them. I can load them myself , tailor made with any standard or premium bullet . So bullet (premium) is $1.40, powder $0.55, brass is $2.00 each / by at least 10 loadings = $0.20, primer is less than $0.10 so the whole cartridge is $2.35. So a box of 20 is $47.00.......that's a saving of $73.00 a box.

[500grhollowpoint]

Absolutely not. No one needs to shoot tighter groups than 3 or 4 inches at whatever range you are hunting, need and want are different. Factory ammo in my experience will shoot that at 300 yards. Really, if you can hit a pie plate you should be good. And, I'm going to say this at huge risk of being flamed. All you need to hunt is a 30.06, a box of factory ammo and a bushnell 3-9. Having said that, I have a 300 RUM with a Bushnell elite 4200 6-26, and I reload so I can hit the flies at the 300 yard sign at the range.

[CanuckShooter]

Some factory ammo is pretty good, some are just pure crapola. And alot of times it's dependant on your firearm on whether it likes a certain factory ammo or not. My guns know federal blue box sucks and winchester ammo stinks....they like Hornady or Federal Premiums.

[wos]

Its kind of like tying your own fly's. You can buy them at the tackle store but its much more satisfying making them yourself.

[emerson]

Absolutely not. No one needs to shoot tighter groups than 3 or 4 inches at whatever range you are hunting, need and want are different. Factory ammo in my experience will shoot that at 300 yards. Really, if you can hit a pie plate you should be good. And, I'm going to say this at huge risk of being flamed. All you need to hunt is a 30.06, a box of factory ammo and a bushnell 3-9. Having said that, I have a 300 RUM with a Bushnell elite 4200 6-26, and I reload so I can hit the flies at the 300 yard sign at the range.

He is right. Rarely are you going to be taking a huntin shot while in the prone position. Most humans are not capable of less the 2"@100yds accuracy while standing, so decent factory ammo works fine. Also we don't actually need a vehicle capable of exceeding the speed limit either....