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Outdoors
Is Reloading Becoming a Lost Art?
Posted on: April 11, 2008
The vast majority of American shooters do not reload their shotshells or centerfire rifle and pistol cartidges, according to a recent survey. Furthermore, among those relatively few shooters who do reload their own ammunition, most reload only small quantities—one to five boxes per month.
Of the shooters surveyed, a whopping 83% of shotgunners reported that they do not reload shotshells at all. The “no-reloading” figures for centerfire rifle and pistol shooters are slightly lower, but even so, almost three-fourths (74%) of centerfire shooters report that they do not reload any ammunition.
Among the minority of shooters who do reload their own ammunition, most (7.3% of shotgunners and 13% of centerfire rifle and pistol shooters) report that they reload only one to five boxes of ammunition per month. A scant 2.25% of shotgunners and 2.4% of centerfire shooters report reloading large amounts of their ammunition, 10 boxes per month or more.
Here are the reloading survey statistics in more detail:
| Shotgunners | Centerfire shooters | |
| No reloading: | 83% | 74% |
| 1 to 5 boxes/month | 7.3% | 13% |
| 6 to 10 boxes/month | 2.3% | 3.2% |
| 10+ boxes/month | 2.25% | 2.4% |
Source: HunterSurvey.com is a monthly national online survey of sportsmen and women providing industry and policymakers with information on hunting trends and activity. For more information, contact Rob Southwick at Rob@southwickassociates.com.
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About Dave Langston
Outdoor writer Dave Langston resides in Chubbuck. He grew up in the Midwest and south fishing and hunting across the country.
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