Reloading, a Lifetime Hobby (Memories of My Father)
Sierra Bullets Ballistic Technician Gary Prisendorf has written a nice essay about how reloading can become a life-time hobby, a rewarding pastime that can bring together a father and son…
by Gary Prisendorf
For as long as I can remember I have been around reloading. I have tons of childhood memories of my father reloading and shooting. I remember how he would let me help him load his ammunition, by letting me clean primer pockets or wipe the sizing lube off of his cases. I really thought I was doing something. Well, I guess I was, I was spending quality time with my father doing something that would become a great hobby and eventually land me a great job working for Sierra Bullets.
I remember watching my father sizing cases on his Herters press, dropping his powder charges with a Belding & Mull powder measure and weighing powder charges with his Texan scales. Heck, I can even remember when he would buy powder at a local pawn shop, and they would weigh it out and put it in a paper sack. He would save his empty powder cans, wrap them with masking tape and write what the powder was on them with a black magic marker.
When I was in Junior High, I got my first shotgun, a 20 gauge Mossberg 500 and within a couple of weeks my father came home with a 20 gauge Lee Load-All and a pound of Blue Dot. He gave me a crash course on how to use it, and got me up and running with a couple of safe loads. I put a lot of shells through that old 20 gauge.
From that day forward I was hooked. If I got a new gun, I was loading ammunition for it. I don’t buy factory ammunition unless I just want to shoot it up so I can get some once fired brass. I reload everything that I shoot, except for rimfire stuff, and if I could figure out how to do that safely, I would probably load that too.
Through the years I have learned to appreciate things — such as once-fired military .30-06 cases that can be converted to obscure cartridge types. And I know the value of a five-gallon bucket of lead wheel weights that will be melted down and cast into bullets.
I remember finding 19 once-fired Norma 7.7×58 Arisaka cases laying on the ground at a public shooting range, and it was like Christmas came early. I must have looked for that 20th case for about thirty minutes, but I never did find it.
I can’t thank my father enough for getting me started in reloading, he gave me a great hobby, many wonderful memories and taught me the skills that gave me a career doing something that I love.
If you are a reloader, teach someone. You may just give them a hobby for the rest of their life and who knows, you could help them find an enjoyable career, doing something that they love.
— Gary Prisendorf
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Tags: Father and Son, Gary Prisendorf, Herters, Reloading, Sierra Bullets
I taught myself to reload back in the late 70’s with a RCBS Rockchucker kit which I’d bought and which I still use today.
I’d gotten out of reloading in the late 80’s when my dad started having health issues and we just didn’t shoot much any longer. My daughter and her husband wanted us to start shooting again about 5 years ago.
Once I started loading again my son-in-law’s best friend asked me to teach him how to reload. Now he has his own Dillon progressive press and we are always discussing various loads, powders, projectiles and other topics. I’ve also gained a new friend who before I had only known as my son-in-law’s best friend from High School.
Now our whole extended family enjoy getting together when the weather permits and going to the range to target practice and try out new loads.
Still use one today as my one and only press, still trying to find all the shell holder at gun shows, have most of them but not all..
I have boxes of old herters reloading supplies from both my grandfather and my dad. From shot gun dies for the old monster herter presses, to full length 30-06 and 308 dies that look brand new. I have some things , I just have no idea what they are, but they are in herters boxes and have herters stamped into them. Those monster presses are amazing, and my dad had converted them over to accept Lee shell holders, so they are a very important part of my reloading set up, along with Redding and Lee presses. But the herters presses are virtually indestructible and take any round you put in its throat.
Dean, I have a box full of herter shell holders I will never use.