I reloaded shotgun shells for years when I was a kid. Heck I learned to reload shotgun shells before I ever even shot at a clay target. My father had all the stuff to do it with, and set everything up for me.... showed me the process, told me to pay attention and get to it. Off I went. I enjoyed it and still do.

I got into reloading rifle rounds because somebody gave me a press and some of the related crap to do it with. What the hell..... before I knew it I'd dropped another $200 on dies, digital scales, digital calipers, reloading books, case trimming tools blah blah blah. I primarily shoot a 7mm-08, and have for better than a decade. Back then, you had about three ammo choices. So handloading was the bees knees, because there were several 7mm bullets available. Three years ago, I started loading Barnes TSX bullets in 120 grain and found them very accurate and they perform extremely well on game. Until 2008, there was no company loading TSX bullets in 7mm-08... federal now loads a 140 gr option. Another favorite bullet of mine is the Sierra Gameking, as well as the Hornady interlock SP. I've loaded everything from 100gr up to 162 gr in that gun with those two bullets.

I had a guy come by the gunshop I used to work at selling a WInchester 94 in 30/30 Ackley Improved. I'd only remotely even heard of Ackley Improved rounds at the time, but he had the dies, the gun with a Leupold Scope and a couple boxes of ammo.... I knew how to reload.. what the heck.. he only wanted $300 for it! I guess its been about 5 or 6 years now, and I've shot a PILE of deer with that gun. That was about the time I got into shooting does on crop damage permits, and I used that little tack driver a lot. Gun isn't as long as a yard stick, and LORD it shoots sweet!

Point here is that if you want to reload... do it. You'll learn a heck of a lot, and if you play at it enough you'll end up finding some loads that shoot better out of your gun and much more consistantly out of your gun than factory loads will. In the long run, you will save money, whether you are loading premium ammo or just cheap target loads. No matter what, your cheap target RELOADS will be leaps and bounds better than that $6/box crap you are buying now.