Do most folks load at home and take their bullets to the range and test, or do yall load up some at home and take the necessary supplies to reload at the range depending on actual results?

I had a little experience yesterday at the range and wanted to determine if I was out of line.

I do it at home. Eventually will get a set up to do some at the range. A lot of guys do it...certainly benchrest guys.

What was the "experience"?

I build ladder test loads at home. I prep extra brass, take a single stage press with bullet seater die, powder, an RCBS Rangemaster, bullets, and chronograph.

Shoot the ladder, find the node. Go to the truck and load 5 shot groups based off the ladder. One trip, done!

Thanks for the replies. Seems like we are in the same group.

As for the experience, yesterday I went to a range that I have frequented for at least the last 5 years. Over the course of time, I frequently have reloaded either at the bench or in the bed of the truck to work up loads with no issues. In some instances, I have had a range officer or employee over there shooting the breeze with me or giving their two cents about what I was working on. Anyways, I get all my junk out of the truck and put my rifles on the bench and asked the range officer if could move my truck into the shade so I could do some reloading. He hemhawed around for a while and then told me that he would not allow me to reload at all. I kindly asked him to reconsider and told him that I did the exact same thing last Sunday with no issues and that I had done this multiple times in the past. He stayed firm, I was polite and told him that I would need a refund then. So, inside the store I went after packing up the rifles and other stuff I had already gotten out of the truck.

I asked to talk to the head honcho and was surprised to find that the owner was there. So, I introduced myself, explained the situation, my history at the range, etc and I asked that they reconsider not allowing reloading. That got me nowhere. In short, his stance was that reloading was dangerous, I could get hurt and sue him/the range, and that reloading was the same as working on a firearm, which was not allowed. He also mentioned that other folks would see what I was doing and then request to do something similar (mind you yesterday and last Sunday, there were less than 5 rifle shooters on the line for pretty much the entire day. I specifically go on Sundays so I am not taking up any needed space). We were at an impasse and I told him that I was sorry, but that if that was his policy, I would have to take my business (range/firearms/accessories) elsewhere. He asked that I be sympathetic to his situation, which I responded to that I understood the strict liability, but I also understood that he was a businessman and his goal is to bring responsible shooters in the door to spend money. Either way, I was terribly disappointed and mad as all get out. I kept my temper in check, didn't use any colorful language and wasn't rude.

What would yall have done? Now I am in the hunt for a new range, hopefully private.

Would've done exactly what you did. You handled it perfectly. I'm going to try to build a "members only" private range, but it'll be too far for you to drive. If it wasn't, I'd not only let you load ammo there, but encourage it, and provide a place (in the shade) for everyone to do it.

Hand-loading and shooting is victim to this sue happy world we live in. It is a shame, but that's just the way it is.

You may consider contacting them again to find out what their objections are and see if you can address them. Find out what part of reloading they consider dangerous. Is it priming? Fine, do that at home. Is it having hazardous materials present at the range, i.e. powder? Perhaps limiting the quantity to a 1lb container may do the trick. Perhaps they are concerned about someone smoking nearby. They may be concerned that their liability insurance doesn't cover it. If that's the case, you cannot fault them in that case.

Good luck.

When I was discussing it with the owner, he mentioned that he reloaded a while back and it was not a particularly dangerous action, but he considered it the same as "working on guns" which was forbidden. I don't know what his problem is/was, but my take is if he was going to give me some options to make it work he would have said something yesterday. I was very clear that I was not coming back due to his policy. Thanks for your feedback.

Fireman, I hope that you are able to make that range, if only so that this doesn't happen to you or anyone else that you choose to include. I'm glad to hear we are on the same page and its a sorry state of affairs that folks sue each other when the fault is clearly their own.

EastTexun ...I fully agree!

However I only load at private ranges because of experiences that I had with people coming up and playing 20 questions while I was loading.

More than happy to help people get into reloading or share tips, but some people with pick up, touch and other wise jack with anything WITHOUT ASKING!

I see lots of handloading going on at my club. It would be very easy for me to do the same and I really can't say why I haven't been doing it all along.

Opinions vary. At the end of the day, his range = his rules no matter how unreasonable they may seem. You also have the option of not giving him your business. That kind of silliness is one of the reasons why I stopped going to public ranges years ago. I am fortunate enough to have my own private range. I realize not everyone has the same option as I do, the only other thing I see that could be done in that instance is to find another more user-friendly place or load at home only.

OP, I would not bother to contact him or ever darken his doorstep again either way, JMO. Looks to me like you handled the situation perfectly.

Our club has a reloading room right there at the 100 yard rifle bays. Bench has presses and a couple of scales. Bring your components and have at it.
I use it all the time.
Handy to be able to shoot something that looks promising, duplicate or tweak it a bit right then and there.

I load in the house and then go 130 yards out back to my personal range.

So can you install a scope or boresight a gun? That’s working on a gun isn’t it? Geez..What has this world come to. Further woosification of men IMO.

I work up test loads at the house. Load up five, put them in a ziploc with load data in the bag. Load up five more varying the load, load up five more, etc.

I use a separate targets for each load with reload data on the target for future reference.

I fire five, run a few patches down the barrel so the barrel will be the same for every five I shoot, plus it let's it cool down.