newbie with pal, was embarrassed to talk at gun shop

[Aniest]

What’s the cost different between buying ammo vs reloading yourself? 25% saving or 50% or 75%?

For me, tailoring the ammunition to the firearm and the animal hunted has always been the primary reason. I shoot 125grain, 168grain and 220 grain Sierra bullets hand loaded from the same .308 rifle and scope. It took a few years to get the right combination of primers, powders, bullet crimp and bullet seating depth to get the same windage (left-right) point of aim from every one. The 125grain and 168grain are about 1 MOA, while the 220 grain is about 6 MOA, but the 220's are for under 50 yard shots only.

Which mean my second reason for hand loading: a unique, challenging and rewarding hobby could be practiced.

Lastly has been cost. Reloading to save money is for when you are shooting a lot, in my opinion. A very lot. But that also requires the initial money to pay for expensive progressive presses that put you a half step below a small commercial reloading business. Calibers for competitions out of semi-automatic firearms like 12guage, 223, 308, 9mm, and a few other handgun calibers are the main ones, where you're expected weekend of competition (friendly and up to Pro) is 200 rounds of 12guage, 200 rounds of rifle and 400 rounds of handgun. Go to 6 competitions in a year and 6000 rounds of ammo gets expensive.