I can very much see both sides to this:
The other day I figured it out that for me, shooting 6mm creedmoor, and with prices as they are currently, it would be somewhere around $2,160.00 more to just buy 2000rds of factory stuff (enough to toast a barrel) versus what it costs me now (not counting my time and energy).
(That's in a perfect world where tracking down that many rounds to buy at one time isn't as hard as it is in this one of course.)
In a game of $100 bags of sand and where hitting a 2-day match within driving distance can cost damn near $1000 (including match fees, gas, food and hotel), $2160 doesn't sound too bad.
That said, I'd rather shoot better shit and put that $2160 towards the next barrel and next 2000rds...
The old adage "work smarter, not harder" applies here I think: there's a bunch of time consuming stuff that guys still do only because of some "that's the way we've always done it" mentality/reasoning that really doesn't make any meaningful difference down range.
If you really think about your routine, chances are there are probably some unnecessary and time-consuming steps that you don't really need to do that you could eliminate.
For instance (just my opinion here, YMMV on what one deems absolutely necessary),
Gucci reamer/chamber specs:
Knock it off. It's ok to shoot a round that other non-aficionado people shoot too, and that maybe you could just go into some store and buy a box of factory ammo for if you wanted. One can try to come up with the next hot-shit wildcat that's the best round ever created, or a subtle tweak to an old standby that makes a huge difference, but if it requires a chamber that's too tight to work with anything besides special neck-turned brass, or a freebore so short that average SAAMI-length rounds might blow the gun up in somebody's face, it's probably not going to catch on for a while, so there's an automatic "no complaining allowed" policy that comes with that.
Weighing brass and bullets:
I don't think one has to weigh shit anymore unless maybe if they're shooting Benchrest or long-range-belly-Benchrest (F-class) and where nerding out on that stuff is part of the game. It's not the 1950's, bullets and brass aren't being formed manually and tolerances have been shrunk, today most of the stuff is pumped out by a computer controlled machine (probably a relative of the same sort of machine that made your scope rings and parts of your rifle). Just buy decent components like brass and bullets from reputable brands and you don't have to worry any further about it.
Turning necks and uniforming flash-holes/primer pockets:
Same sort of thing, buy decent brass and forget about it. There are guys who will tell you this absolutely matters, and it can get a bit awkward ignoring them when they tell you about it, just smile and be kind, they're old.
Find tools to kill 3 birds with 1 stone (when you can):
I used to decap/deprime (1 step), then resize (2 steps), then run the cases through a mandrel die (3 steps); now, using a Mighty Armory sizing die, 3 steps 1 step.
I currently trim (1 step), then chamfer (2 steps), and deburr (3 steps); I'm calling Mr. Giraud on Monday (3 steps 1 step, in ~16-18 weeks anyways).
Can you switch powder?:
I while back I switched to using StaBall instead of H4350 so I could drop powder straight into cases from a very un-fancy volumetric powder measure. I don't do anything too special and my drops never vary more than +/- .1gr (the vast majority are dead nuts every time). My rounds seem to be every bit as consistent as a buddy's I shoot with who trickles and weighs every single kernel, and another buddy's who has a Prometheus. I don't only do it this way because I'm too cheap to spend $6k on a Promethius (even though I am), I do it because I can do powder for 200 rounds in ~30mins instead of like ~2 hours or how ever long it takes doing it any other way.
These are just some of the things I do to speed up the process, hopefully they maybe make the light bulb go off for you as far as ways to get back some time...
This reminds me: Thus far I've made all of my precision rifle rounds on a single-stage setup even though I already have a Dillon XL750 with case feeder and Mr. Bulletfeeder for pistol stuff (makes about 1000rds of 9mm per hour). I need to start building a couple tool heads and get all the conversion shit together to do the 6CM on the Dillon. I think this is the way for a lot of us moving forward.
Hopefully by this time next year I'll be loading my shit in 2 quick passes: 1 to decap/size/mandrel/trim (on-press trimming), and 1 to prime/drop powder (case-activated on-press)/seat bullets. The only time I'll need to touch the cases is for chamfer/deburring in between passes (unless I can find a find a way to do that on the press too). Or, maybe, screw on-press trimming (seems like a headache anyway) and it can be as easy as:
Pass 1 > Giraud > Pass 2 = done.
Then there's automation...
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this. I hate loading. Every pass through I try to find some way to make it take less time.
