Just got done polishing and inventorying my cartridge case supply. Looks like I am a little over 20,000 cases. I have enough of the other components to produce about 7,500 rounds, more or less. I won't say how much factory ammo I have in stock.

While I can bulk load most of the stuff I have, my primary reason for reloading isn't economy. It is custom loading cartridges to enhance the performance of my higher end firearms. Being able to consistently call shots at 600-1,000 yards is a high priority.

Coincidentally, I did a bunch of brass cleaning today too. I just got an ultrasonic cleaner and wanted to test it against my tumbler. The ultrasonic does a good job, as does the tumbler. Neither is better, or worse, than the other. With a tumbler you pretty much dump everything in there, turn it on, and forget about it for a while. Ultrasonic takes more "hands on" and you have to tend to it regularly (to stir the cases, restart the cycle - which is short- etc.)

Because you also have to rinse several times after ultrasonic, then air dry for a few hours, I think I prefer the set-and-forget tumbler. When the tumbler is done, you just dump the media out of the cases and you're ready to go on to the next reloading step (which is visual inspection per my routine). With the ultrasonic, you have to wait for the cases to dry, which takes a few hours.

On .223, the ultrasonic did a slightly better job than the tumbler, but not by a great margin. However, on .45colt, the tumbler did a better job than the ultrasonic. Both produced nicely cleaned cases suitable for use in your die sets. But both also left some tarnish and stains on the cases. The looked good, but not "brand new". That is not something I care about. As long as it's clean, that's all I care about.

Now I have a bazillion cases I need to visually inspect. That is my 3rd least favorite task. My 1st least favorite is trimming bottleneck cases. 2nd least favorite is resizing bottleneck cases (because you have to lube them, then clean afterwards).

Favorite cartridge to reload is .45colt. Everything is so large and easy to handle. Unfortunately, the case is so big compared to the charge you put in it, you have to be careful (or use high-volume TrailBoss powder). If I'm out of TrailBoss, I use something on the opposite end - TiteGroup. Very low-volume, but it is not position sensitive, so it works well in that mostly empty gigantic case. 45colt is also my favorite to shoot. Both in SAA revolvers and lever guns.

I have a lot of .45 ACP and 9mm brass. Gonna have to start saving .38 Special brass now that I have a snubbie again.

with the practical pistol games and 3 gun, I'm down to about 1/2 a 5 gal bucket of 9mm brass... don't clean my brass anymore... my AR likes S&B 55grain, and don't shoot any further than 400m or so with it...my reloading bench is a cluttered mess

I can't afford the time to reload. I'm lucky if I get to the range at all.

I can sympathize. Today was the first time in three months that I was able to get some range time in. I didn't loose a lot of skill, but my form was doing the Harlem Shake after only 40 arrows.

I prefer my RCBS tumbler with walnut media embedded with rouge. I prefer the set it and forget it mode, I turn on the tumbler on my way out the door in the morning, and when I get home that night, the brass is clean and ready to be sifted.

I got an RCBS trim pro 2 motorized case trimmer to try to get through the case trimming process a bit easier. It is about as good as I can find. It is a chore.

I like reloading my 44 mag for the same reason. I use powders that pretty much fill the case. I like the heavier bullets. Must be an Elmer Keith influence.

I won't say how much factory ammo I still have. I really don't need to reload, except that I can make more accurate loads than what I can buy over the counter. That's because I can set the overall cartridge length to a particular chamber, and sort components for consistency, and experiment with balancing the load to the barrel etc. I am not as fanatical about it as a lot of competition shooters, but I'd say I can get it 90% of the way there with what I got. Certainly, my guns and ammo are more accurate than I am.

I think I enjoy reloading about as much as shooting. For the same reasons, my fav caliber is 357 Magnum. It's fun to make up loads at all different velocities.

Since the only rifle cases I currently reload for are .223 and .270 (and .270 only rarely), I just can't bring myself to buy an expensive case trimmer. Mostly I reload handgun cartridges, which don't normally require trimming in my experience. I just bought this new Lee Precision trimmer:

http://leeprecision.com/deluxe-quick-trim-case-trimmer.html

It's cheap, so I'm not expecting much. But then, Lee often surprises you with something inexpensive that actually works. I have not gotten a chance to try this new trimmer yet. I have been using Lee's Zip Trim, which is dirt cheap and feels like a fragile child's toy. But despite that, it does a decent enough job trimming. I really can't complain about the Zip Trim for doing a basic job. Not elegant, but it works if you set things up carefully and correctly. I am hoping this new press-mounted Lee trimmer I bought will be a step up from the Zip Trim.

The tumbler tends to leave a blackish dust on my cases and some of the primer holes have a grain of the media jammed in. This grain needs to be removed and the case needs to be wiped clean to avoid depositing the dust in the reloading die. For my .44 Mag. I usually only clean the primer pocket. My bottleneck cases go into the tumbler after decapping and resizing. That removes the lube reliably.
I also started shooting muzzle loaders. That removes need to mess with the brass completely.