I already have Jury Rigging. ( Which is why I raised Repair only )

I just took Hand Loader ( lvl 20 )...but it really doesn't seem worth it. Now I'm kinda regretting it.

Pre lvl up save is an hour back and 40 k caps poorer ( Gambling )

I guess it's no big deal. I have all the DLCs so I have 15 more perks to choose from.

I suppose when I get to the AM rifle it will be worth it. But then again I did want to mix it up with EWs as Guns is maxed ( Gatling Laser and Power Armor just gives me such a nerdgasm )

Just seems it would be easier to buy the ammo.

Reload and pick Confirmed Bachelor.

Yeah I'm going to reload

I already have Confirmed Bachelor and Lady Killer...you can get some pretty weird conversations with those 2 perks. lol

I just looked at the Wiki again and it's not worth it for this build.

Back to gambling...I was on a roll last night.

Hmmm, then pick... Lead Belly, or Terrifying Precense(?).

Depends on what guns you'll use. Some guns AP/Hollow points are better against appropriate enemies than the hand load rounds, but with others hand loads can be amazing.
For example the only -DT ammo for .44 and .357 is hand load, and they deal significantly more damage than standard round on top of that with no downside. For a cowboy character it'd be a no brainer.
For, say, a sniper rifle, hand loads are not a big deal, since AP ammo is superior against most of the targets you're likely to be using it against.

Turning standard rounds into hand loads also is cheaper than buying AP or HP ammo though, and standard rounds are more abundant. Although most players are drowning in caps anyway, it's still nice early on.

Yeah..

Unfortunately besides a few ammo types , 308 and 12 gauge , there is nothing there my character uses.

Maybe if I found a sweet .44 or 357. weapon I would change my mind...but none I have found so far blow up my skirt.

The AM rifle looks interesting...but the YK Gauss is sweeter. IMO for sniping.

I just reloaded the pre level save and am closing in on the "ding".

Without the 40 k I won last night I'm still pretty rich.

But I can understand the use of the perk for strictly Gun set ups.

However there are just too many fun toys to play with in this game to limit myself to one weapon type.

Think I'll just get the one where you can carry 50 more pounds as I'm going to start hitting the DLCs, and since they are solo, I need it carry all that phat loot.

i take this perk a lot. i like it and have a lot of fun with it. most ammo types aren't getting a major stat boost over their standard counterparts, but it is there and can be very helpful.

you are absolutely right you can substitute 'pre made' ammo types with hand loads and not see much of a difference. i take hand loader partially for the stat boost, but mainly for rp and fun reasons.

if you're looking for hand loader to be a major game changer, you'll be disappointed. if you're looking for hand loader to augment your character, add some rp, and give a nice stat edge, then you'll be very pleased. the stat boost is not game breaking, i find it to be well balanced; but i never feel like i'm wasting a perk either.

AMR (GRA) Perked with Heavy Weight = 6.5 Pounds and mostly silent. Very rarely do I get found when I'm distance sniping. Add in Explosive rounds for groups of enemies and it can get ridiculous.

The MHL Rounds are decent for Distance sniping since they achieve a lower spread.

I personally always take Hand Loader for my Guns class, since it can help. And some of the Ammo is pretty good.

I Also pair my Guns class with Melee/Unarmed. I take at the max, 3-4 perks for guns, and the rest are mixed between LA and Unarmed + Melee. Sniping is great, but when I get in close nothing walks away alive, and it doesn't matter how many they are, or how big they are =]

I heavily use this perk, I pretty much turn all surplus and standard rounds into hand load ones.

Hand Loader is most useful for characters who use weapons in .357, .44 (including Cyberdog guns), .45-70, 5mm or .45. It is useless for other calibers.

^ It depends on weapon too though. The medicine stick, for example, will benefit more from hollow points against practically every target than it will from hand loads(which degrade the weapon faster too).
.44 and .357 definitely get the most out of it overall.

I just want to say.. Hell yea! I always get the hand loader perk! Hand Loader - combined with my Gobi Campaign Rifle ... Lonesome Road, here I come!

I disagree, it seems like you're just focusing on the new ammo types which is only half the usefulness of this perk. I've saved thousands of caps making my own ammo out of anything I can find, I constantly buy crafting supplies from the Gunrunners and casings from anywhere I can and the savings are tremendous.

.45-70HP availability is limited.

True, I already mentioned standard rounds being more abundant as a perk of the hand loader perk though. The medicine stick won't waste a lot of ammo either since it kills so many things in a shot or two, and, though this depends on play style, generally I think most players reserve their more powerful weapons for powerful and less common enemies.

I use melee weapon, shotgun, SMG, and/or pistol for most enemies, my rifle choice(Trail Carbine+) has a more common ammo than most but I still don't use it on much other than Deathclaws and other big scary things from a distance. OP isn't building a pure guns build so I assume he'll have a somewhat similar approach if not even more varied.

You can make your own ammo from those crafting supplies without Hand Loader. You can even make 12 gauge Magnum buckshot without Hand Loader. All the perk really does is unlock more craftable ammo types and increase the frequency of recovering casings.

It doubles the amount of casings you get from firing, for me casings are always the most difficult bullet crafting ingredient for me to find. It doesn't give you a casing for every bullet you fire, but if you have the proper amount of powders, primers and lead then you can make a small amount of ammo last much longer then you would otherwise. It allows me to carry far less ammo then I need to because whenever I start running low, I can just head to my Novac room, pick up my accumulated supplies(which on my last playthrough included over 70 lbs of lead with Pack Rat) and head over to the reloading bench.

Seeing how easy it is to earn caps in this game, saving pennies through reloading didn't really rank high on my list of concerns.