Does Returning rune imply Reload 0?

Question

I was experimenting with building a Thor-like Human Fighter in Pathfinder 2e. I'm picking a mixture of feats that fit well for both melee and ranged, because Thor likes to throw his hammer, Mjolnir. I noticed the feat Double Shot, which reads

Requirements You are wielding a ranged weapon with reload 0. You shoot twice in blindingly fast succession. Make two Strikes, each against a separate target and with a –2 penalty. Both attacks count toward your multiple attack penalty, but the penalty doesn’t increase until after you’ve made both of them.

If I have a Returning (Light) Hammer, does returning imply Reload 0? Because returning reads

Usage: etched onto a thrown weapon When you make a thrown Strike with this weapon, it flies back to your hand after the Strike is complete. If your hands are full when the weapon returns, it falls to the ground in your space.

While Reload [x] reads

[The number x] indicates how many Interact actions it takes to reload such weapons. This can be 0 if drawing ammunition and firing the weapon are part of the same action.

So...

• it returns following the Strike
• there are no Interact actions involved in the Return
• regardless if it was a successful or failed Strike

That seems equivalent to a Reload 0. Thus enabling "Thor" to throw his hammer multiple times per round.

So, to repeat, does a Returning rune imply Reload 0, particularly for the sake of taking the feat Double Shot?

As a side note, unfortunately I can't find a feat combination that would allow him to "fly" by throwing his hammer and having him holding on to it.

Answer 1

Returning does not mean Reload 0

Most weapons with the Thrown trait like the Dart, have a reload of "—". This means that the weapon is not reloaded, but rather drawn with an interact action, as mentioned in the reloading rules, then thrown.

The returning rune eliminates the need of drawing a new weapon to replace the one you just throw, so you can make as many strikes with your thrown weapon as your actions allow. This does not change its reload value (it it did, it would say so).

Double Shot feat designates ranged weapons with a explicit reload of 0, like longbows, shortbows and shurikens (the shuriken is a special case, the only thrown weapon with a listed reload value of 0). A reload of 0 means that the action of drawing ammunition and firing the weapon are part of the same action. The feat Double Shot can be read as drawing two projectiles (arrows or shurikens) at once, then making two consecutive strikes without stoping to reload.

So no, you cannot use Double Shot with thrown weapons other than shurikens. On the other hand, if you use shurikens, a literal reading of the rules says that you can indeed use the Double Shot feat (and the Triple shot feat) with a single returning shuriken, as it would fly back to you after each strike and in time for the next (how it would manage to do that in time when you are doing several strikes in "blindingly fast succession" is left to interpretation...).