Every case I've ever bought has been 10 boxes. 500 round handgun, 200 rounds rifle, 250 rounds shotgun.


Unless you somehow found super deals, you cant load 1000 rounds of 5.56 for $230 with TODAY's prices, the prices the OP getting into reloading will see. Even with free brass, the best you could do right now is about $475 for 1000 rounds of 223 if you load them. Brass would add cost to that if you can't find them for free. You might be able to source cheaper bullets, but many will cost more than I calculated with $115 for 500. I would definitely not bother loading pulled 55 fmj bullets, it's a waste of time and money. A quick look online shows 1000 rounds of 5.56 55gr fmj such as Winchester is ballpark $500, plus shipping. So you might save $50 per 1000 rounds, whoopty doo.

Definately load good quality 223, it's the only thing that makes sense. Get some 60gr V max bullet, or 77gr SMK, or whatever other quality bullet you want, and shoots really good, and make ammo that is better than you can buy. That's how you come out ahead.

I'm sure it's 1000 rounds in a case.

I can load frangible 223 for 18 cents ea or less at today's prices. These go for 50cents each as remanufactured ammo. Sinterfire cost 68c ea when bought in bulk.

Bullets seem to be the most expensive component (per round) nowadays...

The best way to save is wait for a sale and buy in bulk.

As said before, buy reloading tools second hand. A used single stage press and powder measure will get you started and you'll want those even if you later get a progressive.

CA passed a law so ammo can only be bought through an FFL. Yes, now is a good time to start reloading.

OP, how much do you shoot? Should be able to figure out how much you'll save reloading pretty easily. Precision loads are a no brainer... you'll save probably 50% reloading vs loaded ammo.

No you can't. Powder is averaging $60 per pound after tax and shipping. Let say an average 223 round uses 24 grains of powder, that's 292 rounds per pound. It's 20.5 cents per round just for powder. Primers are ballpark $90 after tax, and often more than that if you pay shipping. That's 9 cents just for a primer.

Powder and primer costs about the same as a 77 gr SMK bullet right now!

Yes you can

https://americanreloading.com/product/223-55gr-m193-fmj-blems-1000ct/
https://americanreloading.com/product/ginex-small-rifle-primers-free-shipping-hazmat/
This was available last week

For 556/223, 9mm, 40, 45, etc etc a case is generally 1k rounds.

Shotgun shells and larger rifle calibers are typically different.

I've never heard of any of those, but I'm going to assume they are legit. BEFORE shipping and hazmat, powder 9.5 cents per round, primer 9 cents per round, bullet 6.4 cents per bullet. Hazmat says $37.50, plus I'm going to assume $25 shipping. Tax varies so much, I'm going to say 7%. So now if you bought all three of those at once, it would be ballpark $510 for 8 pounds powder, 2000 primers, and 1000 bullets. We will go with their listed 26.5 gr charge, free brass, comes to 28 cents per round.

Edit: I didn't realize those were to different sources. So really your cost would be closer to $535.

No you can not load 223 for less than 18 cents per round anymore. Not even with pulldown bottom of the barrel garbage like that.

When did they start charging hazmat???


As a matter of principal.. call it cheap if you wish.. but I refuse to pay it. Never have. I either buy in person, use ship to store, or take advantage of "free hazmat" promotions that don't jack up the price to cover it.


There are also a few places that either don't know they're supposed to charge it or just don't comply.

I'm not sure where I'm losing you on the math

$310/5k primers equals 6.2
6.4 cents for the bullets
Powder was $254/8lbs at 12cpr.

I never said 18cpr. I said a case under $230.

Blowout said $0.18 CPR up above.

Sorry, I may have replied to the wrong person.

One thing that those who are crowing about how cheaply they can reload, using components that they bought X years ago (usually a long time ago) are not mentioning is what they could have made if they'd "invested" that money in even just an S&P 500 index fund, rather than sitting on it in the form of components for a long period.  Ie, the opportunity cost.

I'll use my own situation as an example.
Bought Hornady 55gr FMJBT @ $.7c/each in the late 2000s.   $.11c per now.

Bought Ramshot TAC @$20/lb in the later 2000s.  $40+ per lb if you can find it all. $.15/rd or so.

Primers, bought a bunch in the mid-2000s @$.04 each, now $.08 or so.  Cost to reload a round of 5.56 practice round was about $.18/rd back then, now using new components and 26.2gr TAC = about $.34/rd if you are using free once fired brass.  Maybe $.40 or a little more if you had to buy the cases.  Versus $.53-.55 per round of decent quality Lake City available now, for example.

That $.18/rd in say 2008 is = to $.26 now according to the "official CPI numbers".  45% inflation.  But if you'd invested that .18/rd in S&P index fund, it would have grossed you $.94.  So you "saved" $.16 ($.34 - $.18) by stashing a large quantity of compenents over recent prices, but you gave up the potential gains of $.76 if you'd stuck it in a relatively safe index fund.  And now you could buy enough components (if you can find them) for 2.76 rounds NOW versus earlier.

On the other hand, by sacrificing monetary growth, you at least ensured you retained the ability to keep shooting though lean times, so there's that.  Only you can decide if the tradeoff would be worth it to you or not.

I went looking for the lowest prices and added in tax and shipping.  These prices generally include only the least expensive bullets, may have used brass and may be stored in bulk (no protective packaging).

For 300 AAC Black Out, you'll be somewhere around $0.60 per round.

I'm seeing 223 blasting ammo available for about $0.40 per round.  

I found 9mm Subsonic for about $0.30 per round.

For those prices, I could reload but I'd have super-quality ammo using premium bullets.  The bullet is a key to accuracy, especially as the distance grows.

Yes, but No!

Ramshot TAC - $0.15/round
Hornady 75 gr HPBT-M - $0.15
S&A Primer - $0.07

Total $0.37 per round (includes a guesstimate for tax and shipping)

This produces a very accurate cartridge, good for self defense and even for match rifle shooting.


P.S. - Instead of arguing about how many rounds constitutes "a case", and is up to the seller's discretion, just convert to cents per round (which is unambiguous).

I factored in some Benchmark I recently bought cheap from a neighbor. $100/8lbs 5c/round using 25gr/rd.

Paid 6c/frangible bullets from AR and 6c for primers from BassPro. 17c/rd for frangible loads.

Bottom line if your always looking you can get best pricing, but you need to jump on it.

Someone you know getting out of reloading or inherited? Offer to buy all their stuff and sell off what you don't want/need to recoup some/all your costs.

That's cool and all, but kind of bad advice for someone who doesn't even load yet. I've been at this for close to 20 years, and back then I don't remember a jug of powder being $100. I can't remember exactly, but sometime just before 2009 I want to say you could buy something like Benchmark for $125-$150 per jug. After 2009 those prices were in the past.

That's great you have a neighbor who gave you something for 1/4 the current going price, but it's pretty bad advice to a new loader to say go find people to mooch off of. Those deals come as they come. I've got plenty of things for free or trades over the years. That's part of the long game of reloading. It's not something to start with.

I will agree you need to be ready to jump on deals when they come. That's a huge reason I say start with the minimum you need. If you blow $1000 on a couple jugs of powder right now, you are going to feel really stupid in a few months when a deal comes up and you don't have any money. I personally don't buy pulldown bullets. I don't see any reason to take the risk. Best case scenario they are slightly damaged, second rate bullets. Blemished bullets is a whole different deal. Blems can be a great way to save money.

What a bunch of naysaying nonsense on the prices…

BTW- practice FMJ in cases will normally be 500 or 1000 rds.  Premium duty and hunting rounds are often 200 rds per (small) “case”.  Never knew anyone who didn’t know what was meant by a “case” of .223, because 1000 rd cases, or 500 rd cases (PMC/Federal) are what is typically used for training, and anyone I know would automatically assume 1000 rds is a case of .223 ammo….

Anyhow-
You can absolutely get .223 practice ammo loaded up affordably.  This year, stuff I actually have bought:
$63/k for Win #41 primers (Cabelas- no shipping cost, no hazmat). (You can also currently get primers from American Reloading at around the same price, delivered, no hazmat…)

$22/ lb or so for American Reloading pull down rifle powder in 8 lb jugs.  (Shipped free, no hazmat). Think it was $179.99 for 8 lbs a few months ago, price is now up $10 more, if you can find that powder actually in stock…

$63/k for 55 gr FMJ blems or pull downs from American Reloading again. (Shipped free).

$0 for brass-  I have lots…

So that is $205/1000 rounds for component costs.  At 2024 pricing, not the stuff I bought for far cheaper in the past.

Which is significanly less than what some claim is possible.  Yet it is fairly easy, all these deals were posted and discussed.

Not sure I understand the logic of trying to convince people that you cannot save money by reloading, when it has been proven time after time that you can, if you just try.  
   

I agree 100%.

I forgot to add that the reloads I priced above compare favorably to factory ammo like Black Hills ammo that sells for well over $1/round.  

If I use that pull down powder, my price estimate goes down under $0.30 /round.

The cheapest factory ammo I found is $0.66/round but may not be as accurate.

Since when is a 50% savings (or more) not worth going after?  The savings can be as high as $1/round for comparable ammo.

With that sizable cost differential, the break even point (reloading equipment is fully amortized) is a fairly low number of rounds (~10,000).

The flip side of this coin is the initial capital investment needed to get up and running is substantial (kilo-buck level).

The other aspect of it (and shooting, in general), is that the overall cost has escalated substantially in the last few years.  Many people may be forced to reduce their participation or drop out altogether due to this cost increase.  

So, while reloading can help you avoid the cost of factory premium ammo, it does not avoid the overall cost of shooting as a sport.

Uncertainty is bad thing in financial decisions.  First primers went crazy.  Now, powders are spiking and Alliant just announced they are not shipping our cannister powders at all.  Supplies of most bullets have been nominal or even favorable and that is a good thing.



ETA - There is the base cost of reloading, the differential cost of reloading and there is the trend in reloading.

1.  The base cost is still viable if you participate in shooting sports at any significant level over your lifetime.

2.  The differential cost is favorable and even very favorable if you want quality and precision higher than factory ammo.

3.  The trend regarding pricing and both the above is currently looking uncertain (at best).  

4.  How is the trend trending?  Is the trend towards a more favorable situation or towards a worsening situation?  If worse, is it at least slowing down or accelerating?

Look at everything, not just the troubling cost of one thing (primers or powder).  Understand (quantify) what it will cost you versus buying commercial ammo and understand the break even point.

Finally, consider the intangibles.  There have been MANY years, starting with Obama, where commercial ammo was unavailable, or new reloading components were not available.  None of that stopped me from shooting, as I had a ready supply of ammo because I stock up and reload.  

You have to do this evaluation based upon YOUR financial situation and preferences.

The reloading market is always goofed up.

If powder and primers stay high expect used reloading presses to start showing up cheap.

I probably should have used a commercially available cost for the powder, but Benchmark was the most recent purchase I’d had for powder.

I wouldn’t  say telling a new person getting into reloading not to look at alternative ways to procure reloading components. You may choose to pay more for things but not all are that cash flush.

I still have a partial 8lb container of T680 that I bought from an ad in SGN for $35 shipped. Same as 1680 but less expensive. It was the go to powder for 7.62x39.

Offered to help my neighbor sell the reloading stuff he’d gotten from his deceased BIL and worked up a spreadsheet for him. Item, description current market price, etc each as a column and cherry picked the items I’d be interested in and the price I’d be willing to pay.

He upped the price a couple hundred if I’d take it all. Really it was more of a favor to him than myself. Now I have to sell a box much of stuff I don’t need. The LGS give you maybe 20-25% of market value around here.

I did the same for another friend when he was planning to move and didn’t care to move all his reloading stuff with him.

Not sure what risk you think there is with pulled bullets. Definitely not a component for precision loads unless you put a lot of time into it. You do need to have enough experience in reloading to make intelligent decisions on how to use them properly. Inspect, sort, etc... We use them exclusively for under 100 yd action shooting.

Bottom line, it’s a good time to start reloading to answer the OPs question.

Like anything you may need in the future obtaining the knowledge and experience ahead of that need is the smart way to go.  

Do you want to find when the need is most pressing that you failed to identify key equipment that is essential but overlooked?  Case trimming is one of those things many novices forget about, or the right measuring tools.  Or like a friend of mine found out that his .45 dies were not able to size regular american brand brass tight enough to hold a bullet securely.  His fmjs would push right in under very light finger pressure.

By doing the work now you figure it out now.  You have time to acquire gear and experience.   Once you have it all worked out you can put the gear in standby mode and go back to shooting factory for the time and build up your brass stash.

With the chinese cotton news, you might be forced to wait now.

I'll risk going slightly off-topic with this in response to the two posts above.  SteelonSteel's post is a really good one and MisterPX's post is cautionary.  

I not only reload, and have all the gear I need to load every cartridge I shoot, I actively manage my inventory of reloading supplies.

I not only monitor how many of this or that, I step up a level and see if they are all in balance to answer questions such as these.  

How many 45 ACP (or whatever) can I make?
Do I have a noticeable shortfall or surplus of any items needed to make 45 ACP (is it balanced)?
If I make a lot of 45 ACP, do I still have enough stuff to make 9mm or 38 Special (shared powder for several cartridges)?

I also use the inventory to track how much factory ammo I have for each caliber.  This helps, as follows.

When is it prudent to dip into my CMP 30-06 and save my LR primers for my 308 reloading?


One thing has disturbed me greatly of late.  Despite all my planning for the future, I seem to have a problem with my stored brass.  I just put it away, unused, and a decade or two later, it seems to be failing on the first firing, possibly due to age hardening.  This may mean I need to buy an annealer.  

I will run experiments before buying but it may prove to be a piece of gear I unexpectedly need.  

These are things you can only learn AFTER you get into it.

This might explain the spike in powder prices.  Alternative, higher priced sources of cotton, will mean higher prices.

The war in Ukraine has consumed, and is consuming a lot of resources, nitrocellulose being only one of them. High prices will be with us for the duration, followed by discounts on war surplus powders.

It is really painful to buy reloading supplies right now.

I am stocking as much as I can, but Large Rifle and Large Rifle Magnum are almost impossible to find, and when you do, it hurts to pay for it.  Badly.

I just paid 110 per thousand for 4000 Large Rifle Magnums and powder is going to be going up at astronomical rates.

If you don’t have it now, it might be better to buy loaded ammo and save your brass.

The prices MAY come down in the future, but they never do.

I disagree.

If you compare reloaded 9mm defensive ammo to Winchester white box, you may come up short and the loaded ammo is cheaper, but when you compare apples to apples, you still save on reloaded ammo.

As long as you take your time and build up your tools over time from craigslist, FB Marketplace or other forums, you'll do OK.  I was patient in building up my presses and if I find a good deal on a package I buy it.  I've found the best deals are people getting out of reloading who just want to get rid of a whole setup.  That means you have to go through it and sell off things, but there is a package discount.

It makes sense if your reloading match or hunting rounds for 6.5cm or other expensive rounds.

That is an excellent way to get in to the hobby or expand with a new piece of gear.  Sometimes if you buy the whole package right you can sell off the items that duplicate what you already have and basically get the items you wanted free or well subsidized.  I picked up a package deal that way looking mostly for the cast  bullet sizer.   I sold off the RCBS gear that were duplicates of what I had.

It takes a lot more money to play this game than it did even a few years ago. I still think it's a worthwhile hobby, but I don't do it for cost savings.

My strategy is to stock powder that can be used in multiple rounds. Example, I put back alot of Varget because it works for 223, 308, and 30-06. I also put back alot of Winchester 244 because it works for 9mm, 38 special and 45acp.

Primers you gotta buy what you can when you can. I held out for 6 cent primers in store and stocked up when I could.

Remember, what we can buy today is likely one election or civil disturbance away from not being available for years.

@borderpatrol

So... suffer through and get ready to stack it deep?

I was able to get a new (to me) Hornady LnL for free after bying a package and selling off the stuff that came with it.  The plan is to set it up as a dedicated depriming press.  Just have to build a new bench for it :)

I always promote VihtaVuori powders, and for reasons unclear to me, they are currently available and cheaper than the usual suspects.

N133 is excellent in .223. N140 is fantastic with heavy bullets in .223 and works well in .308. I use N150 in 7.62x51mm brass with match bullets and in .30-06.

Bullets seem to be widely available, it's the primers and powders that are harder to find and cost a lot more than normal.

It's never a bad day to get started in reloading if for no other reason that leaning what goes into making good ammunition.

Bullets
$143 for 1,000 shipped across the country.
https://www.xtremebullets.com/223-55gr-FMJ-p/xj223-55fmj-b0500.htm

8 lbs CFE 223 $330. Probably $350 after tax.

https://www.scheels.com/p/hodgdon-cfe-223-powder/03928851118.html?cgid=rifle-powder#start=7

Primers…$100/1,000.

Brass
$160/1,000
https://www.ar15.com/exchange/topicEE.html?t=2445614&f=175&type=1

Quick math.
Powder
($330/56,000) x 26 = $0.16/round.
Primer
$0.10
Bullet
$0.14.
Brass
$0.16

$400/1,000 rounds of 223 without buying brass.
$560/1,000 buying processed brass from the EE.

Prices as of today.

You need to shop around better and cite your price sources...

As long as you are shopping at Scheels, get the same bullets you quoted above for $40 less  

And primers are $80 (or even less) not $100

Now we are at $350/k w/o brass.

Brass for $72/k

If you are willing to used pulled bullets, and foreign primers with pickup brass your price goes even lower.