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Posted: 6/25/2008 11:12:46 AM EDT
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I've been thinking about getting into reloading to save money but I'm getting confused about that. After reading alot (mostly around here) I was getting the impression that one could reload .223 for noticeably less than buying semi-bulk (1000+). However, I was just pricing things out and determined that it's not really any less and might be more, depending on brands. Obviously I don't have the luxury of having purchased a billion projectiles in 1870 for less than a penny. So taking into consideration that I must be paying todays prices, is there any way that I can get comparable pricing when buying components .vs purchasing bulk rounds. I suppose an example would be helpful... Prvi 75g HPBT ~ $ 400/1K .vs Hornady 75g HPBT proj. ~ $150/1K Powder (est. 4 lbs) ~ $100 Primers ~ $30 Brass (once fired) ~ $70 = ~ $350/1K not including shipping or time for prep/reloading Thanks. |
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The usual quote is you don't save money.. just have more to shoot. You're right it does depend on the brand you use to make reloads determine your prices.. but you can't compare good reloads to crappy ammo as a equal comparison. I think in the end you technically save money over the years.. It's basically you're putting a lot of investment into the equipment and make ammo to lessen the cost of the capital equipment. As time goes on, you will break even and start saving. Question is if you're willing to do that. THis takes a lot of patience and learning. I went with a progressive as a beginner since I knew I was going to end up using a progressive in the end. Glad I did. Since I never fired Prvi 75gr I can't compare it to quality reloads.. Sometimes you can find cheaper prices than you listed.. Hope this helps. |
| you need to take the brass out of the equation since you can re use the empties that you already have. Also, look at buying primers in 5k amounts and powders in 8# amounts. This will increase your savings. For me, loading doesnt save me any money, just allows me to shoot more often for the same price. |
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You need to be a dedicated reloader. I say that as I reloaded as a bachelor in the USAF. At that time, it was a hobby and pleasant diversion. After I was married, left the USAF for a better job, not so much. My wife became my new hobby and pleasant diversion, and I had more money to spend on new ammo. Then, too, you must consider, as I did, if the personal time spent (which should include your saving/loss assessment of is it worth the time to reload. My Dillon 550 has been in the box for the last twenty years. Sometimes it just works out that way. |
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Granted reloading is a hobby in and of itself for a variety of reasons. Some people are looking to fine tune a load for a particular weapon as they vary. Others like to shoot a lot so they want to have plenty of plinking ammo, and there are others who load for hunting, etc. When I started looking at reloading, my thoughts were for the long run like 20 or 30 years of reloading or more. No matter what the prices of factory ammo gets to or even the supplies themselves get to. I will be able to reload for a long time given that I already have the equipment, and so will my son or daughter if they get the bug for this as well. True the prices to get the things you need to even start reloading are enough to make the new people cringe half the time. There is a fair ammount of things there are needed to begin loading safely. True the initial cost is enough to make you think but if you take a moment to think of how many years you would like to shoot and how much. I would say that it is a good investment. You buy a weapon to be able to shoot it for 1 or 2 years or for 10 to 20 years, same for a house or a car or a lot of other long term items you will own. |
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Today I reloaded .45 acp for $.11 a round and .223 55 gn fmj for $.17 a round. Good luck finding anything new production for either of those amounts. I didn't bargain shop or buy in bulk to get these prices. I got everything from a local store and all my reloading stuff was free from a friend. It allows me to shoot more for the same amount of money. Plus the ammo for my SPR is a lot cheaper then the $.80 a round that quality match ammo costs. Like half as much. |
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You guys make good points. I was primarily trying to save a little money, but that was not a huge concern - just looking at inital costs made me think "Where am I saving at..?". I will admit that it hadn't occured to me that the inital cost of brass would span several reloadings, thereby decreasing the cost of subsequent batches by 1/4 - 1/3.  <- that's where the savings kick in.Are there any suppliers that I should avoid? Any that are considerably less expensive? Thanks for the info! |
Apples to oranges. Privi is supposed to be decent but I bet the Hornady can be made to outshoot it. A fair comparison might be Black hills that might be more like $500 to $600? When you buy the once fired brass you should get at least sever loadings out of it. When you find a rifle load you like you buy powder in something larger than 1 Lb bottles. I buy reloading supplies at my local shop when I am working up a load (partly for support ,partly for convenience) but once I get it dialed in I am going wherever I can get the best bulk prices . If you want a 4 or 8 lb keg of powder your local guy might be able to order it as cheep as anyone else but you will have to ask as the usually won't stock such items. Absolutely no one spends less money when they reload but most justify shooting more. |
you lookin to sell? 
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When you compare equal quality, yes you will save. Or used to. Now with ball-quality components like WC 844/846 and M193/M855 projectiles in short supply, it is a wash. Unless you count in the reuse of brass. That is where the savings are. Buying brass to load once is not saving much at all. |
Keith, it's called "RELOADING". You don't buy brass to use once and call it reloading.  The initial investment in reloading gear can be quite steep. However, the recovery of that investment is usually very fast (~1 year or less). You will be loading match quality ammo. The savings over match quality factory ammo is stupendous. After you recoup your investment, the savings can be dramatic. If your time has cash value (time spent reloading causes you to lose money from some other venture), then you should probably not reload. For most mere mortals, this is not the case. We mere humans usually reload at night in our spare time. I reload about 300 rounds of 223 ammo per hour in the evening after the kids have gone to bed. Lee is cheap gear. For the most part, I'd say stay away. Admittedly this is pure bias. With companies such as Redding, RCBS, Dillon, making excellent gear, why buy cheap-o gear. Buy the good stuff. It will last you your entire lifetime without breaking. |
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I started reloading this year to make match grade ammo for high power shooting. The initial investment I made over last fall was pretty steep. However, I estimate that I will make back the startup costs in "savings" sometime during my second year. This is only factoring the 800-1000 rounds of ammo used in my matches per year. * I don't count my time in these calculations. |
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I save money on components by being a bargain hunter. My local fun show is great for this. Or spend some time on line comparing prices on components to get the best price. Factory ammo is a compromise to allow it to fire in every gun that chambers it. The process of reloading ammunition for your gun is actually custom tuning the load for the firearm. This is why quality reloads will out shoot factory ammo. Pride of making your own ammunition is another benefit. You won't believe the smile you will get the first time you fire your handloads.
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I did not get into reloading to save money, I did it to complete my interest in my shooting hobby and also be able to control the quality in the ammo I shoot, I can reload I feel a much better quality cartridge for less than I can buy new Yes the up front investment is sometimes high, depends on the equip you choose but you can get into this for very little. you have to be able to give it 100% of your attention 100% of the time while you are doing it, it I feel is a fairly safe process but does have some risk but if you pay attention, read good reference manuals and stay within published load data you will produce ammo that will make you smile 
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Many forget to consider the fact that most brass can be reloaded 5x as a minimum. And I still have all my Lee gear, some over 25 years old. It will last if taken care of. While their progressives are nowhere near as easy to use as Dillon, the dies, measures and single stage presses are perfectly fine for the home hobby shooter. I still have my original Challenger 2000 press. It has loaded about 10,000 rounds of .45 ACP and a lot of high power rifle. Even loaded brass from a CETME and its fluted chamber. |
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and you can find better prices than you posted. I buy commercial powders for $115-$125 for 8 lbs. Military vigin surplus (not pulldown from surplu ammo) for about $80. primers still cost me about $25/k locally. bullets I buy when i see deals, hornady sales, nosler sales, etc. Buy in bulk packs; 250,500,1000 or even 6000! The hundred count boxes are good for trying a combination just like another poster mentioned buying 1 lb of powder for a trial. |
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You can do your own return on investment using a simple spreadsheet (there are some already prepared online). You have sunk costs such as the loader and support tools. You have the ongoing costs of reloading components. Understand how many reloads you will be doing per month and how much each round will cost you in components (don't forget shipping and other costs for powder and primers). Subtract that from what it costs you to buy factory rounds. You now have the savings per round. Multiply that savings by how many rounds per month you will be loading and shooting. Then calculate how many months that savings will pay back the sunk costs. This gives you the break even point. After that it is all savings. Of course, this ignores the cost of your time and the future value of the invested money. Added: Send my your email address and I will send you an Excel spreadsheet that was put together by someone else that I initially used to see how long I would achieve break even. |
The short answer is "YES." I saw the writing on the wall before Bill Clinton was shagging Gennifer Flowers. So.... started to buy components, bullets and brass pluckin' brass. Just loaded some Sierra Matchkings priced at $10 a box and used Accurate Arms 2460 powder priced at $12.50 a pound. You do the math. Regards
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The problem for the noob reloader or one considering reloading is that they are met with people loading x for y per round. Well, in fact that distorts things so much cause some people were stacking stuff high and deep.....both ammo and components.... I never factor brass into an reloading equation, cause hopefully you were smart enough to keep what you have fired.... Reloading does not save you money.....it simply decreases your cost per round. Nothing mystical about that... Reloading is an extension of the shooting sports hobby! It is only for those that have the time and inclination to do it. Anything else you mise as well stick to buying factory, shooting wolf, or finding a local commercial reloader? What sometimes I wish people would not do is worry about what someone is reloading X for! It does not matter! The costs the person asking the question are the ones that matter! A noob reloader would do well to just find a load that is reliable, accurate, and safe in their guns then lay in larger supplies......buying powder in 8# jugs, primers in large lots of 5k min more the better, bullets in bulk. Powder Valley is a great source of bulk stuff for fair shipping. Yeah you do incur the haz mat charges, but geez what you pay might very well be made up by not paying sales tax...... I tell people a decent reloading set up is going to cost you what about what a new gun might cost a person. Going cheap works for some, but that can be a frustrating road, too! There is a time commitment to reloading rifle ammo vs straightwalled handgun ammo....but guys reloading is a hobby! That is the only way to view it! Do what many people do...they do all their reloading in the winter months and then shoot it during warmer months.... |
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Here is a spreadsheet I did to calc my cost, the formula is set to reload pistol 15 times and rifle 5 but after each firing you should check brass and toss if necessary Bill's Ammo Calculator 9mm per 1000 Brass $39.0000 $0.0026 Bullet $72.0000 $0.0720 Primer $18.9900 $0.0190 Powder $18.9900 $0.0027 $0.0111 Charge 4.1 Cost per round $0.1047 Cost per 50 $5.24 Cost per 1000 $104.71 308 per 1000 Brass $171.5000 $0.0343 Bullet $160.0000 $0.1600 Primer $37.0000 $0.0370 Powder $23.0000 $0.0033 $0.1396 Charge 42.5 Cost per round $0.3709 Cost per 50 $18.55 Cost per 1000 $370.94 |
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Yes, Instead of buying ammo cheap and stocking it deep... You treat reloading components that way. My only advice is to buy your primers and powder locally...... IF possible. I travel 2.5 hrs for my primers and powder. Haz Mat charges for online buying will kill you. But...if it's a good deal then you might wind up with 1k more primers for the same price than you would of paid locally for 1k less. It's alot of fun and, imo, the ammo you create is alot better than the majority of factory ammo. Edit: I did not know about powder valley. I will have to check them out.
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I, definately, save money AND get more precise ammo reloading! Example: Black Hills 69g MK HPBT - 90 cents plus shipping =~$1 per round. Sierra 69 MK = ...........18 cents per round (purchased in either 100's or 500's) Varget or similiar = ...... 7.5 cents per round (ACCOUNTS FOR SPILLAGE  )Primer (rem7.5) =........2.5 cents per round case (highest cost) Nosler (58 cents new) cycled 5 times.............12 cents per round TOTAL COST.................40 CENTS PER ROUND ACTUALLY, 80% OF MY RELOADS REDUCE BRASS COST TO PENNIES...4 CENTS THEREFORE, REAL AVERAGE COST IS +/- 32 CENTS PER ROUND I save 68%, or 68 cents per load compared to retail, get more quality control as seen in smaller groups, and take pride in producing them with my hands. Interestingly, I havn't increased my volume of shooting so the savings in $ is real. I shoot about 100 rounds per week - a bit more in summer and during comp times. And my initial cost outlay, around $700, was made back in under 3 months. ...........................ENUF SAID!............................... DOCGARY |
| Also depends on what caliber you reloading for. I save much more per round on .45 ACP's than on 9mm. That being said my 9mm reloads are about $6 cheaper than WWB 100 packs but I've had those components for years a bought it cheap and in bulk. I saw of component prices and it's crazy expensive. Reload about 95% of my needs in the winters. It gets cold in IL |
I hope that's round trip. Even so, at 20 MPG gas would cost about $28.00 compared to a $20.00 HAZMAT fee. Also, I've never found local prices even close to online. Eddie |
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yes and no It is an entirely new hobby. I started out to save money and did. Now, I still save money because most of my reloading is for hunting rounds, not so much for plinking. And premium hunting ammo is expensive. An extreme example, My Ruger safari rifle. 416 Rigby from Federal is about $120 per 20, so you do the math. I like picking the bullet and I want at the speed I want and the accuracy I want. |
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