.308 win reloading on budget, big question mark

I

isartw

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I'm just wondering if anyone reloads .308 to save money. Just purchased another case of cheap .308 and thinking does it worth to reload.
Tulaamo costs 0.59$ per round after tax and delivery.

I'm nappy realoader of 30-30 win and here is my breakdown, assuming brass and labor are free, which is not, but cost is substantial. All prices includes tax and delivery calculated for Ontario

bullet(berry's 30-30) - 25c
primer - 7.3c
powder - 12c

total $0.443

The cheapest 30-30 winchester I found is about 18 before tax in Walmart, which is slightly over $1 per round, about 58% in savings, which is not bad.

But when it comes to .308, it ruins my math right away. The cheapest bullets for .308 I found is Hornady Boat Tail FMJBT, which is 299.00 per 1000, which comes 33.7c per bullet after tax. So, the .308 math is just here:

bullet(hornady ) -33.7c
primer -7.3c
powder -15c

total $0.56

So, if my calculations are correct, I'm saving only $0.03 per round, which is just 5% cheaper than Tula. Does not make sense to me.
What do you guys think? Is it any chance to make it looks better? If I could find cheap FMJ bullets that would be another story.
 
CamPro .308" 147gr FMJ plated bullets are $240/1000 plus tax. Slightly better, but not much and doesn't account for shipping if you can't find them locally...
 
Reloading is more about using ammo that is tailored to your rifle than saving money. Mind you, a great deal depends on what you're doing with the rifle. Tula isn't target or hunting ammo. It's for screwing around with a rifle. Still no comparison between tailored ammo and it though.
Those plated bullets are not FMJ's. Plated bullets are not jacketed.
 
Quality reloads will beat most any generic bargain basement plinking rounds every day of the week. Yes, it costs you some time, but the results should speak for themselves.

Now for the big question. Are you 100% sure you're going to be able to get a single round of Tul next week, let alone in 6 months ? I admit, the last 2 weeks have been somewhat surprising. Just when everyone though the last of the Norc had disappeared, poof, a batch show's up, and at a very nice price to.

As has been definitively stated by CanAm, that game is over. There just isn't any more cheap norc to be had. Just new 2015 manufacture and that will run @ PMC prices.
The Hirtenberger stuff Marstar scored is again a 4 leaf clover that no one should think is going to show up again any time soon if ever.

Imo the best thing to do is grab what cheap stuff you can while building up a stockpile of components for future use. That way you can't loose.

If you shoot 308 in any kind of volume, +2k rounds per year, it's not if you're going to start reloading it's when.
 
I'm WAAAAY less concerned about the actual cost per round savings with my reloading, than I am with the consistency and accuracy reloading my own rounds for my own guns provides. When I think about the money aspect at all, it's that I can shoot MORE of my own reloads for the same price I was paying for the factory ammo I was shooting before (minus the investment in equipment and tools). In my small town, decent factory ammo was almost impossible to get anyways, so reloading means I get to shoot what I want, when I want.
 
I don't know whether it applies or not , but it used 2 be buying things in bulk saved money- 1k or 5k primers at time, 25 pounds of powder, 1 k bullets- I still have my original keg I bought back in the 90's- it takes a lot to go through 1000 rifle bullets and powder
 
Guys, don't get me wrong, I'm not a target shooter, all I need is to hit doe or bear within 150 meters using iron sight, which I do well. I know that all precision shooters do reloading but I'm not precision shooter and good stock rounds are good enough for my hunding and shooting practice.
 
t-star said:
I don't know whether it applies or not , but it used 2 be buying things in bulk saved money- 1k or 5k primers at time, 25 pounds of powder, 1 k bullets- I still have my original keg I bought back in the 90's- it takes a lot to go through 1000 rifle bullets and powder
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Thank you, this definitely makes sense. Never seen more than 8 pound bulk of powder. Could you please educate who could sell 25 pounders?
 
I was thinking about that. I'm ok with bullets, but surplus powder is another story. I prefer to stay away from surplus powder for some reason.
 
Theres always cast bullets. I'm getting into casting after seeing the latest price increase on components. I used to be able to save money buying 250 and 500 ct boxes of Hornady 168 hpbt. Now they're the same price per bullet as 100 ct boxes which have also gone up in price. Used to be 38 cents after taxes and less when you bought more. IIRC it is 45 cents plus tax no matter the quantity. Heavy .223 bullets are approaching what .308 used to cost just a couple years ago.
 
I will reload for challenges but for volume shooting i like my Hirtenbeger, great surplus that is almost on par with GMM 168 for precision... JP.
 
Last time I tried Tula I was getting 3-4" groups at 100yds. My handloads can pretty easily punch 0.75" groups; 0.5" on a good day. With cast bullets I can even do around 1.5" using half the powder (also a different powder) as regular loads.
With cast bullets I think I'm somewhere around $.25 per trigger pull. Once fired brass is plentiful and free for me though.
This is in a scoped bolt action off of a bench mind you. If you're looking for blasting ammo for a semi at closer ranges, surplus or cheap stuff like Tula will likely be better. If you could find a cast load that will cycle, that will likely be cheaper.
 
LUTNIT said:
Last time I tried Tula I was getting 3-4" groups at 100yds. My handloads can pretty easily punch 0.75" groups; 0.5" on a good day. With cast bullets I can even do around 1.5" using half the powder (also a different powder) as regular loads.
With cast bullets I think I'm somewhere around $.25 per trigger pull. Once fired brass is plentiful and free for me though.
This is in a scoped bolt action off of a bench mind you. If you're looking for blasting ammo for a semi at closer ranges, surplus or cheap stuff like Tula will likely be better. If you could find a cast load that will cycle, that will likely be cheaper.
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I did't cast 160gr for 30-30, but that is around 1000fps which is good for win 94 but I'm not sure my M1A would eat that. Did you try led on .308 semiauto?
 
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