Handloading vs Match Ammo...cost analysis when staring with no gear

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fljp2002

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Fellows

Just picked up a 6.5 creedmoor.

I understand that handloaded ammo should out perform factory ammo but at my current shooting skills I am not sure if the gain in accuracy will outweighs the cost savings.

Now I don’t own any reloading gear.

Assuming I go out and buy all the gear for reloading how many rounds do I need to reload to brake even vs purchasing match ammo at approx $2 per round for match ammo.

Thanks
 
fljp2002 said:
Fellows

Just picked up a 6.5 creedmoor.

I understand that handloaded ammo should out perform factory ammo but at my current shooting skills I am not sure if the gain in accuracy will outweighs the cost savings.

Now I don’t own any reloading gear.

Assuming I go out and buy all the gear for reloading how many rounds do I need to reload to brake even vs purchasing match ammo at approx $2 per round for match ammo.

Thanks
Click to expand...

You should be able to hand load for about 1/2 the cost or less for factory ammo, BUT that is after you get your gear set up. That can take some cash.
Cat
 
Let's just say your goal is around 1 MOA. The match ammo will be $2 and reloaded ammo using similar quality components will be around $1.

The basic lee setup will run you ~$300 by the time you get everything. Assuming your time is free, then it takes ~300 rounds.

Reloading to find an accurate load is a hobby in itself, the $300 you saved will all be put into other exploratory work (i.e. trying different powder/bullet, buying tools to speed up the process or improve the precision).
 
Current-ish prices
Match bullet $0.60- 0.70. Match primer $0.06. Powder (40gn) $0.35. Use your collected brass. Loading tuned cartridges for $1 or so.

You wont save any money- you will just shoot twice as much.
 
fljp2002 said:
I understand that handloaded ammo should out perform factory ammo but at my current shooting skills I am not sure if the gain in accuracy will outweighs the cost savings.
Click to expand...

Improve on the skills by shooting more ... shoot more by reloading... therefore reloading makes you a better shooter!

Kidding aside, I am actually a cost-accountant by trade. Started reloading at the same time I got into shooting sports -namely pistols at that time. I had all of this figured on spreadsheet at one time... I will try and retrieve from memory as best I can.

In short, I bought a hornady Lock and Load progressive press with the case feeder (in hindsight, I wish I spent more on a Dillion).
I was shooting about 100-200 rounds a week at the club.

My club sold -at very reasonable prices -reloaded ammo that they bought from some company in BC (I think) that used Berry's Preferred Plated Bullets and once fired brass. Some members such as myself would do our own reloading, and we piggybacked our order of projectiles (only) to get bulk freight rates,... keep the costs down for everyone including our club.

My variable direct cost of reloading was about half of what my club was charging for ammo.
In short, after about 2.5 years of reloading pistol my press & dies had paid for itself something like 1.75 times over at the rate I was using ammo.

On top of that, when I shifted gears from pistol to F Class shooting, I sold my progressive press and dies (locally) for about 40% of what I paid for it brand new. Took those funds and put that into precision reloading gear.

In short, if you shoot somewhat regularly, then after a couple of years your equipment probably won't owe you anything.
 
If you are unsure about reloading, you can always look for smoking deals on used equipment.
Buy it ... try it, and if it turns out that reloading is not for you, then turn around and liquidate on the Equipment Exchange.

Once and while I have bad thoughts of buying a progressive press for 223 Remington plinking loads.
I will go on the EE and search "Regina" as a lot of people don't want to ship presses and are willing to sell them cheap locally (like I have do before).
 
A reasonably priced second hand Dillon = minimum TCO (total cost of ownership) + flexibility, no questions asked warranty, huge aftermarket support. I got D550 last year, started with 6.5CM (no problem making sub-MOA on a progressive), but the press saw the most use cranking out 9mm.

To shoot well, one needs practice.
 
Buy 10 boxes of ammo (200 rounds) keep the fired brass - start with a single stage Lee - learn the basics - read lots of loading manuals - put your name in at work for overtime and cut back on Timmies etc - you'll do fine.
 
IvoB said:
Buy 10 boxes of ammo (200 rounds) keep the fired brass - start with a single stage Lee - learn the basics - read lots of loading manuals - put your name in at work for overtime and cut back on Timmies etc - you'll do fine.
Click to expand...

well said
if it's a hobby, you do it because you get enjoyment out of it, time has nothing to do with it.
time doing this is priceless.
 
This question comes up regularly, and I think the cost of getting everything you want to reload to a certain standard is grossly understated. It takes a lot of equipment, and other components to get to match grade ammo production in the 1,000's of quantity, consistently.

Time to achieve, that's another conversation in its own right but in cost terms I would recommend anyone who shoots @1,000 rounds a year match grade grade common centre fire calibre to buy ready rolled in bulk.

I got into reloading for 9mm and match 308 / 30.06 + specific hunting rounds in a couple of really finicky rifles. That lead onto making 300BLKOUT from .223 when getting cases was impossible. But if I started now from scratch, I would just probably buy bulk and a small quantity of high end hunting rounds. With this OIC semi-auto business I am down to 3,000 rounds a year for my rifles and 9mm is readily available at a fair price.

Create a list of what you think you need, and then another list of what you want to produce a match quality round and total. Add in storage boxes, stainless steel cleaning media, chronograph and printer / targets with calibration / software programme / subscription to a third party application or two / additional weigh scales to check those you have bought / additional lighting / additional magnifiers / spares kit / lead sledge / cloud space for storage of results / books and DVD's on the subject / Kestrel / and anything else deemed as useful.......

It really mounts up.

My advice is assess if you really are going to shoot / save if you go bulk. If you not, then get into reloading but be aware of how much it costs to gear up + the time it takes in producing a quality round. Its a great hobby, but a real time suck too.

Candocad.
 
OP, the question you ask us to answer boils down to a couple of things. First, is your idea of a day of shooting limited to a couple of rounds and chatting with the folks around on an occasional weekend or are you a serious marksman and is you rifle capable of match accuracy???

The second, maybe the most important is whether you can or can't afford to shoot enough to make reloading worthwhile.

Handloading can be expensive or inexpensive in itself. It all depends on the quality of the equipment and its functional or snob appeal. The difference between high end reloading equipment and low end equipment isn't always a consideration. Some low end equipment will make perfectly acceptable ammo, but even with match components, not match quality ammo. ONE MINUTE OF ANGLE IS NOT MATCH QUALITY AMMO.

The two dollar per shot figure you mention is a great price for genuine match quality ammo, IF it's actually loaded with powder/primer/bullets that YOUR rifle likes.

If you're an occasional shooter, don't shoot more than a box or two per session and are time constricted, reloading may not be appealing to you.

My suggestion, would be to ask one of the folks that wants to mentor your shooting skills, to help you learn to handload on their equipment. I've done this for lots of people and it's not a big deal if the person isn't planning on using my equipment for the rest of their shooting career. Most hand loaders are quite happy to help a fellow shooter out this way.

That way you can start out with a couple of bags of brass, a 100 count box of applicable bullets, a 100 count box of primers and a pound of applicable powder.

As for presses, there are some very cheap options. The cheapest I know of, that is practical is the LEE HAND PRESS.

Some people curl their noses up at this option but I've had two of them for years and both will load excellent quality ammo. They don't have enough power to full length resize the cases, which shouldn't be an issue for you but with a bit of effort they can set back the shoulder if needed. They make very consistent ammo.

You can get the whole kit from one of the banner sponsors at the top of the page or check out Higginson's Powder, com out of Hawkesbury Ont. Price for a complete set up, including dies,shellhead holder is around $150+tax and shipping.

The beauty of this set up is you can do all of the work on your kitchen table of coffee table and it all stores in a small tackle box.

This little press will accept all regular dies but the Lee dies work best in it.

As for weighing powder, you can purchase scoops or make one up out of a cartridge case, by cutting it back and filling it to the level that works best with the powder you've chose to use.

You can get into hand loading at very reasonable entry points.

Not all people have the space or stable enough mounting areas for other types of presses, especially if they're in an apartment or rental unit.
 
You can break even in 300 rounds if you use a very cost effective set up. But, after that 300 rounds you'll want to add or change equipment and start the payback period over again. 1000 rounds is a more realistic payback period to get entry level versions of everything you will want. At least, that was my experience.

After that point depends on how much of a gear junky you are. I keep looking at more expensive tools to save time, but many people I know are happy to use their starter equipment for many many years.

I'll add that for lots of reloaders it's less about the money than the hobby they enjoy. On the flip side lots of people don't have time for another hobby.

Also, the best cost savings comes from large magnums or uncommon cartridges.
 
OP, send me your email.

I have many PDF reloading books I can share. In case you choose to start your reloading journey. ;)

Cheers,
 
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It all depends what you load for. Some things like plinking .223 or 9mm, it takes a long time to pay for it, but you will shoot way more. Example, for playing I just grabbed a 500 box of 55gr fmj's for 56 bucks. 500 primers is probably $30, I have tons of cases because people leave them everywhere and powder is cheap because I will use the canadaammo D4198 or 4064 or something. I've picked up 10 pounds of each for something like 30 a pound. So $.10 for powder, $.06 for a primer and about $.11 for a bullet. Comes out somewhere near $5.40 or $5.50 a box. Bulk ammo is about $.45 a round or 9 bucks a box. If I didn't already have a pile of reloading gear it would take thousands of rounds for that to make sense.

However, on the other side of the spectrum, I have a nice .375 H&H. I recently bought 300 Hornady dangerous game solids for $150 from a gun nut. Great deal, interesting bullet. I have hundreds of cases that I paid between $.50 and $1 for but I have already used them at least once. Bullet's were ~$.50 each from EE (great deal, usually ~$75/50 ish), primer is $.06 and powder is D4350 from canadaammo again. This time about $.32 of it per case. I am making 300gr dangerous game solid plinking ammo for under $.90 a round, say a dollar for eventually having to replace the cases. Last time I looked them up, before tax they were $90 per box of 20. This would be a case for paying off the press pretty quickly... But,

You don't save any money, you just shoot 2-10X more. It's fun to hand the .375 to a friend with a handful of shells and say have fun. I don't think I'd do that if they were 5 bucks a piece.
 
I helped a friend get started reloading rifle from scratch a few months ago.
I told him to expect to drop $1k on equipment if he was planning to buy new, and the total was just over that budget.
By the time you buy the extras to make true precision ammo, $1k wears thin in a hurry.
If you're OCD about things, plan on closer to $1500 for equipment.

I have no idea what match grade factory ammo is worth, other than Hornady 6.5 CM ELD-M costing about $40 per box, if you can get it.

You can load your own for roughly half that or a bit more, depending on what you want for components. If for example you're using match grade primers , Berger bullets, and Lapua brass, plan on closer to $1.25- 1.50 per round. Brass life varies depending on your load, you may get 10 loads before it's finished, or you may get 20+. 100 Lapua brass is $169 the last time I looked.

I think it's safe to say you'll amortize your investment within the life of your first barrel, unless you go high end all the way on equipment.
Like most things shooting related, it's a rabbit hole. A lot depends on the rabbit that lives in it.
 
Thanks for all the advice.

I think my plan will be to shoot my first 300-400 round commercial, local store as sellier and bellot soft points or fmj for $25 and save the brass and ask my my wife for the lee anniversary kit as a starter kit. Being new to shooting above 300 yards, reliable cheaper ammo is what I need to practice with to improve fundamentals.

Been shooting over 2000 rds of 22 Lr per year for past 3 years (outlaw rimffire precision) and my yearly qual with C7 5.56mm being in the military but those don’t compare to shooting past 300

Will be posting and asking many questions in the near future.
 
I'm AN OLD FELLA 74
I HAVE BEEN RELOADING SINCE 1960.
I STARTED WITH 12 GAUGE SHOTSHELLS WITH THE OLD LYMAN EASY LOADER, [NOT VERY GOOD].
I NOW USE A MEC JUNIOR MARK 5, [EXCELLENT].
THEM I WENT FOR RIFLE RELOADING, STARTED WITH A LYMAN SPARTAN PRESS.
USED THAT FOR MANY YEARS, THEN I BOUGHT A BIG, RCBS PRESS, [VERY GOOD].
SOLD IT AND BOUGHT 2 CHEAP LEE PRESSES, [REALLY CHEAP AND NO GOOD] AFTER ONE BROKE MAKING 223 'S.
LEE WOULD NOT REPLACE THE CHEAP BROKEN TOGGLE.
I NOW HAVE THE BIG LEE PRESS, I BOUGHT IT SECOND HAND FOR $30.00.
I REALLY LIKE IT AND IT IS HEAVY DUTY.
IF YOU WANT TO RELOAD CHECK OUT THE ADDS AND SOMETIMES SOMEONE IS LOOKING TO SELL ALL AT A GOOD PRICE.
DOING THIS YOU CAN AQUIRE ALL THAT YOU NEED WITH OUT BREAKING THE BANK.
MANY A TIMES I'VE BOUGHT EQUIPMENT AND LOADING SUPPLIES AT ONE THENTH THE COST.
RELOADING DOESN'T SAVE ME MONEY.
BUT DURING THIS PANDEMIC IT KEEPS ME IN THE HOUSE.
AND I GET TO DO ONE HECK OF A LOT OF TARGET SHOOTING.
TAKE CARE AND BE SAFE
WEAR A MASK IF YOU CAN.
 
I have used lee when I was starting out. I have broke a few before switching to rcbs and dillon. Dillon and RCBS can break to but atleast they are covered forever under warranty. If you can buy a RCBS rockchocker supreme reloading kit it will be less expensive in the long run then going with the lee.
 
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