Depends how much you shoot, 30-06 can take up to 2-3 thousand rounds to pay for itself depending on what setup you buy and choice of components. Have to ask yourself what you want to accomplish with reloading and how much interest you really have in shooting and guns in general. Time is a factor, takes time to load ammo, takes time to find components these days as well, takes time and expense to work up loads, no magic formulas involved. Sometimes you accomplish what you want fairly easily, sometimes not, guns can be fussy, or not. There are quite a few people get into it and decide it isn't their thing, sell off what they bought. Then there are lots who have acquired lots of stuff and sell off the extras. There are deals and then some folk who think they'll get rich quick, the usual panorama you see with other goods. Won't really save any money, just shoot more for the same money, or shoot more and spend more. It does allow you to shoot some different guns that you may not have looked at otherwise, allow you to shoot in a discipline you may not have otherwise considered, meet some good people.
This is a very good post! I agree with every point made!!
Maybe helps to break down costs - to load your 30-06, going to need a primer, powder, and bullet for every round fired, and have a useable case for it. So, $0.12 per primer, perhaps 45 grains of powder - so 7,000 grains in a pound - pay $90 per pound and would be about $0.58 for powder. Perhaps $0.50 per bullet. So that is $1.20 per round, these days, in components - if you have useable cases. If you pay $1 each for new cases, is reasonable to expect 10 firings? So you use up $0.10 "worth" of case for each firing - so now $1.30 per round in components - that is $26 per box of 20 cartridges. Substitute whatever the costs are, for you to acquire, where you are. If you have never done this at all, is many types of primers, powders and bullets - many will "work" - some are really poor choices, and some just will not work. So you need some clue for a start point, to reload. What size and brand of primer, what type of powder, what size and weight of bullet, what plan do you have for cases?
Reloading tool costs - is very much about time versus cost - I am sure some of the tools I used a few days ago, are easy 30 years old - they work fine, still. Like many others, in the 1970's, I started with the Lee Loader boxed kit - it will neck size only - I am sure was less than $30 - so about what a couple boxes of factory shells cost then - everything in there that you needed to re-load factory-once fired or new brass for your rifle - IF you read and understood the little card in there, and got the correct bullets and correct powder for that scoop. I just checked - is still three of them here - 308 Win, 30-06 and 22-250. Like many others, I progressed to a simple single leverage press - that needs $50 per cartridge die set, some way to lube and remove lube from sized cases, and a shell holder for that cartridge for the press - NOTE - back in the day RCBS shell holders were like $3 each - now pushing $30 each on Amazon.ca - but, lets you re-form cases previously fired in any other rifle, not just from yours. And just grows from there - get concerned about case length, so need something to trim to length and chamfer. Then want to get more "precise" about powder load, or use different powder, so get a beam scale and trickler - or make do without the trickler. Then get an automated digital scale plus dispenser in one unit - I am sure the RCBS Chargemaster Lite that I got last year cost more than I had paid for all the previous purchases of my reloading tools. Is about no end to how much that you spend on tooling - some is good stuff - about necessary to have - some is "silly" - a modern sales pitch to accomplish something easily done for cents - often the "old way" described in the "how-to-reload" sections of several reloading manuals. Is pretty much that what you do not know or understand how to do cheaply, that you will pay hundreds of dollars for gizmos that will do it for you - is your choice.
Is at least two approaches that I see here - one extreme is totally about cost - the fellow shows up with a box of mixed brand, previously fired cases - some obviously previously reloaded an unknown number of times, some are factory once fired - some from his rifle, some picked up at shooting spot - some just filthy dirty with grit and dirt, some shiny like new. Wants to "reload them" - no plan, no information - just what somebody told him, or what he might have read on Internet - tends to be "happy" with any result that goes "bang" and that a hole appears somewhere. "Sighting in", "shooting groups", "pressure test series" etc. often viewed as a waste of shells. At other extreme, here, buddy has a second hand factory rifle - and wants to go through entire bench rest commotion of reloading, as if that will make him get groups like he sees shot by Eric Cortina and others. Will go through dozens of rounds in search of the perfect load to 0.05 grain, and .001" depth of seating - very certain that that will make a huge difference for his shooting - perhaps even to offset some deficiencies in shooter's ability or his rifle.
Very much depends what you are trying to accomplish - some just want to shoot a deer - so like 12" diameter kill zone - out to perhaps 300 yards. Another guy wants to shoot small-ish 5 shot groups on a target at 100 yards, or 500 yards. Sometimes need hours of fine tuning work on the rifle to produce, sometimes just grab a WWII produced battle rifle and is "good enough" for the desired task.
You will also find very different comments from a rifleman who owns and has used one rifle for 30 years, versus someone who owns and periodically fires more than 20 rifles - first guy tends to be very positive that his is the "best"; second guy often swapping barrels, trying different chamberings, to find "the best". It helps you to understand where their comments are coming from. Is similar to the shooter who fires 5 rounds per year, versus the guy that fires 5000 rounds per year - different experiences, different perspectives about it.
