I guess I am a way behind. I don't shoot magnum rifle. I have enough powder to last for whatever time on earth I have left. Same with primers and brass. I have been shooting cast and factory bullets, and now powder coat my cast ones. I enjoy reloading, casting and shooting.
9 reasons reloading is better than store bought
- Thread starter PPCLI-Jim
- Start date
It comes down to how much you value your time - the more you value your time, the less economical reloading is.
If I can make $50 by picking up an hour of OT, then it's likely cheaper for me to work the OT and buy factory ammo then to spend that time reloading. If you can only make $20 doing doordash for an hour then maybe reloading is more economical.
The value you place on reloading - whether it's the ability to tune for a specific rifle, just something you enjoy, or some other value to you - has no impact on the economics of it.
I'm not saying its not worth the effort. I'm saying the time component has an economic cost, and that cost should be factored in when comparing costs for reloading vs factory ammo. That is all.
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saskgunowner101
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- near Prince Albert
While I do still use alox and create voodoo wax lubes, powder coating is simply awesome!
Though I hesitate to climb i to the backseat on this, i am not sure I agree.
In theory, every minute of every day has monetary cost then?
What about time spent eating, sleeping, making sweet sweet love, etc.?
Reloading can be (is for me) it’s own entertainment so yes, technically I could be grinding out that time for money at some job or another, assuming I could find one that was willing to pay me for the odd hour or two here or there, sometimes late at night and on my own schedule.
When I reload, i am occupying “leisure” time rather than, or whilst, eating, making sweet sweet love…etc.
At some point a line between hours I could be making bank and hours I could he doing anything else must be drawn. No?
Basically Yes. Some things required for survival take time - eg sleep - so I wouldn't personally say EVERY MINUTE, but certainly every minute you have available to spend on leisure activities has a monetary cost.
Not quite, but I think I get what you're suggesting. A line could be drawn, but I wouldn't use the wording you have. I would look at it as "time spent doing things that are necessary", and "time spent that could be making you bank".
The only things on the side of "things that are necessary" are necessities like eating and sleeping, along with perhaps other responsibilities like taking your kids to school or cooking them food. Reloading is very much on the "could have been making bank" side of that line.
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As someone who doesn't reload the upfront cost of buying all the equipment, the possibility of screwing it up is a deterrent. I Just run 308, 223 and .45 and avoid the expensive cartridges. Been thinking on it lots but I can't make it make sense for myself.
If time has an economic cost and should be factored into the equation, what dollar value would I assign to that time i spend reloading?
What dollar value did you asign the time it took for you to type that response?
That would depend on factors I do not know. A guy who makes $100/hr is likely to put that number higher than someone making $25/hr for example.
I don't put a price on my time on CGN because I'm not making a comparison of cost between two things, unlike when people compare the costs of buying factory ammo vs reloading.
What if it's a weekend and this guy is not working on weekends? Is his hourly cost still what he's paid at work? Poor bastard can't afford to have a nap on his day off. Too fkg expensive, right?
If i reload for an hour, from where is the money come that i spent on that time? Did it come from my bank account or maybe cc charges? Economic impacts are measurable and traceable. Where would I find this one?
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What if it's a weekend and this guy is not working on weekends? Is his hourly cost still what he's paid at work? Poor bastard can't afford to have a nap on his day off. Too fkg expensive, right?
If i reload for an hour, from where is the money come that i spent on that time? Did it come from my bank account or maybe cc charges? Economic impacts are measurable and traceable. Where would I find this one?
You don't SPEND money on your time. That doesn't mean time isn't valuable.
I have lots of components that I purchased either years ago or when I find sales. Most of my reloading is for my annual gopher trips to Alberta and it's .223 Remington. The brass was free. I use H335 powder now that my WC 735 powder has run out, Campro/Ginex small rifle primers, and Speer TNT HP 50 grain bullets. Before taxes and shipping on components I'm still reloading for 50 cents a round. Most of the time I spend on reloading is brass prep where I'm either in front of the TV or in my shop listening to podcasts/music.
My .308 loads are considerably more expensive. The brass was free however. I do like that I am making higher quality ammunition for a bit of a cost savings. I do find it rewarding to shoot critters or targets with ammunition I made tuned to my rifles.
My .308 loads are considerably more expensive. The brass was free however. I do like that I am making higher quality ammunition for a bit of a cost savings. I do find it rewarding to shoot critters or targets with ammunition I made tuned to my rifles.
There you go, i knew we'd get there. There is no economic impact after all, and using your free time to reload does not incur charges, nor loss of money.
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Not at all what I'm saying. Not making money with your time is an economic impact, it's just harder to account for.
If I have two options, reload or make money, reloading is preventing me from making money and thus has an economic impact. And there is (virtually) ALWAYS the option to use that time to make money instead.
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In my mind it comes down to the calibre and use.
Loading .308, I don’t think I’m way ahead, but for .300WM I definitely am. No question.
For 9mm, I haven’t done the math lately, but I can’t exactly buy 126PF 147gr ammo at the local Cabelas, so there’s definitely that element.
Loading .308, I don’t think I’m way ahead, but for .300WM I definitely am. No question.
For 9mm, I haven’t done the math lately, but I can’t exactly buy 126PF 147gr ammo at the local Cabelas, so there’s definitely that element.
ÌF you give up employment time or working hours to reload, then your argument is valid.
The other person said that reloading was not a savings compared to factory ammo if you factored in your time. If this is true then i want to know what monetary value would you use to calculate the cost of time when i reload in my free time? Where did the money go and who got it?
But you are always doing that. That's my point.
You can get a 2nd job, return to the workforce if you're retired, create your own side gig casting lead bullets or building planter boxes, fix and flip cars or chainsaws or outboard engines.... there are literally hundreds of things you can be doing that would make money, but instead you choose to spend that time reloading.
Not everything can be reduced to "where did the money come from and who did it go to". There is clearly an economic cost for Alberta when pipeline projects get canceled, but you can't talk about those costs in terms of where did the money go, because it's the opposite of that - its money that never came in in the first place. Not making money is itself an economic impact, even if it's harder to account for.
I get that it's hard for you to estimate the loss of $ associated with my time spent reloading. So let's move over to your own situation. What do the numbers look like for you? You probably have a better idea about that.
For accounting purposes i estimate the cost of my free time to reload is $0/hr until someone can show otherwise. Show me receipts, or tell me where the money went. Because otherwise I call bs, in the nicest way possible of course.
I get it. You don't understand the concept of opportunity cost therefore it doesn't exist according to you. We're just gonna have to go ahead and disagree on whether time has inherent value or not. I'm done going in circles with you.
Um I'm confused, I can batch load rounds to whatever spec I feel like. From a 1000on my Dillon which are great for plinking, or on a single stage to match ammo. With the Lapua Mag, the cost for 20 rounds is 200! I can roll my own tuned for whatever I want to do, be it LRP or hunt same with almost every caliber I use. When I'm reloading ammo, The economics of it are introduced when hunting or at the range, With my DIY I'm sure when I lay the reticule on a target I can hit it within reason, having faith like that is worth it. A half grain short or over. Jump to the lands etc, factory ammo doesn't do that, but it's worth something. It's a sliding scale but it's still there.
I get it, you can't tell me what the numbers are because there are none.
There is no COST associated with unrealized potential income. That is a loss of revenue, not a cost.
