When I looked into it, attempting to load ammo for sale on a small scale could not be done profitably; based on new brass loaded with ball powder and match bullets, loaded on Dillon equipment when compared to the cost of commercial ammo. The hobby handloader saves money by recycling brass, but the only way this could be done with a small scale operation is if you have an arrangement to load ammo for a private gun club or for a special event that operated under the radar of federal regulations. Federal regulations are written with large commercial operations in mind and tend to deter small operations. The liability you would have to assume for an under the radar operation would be unattractive to say the least. Commercial products are now covering many niche markets such as match ammo, controlled recoil ammo, premium hunting ammo, varmint hunting ammo, self-defence ammo, etc, so there is little opportunity to get your foot in the door that way.
Manufacturing ammunition appears to be a go big or stay home proposition. A large scale commercial loading operation is out of reach for the individual of normal means as commercial loading requires about 5000 square feet of floor space per cartridge, plus a fully equipped machine shop to keep the line equipment in repair.
