cost of reloading..

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oldspice

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So I really enjoy shooting gophers. Went through approx 200 rds of 17 hmr and 120 of 22 mag a few days ago in abotu 3 hours.

I'd really like to pick up a 22-250, 204, or 223 to shoot gophers with but I can't afford the price of shells. I'm willing to re load to cut costs but how much will it cut costs?

how cheap can you re load for these calibers??
 
Reloading a 223 will run you somewhere between 30 and 50 cents a round depending on what (and how much) you buy. On top of that there is the initial cost of the reloading gear as well.

Steve
 
.223 i'll estimate around .25 to .30 cents per round, if you anneal to get more usage from ur brass. Thats what i'm figuring its costing me. The purchase of once fired brass obviously is more but if you get 5 or more firings it brings the average way down. Primers and powder add up!
 
reloading

well, ive been into loading ammo for a while now, 12 yrs to be exact, i go to local ranges and pick up peoples throw away brass, sort them in buckets, generally 30-06, 303 and 270 are popular here, as well as 308, 45/70 never find any,lol, wonder why, anyhow, so even ask folks what they will do with their empties, better than throwing it away, now as far as a reload setup, you can buy a lee C frame press for under 50$ new, set of lee rgb which stands for " really great buy" 2 die sets at cabelas for 20$ plus tax, shell holder will set you back 5 or 6 $, you'll need a lube tray , 12$ bottle of lube, 5$, primers, usually around $5.50/100, bullets, depending on what you want in centerfire 22 can range from 15.00$-25$/box of 100, hornady makes the best bullets for$$
load manual, go on hodgdon website and go into their reloading data center
tons of "free" info, follow the loading data correctly, as for a scale to weigh powders, i bought a frankford arsenal digital scale, set me back 55$, digital scales are the way to go, very accurate, so if you spoent 250$ you can get all you need, powders range from 25-40$/lb, depending what one you need

may sound like alot, but once you have this gear, making ammo is cheaper than buying, also make more accurate ammo

hope you have fun reloading, lots of experienced gents on here to lend help if you need it
 
.223 per thousand

$125 - 55 gr bullet
$80 - Ramshot TAC (3.5 lbs)
$35 - primers

$240 \ 1000 ... so far 24 cents a round

brass... well that really depends on where you are..
 
I reload .22 c.f.s with cast bullets and can shoot gophers all day, costs? Gas check .02....primer .04...Powder .03...Total cost .09 cents per round, so $1.80 for a box of 20 .218 Mashburn Bee( an early improved .218 Bee). People scoff at using cast .22s but I can shoot hundreds of shells a day for peanuts, and more effective then the .17 or .22 mag. I am currently testing cast bullets at 3300fpsfrom the same rifle...
 
ben hunchak said:
I reload .22 c.f.s with cast bullets and can shoot gophers all day, costs? Gas check .02....primer .04...Powder .03...Total cost .09 cents per round, so $1.80 for a box of 20 .218 Mashburn Bee( an early improved .218 Bee). People scoff at using cast .22s but I can shoot hundreds of shells a day for peanuts, and more effective then the .17 or .22 mag. I am currently testing cast bullets at 3300fpsfrom the same rifle...
Click to expand...

thanks for the replies so far.

So you pour yoru own lead cast bullets?? Do they foul the barrel more or cause more wear?
 
oldspice said:
So I really enjoy shooting gophers. Went through approx 200 rds of 17 hmr and 120 of 22 mag a few days ago in abotu 3 hours.

I'd really like to pick up a 22-250, 204, or 223 to shoot gophers with but I can't afford the price of shells. I'm willing to re load to cut costs but how much will it cut costs?

how cheap can you re load for these calibers??
Click to expand...

You don't actually experience a "net savings".... you just end up getting to shoot more for the same cost as what you would've spent on factory ammo.... ;) :p

2007-10-27_091302_1aCoffee.gif

NAA.
 
Hi. Where you are matters. Roughly, very roughly, about half of the cost of factory. A great deal depends on the bullet you use. Of course, you don't need premium or match grade bullets for gophers.
Neither .17 HMR nor .22 Mag are exactly cheap.
 
Sunray is right of course....That was my point, at less then $2 for twenty, it beats the .17HMR at $15/50 plus tax, and these are more effective. The bullet is by far the most expensive of the components,. not sure how much .22 cal. jacketed bullets are but at .25cents ea. it certainly adds to the cost. Reloading with jacketed brings the price per rd. up to .39cents ea.(I think), and too pricey for a skinny gopher.
 
oldspice said:
thanks for the replies so far.

So you pour yoru own lead cast bullets?? Do they foul the barrel more or cause more wear?
Click to expand...

They definitely will not cause more wear. With the right combination of lube, lead alloy you can get a lead bullet going fast and accurate. If it does foul the barrel you just have to remove it. It won't be permanent.

I currently cast 22 for a 22 Hornet with decent results so far. If you are interested in going this route go to http://castboolits.gunloads.com/.
 
thanks guys... I think I am going to get into it.. but first I need a decent varmit gun in a 223 or 22-250!!! ANyone got one in a LH bolt they want to sell?? lol..
 
You can get into reloading for one calibre by using a Lee Loader for very little money. It will turn out perfectly good ammo, but takes longer. It also is essentially limited by itself to fairly tame loads. It's an option.

Figure $300 minimum for a new press kit, which is a lot more flexible. Cost of components not included, of course. You should be able, for most calibres, to cut the price per round by at least half.
 
Across the board I lose money reloading, once test ammo, multiple trips to the range and a myriad part boxes of bullets and half cans of powder are factored into the equation.

There are specific cases where considerable saveing are realized in centerfire rifles, (volume varminting is one of them) but reloading is mostly about accuracy. Ironically, most people would be better off spending their powder budget practiceing from field positions than working on loads that already shoot better than they do.
 
DEpends what you are going to reload and what you will use it for. Bullets are the most expensive component. Premium bullets cost more.

If you're looking for the absolute best group your rifle can shoot, then it will cost you a lot because you're going to buy 3-4 different powders and 3-4 different bullets before you know what shoots best.

if you are going to build a reasonable accuracy load from published data and don't need to spend $hundreds more on different bullets and powder combos your loading costs will be quite reasonable.

How much do you shoot (or plan to shoot) in a year? Less than 100 x .223 and you're just as well off buying factory ammo.

If you are going to get another rifle at some point it is much less expensive to start loading another cartridge - you already have the loading gear you just need components and a set of dies.
 
I reload 22 Hornet for critter shooting. Bullets are what costs the most $15-25 per hundered I use V Max and they cost me $20 per hun. I use 10-13g of power and a primer> so for 100 rounds it costs anywhere from $25 - $35 not including brass. Pretty hard to put a price on brass, it all depends on where you get it. I have some brass that is on it's 9-10 reload. Everytime you reload the brass it is cheaper.
 
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