Economics of reloading in Canada

This. Once you decide reloading is for you, buy in Bulk.
With range pickup brass, dominion bulk pack of 5000 primers and bulk 8lb jugs of titegroup, and bulk plated bullets, my plinking 9mm reloads are at $0.12 per round and more consistent than any commercial ammo i've ever bought.

bearhunter said:
Eagleye is telling it to you straight. But I will add a bit to his statement in that it all depends how you purchase your components.

If you buy them in 100 count boxes, one pound containers and 100 count primers there may not be any savings. It's when you take care of your brass and reload it several times that the savings start to add up. Then of course if you purchase the rest of your components in bulk, say enough to load up 5000 or more pistol rounds the savings will get much better. There are other options to save as well such as buying cast bullets or casting your own (not always feasible depending on where you live.)

Getting together with a group of friends to buy powder can really get you some great discounts. Check out Higginson's. Even your local gun shop might be willing to give you a discount if they can get the powder in large enough quantities. Same goes for bullets.

The days of cheap 9mm/223/45acp surplus are over for now. I have no idea when or if they will come back again. The same 7.62x25 ammo per 2880 crate which used to sell for $220 is now close to $350 by the time it gets to you and that is just in a year.

All component prices just got a 25% increase since the US dollar started to climb. Last fall would have been a great time to stock up.

Last fall powder was running $30 per pound taxes in. Now it's $40 per pound. The increase in price is directly reflected in the dollar difference. Availability also has some effect on prices.

The biggest saving is your brass and how often you re load it. With proper attention to annealing and moderate loads most brass will last a long time. I have some 40 year old Dominion cases that have been reloaded and re annealed dozens of times and they are still good for more.

Buy in bulk instead of dribbles if you can afford it. That's where it really pays off.
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Don't bother if you are just doing 1000 rnds of 9mm a year to save a few bucks.

Reloading is a rewarding but potentially dangerous hobby. Pretty sure most shooter knows personally someone who had blown up a firearm with reloads.
 
I'm thinking of getting into reloading, but it doesn't seem like it's worth the cost up here


You don't save anything by reloading, but you get more rounds or better rounds for the same money.

I only load for match rounds or rounds I have a hard to time to buy. Stuff like handgun loads, 12g shotshells, and .223 are simply not worth my time and money since they can be easily acquired in bulk.
 
Phat Eagle said:
fchan, share your secret! Where do you find 9 cent 9mm and 12 cent .223 bullets!?!
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ammosupply.ca Also, budgetshootersupply is good, especially if you're ordering decent quantities. I drive to calgary often so ammosupply is becoming my go-to for projectiles as I can save on the shipping costs.

https://www.ammosupply.ca/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=539categories=302
https://www.ammosupply.ca/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=549categories=302
http://budgetshootersupply.ca/catalog/9mm_Caliber_355_-_356_131.cfm
 
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burnaby said:
Don't bother if you are just doing 1000 rnds of 9mm a year to save a few bucks.

Reloading is a rewarding but potentially dangerous hobby. Pretty sure most shooter knows personally someone who had blown up a firearm with reloads.
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I'd say it's as potentially dangerous as shooting. If you're not paying attention or haven't done the research before you start, then yes it can be dicey. That being said, it's another enjoyable facet of the shooting sport. I find I can get my progressive press humming along on a boring winter evening and get quite relaxed doing so.

Personally, I only know a few reloaders and none of us have blown up a gun (knock wood). I have, however found a round that had no powder charge (entirely my fault). Good thing I had to pull the bullet anyways. It would have been annoying but not catastrophic. I've never accidentally double-charged a round. Organization and diligence is key.
 
Bearhunter....I agree, the bulk purchases are vital if you want to gain the most $$ by reloading

For those warning about danger, it is always lurking around, particularly for the unwary, and that is not limited to reloading.

I started to reload my own ammo in 1964, and have been at it pretty well continuously since then.

Most of my personal rifles have seen few, if any, factory rounds.

I have had a couple of "hard to open" bolts in my reloading career, and even had a primer fall out when I opened the action of a #1 Ruger.

But, no blown up rifles, and a trainload of fun over the years. Also managed to learn some important lessons in the meantime.

I have had the privilege of mentoring a number of new reloaders, and swapping info with hundreds of other shooters.

All in all, it has been a great endeavor, and one I can recommend freely to those who want to shoot quality ammo all the time.

Regards, Dave.
 
Show me factory ammo that you can shoot under 1/2 min at LR.

I have to reload. The level of performance offered off the shelf is not worth the price of admission. AND, I can make better shooting ammo for less then the cost of factory ammo.

So reloading is dirt cheap cause missing is very expensive.

YMMV.

Jerry
 
You're not gonna save anything by buying retail...

You need to do some research and do a good job of souring your supplies.

Retail is for suckers
 
I am in the same situation, but only shoot handgun(9/.38spl/357mag/40s&w/.44spl/.44mag/45acp). so, I can tell you some of the real numbers I crunched for 9mm for your reference. the math is rather complicated. so bear with me.

for real apple-to-apple comparison, I will use 124gr TMJ/FMJ as an example, for retail/commerical reload vs home reload. Lead bullet will be cheaper, but I don't shoot lead.

1. retail 9mm 124gr TMJ/FMJ is about 28-30 cents per round, pre-tax and shipping.
2. reload components, bullet is about 9 cents, powder(HS6 @ my local store, not the cheapest) and primer(CCI or Winchester) is about 4.5 cents each round. Brass is usually free to pickup @ club because not a lot people reload 9mm unless you shoot a lot of it. this will give you 18 cents per round. if to buy brass, you just add it on.
3. Loading speed. with step 2 @ 10cents/round saving, if you have a progressive reloading press, you can get around 500/Hr which will give you $50/Hr saving which is a nice side job pay(definitely not doctor/lawyer's pay. :) ). If a single stage, or turrent, you just save $10-25/Hr. You might as well to find some OT to earn more for buying ammo. just saying. Unless it's also part of the hobby you want to take on.
4. TAX. this is an very important factor because we can easily buy ammo with 5% tax, but we might get some of the components @ 13% tax. Assuming you are lucky enough to get all 5%, it makes a big difference. with the step 1-3 in mind, if components are all at 13% tax, you are looking at around $48/hr saving with progressive press. with just bullets @ 5% tax, you will save $4 more per hour.

So, by my calculation, with the current prices, to reload all TMJ/FMJ ammo, with a progressive press

for 9/40S&W/.38spl, you save $50-70/Hr(500 rounds), for 45ACP, it's about $100/Hr, for .357mag/.44spl/.44mag, it's around $200.
so, depending how much your time is worth(either what you make, or perceived value with family and friends), you can make the decision to reload or not.

keep in mind though, this didn't count the time you have to spend on sorting the brass, deprimer first(for rifle) and tumble them, and in the case of rifle, trim them(which doesn't apply to me for the calibers I am playing). I didn't count those times for myself because I use "worthless" time to do those things, like commerical break during a TV time etc. So, it's MAX saving situation. for your rifle case trimming and deprime before tumbling, it's going to be some billable hour per say. So, just consider that.

hope this makes sense.






hdls said:
I'm thinking of getting into reloading, but it doesn't seem like it's worth the cost up here. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong retailers.

Would anyone care to do some back-of-the-envelope math on the economics of reloading in Canada, and perhaps recommend some retailers of reloading components? Let's say I'm trying to reload 1000 rounds of .223 or 9mm.
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you don't have to look very hard. some of the site sponsors here have the jacked bullets @ 9 cents with 5% tax which is what I used to calcuate my reloading cost. :)

Phat Eagle said:
fchan, share your secret! Where do you find 9 cent 9mm and 12 cent .223 bullets!?!
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I reload 9mm the most. I can buy 1000 bullets for $100 taxes in. Powder is $40 taxes in and primers $30 taxes in. That's $170 for components. Obviously there are some other costs like electricity and media to clean the brass. The best price I can find for 1000 rounds of factory 9mm is about $320 plus HST (13% here). I save $190 for each thousand I reload. I just got my Dillon Super 1050 and need to reload 13,000 rounds for it to pay itself off. Shooting 1000 rounds a week for practice, it should pay itself off before Labour Day.
 
robab said:
Are their any clubs that offer access to equipment or reloading stations/ courses? I know it's tough to justify the up front cost for me but if the gear was available I can collect brass and buy the powder/bullets the cost would b a lot more easy to swallow. Just a thought.
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A Lee Loader is $40.
 
The biggest factor for reloading should never be price. 90% of shooters will never pay of there actual investments into it. Initial investment is high and if your like most of us your continuing investment will be high. Component wise per round will be better and cheaper but in most calibers will take alot of shooting to ever pay of the investment. If your looking at reloading you should aproach it with a goal to make better ammunition at equal cost. I shoot thousands of rounds every year and will never pay off my investment however i enjoy it and have great ammo.
 
Reloading isn't about saving money. It's about using ammo that is tailored for your firearm. Makes the endless search for the best price for ammo go away too. You'll search for component prices instead. Buying either ammo or components on-line will get expensive fast due to shipping costs anyway.
However, $146.99 buys 500 rounds of Wolf reloaded ammo. $87.00 will buy 1,000 124gr TMJ bullets. $34.95 for 1,000 S&B primers. $26.95 for a pound of Bullseye. Max load for a 124 is 4.4 grains(just an example. Likely be less). 1509 loads per pound. Roughly 1.6 cents per round for powder or $16 per 1,000 rounds. Roughly $138 for 1,000 rounds.
 
The other benefit to reloading is your ability to be somewhat self-sufficient and "buffered" from these ammo/reloading supply shortages. Stock up and breeze through the tough times, then stock up again when what you need becomes available. The added benefit to hoarding is that the price of reloading components only seems to go up, buy lots now and three years from now you'll be glad you did....
 
TPK said:
The other benefit to reloading is your ability to be somewhat self-sufficient and "buffered" from these ammo/reloading supply shortages...
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This is just one of the reasons I do my own loading.
Other than shotshells I can't recall the last time I bought factory ammo.
Most of my center fire rifles/handguns have neve been fed factory ammo.

It's comforting to know that I can go shoot any match without having to worry "do I have enough ammo?"
 
.38 special is a huge savings to reload and easy to cast for. No way I'm paying almost 30$ a box when it costs me roughly 5$ to reload. Brass is plentiful too!
 
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