Has anyone figured out exactly how much cheaper it is to re-load?

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bob998877

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Percentage wise, how much cheaper is it to re-load versus off the shelf ammo?
I plan on re-loading 30.30 and .357 magnum.
The cartridge for a 30.30 averages to about .75 cents a round store bought
The .357 averages about .47 cents a round store bought.

Will I save at least half?

Thanks, Bob
 
yes, you will save half. off the top of my head i can't remember how much it costs to reload 30-30, but i think it is 35 cents plus or minus.

7x57, 308, 303, etc seem to be around 45 cents.

can't speak for the 357, but 9mm is very cheap to reload.

you can do the math:

7000/powder charge = #loads per lb of powder

cost of powder/#loads = powder cost

add primer and bullet costs
 
I'll probably find out that you won't be saving any money in reloading because you'll be saving about 50% but shooting twice as much. In other words I'll be getting a bigger BANG for your buck$$$$:D ...which is why most guys reload
Bob
 
You won't save a dime

I bought a box of bullets for my 1911 about 10 years ago and still had some left, because it is too expensive to shoot. Then I got into ipsc and reloading and go through 400 or in a weekend.

If you cast your own bullets it works out to about 2.00 a box of 50. If you buy your bullets its about 7.00 a box of 50

If you go to the store you can end up paying 50$ for a box of 50 you can shop a bit but with shipping and hazmat fees it gets pretty expensive.

So no you won't save a dime.
 
Some cast bullets(M.T. Chambers) work out to 8-10cents ea.,hard cast gas check can run up to 30cents each, so i dunno..do the math, the only place where I see reloading not paying off is in low end shotshells, either lead or steel.
 
Boby -

Saving money, although important, is only one aspect of reloading. You can make better ammo because the ammo you make are loads worked up for your particular rifle. You can also make ammo to fill a niche which is not available from the ammo makers, such as a .30-30 small game load.

If you used bulk .30-30 170 gr bulk rifle bullets it would cost you about 25 cents each, or you could contact Ben Hanuck on this forum for a price on cast bullets. Ben's bullets are probably better, and jacketed bullets offer no advantage at .30-30 velocities. I shot 210 gr cast bullets at 1800 fps in my .30-06 with excellent results.

Let's assume you use IMR 3031 powder. At 27 grs per round that means you get 259 rounds from a pound of powder, or about 11.5 cents a round.

A primer is another 3 or 4 cents.

You should get many reloads from your brass - but lets say conservatively a dozen - which for 100 pieces of brass at about $30.00/1200=2.5 cents.

Your shooting could cost you as little as $14.29, but for easy figuring lets call it $15.00 per 100. The cheapest factory .30-30 ammo I've seen is about $17.00 per 20, or $85.00 per 100.

At that rate you basic reloading package from RCBS would be paid for by the time you loaded 750 rounds. How long it takes you to pay off the investment in reloading equipment depends on how much shooting you will do.
 
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bobv said:
I'll probably find out that you won't be saving any money in reloading because you'll be saving about 50% but shooting twice as much. In other words I'll be getting a bigger BANG for your buck$$$$:D ...which is why most guys reload
Bob
Click to expand...

+1 :D
 
A simpler way to look at it is that the brass case is usually about 30% of the cost of a loaded round of ammo, so if you reload that case, you'll be saving around 30% (actually, you'll just be able to shoot 30% more for the same money).
 
I figure I reload most things for 40% of factory prices, after brass has been obtained and not including the cost of reloading equipment.
 
Cost per bulllet in factory 9mm = .23 cents per round. Cost of reloaded round, provided you have brass for free = .16 cents per round..Hope this answers your question! Keep in mind that if you are loading for rifle, you will gain much better accuracy than you will with factory rounds, so this is also benificial to the reloader. You will save around %30- %40 depending on costs of bullets, powder, primers. I buy powder for $30.00, primers for $30.00, and bullets for $100.00 per 1000. Total is $160.00 It would cost me $235.00 for 1000 rounds of factory ammo. I save $75.00 per 1000 rounds, which is enough when you think of how many thousands of rounds you can shoot in IPSC! You will save even more if you shoot lead bullets instead of FMJ's.
 
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Thanks for the info guys! Can't wait to roll my own first batch. Luckily, I have a great neighbor who will coach me as he has been a re-loader for years.

Boomer You can get 30.30 ammo in bulk for .25 Cent each---wow. Where can you get this? I've been paying .75 cents, non-bulk, retail in Vancouver. I have never seen any source of bulk ammo in 30.30 or .357 in Canada.
 
Yes but you can truthfully say that you are saving money everytime you shoot, so you aren't actually lying to the wife, just not telling the whole truth!!!
 
It depends on the cartridge. With .223 you would be lucky to break even, 12 gauge traps loads are the same situation. On the other hand I can load my .416 Rigby for $45.00 a box with Swift A-Frames or $25.00 with Speer Mag Tips when factory costs $180 per box. Cast bullet loads in the same cartridge cost $5.00 per box. This is admittedly an extreme example but shows how much can be saved.
I found that I spent a lot more on ammo after I started handloading, but shot so much more. Handloading is more about accuracy to me than money, but the per cartridge cost can be a lot lower. The ability to shoot whatever you want instead of what is easily available is a bonus as well.
 
i am loading 303british for $0.50 a rnd. so, thats half the price of factory from wally world.
i figure i can load 45acp for about $0.12 a rnd using cast bullets. thats alot cheaper than factory.
 
I'm loading .308 Win "match" for $ 0.47/ round. Varget as powder, Hornady A-Max's as bullets and CCI BR-2 primers.

I did some figuring on 9mm and if I don't have to pay for brass , I should be able to do that for 9.5 cents per round. 700X for powder, Frontier bullets and Winchester primers.

Craig
 
bob998877 said:
Thanks for the info guys! Can't wait to roll my own first batch. Luckily, I have a great neighbor who will coach me as he has been a re-loader for years.

Boomer You can get 30.30 ammo in bulk for .25 Cent each---wow. Where can you get this? I've been paying .75 cents, non-bulk, retail in Vancouver. I have never seen any source of bulk ammo in 30.30 or .357 in Canada.
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No No - not loaded ammo, Bulk Bullets. Sorry for the confusion. Wholesale Spots catalogs Remington bulk bullets bullets for the .30-30 seperately from it's other .308 bullets. Near the bottom of my post I said the cheapest .30-30 ammo I could see was about $17.00 a box.
 
The upfront cost of reloading can be considerable when you take into account the press, scales, dies and all the other equipment. How long it takes to recoup that cost depends on how much you shoot.

I find reloading centerfire rifle is tedious. My current rifles are more than accurate enough with factory ammo so the only time I do it is to get a combination that isn't available from the factory.

I wouldn't load .30-30 because it's not very expensive with some exceptions it isn't typically a round where great improvements in accuracy can be had. I have never reloading pistol because I can get good, professionally-reloaded handgun ammo for not much more than the price of reloading it.
 
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