how much do you save loading
- Thread starter ongaro
- Start date
At the range, if you are into reloading, you might just pick up all the 9mm brass that you could find, and then when you have the time priour to reloading, you will inspect all the brass that you have collected, discard any that do not pass muster, and then load everything else. Keeping in mind that the brass is the most expensive component, why would you pick up only your own bass, instead of all the brass that you can find?
And how to get your brass back? Typically, you will approach a piece of brass that you see on the floor, bend at your waste and knees while lowering your hand towards the brass, and once your hand has reached the brass you will grasp it with your fingers, and then you will straighten and move the brass to a position above a container, and then release your grasp on it. Then you start the process again.
Pro tip: If you have a bad back and/or knees, it may be worth while to bring along a small child, and then having issued the child a container, trick it into a game of "how much brass can you collect" with promises of candy. Actually providing candy at the end of the game is up to you, however this may affect future performance.
unstableryan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Beautiful Okanagan Valley
Saving money is a fallacy. You will not save any money. You are probably happy now buying 1-3 boxes of ammo, going to the range, shooting them... and it's only ~15 a box...
After you spend a couple hundred on reloading, you will need to buy components. I hope you have saved every brass ever... You will need these and soon realize you must buy a couple thousand more..
Now boxes of bullets usually come in 100 packs.. for about 12-25 bucks depending on what kind they are.. these will not do. They are not large enough boxes. You will start by buying boxes of 500 bullets, maybe going cast because they are cheaper... Soon you will looking into bulk buying of 2300 bullets per box or getting into group buys..
Primers are another thing.. 100 per pack at the store.. ~$4-5 bucks... hmm save a couple bucks by buying 1000 at a time... that's ok... but wait.. bulk buy of 5000 for $155... Now that's better.. might even last all summer.
Now you are taking 700 rounds to the range at a time.. You are making them for 5 or 6 bucks a box but shooting 4 times as much as before so it's a bit more expensive than the way it used to be, but you are shooting 4 times as much.
hmm... there is no savings of money..
This is turning a hobby into an obsession..
Or maybe I'm not the normal case...
After you spend a couple hundred on reloading, you will need to buy components. I hope you have saved every brass ever... You will need these and soon realize you must buy a couple thousand more..
Now boxes of bullets usually come in 100 packs.. for about 12-25 bucks depending on what kind they are.. these will not do. They are not large enough boxes. You will start by buying boxes of 500 bullets, maybe going cast because they are cheaper... Soon you will looking into bulk buying of 2300 bullets per box or getting into group buys..
Primers are another thing.. 100 per pack at the store.. ~$4-5 bucks... hmm save a couple bucks by buying 1000 at a time... that's ok... but wait.. bulk buy of 5000 for $155... Now that's better.. might even last all summer.
Now you are taking 700 rounds to the range at a time.. You are making them for 5 or 6 bucks a box but shooting 4 times as much as before so it's a bit more expensive than the way it used to be, but you are shooting 4 times as much.
hmm... there is no savings of money..
This is turning a hobby into an obsession..
Or maybe I'm not the normal case...
- Location
- Sudbury, On
I don't save anything. But I load BRAND NEW ammo (new brass/powder/bullets) for just a little over half of commercially manufactured ammo.
Too funny. I've experienced the same thing, reloading and shooting in general has become more of an obsession since I finally bought my press and accessories. I'm not shooting any more then I used to (I've always shot a lot) but I guess I've saved about 50% on the cost of ammo. Some of the reloading duties are horrendously time consuming (mostly rifle) but also it's rewarding having accurate, fast rounds that you made yourself.
I'm going through a spell of 9mm loading just now. Done about 1600. I'm 100 into my second box of 1000 bullets. I tend to sit down and do about 200 at a time and then go do something else for a while and then come back and do another couple of hun'.
I'd say that loading any handgun round used in volume is an all or nothing sort of deal. It just makes no sense at all to go with anything less than a progressive press. With a progressive setup you get one round per lever pull because each pull does three or four operations at once. If you go with a simple non progressive "starter kit" you have to pull the lever three or four times for each casing.
If you will ONLY be doing 9mm then something like the Dillon Square Deal press would be the way to go. But if you're like most of us you have or plan to have more than one caliber and maybe even a few shorter rifle rounds so paying a little more and getting a Dillon 550 would be better.
I've got a couple of Lee presses that were given to me by a kindly gentleman who wanted to help me out when I said I was going to look at reloading. I'm using one of them for rifle rounds and the other was a .45ACP progressive setup. I reloaded a few hundred rounds with it and found that the primer seating part wasn't the best. Now part of this was due to me and I'm going to have another try at it but if I run into troubles again I'll transfer the dies to my Dillon that I got used for a good price shortly after I got the Lee presses. The Dillon just works a whole lot better. Mostly this is related to the primer handling which is flawless on the Dillon and a PITA on the Lee progressive.
There's other options but these are the two that I am familiar with so that's why I offered these experiences.
I'd say that loading any handgun round used in volume is an all or nothing sort of deal. It just makes no sense at all to go with anything less than a progressive press. With a progressive setup you get one round per lever pull because each pull does three or four operations at once. If you go with a simple non progressive "starter kit" you have to pull the lever three or four times for each casing.
If you will ONLY be doing 9mm then something like the Dillon Square Deal press would be the way to go. But if you're like most of us you have or plan to have more than one caliber and maybe even a few shorter rifle rounds so paying a little more and getting a Dillon 550 would be better.
I've got a couple of Lee presses that were given to me by a kindly gentleman who wanted to help me out when I said I was going to look at reloading. I'm using one of them for rifle rounds and the other was a .45ACP progressive setup. I reloaded a few hundred rounds with it and found that the primer seating part wasn't the best. Now part of this was due to me and I'm going to have another try at it but if I run into troubles again I'll transfer the dies to my Dillon that I got used for a good price shortly after I got the Lee presses. The Dillon just works a whole lot better. Mostly this is related to the primer handling which is flawless on the Dillon and a PITA on the Lee progressive.
There's other options but these are the two that I am familiar with so that's why I offered these experiences.
- Location
- Tucson, Arizona
To answer the initial question, The Lee press and dies are the lowest price.
You are still going to need the press, a powder measure, a funnel, and a scale to set the measure.
If you are going to load large quantities of ammo then a turret press is the way to go.
Now saying that, if you start loading rifle ammo I wouldn't buy a Lee as the parts don't seem to hold up very well.
You are still going to need the press, a powder measure, a funnel, and a scale to set the measure.
If you are going to load large quantities of ammo then a turret press is the way to go.
Now saying that, if you start loading rifle ammo I wouldn't buy a Lee as the parts don't seem to hold up very well.
I just saved a TON of money on my reloading by switching to Geico! 
Seriously though, I save between $0.30 and $1.75 per round when I reload .308 (depening on whether I'm comparing it to Federal Gold Medal or American Eagle bulk). Being that my loads shoot as good or better than GMM, let's call it $1.50 when I use once-fired Lake City milsurp cases at about $0.25/case by the thousand (including shipping).
I've loaded about 800 rounds of .308 this year so far, using LC brass. On the first pass alone, that's $1,200 savings in ammo... and the cases are good for more than one reloading.
That's just for my .308 - don't even get me started on the AR15 and .223. Especially now that I've got a Dillon 1050 in both .308 and .223.
What's said above is true though, you don't really SAVE the money - you just shoot more for the same coin. Which, personally, I consider a great effect. Plinking with a .308 is so satisfying...
-M
Seriously though, I save between $0.30 and $1.75 per round when I reload .308 (depening on whether I'm comparing it to Federal Gold Medal or American Eagle bulk). Being that my loads shoot as good or better than GMM, let's call it $1.50 when I use once-fired Lake City milsurp cases at about $0.25/case by the thousand (including shipping).
I've loaded about 800 rounds of .308 this year so far, using LC brass. On the first pass alone, that's $1,200 savings in ammo... and the cases are good for more than one reloading.
That's just for my .308 - don't even get me started on the AR15 and .223. Especially now that I've got a Dillon 1050 in both .308 and .223.
What's said above is true though, you don't really SAVE the money - you just shoot more for the same coin. Which, personally, I consider a great effect. Plinking with a .308 is so satisfying...
-M
unstableryan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Beautiful Okanagan Valley
Well, there is some cost savings. I reload ~50-100 45-70 shells at a sitting and have you seen the price of that ammo lately? I'm making the ammo for 50-70 cents a round.
I shot that rifle about 600 times last year and I've only bought one box of ammo ever.. Leverevolutions for about 35 bucks for 20.
I shot that rifle about 600 times last year and I've only bought one box of ammo ever.. Leverevolutions for about 35 bucks for 20.
A little quick math, and 1 round of 9mm costs me about 15 cents in consumables to produce, not including the brass because I've got so much of it. That's $15/100 or $7.50/50. It also doesn't include the cost of the equipment or my time, although I happen to enjoy reloading.
As much as it does save me money, it's more about having the load exactly the way I want it.
As much as it does save me money, it's more about having the load exactly the way I want it.
That all depends on how much you shoot and how many different calibres as well...
It costs me about
$4.50 or $5.60 per box 20 for .223 depending on which load I use
$6.95 box of 50 9MM
$7.95 box 50 .40 SW
For pistols primer and powder costs pretty much fixed for me it depends on the projectiles I use, cast or copperwash.
It cost me about $1k to setup and I save about about $500 per year, I've pretty much already recouped my equipement costs.
It costs me about
$4.50 or $5.60 per box 20 for .223 depending on which load I use
$6.95 box of 50 9MM
$7.95 box 50 .40 SW
For pistols primer and powder costs pretty much fixed for me it depends on the projectiles I use, cast or copperwash.
It cost me about $1k to setup and I save about about $500 per year, I've pretty much already recouped my equipement costs.
Scharfschütze
Regular
- Location
- Courtenay B.C.
Here you go this might help you,
http://handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp
http://handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp
"...instead of all the brass that you can find?..." One. It isn't your's. Stealing other people's brass will get you kicked out of any club, pronto. Two. You have no idea how old it is, how many times it has been loaded or with what load. Three. See One.
"...how do you get your brass back..." Mark the case heads with a permanent marker.
You won't save much money, initially, but you will be using ammo that is tailored for your pistol. The savings comes after a few months when the kit has paid for itself and you haven't been driving all over town lookingfor the brand and bullet your pistol shoots best. Forget about jacketed bullets if you want to save the most.
"...how do you get your brass back..." Mark the case heads with a permanent marker.
You won't save much money, initially, but you will be using ammo that is tailored for your pistol. The savings comes after a few months when the kit has paid for itself and you haven't been driving all over town lookingfor the brand and bullet your pistol shoots best. Forget about jacketed bullets if you want to save the most.
What I find is that it comes down to being able to spread costs out, primers one week, powder the next etc. You end up always having 1,000 rounds handy for a trip to the range, and the cost just dissipates over time.
While I agree, I'll say that if someone's left an assload of brass at the firing line and has packed up for home, it's mine now.
Just be sure you don't go around policing up EVERYONE'S brass at one time - if they leave it, take it; if they're still there, then ask if they're keeping it or be very careful to grab only your own.
-M
Serioulsy, if you can buy 1,000 rounds of 9mm Wolf commercially reloaded for just over $200 from our site sponsor theammosource
http://www.theammosource.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_33_39&sort=20a&page=2
then I don't think that you can save any money reloading.
http://www.theammosource.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_33_39&sort=20a&page=2
then I don't think that you can save any money reloading.
