How much do your .223 reloads cost ya?

So this was my analysis from my first batch of reloads. Costs include shipping for the components I bought online:

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So my per cartridge cost was 38 cents. I'm sure I can get that value down. I can do a lot better than $.20 per bullet, for instance. For plinking, I'm hoping to come in around $.09 for 55 gr FMJ bulk bullets when I find a good source.

EDIT: There's a small error in there. The powder charge was 22.7 grains but my notes only say 22 grains. The correct value was 22.7 and that's what was actually used.
 
hometownhero said:
You should be able to get way more then 5 firings form brass. I have some that is above 10 and still good to go.
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Yeah, my noob is showing. ;) I have a ton of brass and am not yet at the point where I have to worry about that. I've been meaning to ask people how many reloads they get for decent brass.

Mind you, that's only going to knock a penny of so off the cost. The bullet is the big cost item.
 
kind of a trick question. Sometimes you can get a deal on components, or one store sells the same powder for a little more/less than someone else. And, if you include new brass in the cost, or are we talking already fired?
Someone who goes in and buys premium bullets and new brass will have a higher cost than a guy shooting crappy bullets and scrounged brass.
reloading is generally 1/2 the price of factory, and often you can load a better round for less money than you can buy a cheap factory round.
I reload .223 because I like to.. I think. Its more time consuming due to the volume of rounds, and case prep takes up most of my time. I question myself often if its worth it. case prep is a pain in the pants.
when I reload for my hunting rifles, I don't even think about it, cause its 50 rounds at time.. but with .223 its always more than 500...I get tired of it and it isn't fun anymore.

Antoine22 says he reloads 50 rounds for $10. I shoot 50gr Hornady GMX, the projectiles alone cost me $30 for 50 rounds. not to mention primers, powder and brass.
 
i look at others posts and the costs and then wonder what you want to reload for, or was it just a "i wonder how much it costs?" or if you have yet to get reloading equipment etc.
Heavy tread can do a box of 20 rounds for $7.60, where as the GMX i have been working up cost $15.60 for 20 rounds. The GMX are for a special purpose, and i don't shoot them regularly, but it gives you a crazy wide spectrum of how much it can cost.
 
There are two philosophies you should be looking at: cheaper than store bought or better than store bought.

Using bulk FMJ with a quality extruded powder like Varget is a waste of the powder IMHO.
I would look to surplus spherical powder and bulk (5000 or more) purchase of standard rifle primers.
This should get you into worthwhile costs for bulk ammo - otherwise just buy store-bought ammo for plinking and practice and save up the brass.

Save the match quality primers, bullets, powders and brass for when you need it - be it competition, hunting, etc.
 
Baseline for me 23 cents for plinking ammo, 55gn bdx, cci primers, surplus powder, range brass. Quality components at least double.
 
30 cents/round for .223, re-used brass, powder around 35$, primers around 35$, 13.5c/bullet.

But I also have enough to suffer through shortages in stores (of commercial ammo) which is part of the reason to reload. I'm setup to reload 9mm and 45ACP as well, a lot of people feel reloading 9mm is not worth it. I have ~1500 commercial ammo count for 9mm, those are for when I don't feel like reloading. That pile doesn't really go down, reloading handgun ammo is a lot quicker than rifle due to much less case prep work.

I recently picked up some case prep tools to go with a cheap used drill press, that should speed up my .223 reloading.
 
HeavyTread said:
Yeah, my noob is showing. ;) I have a ton of brass and am not yet at the point where I have to worry about that. I've been meaning to ask people how many reloads they get for decent brass.

Mind you, that's only going to knock a penny of so off the cost. The bullet is the big cost item.
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I use mostly winchester brass. Picked up lots at the range that was once fired as well. All my hornady brass was form factory ammo. Most of the brass I'm using works out to be basically free after 10-15 reloads. I minimally full length size every time and don't anneal the brass.


Armored Metal said:
With range brass, H-335, CCI small rifle primers and Hornady V-Max 53gn bullets, my cost is at 35cents a round.

Not much of a saving but it's the only rifle round that I reload and I enjoy it.
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To buy ammo loaded with 53gr vmax its $21.99 + tax for a box of 20 rounds. There is a lot of savings there. You are looking at 7-8 dollars a box of 20
 
Using the Speer 55 gr soft point or 52 gr hollow point bought by the 1000 count, Winchester cases (assuming at least 10 reloads), Varget or H322, and Federal small rifle primers, about $0.30 a round. I'm a bargain hunter though. High quality rounds for a fraction of the cost of factory, well worth it in my view.
 
If I use premium bullets I don't save any money over shooting bulk factory loads and it works out to around $400/1000 but for the same price as bulk I get a higher quality bullet and a load tailored to my barrel.
If I use cheap FMJ I save a bunch and can do around $200/1000.
I have a lot of once fired brass so I don't factor in that as a cost.

The time spent doing it is probably worth something but I'm not sure how to calculate that in. I spend a lot of time on brass sorting and prep.
I shoot handloads when I want accuracy or am doing something special like varmint hunting and use bulk FMJ for most of my plinking the rest of the time.
 
30 cents, lake city 55gr, 25gr imr4895, win SR primer. still looking for bulk purchasing when I travel so the shipping doesn't rape, especially 8lb powder jugs.
 
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