Is it worth reloading .223 vs bulk ammo?

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schumy

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What do you guys think? Is it worth it to buy $0.55 a round bulk factory ammo or should I reload my wrlf with bulk components? The best deals I was able to find would bring up the price of a .223 to around $0.40.

If you guys reload .223 where do you buy your components to make it cost worthy? The only reloading equipment I would need would bethe die set so that's around $50.

Cheers
 
That's a whole lot of work reloading 223 for plinking. If I can't get cheap plinking ammo anymore, I'll probably go back to reloading 223.
 
Depends what you are aiming for and how much your time is worth to you.

For plinking? When you're a busy person? Probably not.

For reasonably priced, highly accurate rounds that are tuned to your rifle and will deliver better precision than match at less than half the price, as you make precision reloading a hobby unto itself? Yes.
 
I reload 223 for plinking. The problem is you have to be set up for volume reloading and you have to buy components in large enough quantities that you can make it worth it. I have a XL650 with a casefeeder and I bought a case of 6000 Hornady 55gr FMJ. Not including brass, and buying powder in 8lb kegs and primers 5000 at a time, my ammo costs me just a little bit less than Norinco, around $0.22 per round. It's much cleaner and more consistent than Norinco ammo of course, but I certainly wouldn't consider it match ammo. As mentioned, if you factor in the price of your time, it might not be worth it to you.



https://flic.kr/p/oqYYhXhttps://www.flickr.com/people/40728450@N08/
 
Reloading gives you ammo that is tailored for your rifle. If you're not shooting in matches or hunting use the no-name stuff.
 
The last norc ammo I bought was at about $0.22 a round, so I shoot that. I constantly watch for bulk deals on brass, primers, powder and projectiles, so I am stocked for reloading if and when the norc supply dries up. I'm other words not worth it right now, but could be in the near future.
 
The majority of low cost cheap .223/5.56 ammo is made from lower grade cases with wide variations in case wall and neck thickness. Meaning the reload cases will have excessive neck runout and only good for plinking/blasting ammo.

If you want better accuracy you will need better grade cases and gauges for measuring neck thickness and runout.

Bottom line cheap ammo is good for suppression and covering fire in Zombie attacks if you don't mind hitting a few non-zombie civilians.

Zombietargets_zpscb65209a.jpg


If your the designated sniper in Zombie attacks then head shots using the best ammo is required.

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schumy said:
What do you guys think? Is it worth it to buy $0.55 a round bulk factory ammo or should I reload my wrlf with bulk components? The best deals I was able to find would bring up the price of a .223 to around $0.40.

If you guys reload .223 where do you buy your components to make it cost worthy? The only reloading equipment I would need would bethe die set so that's around $50.

Cheers
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The answer to your question will be based on the quality of "YOUR" reloads, the accuracy of your firearms, what your time is worth and how much money you have in your wallet.

I'm retired with nothing to do and all day to do it, so I buy very, very little factory loaded ammo and what I do buy isn't for everyday practice.
 
I reload all my .223 plinking ammo with a Dilon 650 with case feeder. Takes some time, but I prefer to have a little better quality even for my AR. Hey, Surveyor780 - that's the same case of 6000 that I just picked up. I tend to make about 600-1000 at a time, depends on how many cases I have in the "dirty" bin. I'm getting pretty close, might even make some tomorrow or Friday just for fun.
 
kb007 said:
I reload all my .223 plinking ammo with a Dilon 650 with case feeder. Takes some time, but I prefer to have a little better quality even for my AR. Hey, Surveyor780 - that's the same case of 6000 that I just picked up. I tend to make about 600-1000 at a time, depends on how many cases I have in the "dirty" bin. I'm getting pretty close, might even make some tomorrow or Friday just for fun.
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Oh man, I have thousands of pieces of 223 brass with crimped primer pockets and no swager! Do you trim all your brass? I gauge all of it, and toss about 10%, but I try to avoid trimming as much as I can. If I'm looking for accuracy I just use new brass. I'm constantly debating about spending juuuust a little more money on a Dillon swager and a RT1200 trimmer.

I almost enjoy reloading the ammo as much as emptying it. Almost :)
 
Just to see, I reloaded 10 Norinco cases 6 times to see how they would stand up and compared them to my FC reloads. Results were exactly the same. Same accuracy, same point of impact. Looks like I could reload them another ten times. Just a FYI
 
Where do you get bulk projectiles?

Best deal I've found is the frontier plated ones, but with the cheap surplus stuff I've yet to reload anything .223
 
I'd like to know how you get to .22 per round
I am currently getting
$35/Lb
4 cent primers
10 cent projectiles
So total per round is 0.25
So cheaper than Norinco if you don't count brass
 
...what's your gun? ...what's your purpose?

I get an honest 2" group at 300 yards, which I haven't found on the market...and when I bait coyotes at 300 yards on a calm day I know I have them where I want them...
 
When hand loading Hornady 55 grain fmj's and stoking them with WC735, I was getting exceptional accuracy. When I ran out and had to switch to Armscor 55 grain fmj's the accuracy wasn't nearly as good, but the loads were a little less expensive. As with almost all reloading, you can't count your time. The components are just too hard to come by right now.
 
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