Is reloading even worth it now?

When people talk about the increase of the price of powder and primers, just think that gas a few years ago was 80 cents a litre , now it is 180.00 . I am sure everyone uses more gas than the other. Shooting factory ammo , somehow just seems wrong if you are a real shooter. I even cast all my own bullets except a few cf rifle.
 
Considering straight wall pistol brass will last until the primer pocket wears out, yes its still worth it.

I have some 357 mag brass I've been shooting since i had a full head of hair, hand me down 45 acp brass from men long dead, gave 70 bucks to a coworker for 1000 norma 44 mag brass and the problem is not the brass wearing out its me having the time to shoot it. The vast majority of my stock is lost to....well....loosing it. I found one case fracture in 20 years.

Don't get me started on the 5 gallon pail of 38 special I haven't touched yet. Il be dead before I reach the bottom of it.

Powder has gone up, only way around that is accept the fact that you are doing your gun, brass and shooting arm a favour to consider mid range loads. Not all magnum pistol rounds need a full dose of slow power, I have titegroup and unique for killing paper and gongs. You also won't need a magnum primer.

Feeding my shiloh sharps is like having an exotic pet, 110 rounds per lb or so, only way to get the long range loads is to make my own and cast the bullets.

If your into matches, they're won at the reloading bench, not the firing line.

I admit I dont care for the tedium of reloading
 
To the OP; i think your math is a little flawed when you add the price of new brass to your per round cost. Its not like you are only going to use them once, so you have to spread that across the life of the brass which brings the cost down to more like 4 fifths of FA.
Back to whether its worth it, it mostly depends on what you’re shooting and how much. Someone with a common and relatively cheap cartridge that has no equipment and doesn’t shoot that awful much might be farther ahead to not bother. Stray away from common and you might pay off a modest set up in a day.

I’m a bit out of touch with 44 Mag prices, mine magically show up a few hundred at a time for nothing whenever my son drops by.

I did decide that casting handgun lead wasn’t worth the time, but he’s young and works 5 days on and 5 off so I guess he has all the time in the world.
 
For a pistol ctge, even with 100.00/lb powder, you'll get a lot of rds out of a pound, and it can be loaded with the bullet you want to use. If my reloads cost me the same as a factory rd, so be it, but, they don't. I have the bullet I want, and am not depending on a lottery in the way of getting a load that shoots the way I want it to shoot. Getting into reloading was never cheap. I didn't make the kind of money 45yrs ago I did when I retired, come to think of it, I likely make more on my pension nowadays, than I did back then. I can remember humming and hawing over the price of a trimmer, or a different scale, only buying 100 primers at a time, or a bag of wads or shot, powder for trap loads or powder for hunting loads. Couldn't really afford it, still did it.
 
I don't shoot as much as I should so my round count isn't that much over the year but I prefer to reload. I just like the idea of being able to do custom rounds that work well in my rifles. When I do find the perfect round, I reload a few boxes to have on hand.
There's nothing worst to run out of factory rounds that shoot well and can't find any on the shelves at any stores.
 
if you have the tools and a little stash of components you can roll your own if the store shelves are bare. another bonus is tailoring ammo to a particular firearm, factory ammo has improved considerably in the last decade or so but when dinos ruled the earth the only way to go sub MOA was making your own. it's still unusual to find factory ammo that will outperform a handload. it isn't always about cost.
 
So is it part of the hobby? Are you retired with boring time on your hands? Do you need special ammo for your strange cal.?
9 MM is total loss to reload. Special handgun reloads for silhoutte, or cowboy action or power factor rules in competion sure.
Starting out NOW to buy the press and die plus the other stuff is crazy costly. How much are you realley shooting?
Reloading is actual going down. Just look at all the crap for sale at auctions and dealers not stocking reloading bullets.
Enjoy what you have or can get.
 
If you go into reloading based solely around the financial aspect, you are doomed from the get go….. tooling up costs will drive your penny pinching heart into distress…….

Of course reloading is cost effective at a point in time, it’s also rewarding from an accuracy and repeatability stand point, as well as a good hobby, which one has to focus their attention on…….
 
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na1lb0hm said:
At $9/round for factory 7saum, yeah - i think I’ll keep reloading that.
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That's crazy. I seen some the other day for $79.99
A few places online around the $100 mark as well.

I have a few cartridges that are crazy price as well. I have only bought one factory box of 300RUM like 15 years ago. They are insane price right now as well.
 
If you shoot some oddballs like me, 308 and 358 Norma, 9mm mauser, 222, and need to form brass, it pays off. Or at least that's what I tell myself every time I buy another odball!😊
 
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tacoman said:
I shoot so I can reload!
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Seems like it sometimes; doesn’t it? Most of my rifles have never seen a factory round, Those that have ate usually because due to weird pricing anomolies its sometimes more cost effective to buy factory ammo than empty brass. Sometimes some of that stuff really shoots, but usually it just reminds me of why I handload.
 
handofzeus said:
I just spent a pleasant afternoon finally reloading some 44 mag after many years of not shooting too much and not reloading at all. I looked at the new prices of powder and nearly threw up. Luckily I had more than a few pounds of 4227 and a whole brick of large rifle primers but I looked at the prices on my old supplies compared to today and it was disgusting. My cans of 4227 were $19.99/lb before tax and the primers were $29.99/1000 before tax. Comparing those prices to $100 more or less for a pound of powder and nearly $100 for a thousand primers at today's prices. With the purchase of 500 cheap cam pro plated bullets and some new starline brass it cost me $1.31 to reload 44 Magnum per cartridge. Searching online the cheapest new factory ammo I could find was $29.95 for 25 rounds making it $1.35 per round for factory new. The only way I can see saving a little bit is to buy the factory ammo and shoot it and then reload the brass like I used to. This would give a break at $061.6/rnd. I remember 15 or 20 years ago doing a similar calculation and as I recall reloading was a quarter of the cost of factory new ammo in general. Sad times!
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IMHO, you've just answered your own question.

Depending on what you're shooting and the components you utilize, as long as you have the case to reload, you can save half the price of most factory ammo.

When a person is contemplating "premium" factory ammo, loaded with high end bullets, it's still pretty much the same.

Comparing costs today to those of 25-30 years ago, you have to factor in population growth and demand for the materials used in putting the loads together.

Things have changed radically and constantly, and the factors changing them have been multiplied a dozen times.
 
If you are willing to spend the time reloading then I can't think of any situation (except maybe for 12 ga. target loads) where it isn't worth it if you do the following:
1. Buy components in bulk when they go on sale. Several months ago some friends and I did a group buy on SP primers for about $60/1000.
2. Check the gun shows for deals. Last week at the St. Catharines show I saw guys selling various powders for between $30-50$ per pound and that included some stuff like Varget, 4198, Auto Comp, etc. Red Dot was $30/pound.
3. Unless you're looking for high end hunting bullets start casting and powder coating your own. This will save you a ton of money. Right now I can buy refined range lead ingots from my club for $1/pound. Powder coated they can easily exceed 2000 fps without leading becoming a problem. Even if you're casting 250 gr. 44 bullets that's 28 bullets per pound or $36/1000. PC powder can be had for $20/pound and that will coat thousands of bullets.

I am also mystified when I see people say it's not worth it to reload calibres like 9mm. As an example (and my situation isn't unique), it costs me the following to reload the 125 gr. 9mm rounds I use for PPC:
1. primer = 6 cents each
2. bullet = $17/1000 or 2 cents each (rounded up)
3. powder (let's say HP38 @ $50/pound and 4.0 grs. per load) = 1750 rounds per pound = 3 cents each
4. brass (usually free for the picking up at most clubs but even if I pay 3 cents a case for 1x fired 9mm) = 3 cents
5. powder coat (far less than 1 cent each but lets round up = 1 cent

So I'm paying a MAXIMUM of 6 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 15 cents a round X 50 = $7.50/box

Considering it's difficult to find 9mm for under $20/box with tax & shipping I'm saving nearly $13 a box. How is that not worth it? If I shoot just 150 rounds a week that's a saving of $90/month or almost $1100/year. That's like a decent free gun every year. If you're reloading more expensive rounds like 44 mag, 38 Special or 45 ACP the savings are even greater.

Yes, I had to buy the reloading and casting gear but with every round I load that's an ever declining cost. For example, a 6 cavity Lee mould with handles is about $120, a Lee 20 pound casting pot is maybe $150 and a sizing die is $30 so let's say $300 total. Once I've cast 3000 bullets (which I can do in 5-6 hours total) the casting setup is more than paid for and from then on my capital cost is $0.

There was a time when bullets were $25/1000, primers were $12/1000, powder was $15/pound and reloading probably wasn't worth the time & effort. Those days are long gone.
 
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