Is reloading even worth it now?

[iron cat]

How would powder coated bullet keep black powder fouling moist or under control? Are you cleaning between shots?




To original poster
I don’t care what loading components cost. Same with diesel. I love my old iron and I’m going to keep them running. F Ottawa

With smokeless I don't need to lube my PC'd bullets.
With BP I still tend TO Lube them, but the fouling is considerably less because the PC acts like a barrier for leading.
The BP fouling itself is not much of an issue with good lube.
Cat

 

[Ungrateful]

Reloading has never been that much cheaper on common calibers. Nobody reloads 9mm or 223 for example. It’s more worthwhile for less common calibers where factory ammo is more expensive. 223 and 22-250 cost almost the same to reload but only one is worth it. Other case where it’s still worth is would be specialty rounds that aren’t available or match ammo

 

[Murray 3-D]

Reloaded few hundred 44mag this Winter. 18 cent copper plated 240gr bullet, 12cent primer, 8 cents of titegroup powder. Brass is negligible as it can be reloaded a dozen plus times apparently.

So I loaded perfectly tailored 44mag for a little more then bulk 9mm prices. Not bad at all IMO.

Can honestly say the same thing for basically anything that fires plated or straight cast ammo. I reload 45-70 for like half the cost of .308 simply because the 45-70 bullets are also half the cost of decent .308 bullets.

 

[Gatehouse]

Even for common cartridges reloading is worth it for me. It costs me less than 40 cents a round for .223 range plinking ammo using Ginex primer, 55gr Campro and 2015 powder from Higginsons. Similar spec PMC .223 with 55gr FMJ is about 65 cents a round. I find similar price comparisons for .308, 45ACP, 357 magnum. 9mm can get pretty iffy if it's worth it, depending on what the market is doing. It's always less expensive to load 9mm but sometimes it's not enough of a difference to make the effort.

Obviously when loading more specialized hunting/precision ammunition the costs go up but that's the case with specialty factory ammo, too.

 

[Reeferman]

Reloading has never been that much cheaper on common calibers. Nobody reloads 9mm or 223 for example. It’s more worthwhile for less common calibers where factory ammo is more expensive. 223 and 22-250 cost almost the same to reload but only one is worth it. Other case where it’s still worth is would be specialty rounds that aren’t available or match ammo

Well this nobody reloads for 9mm and everything else I shoot. I don’t shoot 9mm like I did before the bans and only have one handgun in 9mm.

 

[warzaw]

I also load for 9mm get tons of once fired brass for free have a ton of bulk powder and small pistol primers purchased at 1970 prices and a Dillon 550 press that I traded for a scope I got for free. Own several 9mm pistols that group and function well with my handloads. What's not to like plus i enjoy making my own ammo. I treat loading components like my grocery bill shop around when find a deal stock up big and fill the pantry and freezer .

 

[AlphaCharlieDelta]

Still a lot of competition shooters loading their own stuff. You can tune your ammo specifically for your firearm which gives an advantage over factory in the long run. I'm loading 9mm at about 25 cents a round still, and factory 9mm still hasn't dropped to pre pandemic prices so I'm still saving a bit