Price gap Reloads vs Factory

[old303]

There's a huge range between the cheapest and quickest safely-shootable reloads you can crank out vs the finest tuned-to-your-rifle precision loads money can't buy. Reloading isn't just a single game.

With the popular calibers (9mm, 12ga, 223) whether you're ahead or not varies with the market, but being able to reload gives you that option. Or if your arm is sore, don't reload the stuff you can buy until your arm feels better.

Less-popular calibers can be near-impossible to find, or ridiculously priced compared to what happens at the reloading bench. This especially applies to revolver rounds, no doubt in part because revolver shooters get nice handfuls of un-ejected brass and it's too easy to take home and reload.

 

[thump_rrr]

Just curious as to what folks are seeing with prices these days. There is no mystery that the price of components is beyond silly.

Excluding the price of brass a box of 50 9mm costs me about $17 where as factory is going around $20-$25 which is not much of a gap.


Wondering what everyone else was seeing .

Somehow you are paying too much for your components even considering today’s stupid prices.
I can also find Berry’s or Cam Pro bullets for cheaper.
You can also buy powder coated bullets for even less.

Zero brand 124gr FMJ $147.99/1,000 ($7.40) (CRAFM)
Federal Small Pistol Primers $105.99/1,000 ($5.30) (CRAFM)
Titegroup $39.99. (4.1gr max load)$0.022 (Tenda)

$12.72 per box.

I didn’t pay $105.99 for my primers nor did I pay $147.99 for my bullets because I was buying in bulk whenever specials would pop up.

I also cast my own bullets.
It now has a touchscreen.

 

[6MT]

......

 

[cokelon]

With latest prices 9mm:

BlackSheep Brass: $112.99
.11 / per casing

Campo 147gr: $131.71
.13 / per projectile

Primers CCI $107.23
.10 / primer

Powder Vihtavuori 2kg $250 ( 9,077 rounds at 3.4gr)
.027 / round

Total per round: .36/.38 cents per round with new brass = $18 / for 50 rounds
Total per round: .25 - .27 cents per round with used brass #13/ for 50 rounds (to this one you have to add the time cleaning and picking up the brass)



Ultimately it you have the reloading machine and the time to do it why not. The problem we have right now is finding components, some stores are forcing you to buy primers plus brass equal quantities. Some they don't let you buy in bulk.

 

[Iron Sighted]

The approach is fairly simple. If you have to pay $200/1k primers, you don't reload 9mm, you buy it.

When you can get primers for $75/1k, like True North Arms was selling them a couple of days ago, that's when you buy to reload 9mm.

With the absurd shipping costs for powder and primers I'm probably still ahead to pay $12/100 at my local(lol, still almost 1.5 hours away) gun shop than buy online at $75/1000 which is a damned shame. I'd have to buy a lot of powder or primers to make it worth buying online these days with what UPS charges to deliver to my area.

 

[The Kurgan]

I reload more for the joy of it. In fact, I am getting back into Lee Loaders. I also hate disposing of quality once fired brass. When it comes to reloading, I tend to work at two extremes: maximum pressure/power and light loads for plinking, target and small game. With today's ammo prices, I feel somewhat victimized, and reloading gives me a sense of fighting back--but the victories are getting smaller with the rising cost and/or lack of availability of components and powder!

 

[Tyler]

As a rule, I don't shop at Cabela's/Bass Pro unless I absolutely need to. Most of the reloading components have a $10 premium on them, so it's not worth it.

I've changed from shooting .303Br, .308, 762x54r, 8x56r, 8mm, etc to .223, if only because I'm burning 25g vs 40-50g of powder per shot and the projectiles are cheaper, and I can shoot more in a given sitting. For everything else: surplus ammo that I stacked deep in the better times.

9mm is barely worth the savings, but it's easy to load, even with a single stage, and I'm a relatively low volume shooter.

 

[Helka]

As a rule, I don't shop at Cabela's/Bass Pro unless I absolutely need to. Most of the reloading components have a $10 premium on them, so it's not worth it.

I've changed from shooting .303Br, .308, 762x54r, 8x56r, 8mm, etc to .223, if only because I'm burning 25g vs 40-50g of powder per shot and the projectiles are cheaper, and I can shoot more in a given sitting. For everything else: surplus ammo that I stacked deep in the better times.

9mm is barely worth the savings, but it's easy to load, even with a single stage, and I'm a relatively low volume shooter.

I've started to shoot my own cast bullets for 9mm, 45acp, 223 and 308. For 308 I'm using Unique ($45 lb) and using 9-12gr so that's only about $0.06 per cartridge vs using D4895 at 32gr for $0.18. Make shooting 308 under $0.20 cents