Reloading costs!!!!!!!

Canuck Bob

Canuck Bob

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I sat down and looked into actual reloading costs! I reloaded 25 years ago and can't believe the changes in value. Looking at hunting loads with a 444 Marlin.

bullet .42
powder .25
primer .06
amoritized 100 brass and minimum gear over 1000 rounds .30

$1.03 per round compared to $2.50/round factory loaded. Interestingly there are common calibres that can be almost shot for $1 a round factory loaded!

The same excercise for a 32-20 worked out to .58 or $58 for an afternoon of plinking 100 rounds. 100 rounds factory loads would workout to $84.00.

This is based on 100 brass and gear totals of $300. Basically a Lee Anniversary kit, manual, dies.
 
I'm thinking about buying something along the lines of the anniversary kit to load for a .308 round, haven't worked it out yet as to what it'll cost if I reload, but it's gotta be substantially cheaper than the $1.00+ per round for factory made.
 
Using good brass such as lapua will bring the costs down over time as this excellent brass almost never wears out.

Reloading brings a degree fo precision to the equation that you simply wil not get with factory ammo, as you can tailor your loads to the gun.
 
For rifle, I think its all about getting better accuracy than commercial ammo, and not really about saving tons of coin. If you calculate the time and money you spent trying to find that perfect load that works best with your rifle, your probably not saving to much money, but you are having a lot of fun. :D
 
heavyBullet said:
For rifle, I think its all about getting better accuracy than commercial ammo, and not really about saving tons of coin. If you calculate the time and money you spent trying to find that perfect load that works best with your rifle, your probably not saving to much money, but you are having a lot of fun. :D
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Yeah, at worst you save some cash (well, shoot twice as much actually).

At best you get better, more accurate loads tailored to YOUR needs as opposed to "good enough for everyone" loads, along with a new hobby that you can enjoy almost as much as shooting.
 
ianp123 said:
Yeah, at worst you save some cash (well, shoot twice as much actually).

At best you get better, more accurate loads tailored to YOUR needs as opposed to "good enough for everyone" loads, along with a new hobby that you can enjoy almost as much as shooting.
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As a hobby, I think it great, but what scares me is that once I have successfully found great loads for all my rifles, I will need to buy more rifles to start the fun all over again. Not that buying more rifles is a bad thing lol just another way that reloading can get more expensive. :D
 
Canuck Bob said:
bullet .42
powder .25
primer .06
amoritized 100 brass and minimum gear over 1000 rounds .30

$1.03 per round compared to $2.50/round factory loaded. Interestingly there are common calibres that can be almost shot for $1 a round factory loaded!
Click to expand...

Those cartridges that can be shot for $1/round can be loaded much cheaper. I can load .308 for $0.53/round using Interlocks.

BTW, you're paying too much for primers and bullets.:p
 
It doesn't take much to figure out that reloading's the cheaper/smarter way to go. I like to shoot, so I got myself a Lee anniversary kit and a second Challenger press to get started shortly after I bought my first own rifle 4 years back.

Last week a fellow at work asked about having me load some for his .300 Win Mag. I priced it out for him, average cost of 100 rounds of higher-end factory for what he wants was $2.50 per. Showed him if he wanted cheaper but good Hornady bullets, and he's already got the brass, I could load what he wants for about .70 cents a round, up to $1.40 if he wants fancy. He asked how much, I told him "You pay for the die set and let me keep them". Looks like I'll be loading some for him.

And with reloading, you can choose precisely what bullet and weight you want. Most factory ammo gives you a couple bullet weights, some like the .30-06 or .300 WM and a couple others might go higher, but not many.

Forget the time, that's stress relief! Have fun!
 
Well, my experience has shown that I probably haven't saved very much dinero by reloading. However, it has allowed me to shoot twice as much and to tailor rounds to my liking. This allows me to spend more time behind a rifle and practice my shooting technique which will allow me to shoot more accurately and be a little more humane in taking game.
I don't worry about the absolute best round with the best primer, best brand of brass, best powder, best bullet. I have chosen to find one powder that serves ALL my rifles adequately. I only use one primer. It doesn't matter what brand of brass I use, but each rifle gets only one brand per cartridge. I use Remington PSP's, Hornady Interlocks or Sierra Pro-hunters almost exclusively. I will change the bullet as needed to get the job done best, but the rest is generic in my loading bench.
My criteria is, the round must be able to hit a target clay at the range I am expecting to be shooting 2 out of 3 rounds from a cold barrel. If I can hit a 4" circle at 150yds with my SKS, it is good enough to hunt with, Same with my .243, .308, or .303's out to 300yds. I expect a little more out of my .30-06 and it must shoot out to 500yds. Currently, I have a Rem 799 in a x39mm that is 1 1/8" group @ 100yds. I consistently shoot that into a clay pigeon at 250yds (too far for a deer with the 125gr, but it works with the 150gr).
My .243 and .308 both shoot the current rounds (.55gr VMax, 110gr VMax) to 5/8" @ 100yds. My .30-06 shoots 150gr PSP's to 3/8" @ 100yds. At 500yds, I am able to hit the target clay 1 in 3, but the other 2 are close enough that they just miss. That is good enough for me. If I go for more, then I change the bullet, find the load, fire for effect. Constantly keeps me in the game
 
To me reloading means a great deal more than saving pennies here and there. It means independence- having ammo available when you need it not when the next shipment arrives, means being able to shoot neat guns others can't because the ammo is obsolete. I can reload my 50/70 for 35 cents a round including my cast bullet lead cost, vs if I could find factory rounds they would be around $5 a shot.
 
Iron Sighted said:
I'm thinking about buying something along the lines of the anniversary kit to load for a .308 round, haven't worked it out yet as to what it'll cost if I reload, but it's gotta be substantially cheaper than the $1.00+ per round for factory made.
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My scenario for the 444 is expensive because being an odd ball some components are pricey.

I think a Lee kit could be done for less than $300 but I find there is always something shiny coming home from the gun shop!

I just used Cabelas and Wholesale Sports listed prices. Its an easy excercise and was a real eye opener for me. One example is Re7 is a good 444 powder but $38 a lb. Priced out IMR4198 at $26. Want to send your costs through the roof, buy a pound of X and then buy a pound of Y powder because X sucks. I reloaded years ago and felt like a powder collector!
 
Want to make it clear I am dedicated to reloading. The most important benefit is shooting the load I want tailored for my gun. I started this to get others reactions. The 444 is a poor example of economy because of the costs due to unusual calibre and such.

I used internet prices. 100 primers $6, powder $33/lb 50gr load 150 loads/pound, bullets $42/100.


I also amoritized the cost os setup and brass over 1000 rounds for .30. I consider this part of my hobby and would not normally count it. But it cost cash.


Don't forget us Albertans don't have added sales tax, most of you other guys can add a bunch more for your tax burden. The red face was for the tax burden but ended up top.
 
To me the saving in reloading is not entirely at the moment. Perhaps some of you are like me and buy a bit more than you need. An extra box or thousand of some bullets you are using. I don't know if any of you have ever seen the price of bullets go down, but I never have. I have very good hunting bullets that I bought 20 years ago for less than $10 per hundred. These were a good buy at the time, but look how good of a deal they are now. These ones are 139 grain Norma plastic point 6.5 bullets. As you build an inventory of consumables, you get to a point like me, where you are loading bullets worth something like $35-40 per hundred, that I paid 9 dollars for. And of course, once your inventory is pretty well stocked, you can shoot for quite a while and never have to buy anything. The price of loaded ammo shocks me when I see it, as I have not bought any for something like 20 years. So I see ammo for 25-40 bucks a box, those consumables that I bought 10-20 years ago are looking mighty good.
 
22to45 said:
The price of loaded ammo shocks me when I see it, as I have not bought any for something like 20 years. So I see ammo for 25-40 bucks a box, those consumables that I bought 10-20 years ago are looking mighty good.
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Try as much as $85 for 20 at places like Wholesale... or $73 for 20 rounds of Remington Premier A-Frame in .300 Win Mag- or this:
SUPREME PARTITION GOLD™CENTERFIRE RIFLE AMMO
Winchester Ammunition
Item #52083

FEATURES

* 20 / box
* Grains: 300
* 45-70 Government.

Price: $61.99

Granted, some stuff starts cheaper, it all depends on caliber... But I can reload 100 rounds or more of .45-70 for the cost of 40 of these babies, including buying the dies and using Hornady 325 gr. FTX bullets. And those are WSS prices; most small dealers I know are buying from places like WSS and Cabelas (when they have anything in stock... Cabelas has gone for a s**t since buying out SIR, but that's a rant for a different day) and marking it up $15-$20 a box. 20 rounds of .375 RUM for $109!!! :eek:

And, it's more fun.... 'nuff said!
 
I cast 500 grain bullets, the lee round nose ones, for my 45/70, I do have to buy gas checks.....and it is hard to load the 45/70 hot enough to hurt the brass... About 130 loads to a pound of powder I paid $11 for.. Yes, I did not look far at the price of ammo currently, I got to over $40 in reasonably standard calibers, and was not able to look any farther.
 
The orig. poster is way off on reloading costs IMHO example: Cast .430" wfn gc (med. hard) is approx. .25 cents(M.T. Chambers)...In carts like the .444, 45/70,. .44 Mag., .45 Colt's....cast bullets outperform j-word bullets and makes them very inexpensive to reload compared to factory ammo.
 
ben hunchak said:
The orig. poster is way off on reloading costs IMHO example: Cast .430" wfn gc (med. hard) is approx. .25 cents(M.T. Chambers)...In carts like the .444, 45/70,. .44 Mag., .45 Colt's....cast bullets outperform j-word bullets and makes them very inexpensive to reload compared to factory ammo.
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Agreed Ben, I'm going to load my 32-20 and 444 with custom lead molds from LBT. But, if I was a new comer and walked into a big gun store with no experience my numbers are representative of costs for a guy loading 1000 rounds for hunting. I never intended to knock reloading or suggest experienced shooters can't do better just that new comers or casual shooters can benefit from this research.

I've started collecting wheel weights and have some old cylinders to make into my cleaning pot. I am going to try and put up enough wheel weight lead ingots for the rest of my lifetime before they are outlawed into extinction.

New comers concerned about costs would do well to consider certain cartridges first. 308 Win would be high on my list for cheap shooting as an example. 30 cal selection, once fired brass and lots of used components. 30-30, 303 Brit, 223 are others due to economy of scale.

If a guy bought 100 factory 30-30s for $100 to fireform he would have a gas and after deducting new brass costs would shoot for about .50 per round.
 
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