Reloading

All your reloading equipment except for the dies and shellholder are 'buy once use forever' things. Adding a caliber afterwards can cost as much as a box of ammo...and dies/shellholders last pretty much forever. So shoot a couple of non-surplus-available rifle rounds on a regular basis and reloading very quickly becomes a less expensive way to go. Shoot an uncommon round and it's the only way to go.

9mm I reload...it's a bit cheaper, I have all the equipment anyways, and I like to be able to whip up 300-1000 rounds at any given time.

7.62x39 plinking/dirt clod busting ammo to rip through a $200 old SKS...I wouldn't bother. 7.62x39 to hunt deer through a decent bolt gun...I'd reload.
 
If money is all you care about and factor your time in no its not cheaper. Unless you want to shoot a lot of 12g slugs or caliber that you wont find as surplus like 30-30.
 
Reloading makes you shoot more so it may not save you in the long run. Having said that one for one it is cheaper to reload.
 
Even with 9 mm and 223 I find that reloading is a good use of parasitic time. Loaded 100 rounds of 9 mm while waiting for the wife to get ready to go out.

While the savings per hour of spent is low...say $40/hr ($300/1000 commercial 9mm vs. $130/1000 reloaded with 4 hours of time to make) it is still worthwhile if there is nothing else going on. Of course, the savings per hour rise for more expensive cartridges and the pay-off in increased accuracy can't be costed.
 
I save about half on the cost of factory ammo, but my reloading equipment is probably worth about $1500, so I broke even at 3,000 rounds (approx $0.50 per round to reload). If I was just shooting 300 rounds a year then it would have taken 10 years to break even, so reloading would not make sense. I shoot about 2500 rounds a year so for me it makes sense.
 
For cast .45ACP and .357 WAAAAAAAYYYYYY cheaper.

For .223 is not any cheaper but much higher quality and .308 is a little cheaper and again much higher quality.
 
I'm always looking for the best accuracy for all my firearms so the answer is clear reload..the reduced cost is a bonus, and I have the time and loike to tinker
 
The last time I bought factory ammo for my 17 Remington, it cost me $1.50 per round. That was ten years ago. I have no idea what it would cost now and I don't even know if it would be available. It costs me 40 cents to reload. So I spend more than a dollar less every time I pull the trigger. After five or six hundred rounds, I have recouped my cost of equipment twofold.

Now factor in a 220 swift and a 223...yeah, it costs less per round to reload.
 
cheaper unless you consider the thousands of $ in componants you will have around. I have brass,dies and bullets around for rounds I don't even own. huge savings if you shoot hard to find rounds. my expensive to buy rounds are 7rum,35 whelen, 375H&H, 325wsm, 8 mag, 338 fed, 338 06, cheap to load expensive to buy. my wife thinks I'm stock piling so when I retire it won't cost me anything to keep shooting.
 
I reload my 38super and 10mm for 25% what factory ammo would cost

stockpiling components is no different than stockpiling factory ammo
 
Andy said:
Those are precisely the three rounds I don't reload. Ammo for them is relatively inexpensive, and I'd rather not spend the time reloading hundreds of them. $ is one thing, time is the other. On the other hand, I don't mind reloading 338 Lapua Magnum. Each pull of the press handle saves me about $3.
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If you have a high quality bolt gun, the cheap ammo isn't worth it in 7.62x39. The corrosive stuff is hard on the gun, and the surplus stuff isn't usually very accurate...
 
Comparing Apples to Apples Yes, Comparing Apples to Norinco not so much. Using free picked up range brass. I'm at $16.00 for 20 .308. Could I bulk buy Norinco for that prices yes. However i'm shooting High end Sierra Bullets and know my loads are precise.
 
gewehr76 said:
Reloading saves you time, you'd spend looking for ammo from one store to another. Reloading obsolete cartridges, that's where the savings are.
9mm, 45 and 7.62x39 reload only where you need accuracy out of particular gun, otherwise not worth it. Maybe only when nothing else to do?
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I reload 9mm for about 10 cents/round, and 45 for about 11 cents /round, yes I cast my bullets but that is a hell of a lot cheaper than 40 cents/9mm round and 60 cents/45 round.

With my 308 I produce match grade ammo for about 70 cents a round versus 2.00-3.25/ round

Yes you shoot more but you will still save in the long run
 
KellyP said:
I reload 9mm for about 10 cents/round, and 45 for about 11 cents /round, yes I cast my bullets but that is a hell of a lot cheaper than 40 cents/9mm round and 60 cents/45 round.
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40 cents per round on 9mm?
someone was ripping you off.
I load Berry's for 9.6cents, powder about 4 cents, and a primer at under 4 cents, once fired brass 2.5 cents. its 20.1 cent per round on this end of the world.
 
As many have said in the past, you can usually shoot twice as much for the same cost. Of course, you tend then to shoot twice as much so overall savings is debatable but you have more time on your guns. Accuracy is better without question and is the reason I started reloading, not dollars.
 
hoochie said:
40 cents per round on 9mm?
someone was ripping you off.
I load Berry's for 9.6cents, powder about 4 cents, and a primer at under 4 cents, once fired brass 2.5 cents. its 20.1 cent per round on this end of the world.
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Well if you were to read the post, factory loads are about .40/round
I load for the following cost
Cast bullet approx .01
Powder .04
Primer.04
Brass is free
So .09 per round of 9mm
 
The other aspect is, if you have the technical skill set and aptitude to create ammunition, study, and tweak a formula using scientific methods.

To me, this is incredibly rewarding in itself. I have an ammo factory, several powders, log books etc. and have come to love this part of shooting as much as the shooting itself.

This is an experience that goes way beyond saving money. The money savings is merely a financial justification (if needed) to expand your interest into the realm of firearms.
 
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