Sometimes it's not quite worth the effort.

redruns

redruns

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Is it worth it?

I'm reloading 9mm with a fairly economical outfit. Lee pro 1000 kit, scale, callipers and a few other odds and ends. All in for $425. Powder,bullet and primer extra.

I've reloaded about 2300 rounds with the set-up, so I've saved enough money to pay for the equipment when compared to purchasing readily available ammunition.

I'm reloading for $0.19 per round. With commercial reloads (Atlanta Arms $41/100 inclusive) I save $0.22. With locally reloaded ammo from a reputable reloaded I save $0.10. Let's average it out to $0.14 per round

Last night with that finicky pro 1000 and poor choice Dominion primers I reloaded 204 rounds in an hour (should be able to easily do 250, 300 if I concentrate). BTW the time is from sitting at the bench to turning off the light.

That means that I saved somewhere around $28 for my effort. Was it worth it? It's not like I have an extra $28 in my pocket to spend, what I have is a sore neck and lost an hour of hanging out with my wife.

But I'll do it again tonight so that I can shoot the weekend.
 
I load over 20 different calibers. I supply ammo to some of my friends.

When it comes to 9mm, I tell them to buy commercial reloads, because the cost is not much more than what it costs me, assuming my time is worth nothing.

Commercial reloads 9mm are available pretty cheap from guys like Wolf.

When it comes to 44 mag, 44 Spl, 45 Colt, 45ACP, then re-loading is the only way to go.
 
It really all depends on what you're reloading for. Reloading for your 9mm isn't going to make you're money back as fast reloading for my .300Win Mag. Having started reloading this year has afforded me to get more trigger time with my rifle as I'm reloading for ~$1/round instead of paying $2.30/round for factory stuff.
 
My Pro 1000 has been very cooperative recently. I found that the delicate priming system worked (much) better if the press was bolted on a level bench, versus tilting away from me :rolleyes:.

I still get a sore neck for checking powder levels though... I know the answer to that one too: buy Vectan A1 powder, it fills the case much better and has a light green color visible from the other side of the room; but with pounds of ageing powder on my hands...
 
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I can do 300-400 an hour with the Dillon. I shoot 600-800 rounds of 9mm per month in practice and competition, during the season. The amount of time I reload is only a couple hours a month, but it saves money that would come out of my pocket. Instead of reloading, I could put that money back into my pocket by getting a second job, but I'd rather reload, sore back or not :)
 
Some folks like myself, see it as a kind of therapy to unwind after a long day. Others see it as "work" and a means to an end via cost savings and I can see why they question their sanity... sitting around a boring old counter, cranking the one arm bandit pull after pull.

To me, other than being relaxing, I see it as never having to get that helpless feeling when you're packing for the range only to find out you used up your last box of ammo on your last session. :p
 
I currently reload 8 handgun calibers on my Dillon 550 that I bought 25 years ago, like Ganderite said 9mm is not your biggest savings but when you start shooting calibers such as 44 Mag, 357 Mag or 45 ACP that is when the savings increase rapidly. I started reloading by helping my father, 40+ years later the amount of money I have "saved" reloading is huge, of course that savings just allows me to buy more components so I can shoot more.
 
I reload because it give me more load options then are available commercially. I also shoot a 257 roberts as one of my hunting rifles. Reloading for it is way cheaper and I have a lot more options then if I buy ammo off the shelf.
 
Trinimon said:
Some folks like myself, see it as a kind of therapy to unwind after a long day. Others see it as "work" and a means to an end via cost savings and I can see why they question their sanity... sitting around a boring old counter, cranking the one arm bandit pull after pull.

To me, other than being relaxing, I see it as never having to get that helpless feeling when you're packing for the range only to find out you used up your last box of ammo on your last session. :p
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And it lets you ride out powder/primer/brass shortages.
 
With reloading you can stock up on the shortage stuff like primer and powder that are shared amongst lots of calibers.

I bought lots of Titegroup and H110 plus small and large pistol primers so the shortage in last several year hasn't been a problem. Shoot 9mm, 357, 44, 45ACPs, load whichever I feel like shooting. Plated bullets is easy to get.
 
Silverback said:
I started reloading by helping my father, 40+ years later the amount of money I have "saved" reloading is huge, of course that savings just allows me to buy more components so I can shoot more.
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I don't save a dime more than if I didn't reload, but the quality of the ammo is better, you get to shoot what you want and what your gun likes as each firearm is different, and as you said...you get to shoot more! Lots more! :50cal:

Edit: What Ms359 said!
 
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Last night, minor adjustment to zero the shell plate and cranked out 300 in just under an hour. Includes checking the occasional round, setup and cleanup.

In total, over 500 rounds which saves me something like $70. Enough to offset the fuel cost to the match

Plus I'd love someone to sneer at the cost of 9mm at 199/1000 shipping included.

It's worth it.
 
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