thinking of starting reloading

To me it, is a necessary evil so I can shoot more and more accurately. Otherwise it reminds me of work. :)
Good excuse to get some me time in the "MAN CAVE".
 
shms said:
what is your main goal when reloading? the fact you get better ammo or cost savings.Also what do you think the savings would be on 38 special for example.
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Google "reloading cost calculator" to find several online calculators to determine reload costs. For 38 spl you wouldn't be saving a lot compared to quality commercial reloads like Centaur.

I reload because I can save $ on some ammo that's hard to find and expensive, like 455 webley - $70/50 for factory, $9/50 for my reloads. I also reload for accuracy in rifles because I can tune loads to my requirements using the bullet I want. I also reload as a hedge against shortages - I have enough components on hand that I won't suffer overly if ammo gets scarce again like it has a few times in the last 10 years.
 
I'm going to dig a bit deeper than all the other post's answering the OP's questions. Every post so far will help him with a
per round" formula for his shooting...but does that answer his question fully, only he can answer that.

First of all ask your self how many rounds you plan on reloading a year and what type of shooting will you do with the loaded ammo, how much you reload a year will make a huge difference in amortizing the total cost of reloading...reloading equipment/start-up costs must be taken into consideration as a starting point. The type of shooting you do also makes a difference in "factory ammo" costs, Very good "hunting" or plinking ammo can be purchased anywhere now days at reasonable cost if you only shoot a box a year, even at that rate of use the "designer brand" ammo is cheaper than a loading outfit...the cost savings is in lots of ammo use & readily available target quality ammo if that is where your interest lies.

As an example, in my case I have "way north" of $5-7,000 in my loading room construction & equipment not counting actual components...it is a very comfortable setup for my needs and if I amortize that over the 150,000 (mostly .38 sp.) rounds that I have recorded loading in my record book, it ain't much per round. I am currently loading the wife's cowboy rounds (commercial hard-cast slugs) for around $0.12 per, so over 40 years I have saved thousands in ammo costs.

If the OP buys a mediocre $500 loading set-up but only loads 100 rounds a year it becomes "just a hobby" with not much "savings" involved.
 
I started re loading as a cost saving for .45 LC shooting in cowboy action, but it became a hobby and now I load for every calibre I shoot.

.223 doesn't turn out much cheaper, but the cost saving on my .38-55 is huge.
 
I reload small quantities of .38 Spl because I like shooting 148 gr wadcutters for accuracy (over 2.8 gr of Bullseye). These rounds are almost never available over the counter or on line in Canada. Using a Lee Loader hand tool, one lb of powder, a $50 Frankford scale, a few boxes of Hornady bullets, and primers, I'm equipped for quite a while, at modest cost. Plus, it's fun.
 
I don't know if it saves me money or not. I don't know what commercial ammo costs.

In the last 60 years I have not bought any ammo, other than 22 and shotgun.

Loading can be just the exercise you go through to make more ammo to shoot.

Or it can be an interesting hobby in its own right, fine tuning ammo to get maximum accuracy out of a gun.

I have a load noted in my log book for what each gun shoots best with.
 
For me it started as a way to save money and it feels good to never buy ammo. Then I started realizing how beautiful I was to see my groups shrink and that's what does it for me now.
 
I like that I can source any bullet I want and push it to mazimum velocity. Slow them down for being more fur friendly,and for perfect expansion.
 
I found the same thing, it cost about the same over all, I just shot a lot more. I started reloading in about 1982. Premium ammunition wasn’t really a thing then. I lived in a small town in Saskatchewan, so if you wanted anything but your standard rounds you were out of luck. Reloading was the answer, later I bought a then wildcat in 7 stw, wouldn’t have been an option without reloading.

Premium bullets at a fraction of the cost of off the shelf.
 
For me I started reloading to save money as I was a heavy into skeet shooting and duck hunting at the time. Started loading my own rifle ammo just because it interested me and it gave me custom tuned ammo with Nosler Partition bullets. To my knowledge you could not buy at the time commercial ammo loaded with Nosler Partitions. Plus shooting game with ammo I made myself I found rewarding. Except for my first deer which was taken with Win 30-30 Silver Tips every other big game animal I have taken over the years has been with ammo I have made.
 
Both. Originally to save money but now after throwing away around 1000lbs of lead in the general direction of targets, I'm going to try for maximum accuracy by tuning my reloads.
 
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