Hello,

How much per round one can get a 5.56x45 ammo if he makes it himself (without taking into account time) ?

I looked online, roughly one can get such ammo for 30 cent per round, so would it make sense from financial point of view to trying to make your own?

And if yes, what specifically would be needed to make that round? (i never made any ammo)

thanks!

5.56 is probably the last caliber to try and save money that way

The bullets and primer and power will cost you about the same

The manufacturers are so bulk manufacturing that round it's become the 9mm of rifle rounds

Most people who reload 5.56 do so for custom sport rounds with the extreme powder precision (I.E. I want a 77gr matchking at X fps with less than 5fps deviation)

Read and learn about reloading here. Great resource for everything loading your own related.

Reloading forum

Assuming you own the tools and have the brass; $30-40 for primers, $75-100 for fmj bullets, and $100-120 for powder (4 pounds at $25 to $30 a pound). You're looking at $205 to $260 per thousand rounds for fmj. Add $50-75 if you need unprocessed once fired brass.

You might be able to get under $200 if you buy in bulk.

This is true for me. I load 77gr Noslers for the top speed that guarantees high precision.

For cheap reloads, you'll spend 8 cents on a bullet, 3 cents on a primer, and 7 cents on powder. You could buy brass ammo with a reloadable case for 30 cents or so.

I have no idea what it costs me to load my own .223 rounds. I have a ton of FMJ bullets in my stash yet I haven't reloaded one in years. I load precision, hunting/varmint, and self defense loads. 77 grain HPBT, Ballistic Tips, et al.

I have been reloading since Christ was a corporal.

I don't reload 5.56 anymore.

I just started reloading .223 but not for plinking/practice ammo. Maybe if I had a progressive press and could churn out 100s / hour but even then it's in the 20 cpr range for the absolute cheapest fmj. If you have free bullets that's different. I'm loading more "match" ammo. I say "match" because these aren't for high precision or competition but just to test the limits of my rifle/scope/shooter. Once I find a good load they will be my longer distance ammo. These cost me around 35 cpr depending on bullet and what deal I find so a significant savings over match ammo.

I buy in bulk.

Recently I've picked up projectiles at .065 each delivered.  Primers are on backorder, but .02 delivered when they show up.  Powder for a light .223 load is .0696 per load. (a full 5.56 load is about .082 per round).  Brass is .055 delivered if I don't use range pickups.

So if you use your own brass your at .1546/rd for .223 and .167/rd for 5.56.

Buying brass and your at .2096 for .223 and .222/rd for 5.56.

Realistically, most people will be paying another .03/rd because they can't source powder, primers or bullets that cheap.  I got lucky recently and found some pull down 55gr bullets at .045 each delivered

Next up you need a machine that can put out ammo at a decent rate that makes it worth your time.  I'm using a Dillon 650 - and hopefully a MK 7 automation system by the end of the year.

For 55gr practice ammo it didn't pencil out for me for what amounts to a difference of $100 per 1k, or little more than two hours of overtime.

For match grade or hunting ammunition you do save almost half. I don't mind running match loads on my single stage.

for ball ammo you wont save money. hunting and match ammo will.

I save money on ball ammo, it just may not be worth my time.

$.18-$.20 depending. Primers are back down under $30 and powder availability is pretty good. Gotta buy the bullets in big quantities though. 

Worth the time for me, because using the hornady bulk bullets I'm still getting much more accurate ammo. 

Besides, I enjoy it.  

Thanks guys for all the great answers, I'm kinda concluding that for my regular ammo 55/62gr it might not be worth it.

I might get into it then once I get serious about 77gr.

Please see the Reloading forum for more info.