With all the surplus .223 ammo on the market these days, is it really cost efficient to reload?  When I sit down to weigh the differences, the cost of the supplies alone to reload suppercede the cost of surplus.

Granted everyone should have some premium ammo for those "special occasions".  

If all you are doing is plinking .223 I believe you answered your own question.

Cost wise.....  HELL NO!

There is no way to beat buying bulk ammo! Even if you buy bulk components. (unless you can get them at cost)

If you buy enough equipment to reload with any level of efficiency, then you'll never recoup your investment.

The only reason to reload is enjoyment of the hobby.

BS!

i buy pulled 55gr bullets for 26.00 per 1000
surplus powder 8lbs for 55.00
14.00 for 1k of primers.

that equals a little under 65.00 per thousand rounds roughly .065 per round the cheapest i have found surplus ammo is around .08 per round. Not to mention it is more acurrate than any surplus ammo i can buy.

Reloading will not save you lots of money but you will shoot more with the money you have. also consider a press will not just do one caliber. i also do .40,9mm,45,38,357,243,308.

On other calibers you WILL save money
i can reload .45 for roughly 5.00 per box <50rnds>. you can't buy junk 45 for that price.

The_Beer_Slayer, true you can reload .223 for about that amount but it takes a lot of TIME.  You have to deprime, clean the brass, lube, size, TRIM, etc.  Unless you have nothing better to do for hours on end, I'd rather buy surplus for 55gr .223.  

Now, I do reload tracer .223 because that is way cheaper.  I also reload other calibers because it is much cheaper then surplus.  30-06, etc.  
 

How does 200 bucks for a thousand rounds of .223 ammo that'll hold half inch groups at 100 yards sound?

That's what I get out of my reloads.

Yeah, it's worth it,  if you like to hit the bullseye a lot.

CJ

Not to mention the knowledge you gain by reloading and don't forget the accuracy, but then again if you just want to put lead downrange get a SAR 3 and blast away, its fun to. I do both!

A good multi stage press like one from the Dillion line can turn out alot of ammo in very few hours. With careful shopping you can save enough money to make it worth your while to reload on just about any cartridge, and to whoever said you wont recoup the money you spend on teh equipment to reload must not shoot very much loading merely 5000 rounds of 45 acp will nearly cover the cost of a top quality reloading set up.

                         Jonathan D.

9mm sub-sonic, $400/1000 for Win 147 STHP at Wally World, $150-170 for Special K, add shipping.

I do 9mm sub-sonic myself for approx $70/1000, I get more ammo per $ than the poor fella buying from the above stuff.



223 match stuff-- maybe $20/20,,, I get 100 Hornady bullets for $14/100, $1.89/100 primers, $18/lb powder, brass is free..... NEW-$100/100, RELOAD-- $22/100 tops?,,,1 lb powder usually do maybe 300 rounds...

Not that much time at all. From start to finish i can do 1000 rounds in less than 8 hours total time invested. Usually spend an hour or 2 at night till it's all done. i enjoy it and it is a whole lot cheaper than surplus and still much more accurate

I go with fully prepped brass from RVO for around $50/K (it's been a while since I ordered any, it may have gone up). This, in addition to an RCBS X-Die, cuts much of the labor involved in reloading 223. You never have to trim, debur, or swage primer pockets! It even comes cleaned and sized ready for the first reload.
Brass cost does have to be added to the cost of reloading though. It adds roughly .01 - .02 cents per round to the finished cost depending on how many times the case is reloaded.

If I'm just "plinking", I use surplus.  If I want accuracy, I can't afford to buy match ammo.

So......I only reload if I want accurate ammo for precision shooting.  [b]Then it's worth it.[/b]

Rambosky

The true answer to the original question is: Sometimes, it depends on you and how much you shoot. Some people really shoot ALOT!

Now with that said, as far as .223 goes personally I like to have ammo that works exceptionally well in my guns. I spent a crap load of money on the rifles and now I am going to skimp on feeding it? I am going to bet my life on ammo that a contractor sold to a government for the lowest bid? I am going to rely on bullets potentially 10 years or older that may have been stored under the worst conditions?
Answer these questions any way YOU feel like.
I shoot surplused ammo and reloads, but it depends on where, when, and which gun I am using.

Also I like to reload. It is time consumming, sometimes tedious, and you have to take safety precautions seriously. Someday I will do the numbers on what reloading costs me as oposed to just purchasing my ammo. I have a feeling though that it was probably cheaper for me not to have gotten into reloading. [rolleyes]

If you shoot 55gr FMJ, no. If you shoot tracers, 62gr M855 type loads, any softpoint or hollowpoint hunting ammo, any match hollow point ammo, or any other specialty load, then yes, it is worth it to reload.

Buy a case of 63grn Swiss. I buy it for $200/1000 and it holds at least MOA in my Bushy 20" HBAR.


Tony

MOA and 1/2 MOA is two solar systems apart so is 1/2 MOA and 1/4 MOA always worth whatever it takes to get that extra bit of accuracy