I just don't see the price advantage of reloading M193 5.56
I can by new M193 either Prvi or American Eagle factory ammo for about .30 cents a round.
To buy the surplus components including brass to make my own M193 rounds cost a minimum  of .43 cents a round.
So if I am not reloading my own pre fired brass it just doesn't make any sense to load my own 5.56

If you have your own brass you can load the 55 FMJBT cheaper and if you work up your load, you will get a more accurate cartridge.

5.56 brass is easy to get for free.  In no time a new reloader can have a bucket of it.  

My reloads cost less than .20 cents a piece, about 15-17 cents a piece.  Depending on how much you shoot that is a huge savings.  Even at .13 a round savings I save about $2,000 a year.

You need to search around and buy in bulk if you want to save money.

http://www.classifiercalc.com/misc_calcs/rc.php

Try this.

Your brass cost is either all up front, and then you never count that cost later, or you can amortize it. You will get close to 10 loads from anything under 60K psi, which would be all standart .223 loads and some that approach the 5.56 pressures as long as you use good brass.

Divide that cost by 10, or if you're conservative about it, even by 5. Now, if you really want to be cheap, watch guys that are just at the range blasting away. They don't pick it up. Ask them if they are gonna reload them and if not if you can have the brass or buy it cheap.

I got almost 500 free cases when a several guys and a couple of girls were blasting one Saturday using surplus ammo. They blew through a half case of it in an hour or two. I could have had all 500 if I could have found it all. They even helped pick it up.

My loads using 26.8gr Varget, CCI #41 primers, and Hornady 55gr fmj projos including taxes, shipped, comes out the following.
$4.42/20
$22.12/100
$110.60/500
$221.20/1000

With pulled bullets that comes down even more. Midway has Armscor for $9.49 per 100 and $292.00 per 4000.
That comes to...

$3.93/20
$19.66/100
$98.30/500
$196.60/1000

Add to that, that you won't get the accuracy potential out of surplus that you will with a load tuned for YOUR rifle and it's a no brainer.

You aren't looking in the right places for your components, dig through the "help to find components" thread and do some searching on your own.  If you can't get brass for free somewhere check the equipment exchange for once fired.  I figure 17-20 cents for my plinking loads, which is about what steel cased stuff costs, just way more accurate.

i used the above and i got 23.66 cents per round.....hhhhhmmmmm?  i figured it at 18 cents.  let me try again.

I don't really buy "in bulk" like some of these guys do.....but I do look for good deals and buy stuff when I find them.  Even without buying the 5lb powder kegs,1000+ count of bullets, and 10,000+ primers at a time I'm able to get my plinking loads down to around .24 each not including brass.

You really don't save when you reload.  It just means you get to shoot more......

I reload because I enjoy it.  It is something I take pride in and actually relaxes (well puts my mind somewhere else anyway) me.  

I tune loads to my rifles.  With the same cartridge and different rifles, I load to a midway point for them.  Specialized bullets get tuned to the specific rifle/pistol.

I buy on sale and buy in bulk.  Stock pile when and where you can.

When prices get outragous and or there are shortages, I have ammo and compenents onhand and have no worries.

If you get under .18 cents per list tell me please what components you're using. I know it's possible. Especially if you buy bulk surplus powder, surplus bullets, get free brass, and especially if you use Wolf primers. I may switch over for the 5.56 plinking loads.

Using Winchester surplus, and Wolf primers, along with the cheaper Armscor bullets, it gets down low. I got .1818 per round. That's today's prices. If you bought in bulk a few years ago, you'd be probably at .12 cents a round.

Using .18 cents a round, and this is just from Natchez, shipped, and Powder Valley would be cheaper, as would going in with friends for more savings.

$3.60/20
$18.00/1000
$90.00/500
$180.00/1000

That's cheap.

Compare that to surplus. There may be cheaper, but what I've seen looking at a few places just now, it 279.99 + shipping. So you figure 299.00 shipped. That works out to.....
**************************************You save.
$5.98/20****************************  $2.38/20
$29.90/100*************************  $11.90/100
$149.50/500***********************   $59.50/500
$299.00/1000**********************  $119.00/1000


That's a big savings.

Not that it will help you wolf but I got .136 per round.

Widners 6K 55 fmjbt $427 w/ free shipping
Tac 8 lb $96 (bought couple years back on sale and free shipping, got 4 jugs) - 25 grn load
Win SR $22 per 1K (wolf are now cheaper at $16 from powder valley)
Brass - free after several machine gun shoots and picking it up.

You will save if you shoot the same, but like you say we all pretty much just shoot more for the same money. lol

Here's something that will blow your mind.
I'm loading very high quality match and hunting components in 6.8 for .36 cents per round for the good stuff, and .65 cents for the real good stuff like the Nosler Accubond.. I could do it for less if I liked the 155 Nosler CC. I might like them, and I have some , just haven't done anything with them. I'm loading Hornady OTM, Speer TNT, Sierra Matchking on the low end, and Nosler 110 AB on the high end.
Honestly, there is a ton more savings with the 115gr from Remington, but that stuff shoots like shit in every barrel that I've seen it tested in on 68forums and here too. So I won't fool with it, It is bad out of spec regarding weight. The Nosler is very good and is almost as cheap if you buy  bulk.

That is $7.38/20 rounds of 6.8 that costs $15-$17 a box for the SAMMI stuff, and as I'm loading it, $20-$25 a box for the Combat/Tac loads.
For the AB, that's 13.38/20 that sells for $26.00 That's a huge savings.

Think about it. I can shoot Hornady OTM, which is also rated by Hornady in the 6.8 as a good hunting/combat/PD round since it was designed for combat rather than just paper punching by Hornady, for just a little more than I can shoot surplus 5.56.

Hand loading is a no brainer.

Even 7.62x51 surplus is going for around .40 cents a round when you can find it. So, I can shoot a hunting capable round for less than .308/7.62x51 FMJ.
Loading .308 FMJ is of course very cheap too. I have about 1500 or so rounds of that. Right now what I loaded in .308 would be about .35 cents a round, or 7.08/20 for the cheap 147-150gr fmj stuff. It would be just a tad higher than the 6.8 if loading with the same quality projectiles since there's a usually 40gr-45gr of powder for the .308 and only 25gr-30gr for the 6.8, plus there's a bit more material in the projectiles.

The local Gander Mountain is trying to sell XM193 for $499 per 1000.
 

That doesn't help, it just makes me . lol

However, I used $30.00/1000 with CCI #41 for all loads other than the one's I specified Wolf with, and I used $18.00/1000 for that.

I reload to try to to save money,  as the performance of commercial M193 is more than adequate for my needs.
But I find it impossible to find the same components for less money that just buying factory M193.
Unless you are getting your brass for free it makes no sense to try to replicate M193 to save money.

Well if you are shooting commercial that can be reloaded then you have the brass.

True until you use up your brass.
The point I am trying to make is I find it interesting that I can buy new factory m193 for .30 cents a round but to buy the same components to load my own m193 it will cost in excess of .40 cents a round.
Beings I am producing the labor to prep the brass, prime. fill with powder and seat the bullet I figure I should be able to save on the process but this is simply not the case.

I'm making 193 quality rounds for .136 cents per round in components.  As I and others have stated, buy in bulk and on sale.  Even pavlovwolf is doing it for .18 cents per round.

Now if you want to continue to purchase it loaded based upon time/labor, do so.

But please don't come in here and say it costs more in components to reload as that is not the case.  Several of us have shown you that.  

Now if you want to compare Barnes TTSX reloading and factory 193 then that is apples to footballs.

Where are you getting your components?  40 cents per round is really high. i got mine figured at around 13-14 cents a round. With buying brass somewhere around 18-20 cents. My rounds are cheaper than the M193 and more accurate then the Fed XM193 I was buying.

I came >< this close to buying some of that IMI widener's had...but I just could do it, after I shot it all what would I be left with but a pile of nice brass, which I already have plenty of and ALWAYS bring a bucket of brass home with me from the range



and nothing to put into em



So I bought 8lbs of 8208 and another 1000 projectiles for far less than the ammo .  I already had over 5000 CCI #41's

18+13 = 31
Factory ammo = 30
Still cheaper to buy factory ammo.

13.6 cents a round is good but that doesn't include brass. But if you figure new brass into that price I bet you are over 30 cents per round.
So why not just buy factory ammo at .30 cents a round and you have all new components cheaper that you can purchase them individually for?
And if you don't need brass then just sell the brass you don't need and you will be even farther a head.

I'm pretty sure he means 18-20c for the complete cartridge including brass, which is 10-12c per round cheaper.

Get back with us if Barack gets re-elected and see if XM193 is still cheaper.  

And for the record, I'm at just under $.15/round for my 55g loads. It really only goes up 2-3 cents per round for the first load if I had to buy once fired brass. If factory ammo gets cheaper than that then I'll buy more.  

Simply buy M193 or M855 and save the brass. Widener's has IMI ammo in stock and the brass is very good. I don't reload FMJ's because I have no use for that type of ammo. I do load large quantities of 52/53 grain, 68/69 grain and 75/77 grain match bullets and can quarantee you that reloading is MUCH cheaper than buying new regardless of bulk.

The same is true for standard ball pistol ammo. At $10.00 a box of 50 on sale reloading FMJ's seem a waste of time. Seating Hornady XTP's or Speer Gold Dots in 9mm cases will save you a bunch of money compared to store bought.

Widener's has Hornady 55 grain FMJ's (the most accurate FMJ on the market) for $429.99 per 6000 bullets delivered to your door. At a little over .07 cents per bullet you can't go wrong. Match bullets will be twice that price.

It's much cheaper to reload.  Using the components that I've purchased within the past year and a half, plus brass that I've accumulated over the years, I've been reloading my 55 FMJBTs for about 14 cents a round.  $140.00 a thousand.  I don't know if you can buy it anywhere for that.  
 

OK do you care to share where your buy components to reload for .14 cents a round minus brass?
Also do you know anywhere you can purchase NEW LC brass for .16 cents a round?

I do not do it to save money...

It is a fun hobby, and it is enjoyable to do...

I like it. It is fun... ~$3.00/100 for primers, ~$10.00/100 for bullets, ~$20.00/300 for powder

~$0.20 per round... ~$5.00 per 20... Pretty good price... Can you find it as cheap as that on the internet...Yeah...

But it is a fun and enjoyable hobby...

Now I can understand this.
But unfortunately it isn't a hobby for me and if I can't save money for my efforts it just isn't worth it.

Last time I checked Top Brass Inc still had pulled 55's for under $.07 shipped if you order 2k

Powder Valley had Wolf 556 primers for $15.50k (ETA:  snooze ya lose, just checked and all sold out).  Order a few of those, and a few pounds of powder @ $18/pound.  Obviously with these the savings comes with ordering in large quantities or with a friend to save shipping and hazmat.

You are under $.16/rnd if you order enough to reduce the effects of hazmat and shipping.

Let me ask this.
What is new LC brass worth?

I really don't know.  I took a couple carbine courses and brass whored my way into several thousand freebies during breaks.  

If you need to buy it you get 2500 once fired from Uncle Sam's Retail Outlet for $125 shipped.

If you insist on new I think Hi-Tech Ammo does sell it.

Maybe I didn't word it right, but its 18ish cents for a complete loaded round.  Including the brass, bullet, primer, and powder.

There is no way I would pay 18 cents for brass for my AR15. Now my .308WIN bolt gun it a different story.

1.
If you think this .30/round stuff is good enough, reloading probably isn't for you.

 

Why the need for NEW LC brass? Are u shooting it out of a precision rifle to 2000 yards or 25 yards at carbine matches? Would once fired brass work just fine?

Also are you saving the once fired LC brass. That you could sell for about 50-60 per 1000. So you could bring your cost down with figuring the brass out of it.

.30-.05= .25 per round. There I made it cheaper for you to argue the cost of reloading.

Sure, my local gun shop sells H335 for a little over $18 a lb, King's Shooter Supplies had CCI 41's on sale this past summer for $108/5k and Wideners still has Hornady 55 FMJBTs for $430 / 6k.   As for brass, I can't help you there.  I haven't bought brass in over 20 years.  Luckily, a fellow officer in another PD would give me their 223 brass, which they would just throw away.  It is all LC.





 

HiTech sells virgin LC brass for 11.4 cents each and it's already primed so you can knock a couple cents off the component price.

If you're really looking to save 10 cents a round on the cheapest factory ammo then reloading may not be for you.  If you want to load bulk plinking ammo, occasionally make better and cheaper hunting or self defense ammo, you want precision ammo, or you want to have a regular supply during ammo shortages like we had a couple years ago then reloading might be for you.  Yes, reloading is typically cheaper than factory ammo but there are times when prices drop and the differences in price are not as big.  Also, brass is not a 1 use item so even if you buy it you can divide that cost over many loads.

I should say that I did my previous calculations using my old prices.  I made a mistake.  With the current components my cost per round is $155.92 / K.  Still, it's pretty cheap and they are quality loads.  
 

Ok, i am new to realoading and i basically had the same conclusion but lets look at it this way.

Lets say you reaload you have the equipment, you buy new brass, you reload, it costs you .31, if you keep the brass, ges what your cost or reloading just went down by .20, most likely you will be able to re-use this brass for a few reloads so you will be able to save and shoot more in the long run because you are spending .31 every time you  bull the trigger but only .11.

Let say you buy re-used brass, yes more work, but way also cheaper then buying new brass.

As others have metion is a hobby that most of us enjoy and some take to scientific level.

So IMHO, the savings are there, having said that, there is a quite considerable money you will have to invest intially to be able to reload safely.

Well no matter how much searching I do I can't come close to .31 cents a round with new brass other than buying M193 factory ammo at $5.99 for a box of 20.
So why not just buy the factory ammo and reload the brass from there or sell the brass (once fired at .6 or .7 cents each) and buy more factory ammo at now  .24 cents a round and at that point you now have all new unfired brass ?
No savings in reloading if all your trying to do is duplicate M193.

The information to do it for $.24/rnd is here.  
$ .11 1/2 for primed brass from Hi-Tech ammo
$ .05 for powder with WC844 from Hi-Tech ammo
$ .07 for bullet with pulled M193 bullets from Top Brass Inc.

Thanks for sharing this info.
This makes more sense now.

That's even still high , once fired brass can be bought for under 4¢ shipped so call it 6¢ for primed brass or since you'll use it at least 4 times call it 3¢ for primed brass

3¢ primed brass
3.6¢ powder / 25gr
7.1¢ bullet Wideners
$137/K

Let us not forget Angus6, once fired brass or the 6-10 reloadings is not virgin brass......