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So, here's some questions that I'd like ballpark estimates for:
1. How much would a decent (mid-level) reloading setup cost that could handle .45 ACP and 5.56x45?
Depends on what you want.  Your best bet is to check out the Midway catalog and price compare.  Automation and quality costs money.  That said I'm still using the single stage Lee press I bought in high school.  I've added a progressive press for pistol loads but I still prefer the single stage for rifle loads.

2. How much additional cost to reload 7.62x54R?
Only the cost of dies ($25-$50) and reloading components once you have the initial set-up

3. With a decent setup and some practice, how many rounds per hour could I reload of each of the 3 rounds?
Depends on how much you spend on step #1.  With a single stage press I can do 100 rounds complete in an hour easily for pistol blasting ammo.  With a progressive press the hourly output can be multiplied several times depending on the level of automation.  The rifle ammo I load is precision ammo with every powder charge weighed.  The same 100 rounds will take me 2-3 hours if I don't have to trim cases.

4. Are non-corrosive Berdan primers and a Berdan decapping tool available for 7.62x54R?
Yes but it's not worth the effort. Buy Boxer primer cases.  IMHO the only time Berdan cases are worth worrying about is when Boxer primed cases are rare.

5. What would be an estimate of the cost per round be for each of the 3 rounds? I have looked into how much the brass, bullets, and primers would run, but since I've never reloaded I can't find a good way to factor in the powder cost to get a total per round cost. Is it worth my time and effort to reload?
Powder is bought in pounds and dispensed in grains.  There are 7000 grains per pound.  For example the .45 will use roughly 5 - 6 grains per load.  That's 1400 - 1166 loads per pound

So help me out. Steer me toward reloading or away from it. I'm in the beginning phases and would like some help deciding what to do. I'm a very cautious person, and tend to be OCD and double and triple check things. I'm also an engineer so I'm very technically inclined and like to measure and make things precise.

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I've been shooting a few years now and ammo prices are beginning to add up. I shoot 7.62x54R, .45 ACP, .22LR, and 12g. I have thought about reloading the 7.62x54R and the .45 ACP. I also would like to get into the AR world with 5.56x45 and reload that as well. I have the ABC's of Reloading 9th Edition and Reloading for Handgunners. I'm working my way through them now. I thought they would be a good way to judge my true interest in reloading. So far, I'm still interested, and want to know more about the financial and time aspects of reloading.



In order of preference, I would like to reload .45 ACP, 5.56x45, and 7.62x54R. The .45ACP is doable from what I've read as that is a straightwall case with a large pistol primer that isn't crimped. The 5.56x45 may be slightly more difficult because I would likely buy a bulk box of Lake City and would have to remove the primer crimp, but still doable. The real challenge (possibly not worth it) is the 7.62x54R. The ammo I shoot for that is Russian surplus that is corrosively Berdan primed.



So, here's some questions that I'd like ballpark estimates for:

1. How much would a decent (mid-level) reloading setup cost that could handle .45 ACP and 5.56x45?



Lots of levels for different budgets. $500-600 for a quality single stage set up. RCBS, Hornady.



2. How much additional cost to reload 7.62x54R?



Would need die set, shellholder, trimmer. Same as adding any other caliber.



3. With a decent setup and some practice, how many rounds per hour could I reload of each of the 3 rounds?



Single stage, experianced reloader 1 hour for 100 rounds. Longer for new reloader.





4. Are non-corrosive Berdan primers and a Berdan decapping tool available for 7.62x54R?



Yes.



I reload Berdan origionally corrosive primed 7.62x39. People who don't reload Berdan cases will tell you it's not worth the trouble.



As a new reloader you should just buy new Boxer 7.62x54R cases.



Save your Berdan cases for after you get used to reloading, then learn Berdan reloading.



5. What would be an estimate of the cost per round be for each of the 3 rounds? I have looked into how much the brass, bullets, and primers would run, but since I've never reloaded I can't find a good way to factor in the powder cost to get a total per round cost. Is it worth my time and effort to reload?



Ball park, 1/2 the cost of factory.



Surplus 7.62x54R cheaper to buy than reload. But you can reload more accurate ammo. Your choice.



So help me out. Steer me toward reloading or away from it.



This is the Reloading Forum. Of course reloading is better than buying factory ammo.



Think about this next time ammo is scarce and the reloaders are still shooting.





I'm in the beginning phases and would like some help deciding what to do. I'm a very cautious person, and tend to be OCD and double and triple check things.



If you can read and follow directions, you can successfully reload quality ammo.



The people who get into trouble (kaboom) were too smart to follow easy to understand procudures.



OCD people make the best reloaders.



I'm also an engineer so I'm very technically inclined and like to measure and make things precise.



That's a good thing in reloading.

I started reloading in Aug of 06. When I got into reloading, I jumped in full tilt, and decided I was going to reload any caliber I shot as long as it saved me money. Since then, I've probably have reloaded 100K rounds, in a mix of 9mm, 38spl/357mag, 45acp, 223, and 30-30. My experiences and advice are as follows.

If you only going to reload a small amount of ammo per month (say under 200 rounds) AND you want to go cheap, a single stage press will work. However if you want higher volume, a progressive like a Dillon or Hornady LNL becomes a must-have. I'll give what my initial costs were.

Knowing that I was going to reload a higher volume of ammo then what a single stage press is good for, I bought a Dillon 550 from the get go. This is an EXCELLENT first press, as its reasonably fast (300 rounds an hour is easy to do without killing yourself), fairly easy to setup, flexible (you can use it as a single stage press in a heart beat), super quick to change calibers on (important if you do a lot of different calibers like me), and there's a metric fuckload of people who own them and give you advice if you need help.

So lets buy a 550 press. You'll need the press itself, the dies, and a few other things that go directly with the press (tool heads and what not). I'm going to count all that stuff as the "press" in terms of cost. Using Brianenos.com for pricing, the "press" comes to...........

$745 for the "press"

Now, you need a few other durable (as compared to consumable) items.

Bullet puller - $20 (for fixing fuckups, you'll make a few)
Tumbler - $100 (for cleaning brass. I'm quoting the Lyman 2500 Pro because its one of the bigger ones you can get, and not much more $ then a small one)
media separator - $75 (you pour your cleaning media and brass from the tumbler into this, Dillon CM-2000, about the biggest one you can get)
Reloading book - $25 (at the BARE minimum, you need the Lyman's 49th edition. More books are a VERY good idea)
Powder scale - $110 (I recommend a decent digital one like the RCBS 750, its not much more then a balance scale, and its QUICK).
Calipers - $15 (no need to blow a ton of money here, get a cheap digital from from Harbor Freight, more then accurate enough for our needs)
Case gauge - $15 (simple tool for verifying you sized and crimped your rounds properly)
Primer Flip tray - $20 (needed for loading the primer tubes)

So this comes to $1125 out the door. Not super cheap, BUT its all excellent gear designed to make life as easy as possible for you. When I bought my 550 in Aug of 2006, I got all the stuff above, plus extra tool heads and dies so I could reload 9mm, 38spl, and 223 (45acp and 30-30 came down the road). I guessed that by not shooting any factor ammo in the above calibers, it would take me 18 months to 24 months to "break even" on my fixed costs. As it turns out, it took me 10 months.

So yes, expensive, but if you shoot more then once in a while, it DOES pay off (you'll see what your loaded ammo costs can be at the end of my post). Also by reloading, you're no longer hostage to what ammo (if any) the local gun shops have on hand, and you can reload any type of bullet style and weight you desire (115gr, 124gr, 147gr, or even weird stuff if you want to experiment). Back during the big ass ammo shortage when the Kenyan got elected, I laughed as the non reloader guys went months without shooting because none of the shops had ammo, while I kept ordering bullets and powder as needed (to be fair, primers were a bitch to find for a year, but I had more then enough on hand, so it wasn't an issue. Moral of the story, buy it cheap, stack it deep).




Lets talk consumables. First of all, learn to buy in LARGE quantities. Running down to Gander Mountain or Sportsman Warehouse or Wally and buying a box of bullets or a pound of gun powder is expensive. I only do it if I'm experimenting with a new load, and don't want to buy a ton of something until I am sure I'll like it.

Consumables come into 2 groups - stuff that goes into making the round directly ( Bullets, powder, brass, and primers), and stuff that helps you make the loaded ammo (case lube, media for cleaning brass, media polisher).

The 1st group is your biggest re-occurring expensive, and I'll address it last. The 2nd group isn't too bad.

Corn Cob Media - $ 35
(40 pound bag ordered online from any # of places, and should last you a LONG fucking time, a few years if you're a SUPER high volume reloader, and probably a decade if your not).

Case Lube - $ 8
(any of the spray lubes based on Lanolin is my pick. RCBS, Dillon, hell even roll your own. Oneshot will work if you use it right, but its expensive. 1 bottle of spray lube will probably lube at least 10,000 rounds, probably much more)

Media Polisher - $ 5-10 (all sorts of choices here, from Dillon rapid polisher, to automotive stuff that works just as well, and available at Wally in a pinch)


Now the biggie, your loaded ammo components. Costs can vary hugely depending on caliber, what bullets, powder, and primer you want to use, and how much you buy at a time. I buy as much as I can for a price break, so I'll use my costs. For the record, I use a 124gr FMJ from Montana Gold for my bullet, and HP38 (aka W231) powder (4.6gr charge), and the cheapest primers I can find (usually Wolf/Tula). Brass is mixed head stamp, some donated from friends, some purchased from various sources like Brassmanbrass.com. Keep in mind that brass is ALMOST a fixed cost in pistol calibers, since it rarely wears out (you'll lose it before it wears out usually), so I won't factor the cost of brass into my per round cost estimates.

Brass - $35 (1k pieces, prices based on some postings I saw in the EE)

And the rest. All prices are calculated per 1k. I'll explain how I got these prices in the ( notes ). One other thing, I assumed I ordered the primers and powder together, save on shipping and hazmat fees. A max size order of primers and powder is 48lbs, and the combined fee/shipping will run you about $40. So I add $20 to the powder bulk charge and primer bulk charge.


Bullets - $85 (Montana Gold case 3750 of 124gr is $320 shipped)

Primers - $21 (Tula primers from Powder Valley, I "bought" 20K worth, and added in $20 for hazmat fee and shipping, then divided the cost )

Powder - $10 (HP38 is $113.50 per 8lb jug. I "bought" 24lbs worth, added $20 for hazmat fee and shipping, then divided the cost )


So for 1000 rounds of 9mm, you're looking at $85+$21+$10= $116 for 1k worth of kick ass 9mm ammo. Some guys will get this a lot cheaper by using lead bullets, but lead is smoky, dirty and some barrels (i.e. glocks) don't like it. So I generally dont bother with it in 9mm (the cost savings isn't worth it in 9mm IMHO. 45ACP on the other hand........I'll put up with the hassle of lead).

Oh one last thing. For certain calibers, the cost savings compared to factory ammo is even higher. 38spl costs me the exact same amount of money to reload as 9mm does, but factory 38spl is a RIPOFF. 357magnum is even more so. For HOT loaded 357 mag, my 1k cost is probably about $150 (357 mag uses a lot more powder), but you can't even FIND factory 357 mag ammo that compares velocity wise (except for maybe Double Tap or Buffalo Bore, but that stuff is OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive). 223 per 1k with a 55gr FMJ bullet runs me about $150 right now, and its MUCH more accurate (under 2MOA) then any of the cheap factory ammo.

Hope this helps.

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Pull the trigger...don't worry bout the money dude...cause if you dont spend it your girl will just add another pair of shoes to the closet!  LOL j/k

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I like that train of thought! After reading the responses, I think reloading is something I'd like to get into. Now the first step will be to clean an area of my house so that I have a workspace. My house is such a pigsty right now that I clean my guns on the back patio picnic table...that doesn't work so well in MI during the winter. So double the reason to clean my house, so I can clean my guns indoors and so I can try reloading.

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Check out the reloading bench thread, some of these guys were able to make portable benches or ones that are tucked into closests.