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Posted: 3/5/2014 2:30:15 PM EDT
| I hope to reload but don't know if it's worth it. I'd be relaoding .40 S&W, .308, .223, 30-06, and some other calibers I can't think of off the top of my head. Thanks |
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If you shoot a lot, perhaps.
There are benefits of "cost savings", higher quality than factory, sense of pride in your ammo, ect... However, if you don't shoot but once or twice a year I can see how it would be hard to justify getting started. It can cost a little $$ or a lot of $$$$$ depending on what kind of equipment you want and how many calibers you load. Also, if you lack patience and/or attention to detail then reloading might not be for you. How much free time do you have; how much do you value that time? Reloading is a whole new hobby in and of itself. ETA: Coming to a reloading forum and asking if reloading is worth it is like going to Ford and asking the salesperson if you should buy a Ford.... 
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I find it soothing.
It's a nice way to spend an hour or two a couple of times a week. You get something mechanical to fiddle with and a practical product at the end. I shoot way more now than I used to. More calibers as well. I need to spend a couple of hours at the bench tonight and every night the rest of the week. Gotta build up a stock of loaded rounds. DST is coming and I'll be able to go to the range after work. |
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Quoted:
If you shoot a lot, perhaps. There are benefits of "cost savings", higher quality than factory, sense of pride in your ammo, ect... However, if you don't shoot but once or twice a year I can see how it would be hard to justify getting started. It can cost a little $$ or a lot of $$$$$ depending on what kind of equipment you want and how many calibers you load. Also, if you lack patience and/or attention to detail then reloading might not be for you. How much free time do you have; how much do you value that time? Reloading is a whole new hobby in and of itself. ETA: Coming to a reloading forum and asking if reloading is worth it is like going to Ford and asking the salesperson if you should buy a Ford....
I'm definitely a guy who pays special attention to detail. I've tried a good bid of bullets and I'm not very happy happy with how they shoot |
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I am reloading for .223 for match. FIgure Wallyworld match ammo at $32 per box of 20 I can reload the same for $6 per box I got a Lee CLassic Turret and toys to go with it. About $350 in total includes a few lbs of powder (enough for about 500rns) To even buy 280 loaded matc rounds off the shelf it would cost me over $400 ( I know online is cheaper, just ung local sply as an example) I also get a new hobby out of it. Thats the best part. |
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I would say that it depends if you're reloading for plinking or for precision shooting.
For the pistol and plinking stuff. I would say NO. By the time you factor in your time and mistakes, you can buy it cheaper just about anywhere else. If you are loading for precision. I would say YES. Only if you are an anal retentive bastard who likes to screw around with load development until he finds the "perfect" load for his weapon. Either way, it will take more time and money than you expect. My advice is to pick ONE caliber and figure out how to load that correctly (buy "The ABCs of Reloading") then move onto another caliber. |
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Absolutely!
Mental Therapy as others suggest! Save ? nah...shoot more for same ....... Of course there is the tweaking of ammo for particular gun.... one does not buy 6MM dasher ammo off the shelf.......tailoring the ammo to suit the needs of the gun and shooter! Expanding your enjoyment of the shooting sports! |
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I hope to reload but don't know if it's worth it. I'd be relaoding .40 S&W, .308, .223, 30-06, and some other calibers I can't think of off the top of my head. Thanks Add up a year's worth of pistol, 223, and other rifle ammo purchases. Take 40% of the pistol cost, 50% of the 223 cost, and 60% of any other rifle cost and add those together. That's approximately how much money you will save each year. The more specialized the factory ammo you would buy, the nore you will save. You can save more by shooting plated or lead rather than factory clad ammo. While it can be done for less, assume $1,000 investment in equipment . . . if not immediately, almost CERTAINLY over time. Are you satisfied with how long it will take to get that investment back in ammo savings? Remember you will need to pay for large quantities of components (powders by the 8lb, primers by the 1-5k, bullets by 1k for pistol and 223 less for other rifle) up front in order to keep costs down, and you will be maintaining some kind of inventory. Factor that in as you see fit - is it an investment, or is it just upfront ammo purchases? Remember you will spend a lot of time learning and a lot of time at the press. Do you have the time? Is it worth the savings to you? Do you care about finding loadd that your firearms actually like rather than feed them a steady diet of Wallyworldburger? Can you RTFM? Are you patient? Can you safely pay attention to detail? Are you somewhat mechanically inclined? If yes, you can do it - if no, you shouldn't. No such list is complete or accurate for everyone - just stuff to consider. Hope it helps some. |
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Yes its worth it.
Take 30-06 rounds for example, if you buy Federal hunting ammo it can run from $30-$40 for a box of 20. Since my brass is "free" since it was factory fired stuff before I started reloading, I can load a similar round (Sierra GameKing bullet) for about 40cents per round. That savings can quickly add up to offset the cost of the reloading equipment. Reloading is a hobby I really enjoy, almost as much as shooting. If you reload multiple calibers as you listed, it is even quicker to offset the cost of the equipment. |
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I too thought I would reload to "save money". Then I resigned myself to "shooting more for the same amount". I have now realized that reloading to cut down on your shooting expenses is like taking up hunting to cut down on your grocery bill. But I couldn't stop now if I had to. It is too much fun. |
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It is, if you enjoy it. If it's just another set of tasks to get you shooting, you might be able to find solace in how much more shooting you can do per dollar, but if you try distracting yourself during the process due to boredom/etc., it's easy to make big mistakes.
That said, I enjoy the heck out of it. Have loaded 3k rounds of 45 ACP this week alone, and will probably do about 1k 223 and some load testing on some .30-06 before the week is out 
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I hope to reload but don't know if it's worth it. I'd be relaoding .40 S&W, .308, .223, 30-06, and some other calibers I can't think of off the top of my head. Thanks <and this> I've tried a good bid of bullets and I'm not very happy with how they shoot. You care about accuracy. You're not happy with the accuracy of factory ammo. You shoot some of the most expensive common cartridges around. You NEED to reload (or pay a pro to reload for you). |
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No not really because you can't find anything right now. After you spend the time researching and buying the tools you'll be behind that much ammo you could have shot every weekend slowly and become a better shot while your new to reloading freinds covet their 100 bullets as if they were made from solid gold.
Its a long term investment and it depends how much you want to invest and how long you want to do it. There is a spreadsheet on the Internet going around that allows you to enter the cost of reloading and compares it to shooting prices and it tells you based on how many rounds you shoot per month how many months it takes to make the money back. Longest I could make it was about two years doing 200 rounds a month with the Dillon setup I wanted. |
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Best reloading cost calculator I've yet found:
http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/reloading/56315-feedback-requested-reloading-cost-calculator.html It includes lines for equipment expenses, time/labor (your own), and break even calculations to determine how many rounds at what price will it take to 'recoup' your 'investment.' Yes, you have to register, but their registration was pretty quick and simple. There are 2 versions on that page... get the 2nd one, it's his revised edition. |
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Quoted: I hope to reload but don't know if it's worth it. I'd be relaoding .40 S&W, .308, .223, 30-06, and some other calibers I can't think of off the top of my head. Thanks There are some good reply's to your question already. If you've already got a good supply of brass then you can reload good quality rounds for less $ than you can buy the cheapest ammo. So yes, in a sense it can be a cost savings practice especially if you shoot frequently. If you have to buy brass then the $ savings is not very great. On the other hand, you will spend hundreds (if not thousands depending on how carried away you get) on reloading tools like presses, dies, and various brass prep tools. Another thing to consider is the time spent. You'll spend hours and hours cleaning, inspecting, trimming and cleaning primer pockets of brass just to get it ready to prime, charge and seat a bullet. If you have spare time and you'd like a good hobby then reloading is great and I'd highly recommend it. If your time is very valuable then reloading isn't going to save you anything. During the last year when ammo was scarce I was VERY glad I already had the components to reload my own plinking ammo. Now that ammo is easier to find again, albeit a little more expensive, I'm appreciating cheap steel cased ammo for fun at the range more and more. |
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Looks like y'all are going to have one more person to compete with. Just have to go ahead and get the money together. What's a good starter press? I've seen jut about every video on YouTube about reloading Depends on your budget and how much you shoot. If you want to make high accuracy loads and don't care as much about production rate (maybe 50 an hr) you can shoot for a single stage press. Most people recommend Hornady LNL classic (what I have), RCBS rocker chucker, a dillon or a Co-ax. You can go with a Lee press if you want, but they're not on the same quality scale as the others (much cheaper though). If you want to load high throughput (>500 hr) you will need a progressive press. But in all reality, you're looking at no less than about $500 for a really good one. I would say Hornady LNL AP (what I have) or Dillon 650B are the best for this. Some argue progressives are just as accurate as single stages, especially since a few long range champions use them for their match grade ammo. You're going to get a thousand different opinions on the issue when you ask a question about a starter press, but these presses have the best overall reputation. If I could do it all over again I would start with the Hornady LNL Classic kit and take it from there. You can find them for $300 (link)and it is almost everything you need to get started. This press is VERY well built and it integrates well with the progressive (LNL AP). Disclaimer: I have owned Lee single stage, Lee turret, Hornady LNL classi and Hornady LNL AP. |
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Add up a year's worth of pistol, 223, and other rifle ammo purchases. Take 40% of the pistol cost, 50% of the 223 cost, and 60% of any other rifle cost and add those together. That's approximately how much money you will save each year. The more specialized the factory ammo you would buy, the nore you will save. You can save more by shooting plated or lead rather than factory clad ammo. While it can be done for less, assume $1,000 investment in equipment . . . if not immediately, almost CERTAINLY over time. Are you satisfied with how long it will take to get that investment back in ammo savings? Remember you will need to pay for large quantities of components (powders by the 8lb, primers by the 1-5k, bullets by 1k for pistol and 223 less for other rifle) up front in order to keep costs down, and you will be maintaining some kind of inventory. Factor that in as you see fit - is it an investment, or is it just upfront ammo purchases? Remember you will spend a lot of time learning and a lot of time at the press. Do you have the time? Is it worth the savings to you? Do you care about finding loadd that your firearms actually like rather than feed them a steady diet of Wallyworldburger? Can you RTFM? Are you patient? Can you safely pay attention to detail? Are you somewhat mechanically inclined? If yes, you can do it - if no, you shouldn't. No such list is complete or accurate for everyone - just stuff to consider. Hope it helps some. Quoted:
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I hope to reload but don't know if it's worth it. I'd be relaoding .40 S&W, .308, .223, 30-06, and some other calibers I can't think of off the top of my head. Thanks Add up a year's worth of pistol, 223, and other rifle ammo purchases. Take 40% of the pistol cost, 50% of the 223 cost, and 60% of any other rifle cost and add those together. That's approximately how much money you will save each year. The more specialized the factory ammo you would buy, the nore you will save. You can save more by shooting plated or lead rather than factory clad ammo. While it can be done for less, assume $1,000 investment in equipment . . . if not immediately, almost CERTAINLY over time. Are you satisfied with how long it will take to get that investment back in ammo savings? Remember you will need to pay for large quantities of components (powders by the 8lb, primers by the 1-5k, bullets by 1k for pistol and 223 less for other rifle) up front in order to keep costs down, and you will be maintaining some kind of inventory. Factor that in as you see fit - is it an investment, or is it just upfront ammo purchases? Remember you will spend a lot of time learning and a lot of time at the press. Do you have the time? Is it worth the savings to you? Do you care about finding loadd that your firearms actually like rather than feed them a steady diet of Wallyworldburger? Can you RTFM? Are you patient? Can you safely pay attention to detail? Are you somewhat mechanically inclined? If yes, you can do it - if no, you shouldn't. No such list is complete or accurate for everyone - just stuff to consider. Hope it helps some. Great post; this is a good way to look at it, and some things listed (patience, RTFM capability) that people don't always think about. I agree with the 1k as well, but for some it's up front (and may be even more), for others it's over time. Someone can get away with a single stage or Lee Classic Turret, but it's likely over time they'll eventually upgrade to a progressive, powered case trimmers, etc. |
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I started with the Lee Anniversary Kit years ago. Still using it. Even if the cost savings isn't as much as it used to be, it's still cheaper to reload (as long as brass is really cheap or free), and being able to stock up, and never leave the house, is a plus. And, yea, the whole accuracy thing if you wanna go that route, too. |
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No not really because you can't find anything right now. After you spend the time researching and buying the tools you'll be behind that much ammo you could have shot every weekend slowly and become a better shot while your new to reloading freinds covet their 100 bullets as if they were made from solid gold. Its a long term investment and it depends how much you want to invest and how long you want to do it. There is a spreadsheet on the Internet going around that allows you to enter the cost of reloading and compares it to shooting prices and it tells you based on how many rounds you shoot per month how many months it takes to make the money back. Longest I could make it was about two years doing 200 rounds a month with the Dillon setup I wanted. If someone is only loading 200rds/month, I wouldn't suggest buying a progressive if return on investment is high in their priorities. I shot ~6k 9mm and 2k-2500 rounds of .223 last year. Even at today's ammo prices (much lower than they've been with .223 formerly at $1per rd and 9mm at nearly so, for generic target ammo, for a while..) of 40c/rd current .223 and 30c/rd for 9mm), my savings vs rounds bought amounted to over $1200..which is more than enough to cover e.g. LnL AP, case feeder, dies, trimmer, etc. If I were to include ammo coats vs loading costs during the insanity period last year, reloading for a single year also covered not only reloading equipment, but also my stockpile of powder, primers, and projectiles. It is a long term game, though, as buying in bulk helps with long term savings, at the 'cost' of higher initial outlay. For example, I almost always buy powder in 20-40# lots online, or 8# jugs from a LGS, including for pistol. 8# of powder for 9mm is enough for 10k+ rounds. I'll also add at least 10k or more primers to any online powder order, to break up the overall HazMat shipping fees. For the most part, buy projectiles in lots no smaller than 1k lots whenever possible, sometimes larger (cases). If buying in smaller quantities, finding a decent LGS for components may be a better deal, especially on powder and primers. |
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Add up all the money you spend on equipment and your time, and from a strictly money stand point, it is not worth it. Reloading is a hobby in itself. Do it because you enjoy it. Dillon equipment will often sell for more than your purchase price if you keep it a few years. 
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Quoted: Looks like y'all are going to have one more person to compete with. Just have to go ahead and get the money together. What's a good starter press? I've seen jut about every video on YouTube about reloading RCBS, and Hornady kits are better quality, but cost more. Dillon or Hornady if you want a quality progressive. Do some reading at the top of the page, look in Reloading Tools and Equipment for the Required tools you will need to reload. Get a copy of "ABC's of Reloading" the best biginner book. Explains the tools, components, and the process of reloading. |
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If you shoot a lot, perhaps. There are benefits of "cost savings", higher quality than factory, sense of pride in your ammo, ect... However, if you don't shoot but once or twice a year I can see how it would be hard to justify getting started. It can cost a little $$ or a lot of $$$$$ depending on what kind of equipment you want and how many calibers you load. Also, if you lack patience and/or attention to detail then reloading might not be for you. How much free time do you have; how much do you value that time? Reloading is a whole new hobby in and of itself. ETA: Coming to a reloading forum and asking if reloading is worth it is like going to Ford and asking the salesperson if you should buy a Ford....
+1 Very well said!!!!! |
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I can get .40 S&W for .33 cents a round per thousand, .60-.70 cents a round for .308, depending on what type of round anywhere from .33 cents a round to .53 cents a round, and 30-06 at + - .60 cents a round per thousand. Would reloading beat this? At today's prices 30-06 at Powder Valley using Hornady 168gr BTHPM, IMR4350, CCI LRP, Hazmat fee, and Winchester Brass (assuming 7 loads), the cost is $0.52 per round purchasing 1k worth of components. Is that the round you purchase for +/- $0.60? 308 would cost about the same as component wise there's not much difference. Or if one is unconcerned about the bullet and just wants something that goes somewhere down range, the cost using lead bullets drops to $0.39/round. (No offense intended to boolit enthusiasts.) So there's room to play around with your costs, if that's what you want. 223 currently costs me about $0.23/round for Hornady 55gr jacketed. I don't do 40, but 45ACP costs me $0.18/round for 230gr RN plated bullets, $0.17/round for 200gr SWC. I don't count brass costs because, like 40, 45ACP and 9mm can be obtained free and last "forever". For pistol costs, 8lb powder cost (10k rounds) was used - no point in buying 1k rounds worth of pistol powder lol. Yes, reloading beats factory several ways IF YOU HAVE THE TIME AND THE INTEREST. It's less expensive and more likely a better performer in YOUR firearms. IF YOU HAVE THE TIME. |
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I enjoy reloading almost as much as shooting. It's kind of fun when you try new powders and new projectiles. Working up loads and testing them out, making them match perfectly with YOUR firearms.
If you don't have patience and a high detail though it could backfire on you, literally. |
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If someone is only loading 200rds/month, I wouldn't suggest buying a progressive if return on investment is high in their priorities. I shot ~6k 9mm and 2k-2500 rounds of .223 last year. Even at today's ammo prices (much lower than they've been with .223 formerly at $1per rd and 9mm at nearly so, for generic target ammo, for a while..) of 40c/rd current .223 and 30c/rd for 9mm), my savings vs rounds bought amounted to over $1200..which is more than enough to cover e.g. LnL AP, case feeder, dies, trimmer, etc. If I were to include ammo coats vs loading costs during the insanity period last year, reloading for a single year also covered not only reloading equipment, but also my stockpile of powder, primers, and projectiles. It is a long term game, though, as buying in bulk helps with long term savings, at the 'cost' of higher initial outlay. For example, I almost always buy powder in 20-40# lots online, or 8# jugs from a LGS, including for pistol. 8# of powder for 9mm is enough for 10k+ rounds. I'll also add at least 10k or more primers to any online powder order, to break up the overall HazMat shipping fees. For the most part, buy projectiles in lots no smaller than 1k lots whenever possible, sometimes larger (cases). If buying in smaller quantities, finding a decent LGS for components may be a better deal, especially on powder and primers. Quoted:
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No not really because you can't find anything right now. After you spend the time researching and buying the tools you'll be behind that much ammo you could have shot every weekend slowly and become a better shot while your new to reloading freinds covet their 100 bullets as if they were made from solid gold. Its a long term investment and it depends how much you want to invest and how long you want to do it. There is a spreadsheet on the Internet going around that allows you to enter the cost of reloading and compares it to shooting prices and it tells you based on how many rounds you shoot per month how many months it takes to make the money back. Longest I could make it was about two years doing 200 rounds a month with the Dillon setup I wanted. If someone is only loading 200rds/month, I wouldn't suggest buying a progressive if return on investment is high in their priorities. I shot ~6k 9mm and 2k-2500 rounds of .223 last year. Even at today's ammo prices (much lower than they've been with .223 formerly at $1per rd and 9mm at nearly so, for generic target ammo, for a while..) of 40c/rd current .223 and 30c/rd for 9mm), my savings vs rounds bought amounted to over $1200..which is more than enough to cover e.g. LnL AP, case feeder, dies, trimmer, etc. If I were to include ammo coats vs loading costs during the insanity period last year, reloading for a single year also covered not only reloading equipment, but also my stockpile of powder, primers, and projectiles. It is a long term game, though, as buying in bulk helps with long term savings, at the 'cost' of higher initial outlay. For example, I almost always buy powder in 20-40# lots online, or 8# jugs from a LGS, including for pistol. 8# of powder for 9mm is enough for 10k+ rounds. I'll also add at least 10k or more primers to any online powder order, to break up the overall HazMat shipping fees. For the most part, buy projectiles in lots no smaller than 1k lots whenever possible, sometimes larger (cases). If buying in smaller quantities, finding a decent LGS for components may be a better deal, especially on powder and primers. If someone plans to reload long term and only shoots 200 rounds a month right now buying ammo I would HIGHLY suggest they buy a progressive because they will shoot more and at their current pace it will only take two years to pay for itself. Make that 400 and it becomes one year. Start reloading and you'll see how easy it is to shoot that much a month. You're $1200 math supports buying a progressive even more. My math was one caliber. Shoot 200 rounds per month of 40 and 45 and it's paid for itself even faster. I make 45 for about 20 cents a round, buying it costs 50 cents for the cheapest stuff I can find when I want to go shooting. EDIT: Just checked my sheet. if I made 10,000 rounds of 40 using Xtreme 180 gr bullets (and they're a 30 minute drive from work), 4.5 grains of W231 powder and bought primers at $40/1000 it costs $0.184/round. Remington UMC is $95/250 at Cabelas (and we have on in Reno). I also priced 8lbs of W231 at $175 because I feel I could be within a few dollars of retail prices with that number after online research. Shooting 25 rounds per week of just this one bullet, and adding in $1200 of brand new reloading equipment it will take 56 months to recover the costs of bullets. Add in 25 rounds of 45ACP and you're down to 24.5 months. Make it 50 rounds of each a week and you're down to 12.3 months. The price difference between Xtreme Bullets 45 and 40 isn't even worth calculating since I used $54/500 and that's above what I pay locally. So again, I would suggest buying something like a Dillon 550 for someone looking to reload more than one caliber since the Dillon isn't auto advance so it's similar to a single stage. I'm not saying to get into reloading FOR the savings but I AM saying DON'T go cheap on a setup in the beginning. Buy once, cry once. When you break it down to how much you ARE saving, it's much easier, in my opinion, to justify spending $1200 on reloading equipment you won't need to ever replace. All you need to do is shoot 400 rounds a month of 40 and 45 and in two years you're a better shot AND you've paid off your reloading investment. Everything from here on out is saving you money. |
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IMO if your strictly loading for the savings then your both wrong and imo misguided. Yes it is much cheaper BUT imo any savings gets eaten up by more conponents and tools its always a work in progress
in addition FOR ME at least its all about loading MORE ACCURATE AMMO THAN YOU CAN BUY !!!! but its definitely not about savings since I started loading I also started moastly by default its like stepping stone into wet tumbling from homeade tumbler annealing and casting lead bullets (which is a whole another topic |
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Like many people here, I started reloading to save money. I bought my first press at a garage sale for $25. There was enough stuff included, that it was like buying one of the kits today. All I needed to start was 9mm dies and components. I discovered that I really enjoyed it. I mean REALLY enjoyed it. Almost as much as shooting and way more than cleaning. I find it relaxing. I often reload in the evenings after work to decompress. That used to be time I wasted watching TV or something equally wasteful. It is also something that I've gotten my kids involved with and have spent some quality time with them doing. Finally, I like collecting old military rifles, and if I didn't reload, many of them would be wall-hangers. The stituation is better than when I started, as Hornady has come out with some of the calibers, but back in the 90's, you couldn't find 6.5 Carcano, let alone 6.5X53R. I'm up to 36 different cartridges, and am set with dies to do another 7, but haven't gotten to them yet. I've been reloading for 22 years. Now is a rough time to start, because components have been scarce for the last two years. If you do start, be sure to stock up when things are cheap and available. If I hadn'd done that, I wouldn't have weathered this latest scarcity. Things are looking up, though. Primers are almost back to normal cost, and I was able to do a group buy with some local friends on Berry's Bullets last week. Enjoy. |
| Depends, this guy should buy his ammo. 1 bulged barrel, then set off a primer, then this, with photos. Fire & Kaboom |
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I would recommend the redding t7 turret press as a first investment if you can swing it - particularly for learning on rifle cartridges. It will be useful to you forever if you continue in the hobby. It will lose little value if you decide to sell.
My second alternative would be a Dillon 550. The lack of auto index is good for learning how to load rifle cartridges a little but faster, but dangerous on pistol rounds if you can double charge. Finally, if doing primarily pistol, my third recommendation would be either the 650 or lnl. I think running a progressive on rifle is a few notches harder, but the speed of these on pistol is very nice. |
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To OP - With all the threads one can search showing the cost and performance values of handloading your own, if you have to ask, then no, it's not for you. However, as a near 20 years handloader doing 12 calibers (38spl, 357mag, 40s&w, 10mm, 45 acp, 45 colt, precision .223, 5.56, 30 Carbine, 30-30, .308, and 30-06) with this setup and have produced over 180,000rds, I've done alright. After subtracting the cost of my $4,000+ handloading setup plus the cost of all my components and the 6 leverguns, 6 military rifles, and 6 pistols you see in the pictures below and comparing that total spent to the total retail cost of cheap, Winchester Whitebox level ammo (rather than the precision ammo I produced), I've saved well over $20,000. In addition, if I ever decided to stop and sell out, my on-hand components and Dillon set are worth thousands of dollars and easily sold.  Note: Not all of my components and brass is in this picture as I have a small storeroom to the right not in the picture. Further, these aren't all my firearms, just the ones down here.  How? By smart timely buying of bulk components in large group purchases with friends, by picking up range brass, selling what I didn't need or trading for primers, new brass, etc., that I needed, and for keeping on the lookout for other ways to save. Did it pay off? You bet! For example, I still have over 7,000 rds worth of components to make M193 ammo for my ARs (pulled 55grn FMJ bullets, Win primers, WC844 powder, and 9,000 true once fired LC cases [crimp still in place]). I bought the bullets, primers, and powder in bulk some years ago and picked up the brass over a few years at our range. I handload them for 8.1¢ per round or $81.00/1K as compared to $400.00/1K at current commercial prices (1/5th the price). At the other extreme, I just started handloading 45colt late last year and bought the components (255grn Elmer Keith lead bullets, Unique powder, Tula primers, and Starline brass [I assume 7 reloadings on the brass]) for 17.7¢ per round or $8.85/box of 50 as compared to $35.00/box of 50 at current commercial prices (1/4th the price). Best of all, I've got plenty of ammo on hand and ready to shoot vs hoping that the local gunshop has a box or two of something close to what I want. And to all those who say, "Yes, but your forgot to add in the price of your time," I answer, "How much then do you charge yourself for sitting at your computer visiting this site and participating? How much for sitting watching television? For any other thing you enjoy?" The answer is nothing because you consider those to be hobbies or relaxing. Well, many of us find handloading a very rewarding hobby and supremely relaxing while also saving us a significant amount of money on another hobby we enjoy. So I close by again saying, "If you have to ask, then it isn't for you." |
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