Cost comparison of factory vs. reload ammo

[JPG]

Starting to think about getting into reloading. I’ve been hesitant because I’ve heard that the costs are negligible.

I watched this video and there seems to be a pretty good savings, although you’d probably shoot more.

 

[outrider58]

One aspect nobody considers is the money tied up in reloading components. The only time a true value can be assessed(in my view) is when the sum total of components are counted, yet even then, they don't count because the labor has not figured into the equation. You can do the math and say "x" round cost "y" cents to make, but still your "profit" is tied up in materials.

Can reloading save you money? Sometimes. But that usually isn't the reason to or point of reloading.

 

[Melnic]

Its a hobby unto itself. If you negate the time involved in both reloading and learning that is the only way you can say "its cheaper".
There are some aspects of reloading I do because I either can not get factory ammo easily (old milsurps) or I can tune a load to be more accurate.
MANY of my milsurps shoot better with my reloads than any factory ammo I can find.
Same thing with some other firearms.

Yes, My $ in 9mm and 45 is about 6-7 cents a round (bump that up to 12 cents if I had to buy primers today), even paying 4 cents for the primers I purchased 2 years ago, there is a lot of time per round spent. But I consider that "the hobby".

 

[RRomig]

All in what your loading and what equipment your using. My son and I shot cowboy for years. We shot match legal 357 and we loaded what couldn’t be bought and saved a ton of money. I have yet to load 9mm but I have everything needed. Some people enjoy it like washing a car. Both are things I do by necessity. I’d rather shoot and drive.
I can get on a roll and crank out 900 to a 1000 an hour with my 650 dillon

 

[Triggerfinger]

Probably the most expensive time to be getting into reloading and acquiring components can be a challenge. However, buy when you can and buy the most you can.

 

[Rockzilla]

Starting in reloading, the equipment you need to purchase / time involved.
Reloading is like starting your own business, you invest in things that you
need to run your business and deprecate it over the years. So you buy the
equipment to reload, presses, dies, scales, powder measures, trimmers, etc.
that will be the upfront costs per say. and you re-coup the investment over
time.
Then it depends on what you plan on reloading and just how much shooting
you plan on doing. There are many variables that affect the cost per round,
are you planning on shooting lead bullets, casting your own (more investment
in equipment) on and on. Next up it depends on what cartridge you plan on
reloading. some can be rather expensive to buy factory ammo for and some
there is none, but to reload. In the long run you will save more with reloading
your own.
Some of us do it for the enjoyment, relaxing or to get away, that's
why some don't even worry about the time. Then you tailor the load to your
one gun, instead of buying factory ammo with the one size fits all thinking.
Reloading is a great hobby, been doing it for over 50 years now, reload for
everything I shoot. 17 Rem, 22 Hornet out to 50 BMG, lots in the middle,
even 12ga. wildcats etc.Only one problem it grows on ya, you keep adding
and improving, on what you have. I'm sure others will chime in.

here's a spreadsheet that will help you figure it.
I've used it and modded it, here's the original one
https://ballisticxlr.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/reloadingxlr_v3.3.xlsx

-Rock

 

[spoon059]

I can reload my 30-06 M1 for about 40 cents per round, if I remember correctly. There is someone selling them for about $2.25 a round in classifieds right now. I've got about $300 into used reloading press and dies. At current asking prices, I can break even pretty quick...

 

[Uncle Duke]

If you love to shoot, especially some of today's less common cartridges, reloading can help you do a lot more of that than you otherwise might.

If you want to make ammo that you simply can't buy at any price, reloading is your answer.

If you want to make ammo that is tailored to your specific firearm, and that will outperform factory ammunition, you'll need to reload.

If your only thought surrounding reloading is in seeking some sense of cost savings, without regard to anything else above? And/or if your firearms world is fairly well restricted to 9mm and/or 5.56? Reloading might not be for you.

 

[Mack C-85]

I reload four gauges of shotshells. 12 gauge is the most expensive to load and cheapest to buy. Current price per box is $10 + for new vs. ~$6.50/box to reload. As the size goes down, so does the cost to reload due to smaller powder and shot charges. With .410 and 28 being the most saved reloading as new is running $15+. My reloading presses have long ago paid for themselves so that doesn't figure anymore.

Component availability and cost is another discussion.

P.S. labor is a pretty much break even. With the lack of new available shells, by the time I run around and find new, I can load a flat.

Sent from my SM-A326U using Tapatalk

 

[alucard0822]

Some loads save more money than others. Some can produce calibers that you can't buy loaded. Some can load for accuracy or a specific factor like minimal recoil or major PF for competition.

If you just want to load mediocre full power 115gr FMJ 9mm, might not save much money if any at all vs factory.

Want to load a 124gr plated to just over 125PF for 3 gun, can save a little reloading.

Want to load 300BO subs, magnum pistol ammo or most any full power rifle ammo, can probably save 50%.

Want an obscure round, wax bullets to practice quickdraw, to play with a wildcat, something new, maybe load some very light loads for a milsurp so a kid can fire it. Yup reloading is the inly way.

 

[Rockzilla]

I reload four gauges of shotshells. 12 gauge is the most expensive to load and cheapest to buy. Current price per box is $10 + for new vs. ~$6.50/box to reload. As the size goes down, so does the cost to reload due to smaller powder and shot charges. With .410 and 28 being the most saved reloading as new is running $15+. My reloading presses have long ago paid for themselves so that doesn't figure anymore.

Component availability and cost is another discussion.

P.S. labor is a pretty much break even. With the lack of new available shells, by the time I run around and find new, I can load a flat.

Sent from my SM-A326U using Tapatalk

^^ this.. Components are the costly thing right now, if in some cases
you can find them. Labor I don't even figure that in. Reloading is
not a J.O.B.I know some that say the labor involved on and on. that's
one persons opinion. Won't go into box of 338 Lapua cost, 408 Cheytac,
44 Mag, 45 Colt. There are others but it pays and the more reloads you
can squeeze out of that one case the better. will it stop at one press, one
caliber probably not..

-Rock

 

[outrider58]

All in all, I'd say reloading is 80% hobby, 20% cost efficiency(not to say 20% isn't the sum total). I'm saying, it's the reasoning behind reloading.

Just like ammo, buy it cheap, stack it(components) deep. That will allow you to shoot as often as you want, no matter the going rate for factory ammo. It's a freedom thing.

 

[Trigger Time]

Also keep in mind that Maryland's leftist do-gooders are patting themselves on the back rite now as they pass the so called "Ghost Gun bill" but come this time next year when they see it has done nothing to stop the murderous thugs of Baltimore, they will be back looking for ways to take ammo off the streets, or at least make it so expensive or troublesome to sell that no one will bother with it.

 

[j8064]

Some loads save more money than others. Some can produce calibers that you can't buy loaded. Some can load for accuracy or a specific factor like minimal recoil or major PF for competition.

Whelp, here we go again . Alucard pretty much sums it up in his first sentence. As others have posted, reloading is a combination of cost savings, necessity and hobby with some passion mixed in.

I’ve been loading my own ammo for 35+ years. I can’t recall when I last purchased factory ammo besides 22LR. I have equipment to load 40+ calibers and the components to build food to feed the wide variety of toys in my collection. And I have the tools to cast booliits for the toys that like them. Keep in mind, the tools we older reloaders have aren’t cheap to buy these days.

To me, it comes down to how much you shoot a toy. Example: I just loaded 200 rounds of 10mm with CB’s I cast for a recent Glock acquisition. Next I’ll reload some 7.7J rounds for a T99 Arisika. Then some 45-70 BPCR rounds for a Sharps.

My point? Reloading depends on the ROI…

 

[guzma393]

You don't really save money reloading. You're too busy allocating the money you saved into more components and equipment to feed the toys you buy because you can reload for them . Shooting can get expensive. Reloading just makes you shoot more and make you buy more exotic toys.

Then there's the time factor to it, but like what everyone else says, reloading is a hobby. Personally, the time investment is worth it, as reloads always shoots better than factory ammo. Even the progressive loaded, powder coated, cast bullet 9mm range fodder I load up is much more superior than any factory 9mm bulk range ammo I've used.

 

[Harrys]

Also keep in mind that Maryland's leftist do-gooders are patting themselves on the back rite now as they pass the so called "Ghost Gun bill" but come this time next year when they see it has done nothing to stop the murderous thugs of Baltimore, they will be back looking for ways to take ammo off the streets, or at least make it so expensive or troublesome to sell that no one will bother with it.

Look at CA laws you now need to provide your driver's license to buy ammo and you are limited on the amount. They found it did not stop any of the thugs from killing people. The new rumbling from a friend is that CA will stop online ordering of ammo, powders and other reloading supplies. I see a black market forming like prohibition had for alcohol.

 

[lazarus]

One aspect nobody considers is the money tied up in reloading components. The only time a true value can be assessed(in my view) is when the sum total of components are counted, yet even then, they don't count because the labor has not figured into the equation. You can do the math and say "x" round cost "y" cents to make, but still your "profit" is tied up in materials.

Can reloading save you money? Sometimes. But that usually isn't the reason to or point of reloading.

True, but other than some labor, how is a bunch of reloading components sitting around any different than a bunch of ammo sitting around? Unless you only buy ammo at the point of use…

I’ve got a few thousand tied up in factory ammo I haven’t shot yet. I also have a few thousand tied up in reloading components and I tend to load ammo a few weeks before I shoot it (sometimes I keep reloads for a few months/half a year on hand for some stuff I don’t shoot often).

The difference is, let’s say it is $2000 of factory ammo and $2000 of components. The later represents somewhere around 3x the factory ammo in number of rounds once assembled.

But sure, it’ll be a long time before I’ve saved as much money on reloading gear AND components as the actual reloads I’ve shot. I’ve probably come vaguely close to having shot as many reloads as my reloading equipment the last couple of years since I’ve started.

It’ll be years till I’ve saved as much as I’ve spent on components.

 

[holesonpaper]

Should you venture into reloading? That answer is yes if you like to shoot a lot or want to venture into the precision world. Couple thoughts though - it's expensive. You might start small but eventually you'll learn and expand. Learning and expanding eventually leads to things like progressive press, powered case trimmer, auto-powder measure, etc... Eventually the tradeoff pays for itself, but it takes a while. As I see it - my time is worth money, so I spend a little more to get the same, or better, job done faster.

The next issue is component availability. Some of the more widely used powders are non-existent right now and primers are not much better. Certain bullets are hard to find and certain brass has been spotty. And what you do find jumps back to point #1 - expensive.

Best of luck...

 

[rcreynolds]

Once you have the equipment then the cost of reloading is about 1/2 that of buying ammo. If you cast your own bullets then the saving can be reduced to say 25% of over the counter.

 

[Biggfoot44]

I'll continue various themes :

Yes , handloading * can* be a hobby in itself . Likewise , bullet casting .

Yes , the cliche of " you won't spend less $ , you'll shoot more for same $ " has a fair amount of truth .

Potential savings are primarily a factor of the baseline of the particular factory ammo , Plus the availability or non availability of particular ammo .

Want to shoot say 7.65 Argentine ? Good luck finding any factory loads , but the component costs will be similar to .308 .

Want a particular performance level , say 900 fps .44 Spl , 1050 fps .44 Mag , 250gr RNFP .45acp , 100gr DEWC .38 Spl , .38 S&W w/ .361 dia bullets to fit your throats , .338 Mag dialed back to .30-06 recoil levels , because that's all you need in Md/ Eastern US , and you're not masochistic ? Etc , etc . You can reload them for basically same $ as reload standard loadings , and factory is either non existent , or $$$ boutique .

Do mainly shoot the half dozen or so most popular rounds , and are reasonably satisfied with the plethora of generic bulk commercial ammo ? The cost savings are the least , and dependent on getting good deals on bulk components .