I see hand loading as another branch of my shooting life. My time at the loading bench is a peaceful distraction free experience, and the sound and feel of the process is something I look forward to. It is art/science/and craftsmanship all rolled into one.

As for the money involved, I am like others here. I don't save any money whatsoever by hand loading. But by casting my own projectiles and buying primers and powders judiciously, I can shoot a whole lot more than if I was trying to shoot sub par factory ammo. Over the last 3 or 4 years, I probably averaged 1k pistol rounds per month down range. No way I could afford to do that if I was buying factory ammo at today's prices.

I've been reloading metal cartridges for about 12 years. I've seen the price of components creep up right along with ammo. I used to reload for my shotguns but lead doubled in price over about a 5 year period. When I started shooting less I sold all of my gear and opted to buy commercial ammo. For some reason target ammo has stayed relatively inexpensive compared to powder and shot.

Moving on to metal cartridges, I would say a good rule of thump is a savings of about 50% after the gear is paid for. $1000 will buy some good gear. Now figure out how long it will take to pay for that loading half price ammo. That depends on how much you shoot. It might take a year or two to pay for that gear. Once it's paid for by reduced ammo costs then you truly are building ammo for half price. There are other benefits also. You can make ammo when none is available commercially.

I'm also retired, have been for 10 years, so I can load a day and shoot a day for less. That works out well if you have more time than money which is my situation. My income is only about half of what it was when I was working. Granted, I'm not on a budget because I have no debt and a decent income but the time vs cost is a good trade off for me. I'm doing something I enjoy and saving a few bucks while I do it. I shoot less than 5K a year yet I still load.

Some who load won't bother with loading 9x19 now because prices are comparable to buying components, but commercial ammo prices fluctuate widely depending on supply and demand.

The cartridges you mentioned are all good candidates for a loader as the commercial ammo prices stay relatively high all of the time. Probably due to low volume sales.

One drawback is component availability. It's been hard to find powder and primers the last few years. That situation has changed so if you jump in, now is a good time. Buy enough powder and primers to keep you going for a few years once you get your loads worked up.

Once you get started you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

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That's just somebody talkin.

]

Oh, I'm not techno challenged, I'm techno DEFEATED!
Have been ever since they invented computers.
Until I figure this stuff out I guess you'll just have to turn head sideways if you're actually that interested at all.

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I don't save any money. Reloading just lets me shoot more on the same budget.

If u take the pic with your phone, u can flip it in the gallery app. Same trick might work flip and back if needed.

I edited it with my phone. Copied pic, rotated and uploaded again.

I may figure it out someday...oh great, I have no idea how I just did that. HA!
Thanks for the advice.

ETA: Well the picture is thinner but at least it's upright.
I'll call that a step in the right direction.

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Allow me to add my two cents. I reload because:
a) I can still shoot when ammo isn't available.
b) I can tailor my ammo to my rifles and pistols to enhance accuracy.
c) I can compete more often.
d) I don't like to have to register my ammo purchases.

I have recently returned to reloading a few years ago after I was forced away from shooting as a result of an accident which left me disabled.

I started reloading almost 50 years ago, and started with an RCBS single stage press around 1976. I bought my Dillon SDB around 1984, and upgraded to a 550B about 1990. I bought a lubrisizer about 2000, I've had it all long enough that I think that it is safe to say that my equipment has more than paid for itself. I also cast (and now powder coat) my own bullets which can keep me supplied with bullets and reduces costs, especially with 9mm. Getting into powder coating set me back maybe $50.

Honestly, I haven't done the math after my return to reloading after the accident, but I'm certain that the savings are still impressive. Before my accident, I could load a box of 38 Special wadcutters for about $0.75 a box of 50. Forty-five SWCs would cost about a $1.00 a box. Even at $10 a box of 50 for either cartridge, I'm ahead of the game compared to current prices, especially for revolver ammo!

For my 9mm, 40, and 45 ammo (using powder coated bullets). I suspect that my per round cost is about $0.15-0.17 a round. For 38 Special and 44 Special, I would suspect that I am looking at the same per round cost, when I've seen revolver ammo reaching past $30 a box. I figure that my 357s (Magnum and Sig) might be closer to $0.20 per round. It helps having close to 600# of wheelweights and almost 10K gaschecks on hand!

That was just the handgun side of the equation. I now shoot F class, since I can no longer shoot a service rifle "across the course". My "match grade" ammo can be put together for about $0.70 a round, no matter which cartridge: 223 Rem, 224 Valkyrie, 6.5 Creedmoor, 270 Winchester, 7mm Rem Mag, 30-06, or 308 Winchester. Additional, I just picked up a Rossi R92 as a fun gun in 38 Special/357 Magnum.

Brass is rarely an issue ... I am still loading 38s and 45s which I've used since the 1980s! Semi-auto brass is picked up when I work GSSF matches, since they are "lost brass" matches! The 9mms just replenish themselves!

Powder and primers are purchased when I have the extra money and I can find them at a price that doesn't make me sick. Eight pounds of powder can produce over 10K 38s, maybe 9K 45s or 9mms.

The important point to note is that while others are starving for ammo, you will still have some!

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Judge control not gun control!

When I owned a .41 Mag, I did plenty of handloading for it. Now it is gone, but I still handload for .38/357, .45LC, and more recently added .44Spl/44Mag.

Paid $63/500 LSWC (.44) then $50 for 100 cases and 1000 primers and a can of Trail Boss (yes, it was a good deal ) Didn't use the Trail Boss (yet) but using Green Dot I made 250 rds of .44Spl and 50 of .44 Mag.
Just for the Magnums, I'm figuring .10/each for cases (next round of loads will be free cases), .12/bullet, call it .10/primer (today's prices, not what I paid) and about .04/powder. So that's .36/rd this time, and .26/round each time thereafter (cases will be re-used).

My friend was paying almost $50/50 rds of .44 Mag (when he could find them). So, a buck a round, or .26/rd?

Savings are similar for .41Mag and .45LC, almost as good with .38/357, and pretty good with .45acp, even .380 and 9mm net me some significant savings.

And I always have ammo.

I recently bought a .38/44 Heavy Duty and am about to load up some ammo for that. When was the last time you saw some of those rounds for sale? (Hint; they aren't, but I can make all I want.)

Just do it!
I, like I suspect of the OP, think I have to come up with a practical reason for everything I do, and all too often that must translate to finances somehow. I think others have established here that there are "a lot" of other practical reasons to reload. I do it 'cause I love it! Way, way more than a trip to the beach. Which is enough to pay for most of my kit and a years worth of supplies!
Truly, for me, reloading has not cost me anything at all, rather it saves me money. I have a Redding T7 hidden in a nice cedar entertainment center that I got cheap, and reinforced the daylights out of. I keep it near where my wife likes to sew, and we just hang out and do what we do.
Some have commented that it's fun to go for accuracy on rifles, not so much on pistols. Please let me offer the "opposite" experience! I have probably found rifles slightly more challenging to dial in a "perfect" load for, but once it's found, well, it tends to be more expensive to keep playing. Not so with pistols! Mind, I'm a bullseye shooter, but I love nothing more that loading up 100 rounds across a powder load spectrum, then shoot 4 targets of 5 shots for each load range, discard a flyer or two and average the groups, and I "very rarely" cannot find the potential sweet-spot, then just keep dialing it in that way to the exact tenth of a grain. Sometimes you lose your reference and have to start weighing each bullet and brass, and if you get there, you know you're over the top. Pretty sure there's no practical use for that kind of accuracy from a gun fired at arms length, but man do I enjoy it!
Just do it! If you don't like it, it's one less thing you have to wonder about as you enjoy your retirement, and you will not have lost much if anything for your trouble.

I reloaded for about 30 years but quit when it became a tedious chore instead of an enjoyable hobby. Like all hobbies some people like it and others do not. And your interest in it may come and go.

As the other posters said it is cheaper on a per round basis but most reloaders will shoot more so the total cost is about the same. Not counting equipment the 50% less expensive number seems about right for the calibers you mentioned if you are shooting jacketed bullets but you will save more than that if you are shooting cast bullets.

You will also find yourself going to the range more. For me reloading was a quest to find the best load for a specific gun and that required more trips to the range. This was part of what I enjoyed about reloading. In particular I enjoyed trying to squeeze every last possible bit of accuracy out of my rifles.

If you can borrow your brother's equipment or buy it cheap give reloading a try. If you don't shoot much and don't enjoy it just quit and go back to buying factory, that's what I did with no regrets.

RIGHT NOW, 9mm is reasonably priced, but ANYHING can cause prices to blow up. But .357, .4X cal and rifle cartridges can save considerable money with each round. Stock up on components when prices are reasonable and you'll have them when prices ARE unreasonable, which nowadays is much of the time. i would CERTAINLY give it a try.

For pistols I use a lot of coated lead bullet, which can be pushed pretty fast (if wanted) and are darn cheap, about .08-.10 cents each.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

My play area. Built it after Irene flooded the house. Used to be a 10x10 kitchen addition. Repurposed an atrium door by cutting down the non opening side and using frosted glass for the narrow part. Was wanting to frost the inside of the door and add Spade and Archer to it.

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I cast my own bullets and powder coat them myself. Have not noticed any leading no matter how fast I have pushed them.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Great quotes from previous posts...

"I always have ammo..."

"I save..?"

"You'll shoot more..."

Etc.

Cheers!

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Sit Reloader Sentiret

Thanks a lot for all the info. My brother is more than happy to give me his reloading equipment. He does not have the patience for it. He hates it.LOL Good for me.

Along with everything else, I load 10mm and .41 mag. They can, and have been, hard to find at times and created a driving force for my decision to take up reloading. As my eyes got a little fuzzy I took to rifle and got a Rock chucker in addition to my Dillon progressive. Reloading rifle rounds added a whole new dimension to the hobby that I really enjoy.

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Time wounds all heels

Lots of great info here. I will follow up. Thanks again. I think you have to have the right mind set to reload. Like I said the only person I know that tried it was my brother and he is hyper active and no patience. Said it was a complete waste of time. LOL

...and it need not be 'permanent'. I had my press on my workbench in the garage but it was too hot or too cold much of the year. I mounted the press on a sturdy piece of 3/4" plywood and c-clamped it to a desk in our spare room. It works GREAT, and I can reload comfortably any time I feel like it. Or remove it if I feel like it.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

... what are we looking at?

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

When i got into reloading, i figured it would not save a lot of money, and this was when primers were between 2 and 3 cents. Problem was the pricey projectile. So i had to get into casting bullets, but i wanted lots of them without too much hazzle. So i ordered a bunch of 6 cavity molds, tumble lube design. And a Lee bottom pour pot. I cast, tumble and load. No handling of individual bullets till loading. Now, i load my box of 44 Magnum for like 5 bucks. So, about ten times less than business price. A bit more with magnumish powders, i mostly load them for paper punching. 9 mm i load for a bit less than 4 bucks, but i got a crapton of primers in time. What is tedious is working up my free rangescrap lead into ingots. But well, 90 pounds at a time can be made. Thats good for some shooting. Casting bullets is a relaxing activity. I do not have to cast bullets all too often, as i cast between 1000 and up to 3000 in one sitting. Whenever i open the 6 cavity mold of the .430 bullets, one buck worth of bullets is falling out... I like it. I also bought a stash of 700 pounds of printing lead to make good alloys. Powdercoating is an alternative to that. I also do not have a dedicated space. All the stuff is mobile, i plant it where i want to hang around. Happy shooting, maybe also loading and casting!

If you do not shoot a lot do not bother. It is a great hobby but not everyone's cup of tea. Just buy ammunition by the case and save money that way.

I have been shooting 60 years and I really enjoy shooting. For the cost of one box of store bought factory ammunition I can shoot three times more.

My stuff is all pretty much stationary as I am not planning on going anywhere soon (I hope). Have a room 12'X 20' for reloading, gun safes. books and work bench. I buy sparingly now as the prices are up. Was gifted some componets and that helps the cause.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

As noted, you will save some decent $$ vs factory ammo. If your brother gives you the equipment you’re well on the way. Primers and bullets have went up in the last couple years (what Hasn’t?) but you can still save a good bit. Powder has 7000 grains/pound. If you load takes 10 grains that’s 700 rounds. Some of the 30 and 9 mm loads take 3-5 grains. Lots of rounds per pound. Get a good manual and work up to a load You like. I tend to find one or two per caliber and stay with it. I run an ancient Lee turret press, with a different turret for each caliber. Load 9, 45, 38/357, 44 Mag and 45acp. Good luck and enjoy your new hobby��

I had a buddy that had a small ranch house, and a wife and 2 kids. He started reloading for the fun and cost savings, but had no place to do it.

He put his components in a steel locker in the garage. His press and powder equipment was on a board he kept in the closet. After dinner and the dishes were done he clamped the board to the kitchen table with a c-clamp and bullets were made.