Very late to this thread, but I have news for everyone... if you are going to cast, prepare to go in debt. Smith Crazy didn't originally add in the price of the mould, the handles, the lube, or the sizer for his cast bullets. So I see his cost for the bullets as skewed.

I, too, cast, and have for about 30 years. I started with a loaned pot, a four-cavity Lyman 429421 and handles for $35, and a Lyman 45 sizer I gave $40 for. I have since graduated to about 75 moulds, almost half of them Hensley and Gibbs blocks that run anywhere from $100 to well over $300, and an original Star sizer with 12 dies at $40 per. I buy lube in bulk, and have over 4k of lino, pure lead, and wheel weights stacked up in the garage. No way I have saved any money, fellows. It is just a fact!

Guys, it is a disease, and there is no cure for it. But there is a very large support group...

How long does it take to pay off a $500 investment when you shoot bullets that cost .002 cents versus 11 cents a piece?

Does it take time? Um, yeah, we have been through all of that. Do you want to get payed for playing golf or riding your bike or ........ building that cute little bird house? Whatever.

No, the cost is assuming that you have amortized the cash outlaid to do the hobby. Still, it is a pipe dream in actuality but it does work on paper!

I have seen this issue arise repeatedly here, generally from those who are contemplating reloading, and virtually everyone tells such people that they won't save the money, but just shoot more and thus spend the same amount that they would otherwise have spent on factory ammunition.

Apparently that is true for most of the posters here, but it has never been the case with me. Probably 90% of my shooting practice is defensive, and I knew when I got into it that, in order to become reasonably proficient, I would have to practice regularly. It was immediately apparent that I wouldn't be able to afford using factory ammo to do this.

But it was also clear that I only had so much time to practice, which I couldn't exceed. But I needed to practice that amount of time in order to "become reasonably proficient". Consequently I would shoot the same amount whether I used factory ammo or assembled my own. This is in fact what has happened; therefore I am indeed saving a great deal on my ammunition by reloading it.

As far as the time expended reloading, it isn't time I could otherwise use to make money anyway, so I don't count it as additional expense.

Andy

"when you shoot bullets that cost .002 cents versus 11 cents a piece"

Two thousandths of a cent per bullet? A thousand bullets for two cents? Huh?

I agree, not only how much you shoot, also WHAT you shoot. 9mm at 10-12 bucks a box, probably not worth your time. 44 Mag at $32-$40 a box, well yeah. Cases and cases of shot shells for trap, probably worth it. Couple boxes a year of 30/30 for practice & whitetails, no deal.

Once I got a few hundred free .44 Magnum brass and some boolets, so had to buy dies and a couple of Rugers to shoot the product in, that was some expensive free brass!

Well, sure! I happen to be able to score lead pretty reasonably. Even FREE at times!

At FREE for the material, what do bullets cost then? How long does it take to pay for equipment when you get the base bullet material for nothing?

I have several moulds now too, not 75 though and only a couple of them are H&G. They are great moulds too! I have several Mihec moulds and they are pretty good as well. Let's say one mould costs $150. Purchased lead bullets around here go for $75/500 for 230gr RN in .452". At FREE lead for making them, how long does it take to make up that $150? To me, and remember, this works on paper, that would be after I make 1000 bullets of that size, weight and caliber.

I scored 450# of wheel weights once for $30. 450 * 7000gr = 3150000gr or 13695, 230gr bullets for $30 (I know, not exactly because of scrap, still.....) That makes each bullet come to .002 DOLLARS (my bad above, forgive the error) or 1000 bullets for $2, STILL mighty cheap bullets, right?

'Nuff said......

convert your 38s to 9mm, shoot the cheaper ammo. plus a wide range of self defense ammo. I plan on converting a few guns, But geting Pinnacle to answer there e-mails is the hardest part of the venture. Then you have to shoot enough to pay for the conversion. OH guess I`m not saving money

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The absence of pain is...death

I cannot even begin to fathom someone contemplating doing something like this to a 38spl!

Why, it is almost,.......sacrilege!

If we still loaded the 38spl to the levels that the Hi-Vel loads were, no one would be converting nothing!

(Bad grammer/english but it serves the point!)

Why would someone buy a new gun, when there are so many cheaper perfectly good used ones out there. Because we are all dain bramaged

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The absence of pain is...death

Equipment: I got a second used Dillon 550B for $250 and an second RCBS Rock Chucker Press and Uniflow powder measure for $30. The RCBS stuff needed a lot of love to function.

At this time I have ~40 gallons (yes gallons as measured by 1 gallon milk jugs) of brass: 38, 357, 9 mm, 40, 44 mag, 45, 223, 25-06, 7 mm mag, 30-06, 45-70. There are ~88,000 primers (sm pistol, lg pistol, sm rifle, lg rifle) and 75 pounds of assorted powders. Can somebody explain to me how I am saving money? I didn't even list the casting equipment and bullet molds.

I'm retired so my labor is free, lead is range scrap pickings/siftings, and brass was range pick up. In just 2 months at a public range on Saturdays, I was given over 450 once fired 7 mm mag cases for my single shot rifle .

I can't afford to save any more money, I'll have to build a bigger money closet.

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S&WHF 366

I'm even worse. I am an equipment hound! I have said on more than one occasion, and don't anyone get mad here, that I would never have an RL550.

So, I'm on ebay tonight fooling around and see an RL450 out there. Pretty reasonable and it uses the same shell plates as the RL550, yada, yada, and the next thing I know is it says: "You won!"

Now I am thinking of how in the world I am going to justify that additional cost!

Maybe I will use it to teach reloading at the local gun store!

Now that's a thought!

NO !

Every time I see a nice bullet mold, an old Star lube-sizer, an old Hollywood Senior or RCBS A2 Press, or a bucket of wheel weights or linotype it ends up in my truck ! I have thousands of bullets cast and piles of brass. When I die and all of this is sold for a profit then and only them will there be a "savings" ! There are a few thousands of pounds of lead in the shop. It is like gold in the bank !

Jerry

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.38/44 Outdoorsman Accumulator

Newb here and have not read the entire thread.....

But the OP says you can save if you cast your own. I looked into this recently, and if you get free wheel weights (which I doubt many really do these days) this may be true. But I priced buying lead alloy compared to bulk cast lead hand gun bullets (Suters/Oregon) and i could not match the cost per bullet if I just bought the bullets. Plus I'd need the equipment - pot, mold, sizer/luber, etc. Don't get me wrong - I'd invest in the equip, but for the time involved, I'll just buy bullets.

Shooter686

But, if you could get your alloy for free, which I can do for the most part, you can save money by casting, period. I have never bought pure alloy, never. I want to and may in the future but all of my bullets are cast from wheel weights and the costs are as stated.

I don't save money though as I have spent more than needed on equipment and moulds. That is my weakness and not everyone is afflicted with toomanytoolsitis!

Just sayin'!

For accuracy and consistency, you have to reload.

So it isn't an issue of economics.

I dont think you save any money reloading maybe per round it is less.but as you get in to reloading more and more on components and spending more than you would if you where not reloading.By all means one things for sure youll be shooting more SO BE IT

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A false statement for sure. You DO SAVE PER ROUND on every round of ammo you make. Whether you choose to shoot mroe or spend the "saving" on something else i son you. I like that flexability; I can shoot more for the same price or shoot the same & save money, my choice. Factory ammo just doesn't give you that. Not to mention the ability to tailor your ammo to your needs. I like shooting my 44mags a lot, but not a lot w/ full house jacketed ammo.

True - if lead were free it bumps up the savings. I reload and have for so many years that the initial investment in equipment is long gone. I usually just figure the price of the bullets, primers, and powder in the cost of my loads - and it is usually a savings over factory, sometimes considerable such as with .45 Colt. Way back when when I first started loading it was always a savings and a quality handload beat store bought any day. Now not so much depending upon the particular round you want to assemble. 9mm and .223 can be dirt cheap pre-assembled. I continue to reload because its part of the overall experience of the shooting hobby.

Shooter686

The money has become secondary to me. I started out simply reloading to save a buck but find myself trying to find that perfect SD load for the .38 snubby or see how far I can reduce the muzzle flip in a 9C and still make it cycle reliably. These are puzzles of my own creation that could take quite some time to solve. And besides, there are times I just need to get down in the basement, put on a pot of coffee and get a rhythm going.

I've thought about trying something different but I know I'd never figure out how to get the boat out once it was built.

How does he get them out? haha Good one!

What did i do?

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I started reloading 14 years ago to "save money". I haven't really realized any real reductions in cost, but I really enjoy shooting my ammo and have learned a great deal about how things go on with my guns.

I relax when I'm in my den and producing quality rounds. How much is it worth? Priceless. Nirvana, Zen, wife upstairs...

It is what you make it and want it to be.

I'm now going downstairs to trim some new LC 5.56. Ohmmmm.

Hobie

hand loading has saved me many dollars and has become a great hobby. I have made many good friends during the process that has enriched my life........ priceless

NO! Hehe...