cost of reloading?

[Mcwsky09]

It's a complete myth that reloaders somehow shoot so much that they're spending just as much as before. By next May, the cost of my equipment will be paid for, and I will have a nice stash of ammo to shoot.

You milage may vary - but I don't think that anyone was suggesting that reloading somehow forces you to shoot so much that you spend the same amount of dollars overall.

Saving money per round ENABLES you to have more rounds at your disposal such that if you are inclined and are able to you can either take more rounds per range trip or go to the range more often for the same $. If discretionary funds are not a limiting factor in the number of rounds per trip or number of trips per year for you then saving money per round may not be a factor at all.

The statements made are a reflection of the fact that many people who get into reloading find that regardless of their intentions starting out that in retrospect they spent the same overall amount of their discretionary funds on their hobby/practice/training/etc as they would have if not reloading and along the way go to enjoy shooting more for no overall increase cost.

Then you have the serious hand loaders who tailor a recipe to each individual firearm and range and type of target.

As with many things if you were abel to collect enough data you would expect to find a distribution across a spectrum of reloaders - those who spend less money each year as they did before reloading, those who spend the same, and those who spend more, where the bulk of folks would fall somewhere in the middle of the range.

 

[kbm6893]

You milage may vary - but I don't think that anyone was suggesting that reloading somehow forces you to shoot so much that you spend the same amount of dollars overall.

Saving money per round ENABLES you to have more rounds at your disposal such that if you are inclined and are able to you can either take more rounds per range trip or go to the range more often for the same $. If discretionary funds are not a limiting factor in the number of rounds per trip or number of trips per year for you then saving money per round may not be a factor at all.

The statements made are a reflection of the fact that many people who get into reloading find that regardless of their intentions starting out that in retrospect they spent the same overall amount of their discretionary funds on their hobby/practice/training/etc as they would have if not reloading and along the way go to enjoy shooting more for no overall increase cost.

Then you have the serious hand loaders who tailor a recipe to each individual firearm and range and type of target.

As with many things if you were abel to collect enough data you would expect to find a distribution across a spectrum of reloaders - those who spend less money each year as they did before reloading, those who spend the same, and those who spend more, where the bulk of folks would fall somewhere in the middle of the range.

I know nobody is forced to shoot more when they reload, but look back at this thread. How many people said reloading won't save you a dime because you'll just shoot more for the same money?

I don't want to spend 1000 bucks a year on ammo if I shoot 2000 rounds of .38. So I'll shoot those same 2000 rounds and spend $160. And all of my equipment (and I bought stuff I probably didn't need. Got a Hornady sonic cleaner and gonna tumble my brass before sonic cleaning too), cost me less than the $840 I will save my first year. And I haven't even started to load 9MM or 30-06 yet. And after that first year, it's $1000 a year in my pocket, minimum.

 

[novalty]

Casting, reloading and Cabelas points save me so much money shooting, that most don't believe me when I tell them how much per round it costs me. Now if I could only find free lead. This is my hobby and past-time, so no I do not factor in my time.

 

[fredj338]

Casting, reloading and Cabelas points save me so much money shooting, that most don't believe me when I tell them how much per round it costs me. Now if I could only find free lead. This is my hobby and past-time, so no I do not factor in my time.

Yep, I get tired hearing the "you just shoot more", many of us don't. I would shoot every weekend if I bought factory I would just be poorer for it. I also would never have bought some of the guns I have because ammo is too expensive (magnum anything) or not available (338-06, 404jeffery, 338x74K, etc).

 

[blujax01]

Yep, I get tired hearing the "you just shoot more", many of us don't. I would shoot every weekend if I bought factory I would just be poorer for it. I also would never have bought some of the guns I have because ammo is too expensive (magnum anything) or not available (338-06, 404jeffery, 338x74K, etc).

So you do shoot more - calibers, that is.

 

[hangnoose]

COST

It depends on how far you want to take it and if you want "THE BEST". You will always NEED something new/ replaced/ materials (even after 40 years). BUT it is still cheaper than buying factory, you get a load built specifically around YOUR gun, there is no shortage (if you can get materials) or running from place to place to see who has what/ mail ordering, and you can get good deals on "obsolete" caliber guns where ammo is no longer factory made for. The more rounds you fire the more the savings. I no doubt, with app 15 rifle/pistol calibers I reload & no less than 300 rounds each in my ammo locker have more stock than many stores. I still have to buy 22 lr's which is "challenging" & 22 mags which is downright hard and/or expensive.

 

[Krell1]

It all really boils down to this:

No matter what anybody else says, if you take the time to reload you'll be able to shoot three times as much when compared to buying factory ammo.

Will you "save"? Probably not, but three times the fun for the same money can't be bad.

 

[Bkreutz]

Simply put, if I didn't load my own ammo, I couldn't afford to shoot the amount that I do. I'm retired so funds aren't unlimited but my retirement activity is pistol shooting. I practice at the range 4 days a week and shoot anywhere from 1-3 matches per week depending on the time of the year. This works out to around 1K per week (used to be more but I've pulled back a bit due to arthritis flare ups in my strong hand). If I had to buy "store bought" ammo, I could only shoot about 25% of what I do now. If that happened I'd probably spend more time watching TV or some other such silly activity like typing on a bunch of online forums . I'm really not competitive any more due to not being able to move as fast as I once could, but since I have never played golf and have no interest in it, I'll keep shooting competition as long as I can drag (or wheel) myself to the starting line. Oops, just looked at the clock, time to go to the range.

 

[Kalison]

I started reloading 38/357 a couple months ago. I started with a Hornady Single Stage. Since I had a lot of "Free" bullets to begin with, loading was extremely cheap for me... however, as already stated, I now shot AT LEAST twice as much as I used to.

Shooting twice as much isn't so bad either, as my reloads were almost a 1/3 of the cost of buying new, so that wasn't a problem....

No, the problem starts when you get addicted and start buying more and more toys.... yeah... all those savings... gone. At least for now... with reloading it will eventually pay for itself.

I will never go back to buying new ammo though. I enjoy this so much, and its become a big hobby for me. Now I chuckle a little bit when I see someone having to pay $23 for 50 rounds of .38 Special... when I have almost 200 rounds for LESS than that waiting for me at home.

 

[m657]

re: " what would it cost me to start reloading?"

what the other real question is "what would it cost if you DON'T start reloading?"

The variables of our OWN behavior on how much/when/etc of our shooting hobby all affect that $$$. What the components/new ammo vendors inflict on us are even less predictable.

Bass boats, golf frenzies and ski fantasies all have imponderable costs as well. There's no way to predict many aspects of such a hobby.

When I was studying 'fly fishing' I had no idea that 'fly tying' would become more satisfying to me than the part of driving out into the wilderness to stand in cold water early in the day to fight the various complexities of survival and mortal combat in feral waters....but that's what happened.

I regard 'reloading' in relation to 'shooting' much like 'tying flies' is to 'fly fishing'.

good luck with your passion what ever it may become

 

[EugeneNine]

I started just last year. Wasn't planning on starting to reload for a few more years but when there was no factory available anywhere I started. So I wanted to keep the cost low.

Saved my brass form the start so the first thing I bought was a $75 tumbler kit to start cleaning it.

Next was $50 for the Lee hand press and another $50 in dies. So it this point I could not decap my saved brass.

Then found some powder and $25 for a scale and I already had calipers so I was good there.

So I had $200 in tools, and then spent maybe $50 in other small things like a primer pocket cleaning tool, bullet remover just in case, loading block, and a manual or two.

So maybe $250 plus a caliper if you have to buy one.

I have tracked all my ammo and components purchases and am pretty much right at 50% the cost of factory for my reloads not counting tools. So the break even is as low as 1500-2000 rounds.