How can you reload for 3 or 4 cents a round?

[1sailor]

It seems that whenever the subject of reloading costs comes up someone will claim that because they cast their own bullets they can reload for about 3 or 4 cents per round (usually in reference to pistol ammo). That's really great but, how? Even if I was given my bullets for free and I was only doing 9mm I can't come close to that. If you got your lead for free and were given your molds, sizing press and dies, lube etc. Powder and primers (even at the prices of a couple years ago) are going to cost more than a nickel per round. Not saying it can't be done, I would just like to know how. Obviously, after a period of time your equipment will have paid for itself but what about the rest?

 

[arjay]

I use bullets primers and powder I bought 15 years ago lol

 

[ralph7]

Probably folks going by what they paid for components back before they went up.

You beat me to it, arjay...

 

[Nightowl]

Maybe some of us forget exactly when we did those calculations. When I cast my own bullets, powder was $5.00 a pound and primers about $5.00 a thousand, it was no problem. Hmmm, that was probably about 50 years ago or so!! The last time I bought primers, they were $35 a thousand. That eats up your 3.5 cents right away, without including powder and all the other costs.
Frankly, I don't even bother to figure costs anymore, I just buy what I need, including bullets and equipment, and load on!

 

[Geno44]

Old components would be the only way. I've told this story before up here but in about 1967 I bought 50 pounds of H4831 and the price was $29.95 delivered from Selma, Alabama to Suburban Chicago. Fifteen years ago primers were 1 cent each in 5000 packages. Jacketed Winchester and Remington bullets in .308 were 5 cents each. Cast lead bullets were 2 to 3 cents each in boxes of 1000. Bullseye powder would load an awful lot of cartridges with 1 pound. I could put together a jacketed 30:06 round for less than 7 cents and a home cast lead cartridge for 2 or 3 cents. This opportunity is gone and will not be coming back unfortunately.

 

[rockquarry]

I don't calculate such and I think it's a waste of time if you enjoy handloading, so my figures may be off, but I'd guess between $.07 - $.10 per round using cast bullets. Even at a dime or a little more, I'm getting a lot of enjoyment for that dime.

$.03 - $.04 per round? Maybe, but I'd probably have to steal half the components to load that cheaply.

 

[1sailor]

Seven to ten cents per round sounds more like it. Figure 1.5 cents for your powder and (at 2019 prices) 3.5 cents per primer that still leaves a reasonable amount for a guy who casts his own.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I am not going to get my calculator out but I just wonder with today's prices

if you can load a box of 9mm less than the $16 box of ammo now ?

All I know that it is the pits, right now.

 

[racoonbeast]

Can't be done. I am not sure that it ever could have been done in recent times. Three or four cents wouldn't cover the cost of powder these days. It would pay for about a third of a primer.

I guess if you want to just forget the price of brass because you have some, cast your own bullets out of scrap lead that you have melted down with a campfire of free wood, and use the powder and primers that you bought back in 1972, you might get a round out for close to this price. I doubt that even then you could turn out a three cent round.

 

[SMSgt]

Pre-2020 component prices.

 

[smoothshooter]

It seems that whenever the subject of reloading costs comes up someone will claim that because they cast their own bullets they can reload for about 3 or 4 cents per round (usually in reference to pistol ammo). That's really great but, how? Even if I was given my bullets for free and I was only doing 9mm I can't come close to that. If you got your lead for free and were given your molds, sizing press and dies, lube etc. Powder and primers (even at the prices of a couple years ago) are going to cost more than a nickel per round. Not saying it can't be done, I would just like to know how. Obviously, after a period of time your equipment will have paid for itself but what about the rest?

No longer possible if you buy your components from this time forward.
The days of cheap primers and powder are gone forever.

 

[tmd17]

No matter how I slice it, I don't save money by hand loading.

What I get is the joy from time at the loading bench plus the the joy of shooting my hand rolled rounds.

The fact that I pull the trigger a whole lot more than my non loading friends for the same money is gravy.

 

[Geno44]

The place for savings today would be the medium size and up rifle cartridges. Very popular pistol cartridges like 9mm not so much but the magnums and .45 Colts are still where significant savings occur.

 

[biku324]

As long as I don't cast up the last of my '70s wheelweights, or burn through my '90s Clinton scare Alox, primers, and powder, I can do it for 3-4 cents per round. There's an end to all of that coming maybe in 4 or 5 years, unfortunately.

 

[Green Frog]

I am not going to get my calculator out but I just wonder with today's prices

if you can load a box of 9mm less than the $16 box of ammo now ?

All I know that it is the pits, right now.

I’m at about 6-8 cents a round with primers , powder, and swaged bullets I’ve had for years. Actually I’ve had most of this stuff so long that whatever I (or my Dad) paid for it has long faded into the mists of time. When I first started reloading back in the 1970s, primers were less than a penny apiece, so if I cast my own bullet I could come in at 3-4 cents, but that was nearly a half century ago.

Froggie

 

[walnutred]

I am not going to get my calculator out but I just wonder with today's prices

if you can load a box of 9mm less than the $16 box of ammo now ?

All I know that it is the pits, right now.

I don't know about 9mm but the 32 acp I'm presently loading cost me about .20 each at todays prices. That's using plated bullets. Since I've not seen factory 32 ACP ammo much under .60 each, even IF you can find it, it's worth while for me. I don't think 9mm would be much more because we're only talking an extra 1.5gn of powder or so. That's using components I bought this year. I finally used up the last of my Alcan primers.

 

[Ruger 13]

I only shoot my own cast bullets!

 

[GypsmJim]

My club's range rents it out to the Police every few months. Free once fired nines are available in large quantities. I picked up enough for a lifetime supply.

When they said that lead wheel weights were going to be outlawed locally, I went to several tire shops and gave the guys a free pizza for a 5 gallon pail. I don't remember how many pizzas it took, but I got 700 pounds of boolit lead. Its my lifetime supply and I consider my boolits to be free.

When the guy on TV said "pandemic" in March 2020 (and remembering the previous crises) I bought a TON of primers at 2.8 cents each.

Half way thru the pandemic I saw that Hodgdon was selling retail online and I bought a ton of powder and almost pre-pandemic prices. They didn't have a limit and the free money from the govmt made me feel it was Ok to pee away the money.

THEREFORE, with the aforementioned prices I am loading many handgun cartridges for about 4 cents a round.

But really, I don't care. I enjoy spending time in the basement with my stereo playing on a rainy day, and I'll be shooting for many years to come.

 

[Heinz]

This is how I keep to $0.03 a shot. No primers, no brass.

 

[AlHunt]

I am not going to get my calculator out but I just wonder with today's prices

if you can load a box of 9mm less than the $16 box of ammo now ?

All I know that it is the pits, right now.

Yeah, $7 or $8 per 50 with a cast bullet.