saving money by reloading?

[m657]

you won't "save money by reloading"....

you WILL shoot a whole lot more rounds for any given amount of money you spend

and reloading is to shooting rather like "fly tying" is to "fly fishing"....not exactly necessary but a really rewarding and informative part of the sport.

 

[karrrhu3]

i'm wondering if i would actually save money by reloading?

No. You won't save any money. But you can shoot more and you get MUCH better ammo. You will learn much, and have fun in the process.

I've been reloading for 8-9 months. At this pace it takes 8-10 years to pay for all the gear, books etc. But I get much better ammo and got a new, nice hobby.

 

[karrrhu3]

If you only reload 9mm, there is not a lot of saving there.

Depends. The cheapest bulk 9mm costs 20c a piece.
I calculated that a reloaded piece (if the brass is free) is 13 cents a piece. That's about 33 percent savings... and better ammo to boot. If you shoot lots of 9mm (IPSC, or something) then reloading most definitely saves money after you have saved the price of the reloading gear.

 

[karrrhu3]

Most times you can reuse your brass up to 10 times...

Depends on ammo. You can reuse .45 almost forever 9mm not so much. I just dump my used 9mm at the range and pick random 9mm brass instead. The wisdom being that since most folks don't reload, I get mostly unused brass in exchange. I vibrate all ammo clean so there are 2-3 visual checks for every casing along the way

 

[Bullseye Smith]

I just figured it would cost $5.60 a box of 50, that is $66 for 4 pounds of power, $28 for primers, and $75 for 1000 bullets. That is 4 to 5 bucks saving per box.

 

[karrrhu3]

customization

Another point. Your gun probably wears less when using customized ammo. Most factory ammo seems to recoil more and beat gun more than self-loaded stuff that (using chrono) measures higher points in kinetic energy... maybe they use a lesser amount of fast powder to save powder and thus, costs. Or something.

A real-life example:
1) S&B bulk ammo, 124 grains. Recoils hard. Cheap. IPSC power factor: hardly 125 from my Beretta. Price: about 20 cents a piece.
2) self-Reloaded, 125grain FMJ bullet. IPSC power factor 133, recoils very little, follow-up shots much faster and easier. 7 cents cheaper per round than cartridge 1.

Accuracy is similar. If one cuts the price saving to 6-5 cents and gets higher quality bullets, the difference in accuracy is noticeable.

Better ammo - cheaper- there has to be a catch.
I still have to find it.

 

[dan-g]

If your shooting lead boolits then these numbers get even lower. i used to buy my boolits from freindswood for about $50 per 1000 and then I got some casting gear. Now my boolits cost $15 a 1000 for perfect boolits and thats including one stick of lube. I buy powder by the 8lb jug and primers by the 5,000 brick.

It ends up being about 6 cents a round. (you can go cheaper if you switch primer brands to wolf)

In reality the savings pale in comparison to the ability to tailor your loads to each gun and purpose.

 

[RichardF]

I can reload a 9mm round to plink with for 13 cents and enjoy the hobby of shooting and reloading. Yes, you can save cash especially saving your brass.

 

[PhilOhio]

Monkel,

I've had a lot of fun reading this thread, which is full of good advice.

I am one of the most positively biased guys in existence, when it comes to reloading. I've been doing it for 51 years, and I'm still buying dies in new calibers...close to 40 now.

But to answer your question, "should I...", a crystal ball is required. That isn't even the right question. It's, "Do I really enjoy shooting?" If so, yes get into reloading at full forward speed, with good advice from local reloaders at each step. It makes it possible to shoot a lot more, without spending a lot more.

And by all means, make your own bullets, by casting, swaging, or some combination. I do all that. It's really a sub-hobby.

I'm always reloading more rounds than I am shooting. Because it's fun and, as I pick up fired cases at the range, I just have to reload them.

When my buddies and I get together for our weekly shooting and fooling around, people driving by probably wonder what all these guys are doing, walking around all bent over and picking up little tiny things; can't be mushrooms; they don't grow on gravel.

A couple points: Reloading may or may not save money, but it will not be more expensive. I say it saves a lot, in the long run. With cast wheel weight alloy bullets, all the centerfire pistol rounds I shoot cost roughly the same as .22 LR ammo.

When I don't feel like picking up cases, I shoot the .22s. That's the only choice I have to make...not whether to spend $2 per box or $25 per box of ammo.

But if you get into reloading, take your time at it. Don't buy lots of things you don't need, or which are beyond your learning stage. That's where experienced local reloading friends come in.

 

[epj]

The real savings in loading something like the 9mm comes from using your own cast bullets. I load 9mm, .38/.357, .40/10mm, and .45 ACP. All of these cost me in the neighborhood of $.05-.06 each, or $2.50-3.00 per box of 50. The primers are about .03, the powder about .01-.015, and the bullets average less than .01. A pound of alloy will make about 55 9mm 125 gr. bullets. I typically pay about .20-.25 per lb of alloy.

 

[GF1]

You'll not save money, in my experience, because you'll end up shooting more. Key here is making better ammunition. Mine shoots better than any factory I've tried (though I'll confess to not having fired much factory stuff in the last 20 years).