THE $$ AND CENTS OF RELOADING AS I SEE IT

[fredj338]

Two or three years ago you couldn't buy powder and primers either!

You couldn't get some powders & some primers. The great thing about reloading, you can adapt to still keep shooting. If there is no ammo, no shooting. If I had to I could take 12ga shells apart & make reliable pistol ammo out of the powder & melt the shot to make bullets.

 

[Big Cholla]

I started reloading shortly after my 16th birthday in 1955. It was out of necessity because I couldn't afford on my paper route money to buy all the factory 16 ga. shotgun shells that I wanted to shoot. I got good at it and during my college years I was the official reloader at the LGS that I worked. Later in life as life became more and more complicated, I found that reloading gave me peace and quite, a sense of control, a sense of order (which heavens knows I needed) and a satisfaction of accomplishment. Life hasn't gotten much less complicated and even though the financial need isn't there, the reloading equipment and supplies are all paid for and just waiting in my dedicated reloading shed for me to come and get calm and my mojo back.

I think all of us need something to do and accomplish and control on our own to put us back in touch with reality. Reloading does that for me. If I screw up a delicate job with lots of man hours already spent while working on my lathe or mill, I quit and go reload for a spell and then mentally refreshed I go back to work on whatever I screwed up.

 

[SLT223]

Oh I can save more than $15/box

I paid what you mentioned above for 650 as you described ~$1400
Retail .44 RM in my neighborhood is 36.95/50 box ~ 74 cents a round.
My cost is 16.5 to 18.5 in components delivered to my door.
I'm saving appx 55.5 cents a round.

I shoot little under 1000 rounds a month these days, so let's call it 200rds a week.

200rds/week x 52 weeks x 55.5 cents per round =$5772.00 in savings per year. 1400/5772 = about .25 or 3 months to break even on the $1400 of cost to turn reloading component into ammunition.

My 650 has paid for itself about eight times so far

 

[joeintexas]

I think a lot of folks don't get into reloading because they feel it is too complicated. It really isn't. You do have to read a little and you certainly have to pay attention to what you are doing but finding recipes that work in your guns, setting the overall length and doing the crimp work is easy once you have done it a few time. Setting your dies up is a simple process too.
Even if I didn't save money or make as good or better bullet I would still reload if for nothing else than the feeling of being "in my own little world" while in the shop reloading. Being able to have quality ammo without having to hope the stores have it is a pretty good feeling. To me it really is more of a hobby than anything else, and a hobby is supposed to be fun.

 

[Qc Pistolero]

You couldn't get some powders & some primers. The great thing about reloading, you can adapt to still keep shooting. If there is no ammo, no shooting. If I had to I could take 12ga shells apart & make reliable pistol ammo out of the powder & melt the shot to make bullets.

And I thought I was a creative guy!You Sir are years ahead of me!
Qc

 

[Moe Mentum]

I love guns, I love shooting, when I can't get to the range, I reload, reloading is not as good as shooting, but its close enough.

 

[Qc Pistolero]

I enjoy cutting and splitting wood from my land because I'm not at the mercy of Hydro(in 1998,we were 28days without electricity with temperatures somedays at minus 20;we kept warm!).I enjoy reloading and casting bullets because whatever happens,I'll still be able to keep shooting.Luckily,I enjoy casting and reloading!As an asset,I save $$$ which is more than I could say if I was playing golf.
Qc

 

[Cdog]

In the mid 80's I traded for my first .257 Roberts. Ammo pickings were thin and what was available was grossly under powered.

The old "Bob" was my ticket into handloading. I still remember first the deer I took with a Cdog custom crafted round. I was hooked!

Handloading has also allowed me to enjoy many calibers that I otherwise would have avoided. I've owned and enjoyed .454 Casull .45 Win Mag, .450 Bushmaster, 7X61 Sharpe & Hart, .375 Win, .38 Super, and others that I likely would have otherwise passed on.

I load for quality. Availability and savings are a bonus. I try to stock up when supplies are readily available, so I ain't scrounging during shortages. The first shortage I remember was a primer shortage in during the early 90's. Primers, when found were fetching as much as $20.00/K!

I'm one of those that really enjoys crafting ammo. Not everything I load is for precision shooting, but my target/varmint loads get more case prep than many would consider doing.

Saving money? I'm sure I have. But looking at all I've spent on "stuff" just because I do handload may make any savings more difficult to see.

 

[Qc Pistolero]

Cdog,same state of mind here!
Qc

 

[fyimo]

I started reloading in the early 80's and I'm a guy who enjoys reloading ammo. I also keep a stocked bench so I can usually reload ammo for a specific caliber anytime I want to. The reloading equipment has been paid for years ago so now it's just the components for the ammo I reload that I buy.

 

[susieqz]

i wish i could talk myself into thinking that reloading would be fun.
i shoot an awful lot in the yard.
mostly 22 because of cost.
my model 15 is really only fun with the expensive stuff.
i tried this 20 cents/round stuff n it hurts my hand.
plus, my big fun is teeny groups. only pricey wadcutters do that.

 

[Snapping Twig]

I started in the early 80's, casting first, then once I had enough bullets, reloading them.

As I acquired additional calibers, a call to Dillon got me the parts needed and I was forever equipped to load for that caliber.

I'd bought most everything I needed by the early 90's, so now it's just powder, primers and lead and I have a good supply of each.

I don't relish casting or reloading, but I'm pleased as punch when I do. Having fresh, better than factory ammo is a good feeling.

These days I can make a bullet for between 6 to 9 cents a round, determined by the bullet. Rifles use jacketed bullets, so the price goes up.
I can make rounds for my wildcat rifle 6.5-06, or I can whip up a box of 400g .480 to best possible performance or lightest recoil. I can even make three levels of 45-70, powder puff, trapdoor and lever. Try buying such things and you'll find it difficult at best.

You get more out of your firearms when you reload.

 

[Amp]

I used to buy reloads from a guy at work until I found backward primers and a few squib loads. I was young then and took my model 66 to a gunsmith to learn how to clear it. He suggested I load my own and I have ever since.
Wildcats were fun back then. Shot a TC Contender in 7 TCU.
I am donating my rifle stuff to my son. And thinking about a new Dillon to replace my old one. Think its close to 30 years old.
I will keep loading handgun calibers for me and my sons.

 

[fredj338]

And I thought I was a creative guy!You Sir are years ahead of me!
Qc

Breaking down sg shells for handgun rounds is a worst case, shtf scenario, but could be done. Not as scary as it sounds.

 

[fredj338]

i wish i could talk myself into thinking that reloading would be fun.
i shoot an awful lot in the yard.
mostly 22 because of cost.
my model 15 is really only fun with the expensive stuff.
i tried this 20 cents/round stuff n it hurts my hand.
plus, my big fun is teeny groups. only pricey wadcutters do that.

IF you are buying 22lr today, you are paying about 8c each. If you cast your own bullets, you are shooting any service caliber for about 5c each, max. The ole 22lr isn't so cheap to shoot anymore.

 

[lrrifleman]

I started reloading back in the mid 70s. I was lucky, the company (Omark Industries) that owned the company that my dad worked at also owned CCI/SPEER/RCBS. While I started reloading with a 12g and a 45 ACP Lee Loader, reloading took on a new dimension when loading equipment and supplies were made available to everyone that worked for Omark. I still have the first press that we bought, and most of the dies. When it comes to hardware, I have only supplanted the original equipment with a Dillon 550B, a MEC Reloader Jr, and a Lyman DPS 1200.

I have the dies to reload: 223 Remington, 243 Winchester, 25-35 Winchester, 270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, 308 Winchester, 30 Carbine, 30-06, 35 Remington, 40-65 Winchester, and 45-70. For handguns, I reload: 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 9mm Luger, 41 Magnum, and 45 ACP. I am also set up to reload 12 guage shotgun shells. I am equipped to cast bullets for: 38/357, 9mm, 41 Magnum, and 45 ACP.

In all honesty, I couldn't really say how much I paid to get set up in reloading. What I can say, is that I couldn't purchase what I have, if I were to get started today. I am proud to say, that with the exception of about a thousand rounds of ammo that I have purchased for CCW, I have purchased less than 10 boxes of ammo between 1980 and 2006. When I was shooting service rifle from 1988 to 2006, I reloaded and shot about a thousand rounds annually. Fortunately, if my children continue my love of shooting, they will have my equipment, which they are currently learning on.

I started reloading because it gave me easier access to ammo. I now reload in order to maximize the accuracy in my target rifles, and provide affordable handgun ammo that is accurate and reliable. I happen to enjoy reloading, maybe more now, since I am disabled.

If I take the approach that my reloading equipment has paid for itself, I can really see the savings, especially with my handgun ammo. When I last reloaded 38s, I was able to reload a box of 38 Special wadcutters or semi wadcutters for about $0.50 a box, that would now work out to about $2.50 a box.

I do know, that I really can't advise someone to enter reloading the way I did. Equipment prices have skyrocketed. I have been able to pick up some Lyman 310 tools for reloading a couple of my rifle cartridges and my 38/357, but that is for emergency reloading.

 

[johngalt]

I don't really like reloading, but I do like customizing my ammo for my purpose (target shooting). Plus I was still shooting when all the ammo dried up.

 

[rwsmith]

My point also.....

Amen to that. I joke with my fellow shooters that I only shoot to get the empty brass.

You can spend $100 and have all the equipment you'll ever need to reload one caliber. Seems like people have already forgotten 2 or 3 years ago you couldn't buy ammo.

If you don't buy what you don't really need, it's easy to keep the cost down. If you have to have everything for its cool factor, it's going to cost like my old camera hobby did. But I'm retired and have more time than money.

Ex. I chuck Lee case trimmers into my drill press. For one caliber it's around 20 bucks. Add calibers for about $5 each.
They make case trimmers that cost hundreds of dollars if you want that sort of thing.

 

[ChiefStealth]

Two or three years ago you couldn't buy powder and primers either!

But, I could find Hodgdon Leverevolution powder. For some strange reason that powder never left the shelves. It kept me shooting, if only with the 30-30.

 

[kbm6893]

I started right after Newtown. Couldn't find ammo anywhere and even 9MM was 32 bucks for 100 rounds. I can reload that for 13 bucks. One pound of powder makes over 2000 rounds of 38 special. Yeah, powder was hard to find back then but I found it.

I don't love reloading, but I don't hate it. My equipment is paid for itself by now and I like not being a slave to the next panic. And there will be a next panic.