THE $$ AND CENTS OF RELOADING AS I SEE IT

[BC38]

...I could NEVER afford that much expensive ammo and if I wanted it, I'd have to make it myself. It would also justify me buying a Dillon 550 where each pump of the handle turns out a round. I'd like to get one of those anyway.

With all the folks around here talking about them I'm almost tempted by the idea of a full progressive now that my turret has more than paid for itself.

If I ever decided to take that plunge I guess I could sell the turret to recoup some of the cost.

 

[LAA]

Reloading to me, is like a toy. My past toys were motorcycles, boats, and airplanes. The Dillon 650, looks "cool"....... even if it's for serious stuff. The airplanes were super serious too!

I can't even start to think in terms of money versus time, and savings when it comes to this cool & fun looking machinery bolted to the bench.

 

[fredj338]

Also in that equation you are not accounting for the upfront cost of the Dillon 650. You are not accounting for the space in your home which you have devoted to your reloading setup. When you leave out huge chunks of the true cost of reloading of course the conclusion is that you save money.

Strawman arguments are even weaker than circular reasoning at least circular appears logically valid on the surface. LOL

Ok now you are just refusing to follow facts. The space in my home has no specific value. The house itself has a balue, what i do with the soace is irrelavent, i live in the soace.
The cost of the gear gets factored put after it is paid for. I paid for my 550b in 3m loading 45colt. So cost after 3m, zero. That is the true cost of reloading, not the soace in my garage. Might be the most ridiculous comment/excuse on reloading i have ever heard. You can argue just to argue but lets not make poop up just for sake of argumen.
I pretty thoroughly covered cost vs time. Yes i dont count cost of my gear as a per round item as the gear can be paid off in as little as 3m depending on caliber & quantity. If you want to attach a time value for everything, then you should work 80hr a week & pay others to raise your children, relad your ammo & shoot for you. Likely get better results in all areas.

 

[susieqz]

guys, i didn't mean to imply you have been forcing me into reloading.
i meant the cost of ammo was pushing me into it.
you have been nothing but helpful.

 

[fredj338]

Welcome to Summers Enterprises, LLC, makers of fine hard cast lead bullets.

3800 (4 boxes of 950 each) 124gr 9mm cast bullets for $173.60 including shipping = 4-1/2 cents each

3200 (4 boxes of 800 each) 147gr 9mm cast bullets for $161.20 including shipping = 5 cents each

3000 (4 boxes of 750 each) 158gr .357cal cast bullets for $164.00 including shipping = 5-1/2 cents each

2000 (4 boxes of 500 each) 240gr 44cal cast bullets for $150.00 including shipping = 7-1/2 cents each

Thx bc for the link

 

[BC38]

Thx bc for the link

Anytime man. I like to help and encourage other people to reload - not try to persuade them it isn't worth their time.

 

[hoc9sw]

The thread is interesting. And I see why some get on my case with a "why don't you reload?".

I live in an apartment, lease prohibits "hazardous" materials, and the press would have to be in my bedroom.

I do save my brass, and give it to guys I know that do reload, but it won't be happening for me unless I lease some barn space out in the country.

And yes, I can "sell" my time. Which I am doing to cover medical costs. I do manage to get a pistol or two cleaned while I'm on conference calls.

So I search for the best deals, buy enough to cover a year or so's needs, and try not to get caught in the next drought.

It would be nice to have a decent workbench again ....

 

[fredj338]

The thread is interesting. And I see why some get on my case with a "why don't you reload?".

I live in an apartment, lease prohibits "hazardous" materials, and the press would have to be in my bedroom.

I do save my brass, and give it to guys I know that do reload, but it won't be happening for me unless I lease some barn space out in the country.

And yes, I can "sell" my time. Which I am doing to cover medical costs. I do manage to get a pistol or two cleaned while I'm on conference calls.

So I search for the best deals, buy enough to cover a year or so's needs, and try not to get caught in the next drought.

It would be nice to have a decent workbench again ....

In college i set up a reloading room in a 24x36 coat closet. Put a lock on the door to keep the nosey landlord out. Hazardous mat'l is very subjective. Most cleaning or paint products are more dangerous than smokless powder. Primers are a little more risk, butjust dont store them together.

 

[Wise_A]

guys, i didn't mean to imply you have been forcing me into reloading.
i meant the cost of ammo was pushing me into it.
you have been nothing but helpful.

I live in a state where internet ammo sales are prohibited.

Let's say I can actually get a case of the .22LR my match gun likes. And let's also say it's $425 shipped (probly way more these days, but what the hey).

Tack on $10 for my FFL to receive it. It's a 30-mile drive, so 60 miles of gas is about $6. Plus an afternoon of my time shot. So we're at $441 a case, which works out to just shy of 9 cents a round.

.38 Spl is about 6.5 cents for really good bullets, 2.5 cents for powder, and 3 cents for a primer, for a total of 12 cents a round. I can mail-order the bullets direct to my door, and powder and primers are much closer to get.

The aggravation of acquiring .22LR, the hassle of going to get it, and being forced to buy nearly $500 of it at a time, makes .38 Spl cheaper to shoot in my book!

I never thought I'd see the day.

 

[kbm6893]

Such a dumb argument. Reloading does save you money. There is no debating that. Buying 1000 rounds of 9MM will cost nearly 200 bucks. I reload it for 130. Buying 1000 rounds of .38 is over $400. I reload it for $130. I've loaded about 2500 rounds of each caliber since I started. So I've saved $200 on the 9MM, and over $600 for the .38. I've spent less than that on equipment and that is now paid for.

Arguing over cost in time is stupid. Anybody getting a check for posting on this forum? Then why do we do it?

Something to always consider is the ability to shield yourself from the next drought. I can store the components to make 10,000 rounds in a small cabinet in my garage. When the next drought hits, the suckers will be lining up at Walmart or checking their ammo finding app to get ammo. And they'll be paying big money for it. After Newtown, a 50 round box of 9MM was 15 bucks at Walmart. Now it's $9. When the next panic hits it will rise again. I buy a pound of powder or a box of primers here and there and just put it in the cabinet. Storing 10,000 rounds of factory ammo? No thanks.

 

[kraynky]

What a hot topic this became, with good reason. Those of us that reload for the love of it want others to understand how wonderful we think it is. I sometimes find myself just looking through my stockpile to see what I am lowest on and will tinker with the caliber change over (Dillon 550B) and set up just to set down and load ammo. It's so rewarding to open the ammo cabinet before heading out to the range and see all of the choices I have available to shoot. I have HBWC for my .38's, or +p JSP. Or I can grab a box of LRN .45 acp or maybe a box of JHP that day. Same with every other caliber I shoot. Honestly I have more bullets, primers and powder than I will probably ever use, as my shooting has slowed down as arthritis has entered the picture. But since I also love lever guns I often just grab a box or two to feed a couple of them and go plinking. I think the only caliber I really don't enjoy reloading much is .380, because I'm so fumble fingered and the components are tiny. All in all I just love everything about reloading, even using the single stage press from time to time.

I think I need to buy some more primers before next month though. (not a political statement, more of a financial statement)

 

[fredj338]

It only gets heated when someones argument fails & they start throaing anything out to try to save face. One can honestly argue the time issue if they make upwards of $100/hr. Below that, good progressive equip, your time value is higher reloading.
Anyone with 6th grade math skills can figure cost per round & how many months it would take to pay off your gear. Why i chuckle at people trying to teload on the cheap, time is important, even if you are retired. Buy better gear, simple. A Dillon 650 with all the goodies is $1200. Over 10yrs, $10/m. Even if you only saved $200/yr on ammo, the press is paid for in 6yrs AND, you could sell it for what you paid. So did your gear really cost you anything????

 

[Krell1]

Just reading the title of this thread made me assume it would end up to be pages long.

It all boils down to the fact that a hobby is just that, a hobby. You get into it because you like it. I actually know a couple of people who like to mow their lawns. Me, I like to watch people do that.

As far as reloading goes, I did it because I liked to shoot. I liked to shoot a lot. Buying the ammo I needed would have been impossible because of the cost. As a current example, a box of mid-range .38 target wadcutters now costs in the neighborhood of $27 a box of 50. I can load that same ammo, to my specs, for $6 a box. To me, even if I hated reloading I'd do it to save that kind of money. Granted, some calibers wouldn't be the same but savings are savings.

Now that I'm retired, I can reload whenever I want to. It's a hobby to me and, while quite a task, it's an agreeable one that I like to do.

 

[BC38]

It only gets heated when someones argument fails & they start throaing anything out to try to save face. One can honestly argue the time issue if they make upwards of $100/hr. Below that, good progressive equip, your time value is higher reloading.

Very well said - how many of us make more than $100 an hour?

Even if you only saved $200/yr on ammo, the press is paid for in 6yrs AND, you could sell it for what you paid. So did your gear really cost you anything????

Another very good point. It isn't like the equipment looses all its value. You might not be able to get quite what you paid for it, but you can sure recoup a large part of it unless you're in a fire sale situation and have to dump it in a hurry for whatever you can get.

 

[BE Mike]

I started reloading when I got my first revolver, a S&W M&P in .38 SPL. I used a Lee Loader. It was very satisfying to shoot good ammo, that I assembled myself. When I got interested in competitive shooting, reloading for it was a no brainer and I needed a bench mounted press, because I couldn't afford match .45 ACP ammo (still can't). I later moved up to Dillon 450/ 550 and 650. I now load for .38/ .357, .44 Mag., 9mm, .45 ACP, .223, and .30-06. Just yesterday I loaded up some .30-06 for my M-1 Garand, because it needs a lower velocity cartridge than my bolt-action rifle. I don't think I find reloading relaxing. I would say that I find it very satisfying. It also has saved me a ton of money over the many decades I've been a reloader. It isn't for everyone, because one has to be patient, focused and careful, as well as, having attention to detail. One also has to have the time to devote to it. Shooting and reloading became my main hobbies. I never really cared about going to bars.

 

[Lee's Landing Billy]

My partner and I have 1 Dillon 450 that I use and 4 Dillon 550s that we both use. Last year we burned through 8,000+ magnum rifle primers in load development. I am sure we used multiple that many pistol primers. While a lot is done for personal ammo we stockpile factory ammo for handgun calibers too. It is an absolute necessity for us and MAN do we have some serious BS sessions.

 

[fredj338]

Very well said - how many of us make more than $100 an hour?



Another very good point. It isn't like the equipment looses all its value. You might not be able to get quite what you paid for it, but you can sure recoup a large part of it unless you're in a fire sale situation and have to dump it in a hurry for whatever you can get.

My first 550 cost me $249. I sold it to a buddy 20yrs later for $250 but threw in some extra stuff. Quality always worth the price when reselling. Shoot factory ammo over the same 10yr span, you just have less $$ in your wallet. I can sell all my reloading gear for more than I paid for it. My kids will do fine when I am off this planet.