Economy of loading 308/7.62x51 in today's environment.

[arakboss]

With the price of components being at historic highs right now, it seems to me you might be better off economy wise buying factory new 308/7.62x51 FMJ plinking ammo versus loading 308/7.62x51 FMJ plinking ammo with all new components. Does anybody disagree?

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[Tikka308]

Your probably $.80 per cheap round, to reload.

 

[arakboss]

Your probably $.80 per cheap round, to reload.

Ouch, I didn't think it was that high but it doesn't surprise me. Primers alone are going to set you back 10+ cents a piece from online retailers. Projectiles will be near 20 to 25 cents a piece. Haven't searched new brass prices lately and haven't done the math on powder charge cost per case yet. I could see it hitting 80 cents a round especially after factoring in shipping and haz mat cost.

 

[P7M13]

For 308 Win:
Uh, no. At today's prices, for plinking rounds
Bullet : 16¢
Primer : 10¢
Powder : 30¢
Brass : 4¢
Total per round : 60¢

At what I paid for the schtuff I've accumulated, averaged over the whole lot:
Bullet : 9¢
Primer : 3¢
Powder : 16¢
Brass : 1¢
Total per Round, at my out of pocket cost (have 1,000's) : 29¢, plinking round
Make that same round with 168 SMKs or 180 SMKs, and I'm @ 50¢/round.

 

[arakboss]

For 308 Win:
Uh, no. At today's prices, for plinking rounds
Bullet : 16¢
Primer : 10¢
Powder : 30¢
Brass : 4¢
Total per round : 60¢

At what I paid for the schtuff I've accumulated, averaged over the whole lot:
Bullet : 9¢
Primer : 3¢
Powder : 16¢
Brass : 1¢
Total per Round, at my out of pocket cost (have 1,000's) : 29¢, plinking round
Make that same round with 168 SMKs or 180 SMKs, and I'm @ 50¢/round.

For an apples to apples comparison I was looking at new component prices as that is what you would receive with factory new ammo. Brass cost might be the largest component cost per round.

 

[arakboss]

This is starting to look like a deal when comparing apples to apples, not even counting labor of reloading 500rnds.

308 Win - 147 gr FMJ-BT - PMC (308B) - 500 Rounds

Looking for bulk 308 Winchester ammo from PMC? 308B is 147-grain FMJ brass-cased .308 Win ammunition and just what you need! Made in South Korea.

bulkmunitions.com

Edit: with shipping this would be about 86 cents per round.

 

[Local Loader]

As far as labor goes that could easily come down to what kind of setup you have single or auto.
As for components cheapest I've seen is Brass: $0.38 Primer: $0.09 Powder: ~$0.25 Bullet: $0.28
So about $0.90 to $1.75 a bullet depending on bullet and powder choice and charge. For cheap target about $18-21 a box versus factory $28-32 a box.
Myself I think it's worth it.

 

[osprey]

I still have many components bought when prices were good so I will cross the bridge to consider buying factory ammo when I run out of cheap components. I have slowed down on 308 consumption the last 1-1/2 years. Used to be I would think nothing of banging out 100 - 150rds through a Fal at a range session. Now it is more like 20-40 a session.

 

[jayR]

Black Friday sale still going on at Bi-mart. $18 & change for box of Winchester white box .308

 

[tac]

I guess that when you've been living the 'The Land o'Plenty' for so long, it comes as a bit of shock to meet real world prices. Let me introduce you to some little friends of mine - 175gr Berger bullets - $1.14 EACH. When they're are gone, they are GONE.

Powder averages $65 a pound, and LR primers - well, let's say that I stocked up a couple of years back and I'm good for a few years to come, but....................

 

[Pepe-lepew]

If you reload, the total cost of each brass shell needs to be divided by the number of times you think you will reload it. I pay 10 cents for 223 brass but can expect 10 loadings. I would only put 1 cent in my cost calculation.

 

[arakboss]

If you reload, the total cost of each brass shell needs to be divided by the number of times you think you will reload it. I pay 10 cents for 223 brass but can expect 10 loadings. I would only put 1 cent in my cost calculation.

I guess that when you've been living the 'The Land o'Plenty' for so long, it comes as a bit of shock to meet real world prices. Let me introduce you to some little friends of mine - 175gr Berger bullets - $1.14 EACH. When they're are gone, they are GONE.

Powder averages $65 a pound, and LR primers - well, let's say that I stocked up a couple of years back and I'm good for a few years to come, but....................

Berger bullets are great but $1.14ea ouch.

 

[arakboss]

If you reload, the total cost of each brass shell needs to be divided by the number of times you think you will reload it. I pay 10 cents for 223 brass but can expect 10 loadings. I would only put 1 cent in my cost calculation.

Consider this your first batch of components and you want new brass. I think it might still be better to buy factory loaded ammo unless you want some fancy brass.

 

[arakboss]

Black Friday sale still going on at Bi-mart. $18 & change for box of Winchester white box .308

I would give @UNO some money for his 308 before going to Bimart:

7.62x51 Winchester 149gr FMJ 500rds

Have a brand new, case of 7.62×51/.308 500rds. 149gr fmj wm80 ball ammo. I paid a buck a round for this a few weeks ago, so I will sell at a slight discount. 85c/rd so $425 for the case. Or $90/100rds Would be willing to trade for brass fmj 380acp or 38 special. No defensive ammo. No...

www.northwestfirearms.com

 

[P7M13]

I still have many components bought when prices were good so I will cross the bridge to consider buying factory ammo when I run out of cheap components. I have slowed down on 308 consumption the last 1-1/2 years. Used to be I would think nothing of banging out 100 - 150rds through a Fal at a range session.

I'll still burn through a few hundred rounds across a few rifles and pistols.

Berger bullets are great but $1.14ea ouch.

On the bright side, at least that's not £1.14.
Back in 2012-2014, 300 grain 338 Berger Hybrid OTMs were going for $1 each. I would sparingly buy a box when I needed them, but yeah, that was a lot to me. Walked into Sportsman's one day, they had a clearance on bulk packs of them which made the cost 34¢ apiece. I bought them all.
Lately I've purchased some Lapua brass at ~$1.20 per casing. Yikes! Treat it nicely, and I should get 12 loadings out of it.

Reloading Philosophy of a Professed Skinflint

Don't hesitate to pick up other people's rejects. There was a time when people would blithely shoot hundreds of rounds at Brown's Camp and then walk away. Being a dumpster diver out of habit, I'd pick up the brass, clean, cull and store. Sure, there was a trunk load of Boxer primed brass to cull - thought I'd have enough to get into brass statue making (joke). Hence, I'm sitting on a cache of 223, 308 and various pistol brass that was, for argument's sake, free.
At last count, I had >7K of 223/556 brass, and ~2K of 308/7.62.

Scratch the dirt for deals. I would come across reloaders getting out of the practice and pick up components. Powder, primers and other brass. There was a time when Craig's List was a great place to find stashes of reloading stuff that people would sell for dirt cheap (definitely not CtD pricing). There are members here who are gifted at finding deals.

Coupons. I have shot through half of them, but had over 1K 139gr 7mm Hornady Interlocks and 500 147gr 9mm pistol bullets. Their Get Loaded campaign enticed me to buy a lot of Hornady equipment.

Sales. Almost all my gear was purchased on sale, and over half of it used. Granted, I'm probably over $5K just in components stored in my cave, and I stopped counting tooling and gear at $8K.

Planning. Play the long game. When I plan a rifle or buy a pistol, I will plan for the reloading I want to do for it to have a few years of bullets, powder and primers. That give me time to find the gear at the right price.

Enjoy the Payoff. In the 22LR scarcity following Sandy Hook, I was loading 223 for ~13¢ per round (Brown's camp and Craigslist components), so it never made sense to me to shoot 22 when an AR was a heck of a lot more fun. The ultimate goal is shooting. Shoot -- a LOT !

Absorb the Knowledge. I consider that one of the greatest boons of shooting and reloading and the greatest benefit of this site and other forums. The insight and knowledge that I have gained from meeting shooters and written exchanges is incalculable. It has saved me a lot of money and made me a better reloader and shooter.

Don't be Hesitant to Spend. My above prices are for the cheapest components I have. There are other rounds, such as 338 Edge or 7 LRM, which cost me between $1 and $1.50 per round to make. My justification is simple - you cannot buy that caliber off the shelf, and to have it professionally loaded would be in the range of $3 - $5 / round.

 

[Camelfilter]

Consider this your first batch of components and you want new brass. I think it might still be better to buy factory loaded ammo unless you want some fancy brass.

Yah, more than likely.

However thereafter (for however many loadings) the brass becomes "free", so can be removed from the expense calculation.

 

[TTSX]

Consider this your first batch of components and you want new brass. I think it might still be better to buy factory loaded ammo unless you want some fancy brass.

I get my brass from factory rounds. I've purchased brass only twice and it's almost as much as an entire round, anyway per piece.

 

[Longwalkhome]

My reloading is fun and the expense depends on what I am trying to build in a 308. There are spendy match components that take time and money to assemble or a man might build hunting rounds with specialized bullets that ain't cheap.

I get a wild hair to have fun and build 308 ammo that fires 223 bullets. The build is really fun and the shooting a lot cheaper and it tickles the hell out of you to drive a 223 bullet out of your 308 at 3000 fps.

 

[arakboss]

My reloading is fun and the expense depends on what I am trying to build in a 308. There are spendy match components that take time and money to assemble or a man might build hunting rounds with specialized bullets that ain't cheap.

I get a wild hair to have fun and build 308 ammo that fires 223 bullets. The build is really fun and the shooting a lot cheaper and it tickles the hell out of you to drive a 223 bullet out of your 308 at 3000 fps.

sabots?

 

[Longwalkhome]

sabots?

Yes sir and fun as all get out.