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Took some old friends shooting a week back. We met at my house and went up to the range. We geeked out a bit over the reloading gear and they ask if it really was lower cost shooting my own loads. I reload because I enjoy it not just for the $ savings. I know savings is there and I shoot a better overall quality of round but, was not prepared for their direct questions as to cost. But did the math later and figured I would share it here.

With three teenage boys, we shoot allot. Over a yr we average about:
500 9mm Subsonic rounds per month ($169.90 commercial vs. $70.20 home load)
300 9mm Supper sonic rounds per month ($47.94 commercial vz. $31.98 home load)
200 rounds 300blk Sub sonic per month ($179.90 commercial vs. $95.80 home load)

$397.74 per month if we shot commercial. (we would not shoot as much just due to cost)
$197.98 per month shooting our home loads.

$199.76 per month in savings loading our own. (NOTE: We would never be able to shoot as much as we do if paying for commercial loads or what we shoot would change) Even at 25% of this, the savings is still $50 per month. This pays down the reloading gear costs over time. But again I enjoy the reloading side to it so it's not just an exercise in cost savings.

9mm 115gn FMJRN

$0.16 Best price I can find in a store per round.
$7.99 per box 50


$0.154 Best price I can load to per round for exact match to factory load
$7.70 per box

$0.12 115 FMJRN Hornady bought in 3000 bulk pack with free shipping from Midway
$0.0097 4.1gr Tite Group powder bought in 8lbs keg $16.63 per lb. 1lbs = 7000grn
$0.0239 CCI 500 Primer (bought on 20% off sale from Bi-mart)

$0.1066 Best price I can load to per round for close match to factory load
$5.33 per box

$0.073 115 Plated RN Xtreame w/free shipping
$0.0097 4.1gr Tite Group powder bought in 8lbs keg $16.63 per lb. 1lbs = 7000gr
$0.0239 CCI 500 Primer

9mm 165gn plated RN

$0.34 Best price per round when you could buy Hush (the only way to get this commercially loaded that I know of)
$16.99 per box 50


$0.14 Best price I can load to per round for exact match to factory load
$7.02 per box

$0.109 165gr plated from Xtreme w/ free shipping
$0.0074 3.1gr Tite Group powder bought in 8lbs keg $16.63 per lb. 1lbs = 7000grn
$0.0239 CCI 500 Primer (bought on 20% off sale from Bi-mart)

300BLK 220gn Subsonic

$0.90 best price I can find in the store per round as FMJ BT
$17.99 per box of 20

$0.479 Price I load to per round for WAY better round than factory. If I did just the best price I can get lower cost projectiles, way lower. But this is what I like to shoot.
$9.58 per box of 20

$0.43 Hornady ELDX projectile
$0.023 8.3gr LilGun powder bought in 8lb kid at $19.63 per lb. 1lbs = 7000gr
$0.026 CCI 450 primer

7.62x51 180gr Siera Match King BT precision

Not even running the numbers on this one. WAY way in my favor to load beside the fact my home loads are more accurate with my rifle as I have loaded to it. Would have to pay someone to make these for me, the only way to get this. Shooting 40 per month on average its about $25 in savings total compared to the closest 175gr Black Hills. But not even adding these in.
 
you must have been reloading long enough not to factor in your equipment, eventually savings pays for it then you get to save money on rounds.
Its funny when folks think its going to be cheap but they don't factor in the cost of all the crap......press, hopper , scale, calipers, primer trays , dies .....loading blocks and about 30 other things that go with it .......then how folks factor their time is always a wild card.
 
Well if yer a hobbiest mechanic you need tools right?
So then not including the cost for satisfaction of doing the work yerself instead of a Stealership would be the same as reloading.;)

I reload to dial in my accuracy and to get out of the house to my safe space.
I do not pencil (nickel & dime) the costs per round because I already know it's cheaper & it takes up valuable time plus math is hard for a caveman.:eek::D:D
 
I'm still trying to find a hobbie to dump cuz the wife won't let me start reloading till I do...:oops:


Thankfully, I know a guy I can probably trick into letting me use his equipment for beer or whiskey:p:D
 
you must have been reloading long enough not to factor in your equipment, eventually savings pays for it then you get to save money on rounds.
Never factor in equipment. It's always sellable at 3/4 what you paid. Holds value.

Consumables are what you track. If I counted equipment I'd be loading forever to offset the costs but I enjoy it when my hands allow.
 
Well if yer a hobbiest mechanic you need tools right?
So then not including the cost for satisfaction of doing the work yerself instead of a Stealership would be the same as reloading.;)

I reload to dial in my accuracy and to get out of the house to my safe space.
I do not pencil (nickel & dime) the costs per round because I already know it's cheaper & it takes up valuable time plus math is hard for a caveman.:eek::D:D
Exactly. However, the only reason i got into reloading was because i couldnt afford to buy factory 300 weatherby ammo. At that time, it was $36/box. But far cheaper to reload. The way i see it is im always going to shoot a lot. The cost savings is unimaginable to the non reloader, as i think sometimes they just dont get it. They also dont shoot as much as some of us loonies do. We that handload all of our ammo, also dont worry about using rare or semi obsolete cartridges. I can load for my 9.3x62mm and develop ammo that is far superior to factory ammo. The same factory ammo that costs in excess of $90/box. Ive penciled out the savings and its mind blowing, to say the least.
 
Match grade factory rifle ammo (223) is over $1 per round.o_O Factory ammo will not match
custom reloads tuned for a specific rifle.:D
I always like the way you think ron. My so called precision handloads far exceed factory ammo accuracy. Also, since you brought up 223, the brass i use in all of my 223 ammo has been range pickup. I havent spent a dime on good 223 brass. You may remember how that ammo shot in one of my ar's at our clubs turkey shoot last fall. :D
 
Never factor in equipment. It's always sellable at 3/4 what you paid. Holds value.

Consumables are what you track. If I counted equipment I'd be loading forever to offset the costs but I enjoy it when my hands allow.

The ammo i loaded the first few days of having my loading equipment, paid for that loading equipment. If you want to look at it that way.

I remember posting a picture of a 10 shot group with my 9.3x62mm and thinking to myself, damn if that would have been factory ammo, it would have cost me $45.00!!!!!!
 
Bullets- free range scrap lead picked up off the berm, cast and powder coated. Powder- 7 cents per round. Primer- 3 cents per round. Brass- reused time and again. That's how to shoot .45-70 for a dime a round. .45 Colt and .44 Magnum are even cheaper. Then there's carefully crafted .22-250 and the like.

It's all false economy though. I wouldn't even know where to start to calculate my investment in tools and time. I've been collecting dies, molds, presses and such for 30 years. I've always been very frugal, picking up bargains on old, used equipment and components, but I'm sure the investment over the years has been substantial. I enjoy reloading personally, but it's not for everyone.
 
you must have been reloading long enough not to factor in your equipment, eventually savings pays for it then you get to save money on rounds.
Its funny when folks think its going to be cheap but they don't factor in the cost of all the crap......press, hopper , scale, calipers, primer trays , dies .....loading blocks and about 30 other things that go with it .......then how folks factor their time is always a wild card.

As I shared in my post, for me the motivator is not to save as I enjoy reloading as much as shooting. To me its all part of the same, drive the built 4x4 but also be the guy who built the 4x4 and keeps it running. Time spent reloading is like time spent on the range for me. Kinda a way to keep "shooting" long after leaving the range. Plus building much higher quality ammo.

Personally I have been reloading for 30yrs since my HS girlfriends father showed me. Back then and for years it was on an RCBS Rockchucker II from Bi-Mart. I was ball'in when I got the manually operated powder thrower. I loaded about 200-300 rounds a week on that single stage press! Early 90's I picked up 5 gallons buckets of brass at Albany Rifle and Pistol Club, at the two machine gun shoots per yr. Cleaned (on a Lymen 1200 I still have) and head stamp sorted brass, then bagged to trade at the Salem Gun show for powder, primers and projectiles. Only way I could shoot in college. Traded my time for bullets and loved it.

Over the yrs the gear has changed. Always easy to sell for most of what it cost. Yes some cost but again main motivator for me is not cost savings, I enjoy it. But there is honest solid savings there. Other reason for me is for the next ammo shortage. Laying in primers, powder and projectiles now I can keep shooting regardless of the store shelves. Primers got me last time, will not happen again! Can always start casting if projectiles get scarce, just have to keep the primer and powder in stock.

Sure the gear is an investment and ones time is also valuable. But its fun to use, makes allot of accurate ammo and as far as I am conserned long paid for as a quality hobby that also has solid long term practical use.
 
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There's no way I could afford to shot anywhere close to the amount I do if I had to buy factory ammo. Plus I really enjoy handloadig, as much as I enjoy unloading them. It wasn't that long ago the shelves at the lgs were pretty bare, but I was shooting and reloading from my meager stockpile.
 

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