Reloading Math - yup its way lower cost

[DizzyJ]

I've yet to buy a factory box of .41 magnum. 30 years ago it was $50/box. I think it cost me 1/5 or less to load my own using Speer hollow points!

 

[tac]

I reload -

2 different 7x57 Mauser.

2 different .308Win.

2 different 7.5x55 Swiss.

3 different .45-70 Govt.

6.5x55 SE.

.38 Special.

.357 Magnum.

Apart from once buying Swiss stuff a few years back, I've not bought anything else - ever.

My reloading gear came from Wiesbaden R&GC in 1978, and since I'm already a live-steam train hobbyist, I didn't need to buy any extra precision measuring devices.

Here in yUK there are positively NO bargains like you guys often get at Cabela's or Bass Pro - the price of the stuff is the price of the stuff - no deals.

 

[deadeye]

My equipment was paid for on loading 45lc alone. If you shoot 45lc, 44mag, 454cas, 45/70, or most any rifle round that isn't sold in bulk it pays to reload. What else are you going to do during those long winter nights......OK I'll give ya that one. If you want consistency on hits most store bought will not be as good as home made.

Hell I even make my own cigs cause it's cheaper and I can blend my own.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I'm still trying to find a hobbie to dump cuz the wife won't let me start reloading till I do...


Thankfully, I know a guy I can probably trick into letting me use his equipment for beer or whiskey

If yer feeling adventurous & wanting a change of scenery then head north with a bottle of Crown Royal (I have the tools of the trade)....

 

[CLT65]

It is a good idea to find someone with gear to try out and do some reloading before spending a bunch on your own.

In my experience many people who think they want to reload would probably be better off with factory ammo. I don't know how many people I've known over the years who have bought hundreds of dollars worth of gear only to have it sit unused.

I have one friend who I've helped set up with loading gear twice (in 20 years). Other than me helping him, I don't think he's ever loaded a single round. He'd have been way better off to have just spent that money on ammo instead of gear. It's just a time thing for him. He has too many interests and not enough time for them all.

 

[Dwesson]

I reload for my precision rifles and a handful of pistol calibers. I don't have the time to reload as much as I want, given that I choose to buy things like 9mm and 223 in bulk for my carbines. That way when I do have the time it's worth it.

Good on you guys that can find the time, I probably have too many hobbies.

 

[Phather]

I started with a Classic Lee hand loader kit for my .45-70. $35 for the kit paid for itself in 50 reloads (1-2 trips to the range). With my busy schedule, I can hardly shoot 100 or more cartridges in each range trip. I can easily reload that in 1-2 hours at home. I can get to the range more often as reloading makes ammunition costs much much lower, and the process of reloading ammunition is fun in itself. If one likes to build or tinker at home, they will likely like reloading as well.

 

[User 1234]

Someday I would like to learn to reload, especially for cartridges requiring black powder like 38 S&W.

 

[RVTECH]

A re-post but it still applies:

I have said it many times (and variations) but still the same - DON'T get into reloading thinking you will save money - get into reloading as an extension of your interest in firearms and the desire to get the best performance out of them or variations of performance and specialized loadings you can NOT get unless by reloading. An example of this would be reduced velocity loads that are simply not available for some calibers. Eventually as you build up supplies by finding deals or components you know you will use you will always be ready to 'knock out' however many rounds you think you will need instead of driving around looking for what you want and unsure of the prices. With reloading you will always know what your per round cost is and depending on the caliber can be a significant savings over store bought. And while I never thought it would happen the shortages of certain calibers during the 'panic' phases kept some people I know from shooting while I was able to supply myself.

 

[thorborg]

You don't have to buy a machine shop full of tools right upfront to save money on reloads as some seem to suggest.
I started with a ten dollar Lee hand loader, a plastic powder scoop and a homemade oak and ironwood mallet cranking out .270's at 1/4 the cost* of factory in 1970, albeit slow, I'm no machine gunner. Ten years later, now with a home made tumbler run on my wood lathe, a nice balance scale I found at a junk store for next to nothing, my dial calipers plus some hand tools I had for work, several Lee hand loader calibers later, (now about 12 or 15 dollars) I found a small arbor press with a broken base for free which I mounted to a piece of oak and was now able to sit with my honey and kids while they watched TV and crank them out without the banging noise. ( I hate TV) I continue to save big money and shooting regularly. I still have and sometimes use that press.
Mortgage finally paid off and other blessings, I now use single stage press though it was old and well used, carbide dies ( worth every penny) and most the bells and whistles for trimming etc. but in retrospect, for hunting and my sort of target shooting, the stuff I make now doesn't perform much better than 1970 . I just can make trickier stuff for wildcat calibers now, and admittedly faster, though not like progressive, I'm still no machine gunner. I've only had one misfire, and that from a bad federal primer in all my reloading life. (luckily that was at the range and not hunting)
* Component cost have gone up considerably but still a bargain if you shop around.

 

[RVTECH]

You don't have to buy a machine shop full of tools right upfront to save money on reloads as some seem to suggest.

Ditto this.
I reloaded for many years with a Rockchucker and the basics.
I added a few accessories over the years to make some things easier but nothing major (a Lee hand primer for one) but the fact remains you can do very well with the basics.
On another forum I am a member of many are starting out reloading and are doing well with the basics and are very happy with their results.
Oftentimes the equipment that 'Some seem to suggest' is unreasonable for a beginner, impractical and expensive and simply not needed. I shoot quite a bit and have never needed the capacities of the equipment 'Some seem to suggest'. The trick is to find a system that works for YOU and stick with it and your output will increase with experience.

 

[titsonritz]

Just don't use any of that "new math" when reloading.

 

[techiej]

I originally got started reloading when my son & I were shooting 30.06, 308, 45acp & 44. Easily paid for itself early on.

Now (it's been about 8 years) I only load 38, 357, 45 Colt & 9. Since I no longer shoot any competition, my loads (except for 44) are very mild and I use coated bullets. By buying components in stock I save quite a bit....even in 9 which runs me about 11 cents per round (brass is range pickup).

More importantly it is a fun hobby.

 

[RVTECH]

More importantly it is a fun hobby.

It had better be - if not get out of it or never get started.
Reloading should not be a 'chore' you don't enjoy.

 

[CLT65]

Just don't use any of that "new math" when reloading.

I don't know, it could be useful in justifying purchases. Ever hear of the woman who came home with a new dress, and her husband was upset with her spending? He starts ranting about how they're trying to save money, have to stick to the budget, etc..

She interrupts him and says you don't understand, it was basically free! Free? What do you mean, how could it be free?

Well, she says, regular price was $100, and it was on sale for half off, so I just bought it with the $50 I saved!

 

[titsonritz]

I don't know, it could be useful in justifying purchases. Ever hear of the woman who came home with a new dress, and her husband was upset with her spending? He starts ranting about how they're trying to save money, have to stick to the budget, etc..

She interrupts him and says you don't understand, it was basically free! Free? What do you mean, how could it be free?

Well, she says, regular price was $100, and it was on sale for half off, so I just bought it with the $50 I saved!

That's exactly the kind of math I'm talking about, AOC is pretty good at it.

 

[CLT65]

The more you load, the more you save, then take all that money you're saving and buy another gun!

 

[deadeye]

I'll just leave this here in case your wife suggested you reload to save money........

 

[9x23w]

It's interesting that you used 9mm as an example, that's one of the few cartridges I don't reload because the ammo is so cheap. There are other issues: you keep losing brass because its an auto and it's difficult to create heavy loads safely. When you move to other cartridges the savings jump up. 40 S&W, 10MM, 357 Sig, 45 Colt, 44 Magnum, and so one...ammo for these rounds is way more expensive than 9mm, but the cost to reload them is not.

When you get to rifle rounds, there is a huge savings for any non-military. Once you buy the brass, the cost for reloading a 338 Lapua is not that much greater than reloading a 308 Winchester.

 

[leadcounsel]

Ah, the false economy of reloading. I get a laugh every time. Reloaders conveniently never factor the equipment, storage space, learning curves, setup, time, voided gun warranties, and the cost of the "kabooms" that are more common with reloads and almost never with factory ammo (and factory ammo companies or the gun companies will replace the gun). [Reloaders never have "kabooms" yet nearly every "kaboom" story shared on the internet involves a reload.]

And then there's the known false economy of taking valuable components (time, primers, brass, powder, and bullet) and using expensive equipment to churn out items of ZERO economic resale value. Nobody smart will shoot or buy someone's reloads. So if you spent $5000 turning out ammo, and have a huge hoard of ammo, but fall on hard economic times, you will be unable to sell it at any price. Conversely, if someone has the same amount of factory ammo, he can sell it for basically market price and it might appreciate over time. I bought thousands of rounds of various ammo a decade or two ago, and they have doubled in value. The same is not true for the reloader.

If it's your "hobby" then fine. Stop pretending you're 'saving money' because if you are employable, you likely are not saving money sitting at a reloading press.

I've done the math. Honest reloaders will tell you they don't save money; they just enjoy it.

I guess if you remove the "time value of money" then I can shoot for free. I just work a bunch (not factored of course) then buy the ammo with my earned wages (not factored) and it's magically free from the time I worked and wages I earned.

Heck, pretty much everything in life is free if you don't factor your time. Fishing, walking across country instead of flying, farming is free, working is free, driving is free... it's a stupid thing to state, yet reloaders never manage to factor their time.