Reloading Inventory

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bayjoe said:
I am just curious if anybody else has went into the reloading room, looked around and tried to figure out how much money you have invested in that little room that has consumed so many hours?
I've been reloading for over 40 years and have accumulated a lot of stuff. I bought my Rock Chucker around 1980 something and if i remember correctly i paid $60.00. And that's just a starter.
I roughly figure at today's prices (Counting primers) my little room is worth around $20,000 and that doesn't count firearms.
I do some swapping ever now and then on stuff i don't use, but for the most part i will not part with most of it.
Just curious if anybody else is reflecting during this time of craziness
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Nope. I think doing so would; A) ruin the spirit of the hobby for me; and, B) remind me of all the things I should have spent that money on - like my 401k or 403b retirement. Doing that - adding up all of my "investments and costs" is what finally drove me out of (pun intended) riding antique motorcycles. Rush hour in Gator'sville convinced me to stop riding completely and sell my last bike.
 
WestKentucky said:
I don’t try. I don’t even try to try. The reloading bench has kept me going at times when I was struggling with a lot of things so realistically I may be money ahead by cost avoidance of therapists and other professional help. Also, if shooting and reloading was not my hobby motorcycles WOULD be and almost was. Hard tail bobber frames, S&S motors, and paintjobs are a lot more costly on their own than a new gun complete with reloading tools, and a pile of consumables. Land to shoot on is the only valid comparison to the cost of the motorcycle tinkerers hobby.
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1977 BMW R100 dual spark electronic ignition conversion, ported and polished, Kino carburetors, 88BHP to the rear tire. I hit 175MPH on the stretch of I75 between the Turnpike and Tampa and held it between service centers no problem. It was a big, fast, hot-running but generally very comfortable old bike and I don't miss it one bit. :mad::(
 
ms6852 said:
I would never be able to say how much, since I shoot most of it......repeatedly over several decades. Could probably have been a millionaire several times over.
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I really don’t know anybody who reloads and has taken monetary count of their supplies.

1: this is a hobby
2: we are not in it to make money, if you were, you would own a gun shop
 
Mark_Mark said:
I really don’t know anybody who reloads and has taken monetary count of their supplies.

1: this is a hobby
2: we are not in it to make money, if you were, you would own a gun shop
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You are right. The hobby we all share here in this forum has provided us and family and friends with priceless memories of shooting, hunting, and passing our experiences to the younger generation.

Same could be said about how many hamburgers have you eaten and how many cokes have you drank. Difference here is you poop and pee it out...but you enjoyed the heck out of it.
 
Zahn said:
My reloading room has cost me a lot, but it's saved me money as compared to buying ammo at retail. And the time I spend reloading is sort of like fishing to me; it's quiet time, focusing on something that takes me away from anything else that might be on my mind.

But you know the old joke, "After I die I hope my wife doesn't sell everything for what I told her I paid for it."
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Amen mate, they would get a lot for $150 at my house..

Thewelshm
 
Not trying to justify but here goes. Several years back I was at a friends machine shop. His dad and I are also good friends and it he who got me in to this.
He asked me how work was going? I run a small construction company. At the time I was just getting started. I told him I was having a very hard time finding good help.
He asked me what questions I ask when I hire? I told him the usual bs. He told me to ask what their hobbies were and have them explain a bit. He said that a person that works towards success at their hobby. Will work hard and do a good job in life. I’ve watched since then and believe him to be 100 % correct.
just my 2cents
 
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I have an inventory, insofar as a list of what's on the shelf. Cost? Who cares. I like to shoot, so I find ways to do so. I can tell you that reloading .222 costs me 34 cents per, not counting dies, time, tools etc. Again, it doesn't make me any difference. I enjoy it, and I will keep doing so as long as my stock holds out. But this weekend, I'm likely gonna load a couple hundred rounds and store them away. Then clean all my guns and put them up for the year. Be time to start fishing and gardening soon.

Mac
 
bayjoe said:
I am just curious if anybody else has went into the reloading room, looked around and tried to figure out how much money you have invested in that little room that has consumed so many hours?
I've been reloading for over 40 years and have accumulated a lot of stuff. I bought my Rock Chucker around 1980 something and if i remember correctly i paid $60.00. And that's just a starter.
I roughly figure at today's prices (Counting primers) my little room is worth around $20,000 and that doesn't count firearms.
I do some swapping ever now and then on stuff i don't use, but for the most part i will not part with most of it.
Just curious if anybody else is reflecting during this time of craziness
Click to expand...

My inventory's worth is about the same as what I would have left if my wife found out what my inventory is worth. ; - )
 
Figure 9 to 10k, not counting a 53' Willys CJ3A and a couple of Aprilias.
What makes the shop extra special is a 14 year old German Shepard. She has a heart of pure gold and will do whatever it takes to please. Never bit anyone, great nature and a loving dog.
Sadly she only has a short time left. We can't keep any weight on her, she's always been an active dog. Even now she's weak and wobbles but still tries to get in the middle of the action.
Trying to keep her as comfortable as possible now.
 
If I really needed a new truck, and was willing to forego any serious shooting for a couple of years, saving just enough for hunting ammo and sighting in, a showroom new 1/2 ton with accessories would be in my budget after an auction, without selling any guns (at todays pricing). I'd just have to go through the inconvenience of acquiring a CL-6 FFL.
 
mmb617 said:
I don't inventory to figure out how much money I spent but rather to see which components I'm low on and how long I can continue shooting at my current rate if I couldn't get anymore supplies.

I only reload 3 calibers so it's not that hard. I have a spreadsheet set up that does all the calculations. Completed rounds I weigh and plug in the weights to get the number of rounds. Primers are on separate shelves for SPP, SRP and LPP, those are counted to the closest hundred and input to the sheet. Full bottles of powder are counted and partial bottles weighed. When that info is input it gives me the number of rounds that can be loaded with each powder since I use a different powder for each caliber.

Another area takes the number of completed rounds plus the number of rounds that can be loaded using the lowest component level to give me total available rounds, and after I input how many rounds of each I shoot each week it tells me how long I can continue at that rate.

This whole process (now that I have the spreadsheet set up) takes me maybe 15-20 minutes and gives me useful information.
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Sounds like you’re more into the data than the process?
I just make sure I’ve got plenty of everything I need. My process is a bit more complex. I load about 25 rifle chamberings, 15 handgun chamberings, and 5 shotgun gauges. At last count, and I’ve bought more since, I had 78 different numbers of powder.
I’ve got stuff!
 
mmb617 said:
I don't inventory to figure out how much money I spent but rather to see which components I'm low on and how long I can continue shooting at my current rate if I couldn't get anymore supplies.

I only reload 3 calibers so it's not that hard. I have a spreadsheet set up that does all the calculations. Completed rounds I weigh and plug in the weights to get the number of rounds. Primers are on separate shelves for SPP, SRP and LPP, those are counted to the closest hundred and input to the sheet. Full bottles of powder are counted and partial bottles weighed. When that info is input it gives me the number of rounds that can be loaded with each powder since I use a different powder for each caliber.

Another area takes the number of completed rounds plus the number of rounds that can be loaded using the lowest component level to give me total available rounds, and after I input how many rounds of each I shoot each week it tells me how long I can continue at that rate.

This whole process (now that I have the spreadsheet set up) takes me maybe 15-20 minutes and gives me useful information.
Click to expand...

I do something similar with my spreadsheet.

I basically track my components and the cost of it. That let me calculates my cost per round, 50 rounds etc. This also means I know roughly how much I spent on all my reloads so far. Lately I have also added lot numbers to my powder and primer inventory. That allows me to tie a specific lot # to loaded rounds, just in case there is a recall.

The data is only as good as how well you maintain it.
 
vaalpens said:
The data is only as good as how well you maintain it.
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Yes. I used to keep track of my cost per round in another spreadsheet but with prices of components being all over the place I gave up. Last year 9mm was costing me 14 cents a round. At today's prices that won't buy the primer.
 
The last inventory I did was my personal tools at work for the insurance company. Insured for $150k, replacement value. I don't have near that in them. Probably only $130k, but been doing this for 20+ years. Made me wish I'd picked a different career.
If I inventoried my reloading stuff, I'm afraid I'd wish I'd picked a different hobby. But it's still cheaper than fishing bass tournaments.
I was the guy pulling a $40k Triton with a $1500 Cherokee. My dad used to ask all the time "Just how fast are those bass anyway?"
 
Howland937 said:
The last inventory I did was my personal tools at work for the insurance company. Insured for $150k, replacement value. I don't have near that in them. Probably only $130k, but been doing this for 20+ years. Made me wish I'd picked a different career.
If I inventoried my reloading stuff, I'm afraid I'd wish I'd picked a different hobby. But it's still cheaper than fishing bass tournaments.
I was the guy pulling a $40k Triton with a $1500 Cherokee. My dad used to ask all the time "Just how fast are those bass anyway?"
Click to expand...
LOL!!!
I know that song-n-dance. The answer is: You're not racing the bass, you're racing the other boats TO the bass. :what::rofl:
 
Mark_Mark -
I really don’t know anybody who reloads and has taken monetary count of their supplies.

1: this is a hobby
Click to expand...
True, this is a hobby, however, I keep track of inventory as a few here do to ensure I have an accurate accounting of my supplies.
As Vaalpens and MMB stated:
↑
I don't inventory to figure out how much money I spent but rather to see which components I'm low on and how long I can continue shooting at my current rate if I couldn't get anymore supplies.

I only reload 3 calibers so it's not that hard. I have a spreadsheet set up that does all the calculations. Completed rounds I weigh and plug in the weights to get the number of rounds. Primers are on separate shelves for SPP, SRP and LPP, those are counted to the closest hundred and input to the sheet. Full bottles of powder are counted and partial bottles weighed. When that info is input it gives me the number of rounds that can be loaded with each powder since I use a different powder for each caliber.

Another area takes the number of completed rounds plus the number of rounds that can be loaded using the lowest component level to give me total available rounds, and after I input how many rounds of each I shoot each week it tells me how long I can continue at that rate.

This whole process (now that I have the spreadsheet set up) takes me maybe 15-20 minutes and gives me useful information.
I do something similar with my spreadsheet.

I basically track my components and the cost of it. That let me calculates my cost per round, 50 rounds etc. This also means I know roughly how much I spent on all my reloads so far.
Click to expand...

I use my spreadsheet to know what primers, bullets and powders I have used and what's running low. I migrated my loading log to excel after a couple of times of going through my notebook log to figure out where my 9MM 124 gr bullets had gone. I could'a sworn I still had 500 more to load, and I couldn't find them. After manually counting, adding, figuring from my log book I decided -- why am I doing it this way?
The other point, I'm a computer/data/numbers/excel geek. I found a couple of spreadsheets others had created, modified them to suit my needs and now I have a pretty good spreadsheet. As I use up powder, bullets or primers I can refer to a tab and see the qty on hand. I do calculate the per round, per box cost to have an idea/comparison with factory ammo.

I do have my equipment costs and inventory in a tab as well, as one of the spreadsheets I "borrowed" from had a tab for it and was helpful calculating the break-even on the equipment costs. At the rate that I reload, the equipment has been paid for many times over in the past several years.
 
I did an inventory just 3 weeks ago, but never even considered putting a dollar sign on it.

Once the inventory was done, I sat down and figured out what I needed to load every primer I owned.

Bought some projectiles and 10lbs of powder.

It’s a never ending race; need more primers, now I need more powder, now I need more brass, now I need more bullets.
 
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