Is it worth it?

Buy items when you find them if they're reasonably priced. Don't over pay, you've got to start somewhere

If you shop around for all the equipment you need. It can be found for decent prices. Ebay is not the place for now. And buy several manuals. The more data and education you have at your finger tips. The better you will be educated when you get started. When primers and powders are widely available. Stock up before the next shortage.

No. You could be hundreds in and not have all the things you need. If you buy a box loaded, even at the higher price you have a usable product.

No.
Yes.
I don’t know for sure.

There are a lot of variables.

What are you reloading for?

Fine tune a load for a hunting rifle?

Mass produce ammo for handguns?

How much do you shoot?

I had a friend over last week for 3 hours. I loaded 20 rounds on my single stage. Then about 50 rounds on the progressive.

He just wanted to learn. I went slow and explained every step including OAL. He was gifted an old Rockchucker.

At the end I asked him how much he planned on shooting? He said 1-2Xs a month. I told him I recommend he start with his single stage, don’t buy anything unless he can get primers first and offered him to borrow an old powder measure and powder thrower I had. At the end he declined everything and asked me to let him know when components became available.

I have 2 other friends that contacted me about reloading recently asking about presses. They wanted to reload because they can’t find ammo. I told them the same thing, find primers first.

Right now is a tough time. And when primers become available, ammo will probably be available.

If/when things go back to normal would be a good time to start.

That’s just my humble opinion.

I wouldn't start reloading right now. Wait until prices come back down to normal.

You could shop around for tooling & get components as they become available (if).

cadet3 said:

I wouldn't start reloading right now. Wait until prices come back down to normal.

Click to expand...

IF...

I'd say if you're able to find the stuff, go for it. Get a little here and there when you can. If you try to get everything right now, you'll pay too much...but you can find things at semi-normal prices sometimes.

Really just depends on if you enjoy shooting enough to justify it.

I got started reloading 38/357 a couple months ago after Christmas. All my equipment and dies were easily found but at higher prices than prep pandemic. Powder and bullets were pretty easy to find but primers were nearly impossible to find. A friend sold me 3k primers so I could get started. Now all components are difficult to find and in limited quantities sometimes. I just went through 21 pages on GB trying to find primers. Hundreds of thousands of primers from $200 to $400+ per 1000ct. Silly prices but still going up. Availability of components seem to vary geographically so I'd advise you to check the availability of components in your area. Read everything you can and make sure reloading is something you want to do. Then start buying the equipment that best suits your reloading needs. Spend the time waiting for components getting familiar with your equipment. Personally, I'm very much enjoying the time I spend reloading and the satisfaction of shooting my reloads. If you're only considering reloading to save money, now's probably not the time. Good luck.

Now may be a great time to find a mentor and see if you enjoy the hobby. I would help someone learn and share a few components to load them a box. There is zero chance I'm selling what I have.

There will be a time in the future when factory ammo will be available at reasonable cost again. Then those that really do not want to reload will start selling their gear off at a loss. THEN is whe you start buying. The primers are the Achilles heal of reloading, stock them in greater number than other components.

COVID has caused a lot of problems including a whole bunch of new gun owners making demands on the system. So you have to ask yourself just when things are going to get back to "normal", i.e., components on the shelf? And remember that we're just getting into this election cycle. That may or may not extend the shortages.

Hornary put it all out there in their post elsewhere in this forum - high supply and demand for loaded ammo, just-in-time manufacturing planning, and low predictable return-on-investment for building additional plants. Not good.

I had this discussion on Monday with a couple guys from church. One shoots a S&W 460 v-comp as well as a few other things, but in low volume. The other shoots higher volume in 9mm and 38spl. The lesson I took away from that conversation along with putting together shopping carts on Amazon was that yes, you can still pay your equipment off in savings but it’s going to be harder to get the stuff. The guy with the 460 would save $65 per hundred loaded rounds. Basic reloading setup was around 300. 500 rounds in and he has broke even, at current prices. The 38/9mm guy was going to be saving $10 per hundred and would take 3000 rds to break even. For both guys the volumes worked out to be several years worth at their current rates. What we did discuss though is that they can come use my bench and my tools to minimize cost to them, and I would show them how to use the tools and help them get going. The cost of a few sets of dues and a small tackle box to keep their stuff in is a much smaller investment, and at that point the first hundred rounds of 460 pays for dies, and the first 500 rounds each of 38 and 9mm pay for the dies. When things ease up they would know what they are doing, and could buy the rest of their stuff at normal prices.

It depends on why you want to get into reloading. If you are thinking I can get in now and save money on ammunition and get ammo that isn't available otherwise then NO. You can't find components easily and if you can the prices are most of the time unreasonable just like ammo. If you are getting in because you genuinely want to start reloading and you think that this will be a lifelong hobby and passion then ABSOLUTELY. Times are hard right now and you probably won't get a lot of rounds reloaded any time soon. However you can start learning. You can decide what types of equipment you would want to purchase. You can start looking for deals on equipment. You can find a friend that reloads and learn from them. Even reload with them and see if it is something you think you will enjoy. You can study up on powders and get a list of powders that will work for the rounds you want to reload. You can start checking at LGSs to see if they have equipment or components. Check Armslist or other online forums for supplies being sold by individuals. Sometimes you get lucky. There is so much you can do now to be ready when supplies become more available. And then when the next crisis hits you will be set.

Llew Taranau said:

is it still worth the investment to start from zero with reloading at this time?

Click to expand...

I would guess it will not be any easier for a while.
We have been here before and after 2008 I decided I won't be fooled again.

I would say, if you want to start reloading there is no “right” or “wrong” time to do so. We can’t predict tomorrow’s price on anything (factory ammo, components and equipment to reload, etc). If you shop around, you can find what you need at decent prices. I have been finding a lot of used equipment and components from folks that thought they were going to start reloading and never got around to it. If you have local/state forums, check those first for people selling their equipment and components. Lots of folks are starting to offload after purchasing full setups last year.

Get several manual 's on reloading read them and decide what you need not what you want then check availability and price of the things you need. Make a decision from there if now is the right time. You can find out what you need to make things easier and get them later. One time it took a company 6 mounths to get and send me some 45ACP dies that they said were in stock. That's why I don't like to buy online. If I can get it l from a LGS that's that's my preferred method of buying things . It might be a few dollars more but that's ok by me.