What role does ammo cost play in your gun selection?

ColtPythonElite said:

It costs me about 2 cents more per round to load .44 Magnum than .45ACP.

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Reloading? maybe, I've been thinking about it more lately at least for .45C

I don't own a .45 Colt, but load some fine performing .45 Colt rounds for a buddy using ACP bullets that I always have on hand.

What role does ammo cost play in your gun selection?

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With the exception of .22RF, if I cannot reload the cartridges with reasonable ease (e.g., 5.7x28, .22Mag), I will not buy the firearm.

I bought a .308 just to take advantage of less expensive target ammo. Most of my other guns, excepting .22lr and shotguns, require that I load ammo in order to shoot them much. It's nice to be able to shoot without any additional work, but that does not mean I will go for cheaper chamberings when others work better.

It's good to not track costs too closely.....

I don't reload for pistol, so I do watch that ammo cost closer. Getting out of 10mm will help. Getting back into 38 Super will call it a wash. Have 3 9mms, just because it is cheaper to shoot.

Unless I can get a deal on factory rifle ammo, I just reload what I shoot. Even when I buy it, I'm buying it to get the cases after I fire them.

I'll still own the same firearms but some may see more use than others, depending on what I've got on hand. So it certainly is a consideration for me as I am not made of money.

Right now finding pistol powders to replenish what I shoot is a consideration as well as hunting down 90gr. bullets and brass to reload .380 with at a reasonable price. That's when having a larger footprint really helps (and having 30 lbs. or more of powder on hand don't hurt either).

When it came time to buy my CCW I went .40S&W because even at the height of the post Newtown ammo shortage I always saw .40S&W available.

Availability is more of a consideration for me than actual cost. I do reload, but mostly for accuracy in rifles. My pistols see mostly factory ammo and several AR's see only M193. Over the years, I have "thinned the herd" to fewer firearms, but REALLY trimmed down the number of calibers I shoot.
.22LR
.223
5.56
.308
7.62X51
12 gauge
.45ACP

I'm down to seven calibers and five different handloads. The Swedes, Mausers, Enfields, SKS, MAK, .45-70, .357, all gone. I do still have an old .44-40 that I seldom shoot. I'll never sell it as it belonged to my Great Grandfather. I'm not hurting for guns, my kids will have plenty to divvy up. I own more 12 gauges than some people have total firearms. I just got tired of having dozens of calibers when i can tailor a load to a rifle or shotgun to fit a specific use while keeping a common caliber.

The only non-current issue caliber I have is 7.62x25. I was kind of hard to find for a while but there now three commercial offerings so it is less of concern to me at this point. I do have a set of dies on my radar at every gun-show, online site I frequent but I am buying PPU brass factory ammo right now till I have a couple thousand cases to reload.

I don't own a .45 Colt, but load some fine performing .45 Colt rounds for a buddy using ACP bullets that I always have on hand.

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I load and shoot as many .45 Colt as any other round. I'm thinking of getting a mold designed for .45 ACP to load some light plinking ammo. I know a lot of the CAS crowd use 180-200 grain bullets. My wife likes to shoot so I figure a light bullet and some Trail Boss will be the ticket to minimize recoil for her. May even get the recoil down to about where her .38 is.

It factors a lot.

It's the main reason I don't own and carry a Charter Arms Bulldog for one, .44 special is very expensive and I currently cannot reload. .38 special is expensive enough as it is. I also stick to 9mm just because ammo for it is relatively cheap. I also don't own a .308 caliber PTR-91 rifle, and God knows I would IF I could afford to feed it!

Means a lot to me! I have a .45 and I might get another one. But I have pretty much standardized around the 9mm, have a number and would always consider another (looking at a '73 BHP right now!) because a) 9mm will do what I need it to do, and b) 9mm will pretty much cost half as much per round as .45 for FMJ practice ammo. I do not reload.

Likewise 5.56. 5.56 NATO will do everything I need a rifle caliber to do (I do not hunt game, varmint control as needed with no hesitation, but no sport or meat hunting). 7.62 NATO or 6.8 SPC would not do what I need better by the measure I put it to and would cost way more. Now 7.62x39 does not fit that but I am not an enthusiast of Eastern Bloc arms so I have no use for that for now.

So yes, for what I need to be able to do, I am able to go with less expensive calibers and do so.

For me it's not the cost but availability of the ammo in my area,I do reload but when I go to the range I like to buy a box or two from my local shop and they in return give me good deals on certain items. Would it be nice to have some odd caliburs,sure,but I would need to reload them or order them in and for me it's not worth it,I reload 270,30-30,30-06,308me,45-70,338win mag,6.5 creedmoore,357/38 and 44 and I do have dies for .223,22-250 and 9mm but I still just buy it and have a lot on hand.
For me it's about availability and not so much cost.

Cost and availability, both of loaded ammo and reloading components definitely play an important part of the decision process for me. So for the most part I stick with "standard" calibers whenever performance is going to be similar or overlap. For example stay with 223 instead of 218, 219, or 222 even though I have seen some extremely nice older rifles that were very affordably priced. Price difference stocking up a few hundred rounds of brass or commercial ammo makes them no bargain anymore.

zippo

For semiautos the price of brass is a minor factor. Brass is like money, and I always lose some when shooting.

For firearms that don't throw their brass to the winds, the cost off brass is of no consequence.

Zero as far as Handguns are concerned...
Rifles are a little different, since you can go up to 5 bucks a round...

jerkface11 said:

Once you start loading your own it stops mattering.

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Until you have to buy a new set of dies, new caliber or weight bullets or different type of powder.

Dies bullets and powder would still be cheaper than a couple boxes of ammo for a lot of rifles.

I like the challenge and novelty of owning reloading some of the offbeat stuff like 5.7x28, 22tcm, and 50GI. I'll go out of my way to seek these out. For ME, reloading is more than half the fun. I've purchased guns just to reload a new caliber.

A primary, critical role for several centerfire rifles (Mini 14, 30, SKS, former MNs), except for the pair of M-1 Garands. Economic "possibilities" of reloading-which have not been calculated-helped me justify several Enfields.

For the three handguns (WW2 Mauser Hsc, Sauer 38H and Sig 232), all in .32 Auto and .380 Auto, ammo prices play a very secondary role.

Reloading is not a panacea....

For those guys who say reloading solves the ammo cost issue, I would suggest you look at reloading cost for the Cheytac 375. The CT375 is becoming popular with the ELR guys in my long range club but I'm not wealthy enough for that round. I don't even want to pay to reload 338LM. So yes, ammo cost will play a part in my ELR rifle selection.

Since I reload I only worry about not being able to get components that are sometimes in short supply.

I stick with common, old calibers for sidearms. I could list why I don't have this one or that one, but to keep it short, all of my defense pistols are 9mm or .45ACP.

Does ammo price and availibity play a role? Of course, my last 1911 purchase was a 9mm. It costs the same to feed today as my .45 did ten years ago.

My go to gun in an AR15 in 5.56, I also have an AR in 9mm and .45ACP. The .45 doesn't see much rangetime.

Of course, I have a handful of .22s, including another AR15, but they havent seen much rangetime in the last few years either.

Even though the 1911 is my preferred platform, most of what I shoot is 9mm from my Spartan, AR, Glock 19, or K9...

My only shotgun is a 12 gauge. With the various loads available, I don't see any reason for another caliber.

I dont hunt.