CMV
Member
YMMV but this is how the cost breakdown for me is looking for .223
About $575 in equipment. That's pretty high since I went with mostly Lee stuff, but I bought a Hornady auto powder measure/dispenser for $200. Take that out & initial equipment costs are pretty reasonable. I also bought some duplicate items mostly because having no experience I wanted to compare different things. I bought an ultrasonic cleaner and a tumbler & a couple different kinds of case trimmers for example.
My initial components were $269. I didn't have any brass (other than loaded ammo) so I bought 1k 1x fired locally for $60. I bought powder & primers at a local shop so they cost a little more, but only buying enough for 1k it was less than paying Hazmat shipping. Now that I've found some slightly better prices I should be right around $198/1,000 for components. Could shave another $40+ off using surplus powder but I'm not that brave just getting started.
So when do I break even or come out ahead? Never unless my time is worth $0/hr. Never if I shot Wolf @ $220/case delivered. But since I'm trying to duplicate USGI M193 I'll use XM193 for cost comparison @ $330/1,000 delivered.
My 1st 1,000 rounds will cost 84.4¢ per round. Yikes.
Following batches will cost 19.8¢ per round. That's more like it.
So shooting Wolf at 22¢ vs my reloads at 19.8¢ - it really isn't worth saving a couple pennies. If you're purely looking at cost for plinking ammo it's real hard to justify.
Anyway, right around 5,000 rounds is where I'll have recovered all the cost of equipment and be slightly ahead. From that point forward, I save $132/case assuming components or XM193 prices don't change or go up inline with each other.
BUT - what if I get into other calibers? Really all I need is a set of dies & a case trimmer. Pretty insignificant cost and I'd be ahead on the first case.
Really for me though it's not knowing what the political climate is going to be like in the future. What if all ammo imports were cut off? That would be a much less politically risky move than something like another AWB. Imagine how much a case (if you could even find one) of American Eagle, UMC, or WWB would be if there was no Wolf, Tula, Prvi, PMC, etc. It would be 2008 all over again but for a very long time.
Other than several cases of .223 & 9mm and maybe 500 rds for everything else I keep on hand, I don't really have the room to store cases & cases of ammo. I don't have the extra money to go out & buy a case of something every month either. But I can grab a a couple boxes of primers every month, or 1,000 projectiles, or a few pounds of powder. I could have the *equivalent of* 20,000 rds of ammo in my stash taking up much less space and at much less cost. And, I don't have to compete with everyone else to get ammo when it's scarce.
About $575 in equipment. That's pretty high since I went with mostly Lee stuff, but I bought a Hornady auto powder measure/dispenser for $200. Take that out & initial equipment costs are pretty reasonable. I also bought some duplicate items mostly because having no experience I wanted to compare different things. I bought an ultrasonic cleaner and a tumbler & a couple different kinds of case trimmers for example.
My initial components were $269. I didn't have any brass (other than loaded ammo) so I bought 1k 1x fired locally for $60. I bought powder & primers at a local shop so they cost a little more, but only buying enough for 1k it was less than paying Hazmat shipping. Now that I've found some slightly better prices I should be right around $198/1,000 for components. Could shave another $40+ off using surplus powder but I'm not that brave just getting started.
So when do I break even or come out ahead? Never unless my time is worth $0/hr. Never if I shot Wolf @ $220/case delivered. But since I'm trying to duplicate USGI M193 I'll use XM193 for cost comparison @ $330/1,000 delivered.
My 1st 1,000 rounds will cost 84.4¢ per round. Yikes.
Following batches will cost 19.8¢ per round. That's more like it.
So shooting Wolf at 22¢ vs my reloads at 19.8¢ - it really isn't worth saving a couple pennies. If you're purely looking at cost for plinking ammo it's real hard to justify.
Anyway, right around 5,000 rounds is where I'll have recovered all the cost of equipment and be slightly ahead. From that point forward, I save $132/case assuming components or XM193 prices don't change or go up inline with each other.
BUT - what if I get into other calibers? Really all I need is a set of dies & a case trimmer. Pretty insignificant cost and I'd be ahead on the first case.
Really for me though it's not knowing what the political climate is going to be like in the future. What if all ammo imports were cut off? That would be a much less politically risky move than something like another AWB. Imagine how much a case (if you could even find one) of American Eagle, UMC, or WWB would be if there was no Wolf, Tula, Prvi, PMC, etc. It would be 2008 all over again but for a very long time.
Other than several cases of .223 & 9mm and maybe 500 rds for everything else I keep on hand, I don't really have the room to store cases & cases of ammo. I don't have the extra money to go out & buy a case of something every month either. But I can grab a a couple boxes of primers every month, or 1,000 projectiles, or a few pounds of powder. I could have the *equivalent of* 20,000 rds of ammo in my stash taking up much less space and at much less cost. And, I don't have to compete with everyone else to get ammo when it's scarce.
