Cost per round...

[FROGO207]

I purchased my first reloading kit in about 1973. It and most of the other reloading tools I invested in are paid off many times over by now. I do not bother trying to calculate what it costs a round. I buy the expendables in as large a bulk as I can afford. Figure I spend roughly 4.5K a year historically over the past while. I have a decent supply put away and can proceed to reload and shoot as normal for 5 years with no changes. Surely cost to restock will increase when supplies return but will still be less than buying ammo overall. The last 9MM I purchased was Blazer Brass at $3.49 per box of 50.

 

[kidneyboy]

I have some 125 grain .356 coated from Summers enterprises, I'll load up 24 rounds and see how they do in one of my 1911's with T.G. The ones that were leading on me was SNS casting and Bayou bullets. Both 115 grain.

I use Bayou and Acme, mostly Acme as they are local to me. The 147s are running just over 900fps and the 124s just under 1100fps.
To stay on topic, the last time I checked, 9mm ammo was costing me between .13 and .14 cents each to make.

 

[jmorris]

When I look at costs I base my calculations on what I paid. Others costs are what they pay(ed). As far as burning it up, I might keep replacement costs in mind but that would be a future projection of costs and subject to change.

If I bought a bunch of primers when they were $99/5000, that’s my primer costs, until the next purchase. if I am loading my cast and coated 9mm rounds the only things I have to buy are powder, primers and coating, brass and lead are recycled, add in shipping, electricity, taxes and such and I am still under $40/1000, out of pocket. Obviously without counting my time, I suppose If I counted that, I could actually make money reloading as it’s much cheaper than my other methods of spending time alive.

 

[Bfh_auto]

.
The equipment is durable and will likely outlast us.

I'm still running my Grandfather's single stage press. He died in 91.
I only go through less than 5000 rounds per year. Which is nothing compared to some of the people on here.

 

[GBExpat]

I still have some of my dad's penciled notations in our old/original reloading docs from ~'68-'70.

Relative to 7.92x57 (our reloading raison d'être) our materials-cost was ~5¢ to reload each round (~46gr [email protected]¢ + [email protected]¢ + Bullet(150gr jacketed SP spitzer)@2.9¢). He even added a rough amortization schedule, in effect, of the $7.50 Lee Loader (a.k.a., Whack-A-Mole) that we used; for 750 rounds +1¢/ea, for 1500 rounds +½¢.

I remember discussing the Reloading Math with him. He summarized the exercise by saying that if we could find decent milsurp ammo for not much more than a nickel a round (or whatever the cost at that point in time) we should probably buy the milsurp rather than reloading.

By that time I had scrounged, perhaps, 30 (or a few less) 7.92x57 brass boxer cases, it was a very low-volume enterprise.

O'course that 1970 Nickel would today (according to an online calculator) equal ~34¢.

 

[CQB45ACP]

I spent way too much time dozing off in finance classes to ignore things like actuals and total cost of ownership and bladidy, bladidy.

So, I have roughly recalculated my total reloading expenses on my cash value card beginning September 2019 when I started the hobby. It totals ~$6000.

At 4 gunshows until the pandemic lock down I spent another $300/per (my self imposed limit) or $1200.

Then, a few trips to Cabelas where I spent a total of about $600 cash.

Grand total of $7800.

Did not calculate gas nor mileage.

Since September 2019 I’ve loaded ~15K rounds combined 9mm and 45ACP. Not going to bother breaking out how much of each right now so I’ll say my per round all-in cost is .52/round.

So that’s the cost, but the value is so much greater. I went to the range this AM and shot 100 9mm rounds, didn’t care about how much each cost, and only worried about how many cases I couldn’t recover.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I tried calculating an average for my most common pistol rounds that I actually shoot regularly - 145gr. DEWC w/ 3.5gr. Bullseye .38Spl, 230gr. LRN w/ 7.0gr. HS6 .45ACP and 100gr. DEWC w/ 1.7gr. Bullseye .32S&W Long - and came up with an average of around 30¢/ea. using pre-plandemic supplies. These are my favorite target/plinking rounds. The 230gr. LRN .452" were given to me by a friend who stopped reloading years ago and wanted the buckets of cast lead .45's in his garage gone. That keeps the average cost down. I have probably around 1000 of those left. The 145gr. DEWC's are from Reed's and the 100gr. DEWC's are Meister's. I bought a lot from Midway when they had free shipping/no hazmat. Hard to believe now but most of my powder was $20/pound delivered.

For 9mm, I paid less than $90 for 1000 Federal 105gr. EFMJ "Guard Dog" bullets and about the same for 1000 discontinued Remington Golden Saber (non-bonded) BJHP then had to work up loads for each (which I won't post because there's no way to verify they are safe). I was given two 10-pound buckets of 9mm brass - no cost there - and I probably have close to 5,000 left. The final product is cheap, but with no listed data and just factory published spec's to go by, they were a pain to deal with until I found "that perfect load." For those two 9mm SD loads, I'm at 27¢/ea. A little more for the bi-metal steel 115gr. RN I bought from Midway right before the plandemic hit for $120/1000.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I can’t even imagine what my wife would say if a pallet of ammo landed on my driveway! It’d be funny for a few seconds.

Mine would say, "Those are for me, right?"

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

 

[mstreddy]

For 9mm, I paid less than $90 for 1000 Federal 105gr. EFMJ "Guard Dog" bullets and about the same for 1000 discontinued Remington Golden Saber (non-bonded) BJHP then had to work up loads for each (which I won't post because there's no way to verify they are safe). I was given two 10-pound buckets of 9mm brass - no cost there - and I probably have close to 5,000 left. The final product is cheap, but with no listed data and just factory published spec's to go by, they were a pain to deal with until I found "that perfect load." For those two 9mm SD loads, I'm at 27¢/ea. A little more for the bi-metal steel 115gr. RN I bought from Midway right before the plandemic hit for $120/1000.

GeoDude,
My math is likely off, but if the bullets were 9 cents each, with powder at $20 a pound, and free brass; how did you get to 27 cents each? Same for the 45s with the free cast bullets?

 

[mstreddy]

OK, I'm finally at my home computer where I have my reload log / inventory spreadsheet available.
My 9MM loads over the last several years of reloading have averaged out to 10 cents per round. I've loaded over 22K of them in various weights and bullet brands/styles. The per round cost has ranged from my cast (purchased lead) at 6 cents per to 14.4 cents per for some "pricey" 147s that I paid 12 cents for.
As stated earlier, once I cast some up with my free lead, the price will be in the 3 cent range.

My 45 ACP is around the same range of 10 cents per round for the overall average, though I've only loaded around 5,200 of those. Similar numbers in price and quantity for 38 Special. I'll mention, I tend to load more cast in those than the 9MM.

 

[WeekendReloader]

9mm 125gn cast.
Powder: 0.0192
Primer: 0.038
Bullet: 0.03
Brass: free
Powdercoat: 0.002 (estimate)
Wash&Wax + Lemishine: 0.0005 (estimate)
Electricity: 0.0005

cost per round: $0.09
cost per box/50: $4.50

Look like the lead and primer dominate the cost. Free lead would be great. Bulk primer purchase when on sale would be great too!

 

[mmb617]

I go to the range 2-3 times a week and still have a good supply of ammo I reloaded so I don't think about cost too much. Yesterday a guy in front of me was checking out after his range session and I heard the counter guy say $96.19 as the customer handed over his card. And then the customer said "Yep, that's my magic number. It's what it is each time for 2 boxes of ammo and 2 targets." I've never bought ammo there but I think it's all 20 round boxes. I don't know what caliber that guy was shooting but I do know I wouldn't be there a couple times a week if that's what it cost me. He didn't seem the least bit upset so I guess he can afford it, but I sure couldn't.

I just lucked onto some good timing as I only started reloading about a year and a half ago, but I jumped in with both feet and had thousands of rounds done before things got crazy. I also stockpiled enough supplies to do thousands more before prices went through the roof.

 

[armoredman]

For the heck of it, I calculated my cost per round for 9mm. I’m sitting at 20 cents per round, higher than I expected but it could be worse. I was at 11 cents per round a year ago.

My best friend bought the primers, because she likes shooting my loads in my guns. Brass is recycled. Powder came from an estate sale giveaway last year, STILL working on that stuff. The lead I bought, $1.80 a pound for certified bullet metal 92/6/2. So, figuring electricity to run the lead pot, I think I am loading for $.04 a pop. Of course, special circumstances but I do have to say casting my own bullets has really brought the cost down to loading everything.

 

[CQB45ACP]

I go to the range 2-3 times a week and still have a good supply of ammo I reloaded so I don't think about cost too much. Yesterday a guy in front of me was checking out after his range session and I heard the counter guy say $96.19 as the customer handed over his card. And then the customer said "Yep, that's my magic number. It's what it is each time for 2 boxes of ammo and 2 targets." I've never bought ammo there but I think it's all 20 round boxes. I don't know what caliber that guy was shooting but I do know I wouldn't be there a couple times a week if that's what it cost me. He didn't seem the least bit upset so I guess he can afford it, but I sure couldn't.

I just lucked onto some good timing as I only started reloading about a year and a half ago, but I jumped in with both feet and had thousands of rounds done before things got crazy. I also stockpiled enough supplies to do thousands more before prices went through the roof.

Prepandemic I went three times/wk also. One visit was 45acp, then 9mm, then .22 target pistol. Cost wasn’t a concern.

Since March 2020 I’ve averaged just under once/week and just what I load (9 or 45) 100-150 rounds each time. Cost is still no concern, but wow others are paying $100 a trip.

 

[LightninST]

Prepandemic I went three times/wk also. One visit was 45acp, then 9mm, then .22 target pistol. Cost wasn’t a concern.

Since March 2020 I’ve averaged just under once/week and just what I load (9 or 45) 100-150 rounds each time. Cost is still no concern, but wow others are paying $100 a trip.

Still cheaper than Golf or going to the movies !

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

GeoDude,
My math is likely off, but if the bullets were 9 cents each, with powder at $20 a pound, and free brass; how did you get to 27 cents each? Same for the 45s with the free cast bullets?

You missed two loops and combined the guesstimated cost of 9mm with the AVERAGE cost of .38Spl, .32S&W-L AND .45AC combined. I paid more for HS6 than for Bullseye or Unique - which I traded for so the exact dollar amounts are kind of fuzzy - and the 9mm loads are more than 5 grains so my powder cost is higher, I can't say how much because I'm using a worked-up load, not published data. While the EFMJ Federals and BJHP Remingtons were 9¢/ea., the BMFMJ's were 12¢/ea. - (9+9+12)/3=10¢/bullet, average. While the 9mm brass was "free" the primers were not (3-4-5¢/ea or an average of 4¢/ea approximately) and I traded loaded ammo in .30-06 to the donor for his troubles plus some loaded .45Colt and .44-40WCF plinking ammo using his primers and cases but my powder and bullets. We're neighbors, we take care of each other and don't count the pennies - but the OP's question asks for pennies so I calculated post-plandemic-"normal" anticipated/estimated replacement costs based on what those supplies will/should cost me and used that. I said it was hard to calculate because I swap and trade and when I do buy it's expensive - the Meister's, Reed's and GT Bullet's cast I use is pricey - upwards of $70/500 shipped or 14¢/ea.

I'm trying to be realistic in the spirit of the question, not brag about how "cheap" I shoot and skew the real-world results to look "good."

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Still cheaper than Golf or going to the movies !

A golf course is the tragic waste of a perfectly good rifle range.

 

[mstreddy]

Geodude, gotcha. I understand now...

I'm trying to be realistic in the spirit of the question, not brag about how "cheap" I shoot and skew the real-world results to look "good."

My answers were not skewed, they are real world -- for me. Thankfully, I have a good supply of components laid in. I base my calculations on the prices I paid at the time I bought them. As a point of interest (to me) I record the costs for the components in my inventory log. As I load up rounds I mark which component batch I'm using. The jug of powder at $20 or the jug of powder at $22. The primers at 2 cents or the ones at 2.6, etc.
If I had to buy supplies now, then the calculations would reflect the new prices and my per round costs would go much higher as I use those components.

A golf course is the tragic waste of a perfectly good rifle range.

I agree!

 

[CQB45ACP]

Still cheaper than Golf or going to the movies !

True
...less cursing than golf too.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

My answers were not skewed, they are real world -- for me.

Wasn't implying they were. One thing you learn studying any kind of physics: there ain't so such thing as "free." All things have cost. Even stuff that's been given to you isn't free.

 

[armoredman]

TANSTAAFL.

 

[Encoreman]

A golf course is the tragic waste of a perfectly good rifle range

How true, but think of it this way, if all those people on the goof course were at the shooting range?? Same thing as long as they are hitting the little white ball around, they won't be on the lake with me.