Economics of Reloading 45ACP Revealed

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Five of Clubs

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This is a question that I had to answer for myself, but it may help others. Where is the "break even point" on 45ACP with reloading versus buying off the shelf? The answer for me was 1000 rounds. Here is the math:

Walmart price (cheapest around) for 100 rounds 45ACP = $32.99

X10 = $329.90 for 1000 rounds purchased.

Reloading startup costs:
$138 for Lee Breech lock Single Stage kit plus carbide dies shipped from
Cabelas
$17 Digital calipers from Harbor Freight
$106 for 1000 230gr lead bullets
$18 for 1 pound of Unique powder
$30 for 1000 CCI large pistol primers
$25 for ammo boxes (loaded rounds)
$0 Free range brass
$334 dollars total reloaded

Every thousand rounds of 45ACP from now on will cost $154 until prices change. All reloading components were purchased locally. I could probably get bullets cheaper off the web, but the hazard fees prohibit buying the other components that way.

Therefore, my advice is that if you plan to shoot more than 1000 rounds through your .45, start reloading. This is especially true if you have about 4 hours per week to dedicate to this hobby. The good news is that I have developed a load that I LOVE to shoot. The bad news is that I shoot WAY more than I ever did prior to reloading.

I hope this helps some person like me when I was looking a few months ago.
 
I did the same math myself a while back. I also shoot a lot of 9mm, .380ACP, .357mag, and 38spl though. Either way, you're about right it works out to less than half of what you would spend on WWB at wally world.
 
Ha ha ha ha ha!

Call us when you hit 1000 rounds and you haven't bought any more stuff!

You'll see, once you buy a gun because you can reload for it you'll forget all about this "break-even" nonsense.

Seriously, though, you're right that the only way to shoot volume without being wealthy or sponsored or enlisted or a cop is to reload. The only way to be a good shot is to shoot volume. So, reloading is the only way average Joes like you and me can really work on our shooting skills.

Before I started reloading, I'd look at a $25 box of .45acp and wonder if I really needed to shoot all 50 in one trip. Add in $15 for range time, $10 for gas, and $5 for targets, and that's $55 for an hour of shooting. Now the ammo is about $12/100, it shoots much better than the cheap factory stuff, I can shoot enough to justify joining the range, AND I start to see real improvement in how I'm shooting.

Reloading makes a world of difference in your shooting, but in the long run it will never actually save you any money. Good luck!

-J.
 
By casting my own boolits from scrap lead/wheelweights, I got the cost for 9mm/38/357/45 down to just the powder and primers, about 4 cents per round. There's loads of free pickup brass out there, just keep at it.

But, I don't save money, just as I was warned. I've been picking 40SW brass for a long time just because there's a lot of it out there with the other stuff. Yesterday I ordered the reloading dies, and a boolit mould and sizer die for 40SW. And I don't yet even have anything in 40S&W (to be fixed soon though I hope).

They warned me that reloading would get this way, and it did. I don't save much if any money, but boy I can sure shoot a lot for the same $ I used to spend! At about $2 consumables cost per box of 50 ($4 for 100) I like to claim that I'm saving lots of money. A weekend range trip usually means a couple hundred 9mm and 45 rounds expended, so even at the 9mm price of about $20 per 100 the savings do add up!
 
By casting my own boolits from scrap lead/wheelweights

... where did the word boolit come from? I keep seeing it on this board. In a technical sense, is it different from bullet? Is it even a real word? :confused:
 
boolits and other cool terms

I'm probably an old fart, so I'm perhaps not the best to try to answer this -

I think the disintegration of the English language is a terrible thing to witness. Considering the influence of "texting", it is also probably inevitable.

So, boolits and Bushy, Remy, et al are slang terms that are part of today's lexicon.

I am so impressed by this.

By the way, a link to the folks who probably started the "boolit" nonsense is -

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

The information is accurate and they seem a dedicated, professional bunch. Coining a horrible appellation is a minor sin. :)
 
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I don't get it ... it's not like boolit has fewer letters than bullet!!! I can't find any reference to it in any dictionary that I've checked (online too) so I was just wondering where this ridiculous word comes from. If it has a specific technical meaning such that it's a subset of bullet in the way that hollow point, jacketed, lead, copper, hard cast, gas checked etc are all subsets of bullet then I can see the point of it. :(

The one "real" reference I could find is that boolit is a Finish word and is the plural of booli which means punch (the drink, not the fist version).

I think the disintegration of the English language is a terrible thing to witness.

You're not kidding!!! :cuss:
 
The term simply differentiates between "store bought" and "homemade" projectiles.

Griz,
Thanks for the explanation but I'm assuming that this is slang or a colloquialism rather than a "real" word.

:)

As for the OP, this is very helpful information. I showed some calculations, plots etc a few months ago showing the cost of reloading .45 Colt and basically wanted to "prove" that it isn't significantly more expensive than .38 special (which some had claimed). Some folks will by a firearm based on their perception of what it'll cost to shoot rather than how enjoyable or functional the firearm will be. I was advised by many here to buy SAA revolvers in .38 special rather than .45 Colt for the simple and erroneous reason that they're "much" cheaper to shoot. I ended up buying USFA Rodeos in .45 Colt because that's what I wanted. I'll happily pay an extra $0.02 per round to own/shoot a caliber that I like versus one that I don't.

:)
 
I got my .45 ACP down to $8.70 per hundred ($87 a thousand).
That's using purchased 230-RN lead bullets, Wolf primers, Titegroup powder, range brass.
And my Sig 220 likes 'em better than WWB.
Now I can shoot 200 .45's in one session and not feel guilty, and my targets look better because of it. What would have been $65 is now $35. That's what I call savings. However, back in the day, I would have just shot 100 .45's for $32. Now I shoot 200 for $35. Am I really saving anything? :)
 
I did the exact same analysis and came to the same conclusion, break even is at 1000 rounds, and after i bought powder and primers Friday, I updated the cost, it is was still almost %50 less then wal mart factory ammo.
 
I ran out the numbers recently and not counting my initial investment for the press and such I can load 100 .45 FMJ for right at $20. If I bought in more bulk, I could lower that. I shoot Glocks so straight lead is out. So I save around $10 per hundred on FMJ and around $80 per hundred on JHP.

Parenthetically I was in a Big 5 over the weekend and they get $45 a box for .45 wwb. Yikes! I kind of laughed at them and told them how much Wally World has it for and the guy told me I was crazy.
 
castboolits is another forum website. Their focus is casting bullets.
Many people here are members on both.

I doubt you will save any money for the most part. Hobbies are expensive.

I reload for friends and family hunting loads, but it is gratis. They are making out like bandits.

If you shoot a lot, it will be cheaper to reload. If you shoot competition, and don't have a sponsor,
 
Not to mess up a thread here, but hill billy, you CAN shoot lead in a glock. Hard cast lead is OK. Just don't shoot max loads, and after a few mags of lead, shoot a few jacketed bullets through the gun. Really helps keep out the leading. Give it a try. And yes, I love shootin' more since I jumped into the brotherhood of the brass chasers!
 
I've been thinking about buying cast bullets to bring my costs down even further..... but I shoot at an indoor range. Is this really something to be concerned about. I shoot about 200 rounds per week from my .45
 
From the link above.
Boolits= as God laid it into the soil,,grand old Galena,the Silver Stream graciously hand poured into molds for our consumption.

Bullets= Machine made utilizing Full Length Gas Checks as to provide projectiles for the masses.
I also cast my own bullits for 45 auto and am loading 45 for 2.6 cents each or $26 per 1,000. I'm getting ready to start casting for 9mm and 38 spcl soon.
Rusty
 
1858 Asks: Where did the word boolit come from? I keep seeing it on this board. In a technical sense, is it different from bullet? Is it even a real word?

Actually, the term started on the old shooterstalk (now long gone) cast bullet board. I don't recall the individual that first came up w/ the unique spelling (in very late 90's?), but that's where it started.

When shooterstalk went belly up, the guys always on the cast bullet board started another site.

I've been casting my own since 1982.
 
I too have been pricing the economics of reloaded .45 ACP.

Here's what I've determined:

$68+$10 s/h for 1000 200 gr RNL from http://www.missouribullet.com/shop/details.php?prodId=78&category=5

~$27 for 1000 primers (gunshow)

~$18 for 1lb of PowerPistol (local shop)

$0 1000 pieces of range brass

Don't factor in the cost of reloading equipment. The initial investment is very low unless you drink blue koolaid :p

My cost less time = 78+27+18 = $123/1000 rounds.

If I were to cast my own rounds I could probably get this down to $50/1000. There are also other ways to get cheaper powder (surplus AA #7, etc.) and primers (buy 5000-1000 at a time)

I wish I could afford a progressive press. :(

If you have to shoot a jacketed bullet you might want to consider rainier plated or possibly 185 gr JHP noslers. I bought a 250 bullet box of the noslers from midway for like $37. Not bad IMO
 
Evil, If the ventilation system is GREAT, then you generally should be allright. If there is any question, get tested. If you can find cast lead projectiles with a gas check on them, even better.
 
Wow. 45 ACP is more expensive than I had thought. I can buy 1000 9mm 124 gr from Georgia Arms for $195. I reload my 45 LC, but not 9mm, since it's so cheap. I had no idea that 45 ACP was so expensive.

Mike
 
Wow. 45 ACP is more expensive than I had thought. I can buy 1000 9mm 124 gr from Georgia Arms for $195. I reload my 45 LC, but not 9mm, since it's so cheap. I had no idea that 45 ACP was so expensive.

Mike
When I can reload 1,000 9mm for $75 then $195 is way to expensive for me. I shoot a lot of 9mm. Once I start casting for 9mm my cost will be down to around $26 per 1,000.
Rusty
 
I can reload 1000 40 S&W rounds for $120. At Wal-Mart, win white box is $30/100. Instead of shooting 100 rounds/month and trying to stretch my supply as far as possible, I shoot 250 rounds/month and I don't worry about my ammo supply.:D When I get down to 1000 rounds, I usually order the 2000 count Ranier bulk pack from Midwayusa, $205 with free shipping.:) I've been buying Wolf Primers from Widener's, 10,000 at a time, which works out to $21/brick. For powder, I buy 8lb keg's of Unique at Sportsmans Warehouse for $104 out the door.
 
Sorry it has taken so long to reply, we had some hurricane-like winds in Louisville and I have been without internet.

I hope this info is useful to some newbie reloader, but as everyone said you start to shoot WAY more than you ever did before. I used to shoot about 1000 rounds of 45ACP per year, along with about 6000 rounds of .22LR. I now shoot 250 rounds of 45ACP per week and I've quit taking my .22 pistol with me to the range. Actually, I'm even selling the brass I don't reload just to feed my shooting habit. I now totally understand why my wife would say that buying something on sale meant she was really saving money.

This type of shooting is going to seriously cut into my gun-buying money. I used to be too tight to spend the money for ammo, so my slush fund would build up and I would just buy a new gun when I got enough. Not anymore. I just hope I never buy an AR and start reloading .223, I think I could go bankrupt.
 
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