Has reloading saved you money (casting excluded please)

[ArchAngelCD]

There's no caliber today that you can't load cheaper and better than factory ammo, even the 9mm.

If you shoot very expensive ammo like the 300 RUM or even more expensive like the 375 H&H reloading is a necessity unless you are very well off.

Even if you want to shoot high quality Hard Cast .357 Magnum ammo like that made by Grizzly Cartridges you can save a lot of money because the same bullet is available from their sister company, Cast Performance. For example, 20 rounds of Grizzly 180gr Hard Cast .357 Magnum ammo will cost you $25.95 + S&H. For $24.95 you can buy 100 of those 180gr bullets. That translated into a cost of $6.56 to load 20 rounds. That's a good savings IMO when you can load 80 rounds for the cost of buying 20 rounds of such high quality ammo.

 

[CSA 357]

i havent saved any money i dont think, but i have alot of ammo!

 

[tommyintx]

if your loading .45 for 25$ a brick, i have to know where you're getting powder and primers... because it costs a wee bit more for me than that, not factoring in brass or bullets, just powder and primers..

 

[RandyP]

Not a single red cent of what I have spent reloading ammo remained in my checking account or credit card credit line.

Every single red cent of what I have spent has gone to others. I am unable to claim I saved it by spending it.

All my hobbies cost me money. I try to enjoy them at an affordable rate, but they all cost me money.

 

[RustyFN]

if your loading .45 for 25$ a brick, i have to know where you're getting powder and primers... because it costs a wee bit more for me than that, not factoring in brass or bullets, just powder and primers..

Tommy I bought a large bulk buy three years ago where I got primers for $16 per 1K and powder for $12 per pound including hazmat and shipping. I still have a lot left. I cast my own bullets with free wheel weight lead that I got from tire shops. I'm still sitting on 1,600 pounds of free lead. All of my brass is free range pick-ups from the range. It only cost me $23 per 1K but I rounded up to $25 because a couple of people complained that I didn't figure electric for casting. It does require quite a bit of time to acomplish all this but for me it's fun. I wouldn't recommend this for anybody that doesn't enjoy it. I do it mostly for the fun and always having what I need here when I want it, the savings is a bonus.

 

[jcwit]

I agree with rusty, I did the same, purchased primers at a closeout for approx $50.00 a brick of 5000, surplus powder $8.00 to $10 bucks a lb. don't remember for sure. I also cast my own bullets at no cost except for white gas for the burner.

Can't beat it.

 

[GaryL]

I voted Yes.

From a strictly ammo usage point of view, the savings would be minimal, for the same reasons everyone else mentions. But I also take into account the fact that most of my loads are reduced power from typical factory offerings, saving wear and tear on my guns, and in some cases, me. It also allows me to distribute the usage better, as I would be more inclined towards a couple of less expensive calibers, and I have had a couple guns break that saw heavy usage before I got into reloading.

 

[Finprof]

Cost doesn't matter to me

I started reloading because I started shooting high power rifle silhouette.
By making my own I can shoot reduced power lods for chickens and pigs and full power loads for rams with Lapua brass and different Lapua bullets.
There is not a benchrest competitor I know who doesn't reload since it is part of the game. The same is true of silhouette. You try to find an accurate load that is also easy on your shoulder for when you are touching off 80-100 in a day of shooting. That is virtually impossible unless you custom load your own.

 

[leadcounsel]

I am not a reloader but suspect the real answer will be whether you enjoy it as a hobby, or it's a chore purely to save money (such as doing it yourself instead of paying someone to cut the grass, change your oil, etc.).

I also suspect that it hinges on the time value of your time. If you earn minimum wage it's a lot different than say someone that earns $50, $100, etc. an hour. Or for those on a fixed income reloading may make sense...

For someone making a good salary, they can get 1,000 rounds of ammo in the minutes it takes to click a few web links, type in their address and CC #, and the few days that it takes to have it arrive (which only factors in if you need it now - which is not the question). So lets say that 1000 rounds cost $300 with shipping and took the person neglible time to order it but say 3 hours to earn the $300 (after taxes).

Someone else, after sinking time, learning curve, money into overhead, and the 100 sq. ft. of home space for a work shop (which by the way you are paying about $50-$100 a square foot for), can churn out 1,000 rounds in how many hours. A few? Ten? At some point the amount of time it takes is too burdensome... And let's not forget time collecting brass, cleaning, sizing, buying supplies, etc.

And then there's time away from work (if you can work overtime), family, friends, etc....

I seriously doubt most claims that people save money by reloading. Most folks are skilled enough that they could easily get a second job or work overtime and earn enough to buy more ammo...

I think the real benefit is for the enjoyment and hobby of it, fine tuning your rounds for either low pressure (for competition) or perfect long range handloads.... I see that most people here don't factor in their time they could spend doing other things.

Lastly, and probably most importantly, if you buy factory rounds and there's a kaboom, someone else may be liable for the $10,000 -$50,000 surgery and/or the destroyed gun. If YOU reload them, then you have only yourself to blame.

I look at reloading like hundreds of math equations with serious consequences for wrong answers... and I wasn't none to good at math!

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I put no because I shoot shoot more since I reload. I think nothing of shooting 500 to 700 pistol rounds in a day which is about the same as it would costs me to buy 150 commercial ones.

 

[jfh]

I've "frontloaded" my reloading, in that I now have

enough components, and (reloaded) ammo on hand that, arguably, there will be stuff for my heirs to sell. I have about 18000 rounds loaded in .380-9mmP-.38S-.357M-10mm-.44-Spl-.45ACP, and components on hand to build perhaps 30,000 more (another tray of primers will bring me to that for sure.) The brass is still readily reusable. Most of this is lead bullets--but I have more than a fair share of FMJs and JHPs, too.

Up here, with a nominal six-month outdoor shooting season, at best I could shoot perhaps 12k per year--6K per year is a realistic 'serious' output for me now. And, I now have a bad shoulder and other ailments that go with it--so the desire to reload is slowing down. AFAICT, I think I will die before I shoot up what I have on hand.

Some of that .45ACP stuff was loaded for easily six cents a round--I just got in on the tail end of "a nickel a round" possibilities before inflation continued to knock it apart.

Nonetheless, I still will probably buy some 8-lb jugs of my favorite powders for the latest calibers I'm loading--and try to get ahead of primers for The Coming Collapse.

Jim H.

 

[RustyFN]

For someone making a good salary, they can get 1,000 rounds of ammo in the minutes it takes to click a few web links, type in their address and CC #, and the few days that it takes to have it arrive (which only factors in if you need it now - which is not the question). So lets say that 1000 rounds cost $300 with shipping and took the person neglible time to order it but say 3 hours to earn the $300 (after taxes).

Someone else, after sinking time, learning curve, money into overhead, and the 100 sq. ft. of home space for a work shop (which by the way you are paying about $50-$100 a square foot for), can churn out 1,000 rounds in how many hours. A few? Ten? At some point the amount of time it takes is too burdensome... And let's not forget time collecting brass, cleaning, sizing, buying supplies, etc.

If you have to figure it down to the cost of how many sq ft you are using to reload then you would probably be better off buying factory. One of the most important things you forgot was the first couple of years when Obama was Pres you couldn't buy ammo on-line or in any store. I know people that couldn't shoot matches they wanted to because they couldn't get ammo. Me and all of my friends shot every match we wanted to because we could make our own.

 

[jcwit]

Cost doesn't matter to me

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I started reloading because I started shooting high power rifle silhouette.
By making my own I can shoot reduced power lods for chickens and pigs and full power loads for rams with Lapua brass and different Lapua bullets.
There is not a benchrest competitor I know who doesn't reload since it is part of the game. The same is true of silhouette. You try to find an accurate load that is also easy on your shoulder for when you are touching off 80-100 in a day of shooting. That is virtually impossible unless you custom load your own.

Wish I was that flush with cash that I could announce that cost is of no consequense to me. But then I was a Purchasing Agent/Procurement Officer not because of how I could spend money but because of how I could save the company money.

If you have to figure it down to the cost of how many sq ft you are using to reload then you would probably be better off buying factory. One of the most important things you forgot was the first couple of years when Obama was Pres you couldn't buy ammo on-line or in any store. I know people that couldn't shoot matches they wanted to because they couldn't get ammo. Me and all of my friends shot every match we wanted to because we could make our own.

Absolutly right Rusty.

 

[BullfrogKen]

Absolutly right Rusty.

Completely right. I knew people in the same boat. Unless you reloaded, you really couldn't do any shooting.

I seriously doubt most claims that people save money by reloading. Most folks are skilled enough that they could easily get a second job or work overtime and earn enough to buy more ammo...

Are you kidding? Now why would I want to go do something like that?

I'm home when I'm reloading. I have the news on; my dogs are usually someplace closeby. And I load ammo when I want to. Why would I want to go take another job and be at someone else's beck-and-call?


I'm a much better shooter because of loading my own ammo. In order to get the amount of rounds in that it takes to master the discipline, most people have to load their own to do it. I can't name a single successful competition shooter who didn't reload at some point in his life.

 

[jcwit]

I seriously doubt most claims that people save money by reloading. Most folks are skilled enough that they could easily get a second job or work overtime and earn enough to buy more ammo...

Thanks Leadcounsel, I'm a disabled Vet, unable to work 1st job or 2nd for that matter, and yes reloading does save me bucks and allows me to persue this activity for a few more years.

Man some folks are so condescending never even considering what the facts might be.

 

[Walkalong]

Some people just don't "get it" when it comes to reloading. They only look at it strictly as dollars and cents. Cut and dry. They don't know what they are missing, but then reloading isn't for everyone. Some people who don't enjoy it still reload to save money (shoot more for less), and that's fine.

Some people find reloading therapeutic. That's good.

Some folks not only understand all the benefits of reloading, and virtually all of those benefits have been mentioned, but make use of them as well.

I would reload if I only broke even. (Shoot the same amount for the same money)

I bet many here would too. Nothing like quality time at the bench.

 

[newfalguy101]

Depends on how you define "save"

Spend less money? No, same amount. Maybe a bit more.

Get a hell of a lot more for that same money? Yes, absolutely.

I would agree with this....

 

[jcwit]

Very true Walkalong. Besides saving me money I find it very relaxing, puts me into my own little world so to speak for a while allowing me to forget the worlds ills for a short time.

 

[mgkdrgn]

Oh hell yes .... I started loading 45 Colt. By the time I had finished my 3rd box of 50 (at 15 cents / round), I had saved enough to pay for my press and tumbler.

 

[leadcounsel]

Wow - looks like I inadvertently offended a few folks with my opinion.

For the disabled vet, thank you for your service. But if you look again I said "Most people" and I also mentioned fixed income folks. Lest anyone here doesn't think I appreciate service, I am a Vet also, with several deployments.

As to the Obama shortages - well I seem to recall very vividly that reloaders here on this very site were complaining about not being able to find components or the cost was quite high. So it essentiall shut down their opperation.

I had ZERO problems finding ammo in 2008-2010. I walked into my closet where I have crates of ammo (you know, buy cheap, stack deep theory) and pulled out what I needed. That ammo only took a few clicks on a mouse, payment, and was delivered right to my door. FROM PURELY AN ECONOMIC STANDPOINT, I CAN GET AMMO AT A LOWER COST (FACTORING IN ALL THE ASSOCIATED REAL COSTS) BUY SIMPLY BUYING A CRATE OR EVEN A PALLET.

As for the sq footage thing, yes it's part of the equation if you are purely talking dollars and cents. Don't convenienty not include some real costs. A reloading area probably takes up the space of a spare bedroom, or at least half of it, or part of the garage, etc. And that there is a real cost, whether you factor it or not.

I'm dispassionate about the issue - don't reload. Some folks are very passionate and refuse to see that it probably does cost you more money than you save in real dollars. Again, the question wasn't whether it's an enjoyable hobby, or a necessity, etc. The question was whether it costs more or you save money. From the outside looking in, factoring equipment, components, sq. footage, and TIME (the big one), it's a losing proposition.

I'm not against doing stuff for yourself to save $. Heck I just spent 20 hours in the last two weeks power washing and staining my deck. There is a certain satisfaction with doing it yourself. BUT THE QUESTION WAS ABOUT SAVING MONEY, not enjoyment.

 

[jcwit]

Leadcounsel, I also thank you for your service.

I've been reloading since the 1960's and have yet to purchase a new press, got most at gun shows for $10 to $15 bucks and have sold around 6 or 8 over the years for $20 to $30 bucks. I've got 2 Lyman sizer/luber presses, both were in very good shape when I bought them, 1 had never been used, paid $10 bucks for the used one and $15 for the unused one. Bought a new Sinclare Arbor Press when Sinclare was still in Ft. Wayne, it was missing the countersunk machine screw, paid $25 bucks for it, had a machine screw in my stuff at home.

Does reloading cost me money? Nope, in fact I make money on used tooling I fix up and paint.

Do I factor in my time, no more than I do when I sleep or when I'm typing on the keyboard right now. I never factor in time on my hobbies. I could see it now, I'm at the range for 4/6 hours and 1 hour driving time for the trip and I get home and tell my wife I wasted 5 hours at the range today, wasted $100 bucks. Ya right.

Final comment--I make money. Its amazing whats in those boxes under the table at gun shows. Bought a Thumblers Tumbler once for $5.00.

 

[Joatmon]

Like most have stated, the cost per round is lower but the round count tends to be much higher. I also have another bad habbit of accumulating old reloading presses, fixing them up and cycling a lot of different equipment across my bench. This adds a bit to the cost of the reloading but it is something that I enjoy a lot (probably as much or more than shooting). Crazy huh?

 

[RustyFN]

I'm home when I'm reloading. I have the news on; my dogs are usually someplace closeby. And I load ammo when I want to. Why would I want to go take another job and be at someone else's beck-and-call?

Oh yea, quality time.

I would reload if I only broke even.

I'm with you there. It's very relaxing for me and just a lot of fun.

As to the Obama shortages - well I seem to recall very vividly that reloaders here on this very site were complaining about not being able to find components or the cost was quite high. So it essentiall shut down their opperation.

True but most of them were new reloaders just getting started.

I'm dispassionate about the issue - don't reload. Some folks are very passionate and refuse to see that it probably does cost you more money than you save in real dollars. Again, the question wasn't whether it's an enjoyable hobby, or a necessity, etc. The question was whether it costs more or you save money. From the outside looking in, factoring equipment, components, sq. footage, and TIME (the big one), it's a losing proposition.

Also people that don't reload have no idea about the cost and refuse to see that you can save. I guess if you look at everything like that then the sq ft to store your guns, driving time to the range and hourly wage it takes for you to go shooting doesn't make it worth while to even go shooting, or at least not enjoyable.

 

[GaryL]

I guess if you look at everything like that then the sq ft to store your guns, driving time to the range and hourly wage it takes for you to go shooting doesn't make it worth while to even go shooting, or at least not enjoyable.

From that perspective, not much in life is worth doing. It's all overpriced with too little ROI. Might as well eat rice everyday, with the occasional bowl of soup.

 

[davestarbuck]

Ahem...

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=569995

-dave