How much does reloading really save?

[SonicmetalicS]

I was wondering how much money it is actually possible to save reloading.
I would only be reloading 40 s&w as that is the only caliber I currently shoot.
Not counting the price of equipment it seems to me that the savings is just barely worth the effort.

Academy has 100 rounds (winchester) for $27 so $.27 a round

From midway and cheaper than dirt I've got some prices for components

Bullet rainier180gr FMJ (I dont want to shoot cast lead) $105 per 1,000
Primers CCI $35 per 1,000
Brass Starline $180 per 1,000
Powder ~$20
So it seems a reloaded round with all of these components would be $340/1,000 so $.34 a round


Am I missing some savings here, or just getting really high prices for stuff or what?

 

[Hondo 60]

Of the calibers I reload, I'm saving at least 50% on almost all of them

Brass is purchased once & can be reused anywhere from 5 or 6 - dozens of times.
A pound of powder is 7,000 grains.
Each round will use anywhere from 4-8 grains

.38Spl - I saved 62.41%
.357 Mag - 61.96%
7.62x25 - 65.11%
9mm - 39.17%
45 Colt - 71.59%
45 acp - 48.32%
.223 Rem - 21.20%

I did not count brass in my figures because I've reloaded them anywhere from 2-12 times.
I came by these figures vs buying ammo at my local gun store.
And they usually have good prices on their ammo.

 

[Shmackey]

Nothing. You just shoot better ammo more.

 

[TennJed]

The brass wil be re-used many many times and that is your most expensive purchase. But as a new reloader i will tell you it is a very fun and rewarding hobby. BUT.... if you do start do it for the fun or improved accuracy, not savings. You WILL spend more than you planned and find yourself shooting just so you can "test" different reloads.

Of course shooting more is a great thing itself, but the savings alone would not be worth the time. I feel it has to be a hobby into itself.

 

[cfullgraf]

If you analyze it too much, you cannot justify reloading.

I enjoy reloading.

i save some money doing so.

I always have ammunition to shoot.

My ammunition is tailored to my firearms.

I load for firearms that commercial ammunition is not available for (wildcats and obsolete firearms).

I am a gadget guy, love all those reloading toys.

It beats vegetating in front of the tube every night.

Nuff said.

 

[GW Staar]

I buy Winchester ammo at Walmart for $320/1000. I shoot it and pickup the brass. Voila! 1000 free cases to load the next time. New Starline brass is spensive.

The other things to do is buy bullets, powder, and primers in bulk.

One more thing that helps....I follow police training sessions at the range. They buy new every session and leave the brass. Once shot police ammo cases are a gold mine.

 

[BullfrogKen]

Yeah, the brass.


40 S&W is so popular you won't need to buy it new. And it will last several loadings.


Cost of a reload is half of comparable factory. Always comes in right at half.

 

[SonicmetalicS]

Ohhh ok reusing brass that many times would absolutely save a lot of money, and I didn't know you could get that many rounds out of a pound of powder. That makes the price much lower per round.
I also just want to get into it for fun and as a hobby/time occupier.
Thanks for the help guys!

 

[BeltFedEd]

...

 

[1SOW]

Another less tangible gain is the quality of the ammo.

You can load for about 1/2 the price of Wal-Mart ammo AND have a much better load for "your use"in "your pistol".

I'm only reloading 9mm now. I use a 125gr JHP bullet, 100% range brass and tune the ammo to exactly what my gun likes for exactly how I'm using it-- all for half the Wal-Mart Win White box 115grn cost.

I shot 150rds this evening and shoot again Saturday.

I also enjoy reloading.

 

[FlyinBryan]

reloading pistol ammo is drastically more thrifty than rifle ammo (takes 10 times the powder to charge a 30-06 vs. a 45acp) so it varies greatly from caliber to caliber.

for the quality of ammo i like to shoot it saves me bigtime.

 

[GLOOB]

Yep. I started reloading rifle, just because I had the press. Wow, it's totally not saving me any money, and it takes a lot more time.

Pistol brass, I don't even pick up half the time I shoot, and I still rarely have to purchase brass. The 1 in 4 times I shoot indoors, people usually sweep their brass to me when they see me picking up my own.

All depends on your personal shooting/scavenging environment, I supposed.

And when I do buy brass, I get the used, mixed cases @ around $50-60 per 1k.

 

[230therapy]

http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2011/07/5-years-later-economics-of-handloading.html

 

[scythefwd]

Honestly, I don't load handgun ammo because it doesn't save me money. I did load up 3 boxes for my .308 and it only cost me about $45 to do it. Buying nosler partitions in a factory loading starts at 45 and goes up per box here. I will save money.

Flyin - If you shop around, you can still load rifle ammo (either .30-06 or .308.. not sure about the big magnums) for less than a dollar a round. Good luck purchasing it for that. You may not save as much per round, but if you are making an apples to apples comparison vs. factory loaded premium ammo (barnes, partitions, berger, nosler custom, etc.) then you are still only spending 1/3 - 1/2 of the cost per round.

 

[Curator]

Reloading saves some money and allows you to shoot more with ammo that works well in your gun, if you learn how to tune your loads. Actually it can make you a better shooter. Learning how is the trick. Who knows, one might even learn enough to get over the irrational prejudice against cast lead bullets. Once I learned the correct technique to cast and load the bullets I made myself the savings really added up. My cast-bullet handgun loads are not only more accurate but cost less than 8 cents apiece.

 

[Walkalong]

Most of us end up spending just as much, but we get to shoot a lot more for that amount, plus we can taylor loads to suit us.

 

[W.E.G.]

You get a hobby, and you get to shoot more.

Or you could paint the gutters instead.

How many days left?

 

[mbopp]

It's a rare trip to the range where I don't come back with more 45 brass than I left with. Once 2 guys shot off 5 boxes of WWB and I snagged it before they dumped it in the garbage can. 9mm, 38 spl, and 40 cases are all over the range.

Besides being cheaper it's the ability to tailor my reloads for what I'm shooting. And the ability to develop accurate loads.

I don't "save" money, but for a given $$$ amount I can shoot more.

 

[Kingcreek]

I'm still loading with components aquired years ago. powder for $10 a pound and primers with the price $11 up to 12.50 still marked on the boxes of 1000. I bought a 55 barrel of once fired pistol brass for scrap price. spent 3 nights sorting it and sold what I didn't want for more than the original cost. I've got more stuff stockpiled than I can probably shoot in another 20 years.
so, I'm saving a lot of money.

 

[spclpatrolgroup]

Reloading saves me money on ammo, like fishing saves me money on fish. It will be a long time before I break even, because there are constantly new gadgets that I must have.

 

[SSN Vet]

it depends....

1. have you been saving up your brass in anticipation of reloading?
2. can you pick up range brass for free?
3. are you going to cast boolits?
4. do you have access to free wheel weights?

if the answers to these questions are all yes... you can save a ton of money and shoot just about any pistol round you want for ~6 cents a pop.

 

[Cosmoline]

It depends on how expensive factory loads are, AND what loads you are making. I save a ton reloading .357 brass. Factory loads are $35 to $50 a box up here, so that's not tough to do.

 

[CraigC]

As above, it depends on how expensive factory loads are, what components you use and how much shooting you do. If you're only shooting 100rds a month, it ain't worth the trouble. If you shoot a lot, the savings will add up quickly. I handload mainly for revolvers. Factory loads range from $20-$50 per 50rds. I handload them for around $7/50. I don't load .40S&W but just doing some quick figuring based on educated guesses and current cast bullet prices, I would load that round for about 12.2cents per round or $6.10/50rds. Using your Raniers, it would be about 14.9cents per round or $7.45/50rds.

I never count the cost of brass because I either already had it, or I use it so many times that the overall cost becomes insignificant. If you use each case 10 times (I get more firings out of thin necked .38-40), your cost goes to 1.8cents per firing. Use them 20 times and that's 0.9cents per firing. Negligible.

 

[HOWARD J]

At one time I saved a lot of money by reloading. The kids are gone (somewhat) The Uzi's are gone.
Retired 12 years I need something to do besides watch the boobtube--reloading fills the bill---I don't look to save money---just kill time.
Sometimes I buy another gun just to have another caliber to reload.

 

[Nefarious79]

Reloading will not save you any money, because you will end up shooting more