I just saved $1,000

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reloading..

45 colt:
Missouri cast bullets: 1000/$73
Primers: $35/1000
Brass: free
Red Dot Powder: $20/lb

Cost per 50rd box: $6.15
Cost per 50rd box of factory ammo $49.99

Savings per 1000: $876.80

.38 Special:

Missouri cast bullets: 1000/$56
Primers: $35/1000
Brass: Free
Red Dot Powder: $20/lb

Cost per 50rd box: $5.55
Cost per 50rd box of factory ammo: $14.99

Savings per 1000: $188.80

Total Savings of 2,000 rounds of revolver ammunition: $1065! :D

Reloading rocks!!

BTW, the last 500 rounds I loaded paid for my reloading setup. :cool:
 
Sweet, ain't it. But you don't save really, you just end up shooting more. :neener:
 
Handloading saves a lot of money on a cost per round basis. One always saves money handloading when its looked at it that way, as the OP did. Now, those of us that handload might shoot more than if we had to buy factory (I couldn't afford to shoot at all if it was factory or nothing), but we are still saving 50% or more per round.

I recently started casting my own bullets. I was running between $.08 and $.12 per round, depending on what I was loading. Casting my own bullets with lead ingots I bought cut that to $.06-$.08 per round. I've collected one 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights (free) so far. Assuming I can keep that up, with free lead I can get down to $.03-$.04 per round for basically any handgun cartridge. Rifle is a little more since it uses more powder, but $3/100 for .38 Special or $4.00/100 for .44 Special or .45 Auto is not bad at all.
 
The more you load the more you save!!!! Extending that out and eventually you will be making money loading and shooting your own ammunition.
Good shooting!!!!!
Click to expand...

I like the way you think :D I'll have to try that line with the wife when the SDB shows up in the mail in the next few days . Got to give her credit she didn't say a thing when 22 pounds of powder showed up today , we'll see what she says when the other 22 pounds comes tomorrow:evil:
 
There you go brother! That is the reason I reload too. I just started casting as well, and enjoying even more savings.
 
I've been considering going the re-load route myself for a year or so. I'm not really picky about loads/bullet etc.,,, if it goes bang every time and my gun has no problems with it,,, I'm good. (my safe is full of WWB for that reason) I was just wondering if anyone factors in the time spent on reloading into their savings equation??

I try and justify reloading savings,, then I add my "hourly" wage into the cost analysis. Doing this always tells me I save money if I work more and use that $$ to buy factory ammo,,, but I don't have a ton of "free time" for reloading,,, I'm doin good just to get to the range.:scrutiny: Granted,,, I don't really know how much time is involved in the reload process of an "average" handgun round, or box of rounds. I just kinda use a WAG of a minute a round and use that as my timeline. I understand that the reloading equipment itself is a pretty large variable in the reload time,,, then I read about you guys talking about casting your own lead,,, and all I can think is "WOW,,, how long does THAT take?".

Not bustin anyone at all,,, just curious about how much time is involved in the reloading process, and if that time is factored into the cost savings.
 
Someone raises the question of what his personal time is "worth" every time the subject of reloading costs arises, and usually he tries to add his per-hour income rate into the "cost" of handloading.

Shooting and reloading is a hobby.

Work is...well....WORK.

Hobbys are what we use to relax and forget about WORK. The two are not compatible under most circumstances. To ascribe a COST to the use of our leisure time is ridiculous. I've seen many people try to do this, but it just doesn't compute.

The activities we use to "recreate" ourselves are our free choices, and have nothing to do with what our work pays or what amount of time SOMEONE ELSE decides we should devote to a given task.

My shooting/reloading has entertained and educated me for many years, and the hobby uses MY time, not my employer's. I believe I'm actually privileged to be able to devote whatever time I can to the hobby. To "charge myself" the rate that my employer pays me would be ludicrous.

As a bullet-caster and reloader of several decades' standing, my out-of-pocket costs for such standards as 9mm or .45 ACP are around five cents per round. More exotic calibers, such as .416 Rigby and .404 Jeffery, are dirt-cheap when compared to as much as ten DOLLARS per round for factory ammo....my cast-bullet .416 Rigby loads, right up to full factory-duplication levels, cost on the order of maybe fifteen CENTS per round. How's that for savings??? A mere hundred rounds or so would "save" me the thousand dollars mentioned above, and my .416 has fired over 2,000 rounds to date. Do the "savings arithmetic" on that! Of course, I wouldn't fire even a small fraction of that number if restricted to factory loads, but I was a handloader long before I got the .416 so the cost of factory ammo never entered my (alleged) mind.....
 
.38 Special:

Missouri cast bullets: 1000/$56
Primers: $35/1000
Brass: Free
Red Dot Powder: $20/lb

Cost per 50rd box: $5.55
Cost per 50rd box of factory ammo: $14.99

Savings per 1000: $188.80
Click to expand...
Welcome to reloading, you will never go back!!
You have to try and get those prices down a little. They are still too high, you can save even more money.

.38 Special:
Cast bullets: 1000/$48
Primers: $29.95/1000
Brass: Free
W231 Powder: $64/4 lb $15.50/lb
(those prices are current)

Cost per 50rd box: $4.29
Cost per 50rd box of factory ammo: $14.99

Savings per 1000: $214.00
 
I don't factor in time spent reloading.. I consider it time well spent. Quite the enjoyable hobby. Easy to lose a couple hours in the basement making rounds that are way better and way cheaper than factory CRAP! Yes I said it, my ammo is already better than ammo that I've been buying around here.

Another bonus of making your own, quality control goes WAY WAY up.
 
Hobby or obsession?

A friend of mine once pointed out that there is a difference between these two states. For those of us who are passionate about reloading and shooting the label should be obvious.:D

My experience has been that as soon as you try and compute your labor costs into anything you like doing, then it becomes a chore and all fun evaporates. Do the fun stuff because you want to, not because you have to or are too cheap.

If components are chosen wisely and purchased for the best prices, then reloaded ammo will be cheaper than store bought.

Personally, I enjoy each stage of the reloading process. From picking up brass, sorting brass, cleaning brass, purifying WW's, casting boolits, lubing boolits and finally assembling complete cartridges. Hey, doing all this also saves me shrink money as I relieve all my work stress while doing these simple repetitive things!:)

The cherry on top, of course, is the satisfaction at the range when shooting good groups using your own reloaded ammo. Does it get any better than this?
 
time

To me, trying to add in the cost for time spent reloading is like figuring out the cost of a hunting or fishing trip on a cost per pound basis. It just don't happen that way.
Pat
 
I agree with the above posters, its a hobby and time is off time, not work time. You think you have some savings there, try casting like some others have mentioned. After the initial investment for the equiptment and molds, if you can find the lead for free you can get the cost down to .04 a round.
 
Mantis
reloading is still cheaper than a therapist at$$$/ hr. !!!
i pay myself $10.00/ hr gotta pay for primers somehow!!!

3-4 hrs. for enuff $ for1,000 primers , win win situation !!!
 
BruceB said:

As a bullet-caster and reloader of several decades' standing, my out-of-pocket costs for such standards as 9mm or .45 ACP are around five cents per round. More exotic calibers, such as .416 Rigby and .404 Jeffery, are dirt-cheap when compared to as much as ten DOLLARS per round for factory ammo....my cast-bullet .416 Rigby loads, right up to full factory-duplication levels, cost on the order of maybe fifteen CENTS per round. How's that for savings??? A mere hundred rounds or so would "save" me the thousand dollars mentioned above, and my .416 has fired over 2,000 rounds to date. Do the "savings arithmetic" on that! Of course, I wouldn't fire even a small fraction of that number if restricted to factory loads, but I was a handloader long before I got the .416 so the cost of factory ammo never entered my (alleged) mind.....
Click to expand...

I don't shoot anything as exotic as .416 Jeffery, but lets look at .45-70. A box of Factory ammunition for it is about $30-$40/20, depending on the bullet. Including shipping, Missouri Bullet 405 grain RNFPs are about $.20 each. .45-70 brass lasts basically forever, so its considered free, powder could be as much as $.10 per shot, depending on the charge. For me that is a little high, but some folks load .45-70 a lot hotter than I do. The primer is $.03 each (which is also a little high, but not an unheard of price). So, add that all together and its $.33 per shot, $6.60 per 20. Assuming a $30 box of Factory .45-70, handloading saves 78% over the cost of factory ammunition. Now, factor in casting. With purchased lead, the bullet cost is cut in half to .10 each. Other components are the same, so its now $.23 per round, $4.60 per 20, 85% savings over factory. With free lead, its $.13 per round, 2.60/20 rounds, 91% savings over factory.

So, who doesn't think handloading is worth it?
 
I'm lucky as my job is 3 - 12hr days, so I've got lots of free time to reload , but if the SDB I've got coming will crank out close to what the say, evening counting my time I'll still save $
 
Hey it's a hobby, and a whole lot better than watching the boob tube. Hey angus, my SDB will put out an honest 300+ per hour of good ammo. I have heard the 4-500, but I question these numbers.
 
Sorry there fellas,,, wasn't trying to piss anyone off. I guess I'll try to justify why I asked.

I have an "employer" (two actually) as well as run my own business out of my home. On a good week I get a spare 5-6 hours a week to play. When I go to the range, I spend 3-4 hours there,,, I take my time,,, I play,,, I concentrate,,,, I relax, I forget about the world, and I de-compress. (see no psych bills)

I shoot the most available centerfire calibers around,,, 9mm, .40, .45acp, .308, and .223,, when I began building my collection, ammo cost and availability were paramount in my decision making process.

The reason I asked my original question was not to turn my nose up at the savings of re-loading,,, as I've said,, I'm interested in jumping in, and I've been collecting all my brass as I've been wandering down this wonderful road of shooting hobbies.

I've run the numbers of purchasing my own reloading supplies only a few times. (and given your numbers, I must be looking in the wrong places:uhoh:) Maybe I'm just in a different situation than most,,, but it just doesn't make sense to me to spend 3 of my 6 valuable hobby hours pulling the handle on a reloader when I could spend one hour getting more work done at home, buy 200 rounds of factory ammo with that income, and get to spend 5 hours at the range pulling the trigger.

But maybe it doesn't take 3 hours of re-loading time,,, so I asked the question, but got no response.

So again,,, is there a "SWAG" average time it takes to reload ammo for your range trips?. Lets say,,,, 200 rounds of .45acp???? How long would that take most of you to reload from dirty fired brass to new shiny "ready to go bang" rounds. If the variables are just too greate given the vast array of reloading equipment,, I understand,, and even that is an answer of sorts.

Again,,, I'm not judging anyone,,,, I'm trying to educate myself so that I may make the best decision for my personal situation.

Thanks fellas.
 
my SDB will put out an honest 300+ per hour of good ammo
Click to expand...

Woops!!! Missed that thread before I started my reply. That's a starting point for my research. Thanks Encore.
 
Mantis,

How many rounds you can crank out is all about the gear you have, your reloading style, and your preferences. If you are one of those people that don't find reloading enjoyable or only do it to have ammo to shoot it may not be worth it to you. If you want to crank out the ammo, especially for the 9mm, .40, .45acp, and .223 you'll want a nice progressive (Dillion) which don't come cheap. There is also the Lee progressive for much cheaper, but it appears to be much more hit-and-miss with how well it works for people. Most claims of rounds produced per hour on the Lee progressive state about 200+ rounds FWIW.

I don't consider my reloading time as time wasted, because it is one of my current favorite hobbies. So the time spent reloading is not something I factor into my cost savings, though I can understand why it would be for you. I do it because I enjoy it, I can make more accurate ammo for my guns, and I don't have to pay the inflated factory prices. I save about $36 to $54 in a one hour session on the 7mm Rem Mag ammo I load (depending on if I'm loading a standard cup & core or a premium). Would I still do it if I wasn't saving as much money? Absolutely!
 
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