Probably a good thing as realization of actual money spent on reloading hobby could be very "disturbing".
The day wife and I sat down to tally up my shooting/reloading cost over like 25 years and it exceeded $175,000, we went, "What the ..." but after rechecking several times, yup the numbers were correct. Now, we are past $180,000 and I believe around $20,000 was spent on guns. And when we started tallying up cost of 4x4s, toy haulers, bikes/quads, dune buggies and RV/trailers, wife went "Stop ... We had many memorable family camping trips and that's all that matters. (Good thing due to my back, my saltwater fishing/boat hobby ended after 3 boats.
)
That is if you keep shooting the same number of rounds. I usually tell people if they shoot recreationally, they could recoup the cost of basic reloading equipment purchase within 6 months to a year.
But if you shoot more, then savings go out the window even after the equipment cost was recouped.
Since most people tend to shoot more after they start reloading, the myth of "reloading saves money" is usually busted for most of these people.
In the 90s, 10 boxes of 9mm would have run around $100/500 rounds (More for 40S&W/45ACP I was also reloading).
So excluding equipment/brass cost, here's the break down:
- Bullets - $60-$80/1000 (Montana Gold jacketed/Berry's plated)
- Primers - $20/1000 (CCI/Winchester)
- Powder - $120-$150/8 lbs. At around 4.3-5.0 gr per powder charge, 1400 rounds/1 lb (1 lb = 7000 grains/5 gr = 1400) and comes out to around $12/1000
- Total - Average around $50/500 rounds
Now, had I kept the same round count, I would have saved $50/month but that did not happen as I quickly increased round count to 1000/month and quickly to several thousand rounds a month. So instead of saving money, I was spending additional $100-$200+ a month. And this was not counting factory/surplus ammo I was buying for pistols/rifles.
So if we take average 4000 rounds/month at $100/1000, then monthly $400 translates to $5000 annually. After 30 years, you are looking at $150,000 ... Yup, this is reloading at 90s-2010s pricing. With 2020s pricing, it will be higher.
Yes, reloading does not save money.