Really worth it for pistol rounds?

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jbauch357

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About 10 years back I used to reload for .300 win mag and 30-06 - being we were going for max power/accuracy hunting/target loads it was a significant savings over buying factory ammo.

Now I'm looking at rising ammo prices, and thinking "I should start reloading for my 9mm, .40 S&W and 7.62x39 to save some cash on my plinking/practice ammo" guys at the range have been telling me the same for some time now...

So I started looking around just to do some quick math and see what the cost benefit was, and by my math - I should just keep buying factory loaded ammo and save the hastle of reloading at home (where I barely have room to setup a good gun cleaning station, much less a reloading station).

So here is what I found from a quick search on midway, even going for the some cheap stuff that is backordered.

Assuming I buy brass cased ammo and use those cases instead of buying new/used brass, this is also ignoring the startup cost of reloading equipment.

1,000 rds 9mm 124gr FMJ - $90
Pound of powder - $25
1,000 pistol primers - $25

Those are online prices, so if I order the powder and primers I have to pay special handling fees - if I buy locally I get hit with higher prices and tax. That puts at very minimum the cost for 1,000 rounds at $140, which would realistically turn into $175 or more when all said and done.

I can get a 1,000 rd case of wolf or a bunch of WWB from WM for under $200 - so, is it realistically that much better of a deal if I'm just looking for practice/plinking ammo?
 
Most of the time when buying powder and primers online you need to know what the breakeven amounts are. Where I'm at your looking at around $30. a pound for powder and $26.-$30 for a 1000 primers and 7% taxes. For me the breakeven is 2lb (actually a little less) of powder so just order more that that and start saving.
aj b
 
If you go with a 124 grain LRN, you can bring the cost of 1K bullets down to about $58 shipped. Also, order your powder in 5lbs/8lbs cannisters. That'll bring the overall cost of components down significantly.
 
The way you are looking at doing it no. If you are willing to shoot lead you can cut the cost of your bullets in half. Also, if you buy your powder in bulk (4# or more) you can get the powder for as little as 12 dollars a lb. Same for primers, if you buy 5K at a time you will get them for at least 10-15% cheaper. If you recalculate to say 50 for bullets, 15 for powder and 25 for primers per 1K you end up coming in at 90 dollars per 1k.

I load for .45acp. I can get 1500 bullets for 78 dollars shipped to my door. Primers for 25 per K and powder for 13 lb. So I can load for about .10 a round. It costs me .34 to buy WWB at walmart.
 
The real big cost savings is when your shooting pistol rounds by the thousands, by using cast lead bullets, buying primers in bulk cases and a 16lb keg of powder loads up tens of thousands of rounds.

If your in that category, recalculate with the bulk pricing.
 
If you are simply plinking, then range pick-up brass will work just fine. Why calculate new brass into the formula?

A new reloader on the CZ Forum just calculated this week that he's saving $100 / month on his pistol ammo, and that's including the price of a new Dillon 550B.

But don't do it for savings alone.
 
Brass: Free, range pick up.
Primers: $24/k
Powder: $20/lb
Bullets: $.40/lb of lead, 35 bullets/lb, $5.71/500 bullets...
$46.85/1000 rounds for 45acp, using bullets I cast, about what match 22 ammo costs. Casting your own bullets really makes the difference.
 
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9mm runs me around $7.20/100 if I use cast and buy in bulk, when I cast my own it's closer to $3.90/100 these include haz-mat and shipping , savings all depends on what your times worth, me I work a 3 day week so I've got plenty of time
 
ljnowell said:
Even if you dont cast, sop around and you will find lead bullets for not much more than that price.
Click to expand...

He caught me! I meant rounds not bullets. So, less than $47 per 1000 rounds, not bullets. Much better. :D
 
At least for me, the (minimal at best) cost savings isn't the primary reason I reload, nor is it "shooting more for the same money", and it isn't to find that elusive "perfect" load that is the most accurate. I DO enjoy those things, but the big reason for me is the simple satisfaction it brings when I see a bunch of finished rounds, and the quiet/contemplative time that goes along with it, and the ongoing learning about the hobby. That's what makes it special for me. But I do understand that right now, if someone is making a pretty decent income and shooting primarily pistol (and jackets or plated, which my club requires), and didn't shoot a lot, the cost savings aren't incredibly compelling.
 
9mm Lugeroal 1.115" crimp 0.378"
Total Cost per box/50: $3.30 $10 at the store! 67% savings


.38 Special
Total Cost per box/50: $3.65 $13 at the store! 72% savings


.357 Magnum
Total Cost per box/50: $3.80 $20 at the store! 81% savings


.40 S&W
Total Cost per box/50: $4.35 $12 at the store! 63% savings


.45 ACP oal 1.275" crimp 0.471"
Total Cost per box/50: $4.35 $15 at the store! 71% savings


.44 Special
Total Cost per box/50: $4.35 $30 at the store! 85% savings


.44 Magnum
Total Cost per box/50: $4.80 $32 at the store! 85% savings
 
OK, you've all compelled me to take another look at it buying larger quantities of everything. Still don't know if I'll be able to justify it though - right now I only get to the range every couple weeks and go through maybe 200-400 rounds of 9mm, 100-200 rds .40 and 50-100 rds .357 mag per outing...

Now considering the price of shipping powder, should I be looking locally for the large kegs or ordering online still and paying the HASMAT charges?

Also my primary place for looking at prices was midway - is there a better shop more dedicated to bulk purchases for large reloading projects?
 
Look at www.powdervalleyinc.com for powder and primers. Order 48lbs to max out the 20 dollar hazmat fee. I usually order 16lbs of powder and 15k primers at a time. If you're loading cast www.missouribullet.com is a good place. For FMJ www.montanagoldbullet.com or www.precisiondelta.com are both good and include shipping.

My cast 9mm with range brass runs about 80 bucks per/k, fmj about 15-20 bucks more.

.38/.357 and .40 are both under $100 per/k

For rifle the savings are huge. The key is BULK BULK BULK
 
With some crude calculations I come up with an minimum ammo cost of ~$130 for your outing to the range. By buying in bulk you could easily cut the ammo cost to ~$80. Thats a savings of $50 per outing. If you go out every couple of weeks then you would be saving ~$100 per month. You would have a simple reloading setup paid for in as little as 2 months. If you wanted to get fancy with a progressive then you could pay for it in ~5 months depending on how fancy you wanted. The only investment you can't put a metric on is your time. I find the time spent reloading very relaxing so thats an added bonus.

KeithET
 
There are substantial savings to be had if you are willing to shop around; however, I have found so much more satisfaction in working up my own loads, testing, and tweaking them. Once you get it down for a particular caliber, it is a huge feeling of accomplishment. YMMV, but it is a huge thing for me...

redintex
 
These days I'm shooting 600rds per week, several calibers, at an average reloaded cost of about 11 cents per round. Factory ammo would cost +30 cents. I estimate that I save more than $120 per week, which is more than $6000 a year. And, I'm shooting what I want, not what the factory wants to sell me. My loads are tailored for my guns and my shooting, and much more satisfying to shoot than factory ammo.
 
online cost calculator

This is a great on-line tool to figure out your costs per bullet, per box (50) or per 1000:

http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

No guestimating needed. Plug in your real costs and you geta real figure.

Here's my figures for my .45ACP load using 185 LSWCs and 5.4 grains of Universal

Component Number Cost
Powder (lbs) $ 21.99
Powder Charge (gr) 5.4
Primer $ 3.29/100
Case $ 0.00
Bullet $ 33/500

Cost / round $ .116
Cost / 50 $ 5.79
Cost / 1000 $ 115.86

Q
 
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