Reloading Price Comparison.....

[viking499]

Lets say that you already have the brass, your powder costs the same per pound and you use the same brand of bullets, but in the proper grain for the caliber. Just trying to keep as close as possible for figuring sake.........

With the criteria listed above, what is the appx. cost to reload for 223 and 243 per round? Trying to see how much difference there is on price between rounds. I know that by shopping around, 223 can be reloaded pretty cheap.

 

[fourdollarbill]

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

This web page will do all the math for you.
Sorry for the lame answer but it is the place I go to to figure out cost.

 

[kutter]

As far as powder goes, using BL(C)-2 there is about a 30% increase per round. Thats 280 rounds per pound for .223 and 200 for .243. If powder is $22/lb then it is about .08 per round for .223 and .11 for .243.

I think the biggest difference will be in bullets. Since rounds like .223 and .308 are NATO standard, getting pulled bullets for plinking are pretty inexpensive.

If you are looking for target/hunting rounds Midway has Hornady A-Max in 75 grain for both, .223 is about .18/round and .243 is about .25/round.

So to load your own is about .10 per round more for a .243, all other things being equal. The question is, what are you going to do with it? Target shoot, you are better off cost wise with .223, hunt, depending on game, you may be better off with .308 as it lets you go after something much bigger than a .243.

Having said all that, I like .243. I thought for a long time it was a good choice for the military, lighter than .308 but a lot more stopping power than a .223. It is on my list of calibers to get one day.

 

[viking499]

The question is, what are you going to do with it?

Just have an itch to buy something else. Have a nice Winchester i am currently using as a varmit rig. It's to nice to haul around in the truck all the time. Also have a 223, but it is in an AR platform. Deer hunt with a 6.5x55.

Just looking for a new toy.....

 

[kutter]

See, I totally understand that, I just bought a P226 because it was chambered in 357 Sig and I happen to like the round and how versatile it can be. I would also love to get a Ruger 77/22 chambered in .22 K-Hornet. If I were only independently wealthy then I could just collect guns, shoot, and reload all day.

 

[RustyFN]

Depends on what type of ammo you want to load. If you want to load 223 plinking ammo you can load it for around $125 per 1,000. Match grade will cost more.

 

[mongoose33]

RustyFN: Depends on what type of ammo you want to load. If you want to load 223 plinking ammo you can load it for around $125 per 1,000. Match grade will cost more.

Rusty, how are you achieving that?

A primer these days will cost you about 3 cents (maybe a bit less if you're lucky, but 3 cents is typical).

A 55gr bullet will cost probably 7-8 cents each. Figure 7.5 cents.

If I load with 748, at a 25-grain load (and that's light), I can get 280 loads out of a pound, which pound of powder costs perhaps $18 when bought in 8# kegs. That's 6.4 cents per charge.

Total, then, is 3 + 7.5 + 6.4 or 16.9 cents a round minimum.

So I'm wondering how you're getting .223 reloaded for 12.5 cents per round. Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[Redneck with a 40]

My .223 rounds are running about 22 cents/round, at current component prices. I'm loading match bullets in .308 for 40 cents/round.

.223 component cost:

Hornady 55 grain spire points = $95/1000
Wolf SRM primers = $32/1000
IMR-4895 8 lbs = $175 from Widener's = $22/lb or 9 cents/round

That's 22 cents/round, compared to 40 cents/round minimum for factory.

.308 component cost:

Nosler 168 grain HPBT = $210/1000
Wolf LR primer = $35/1000
Powder cost/round = 44.2 grains/case = 150 rounds/pound = 7 lbs/1000 rounds = 15.4 cents/round.

That's 40 cents/round for match grade .308. Compare that to about $1.25/round for factory match.

 

[RustyFN]

Mongoose these are todays prices. Remember I said plinking ammo.

HiTech Ammo has pulled .224 for $50
Primers will run $25, Powder Valley
TAC will run $44
Amortized brass is essentially free ($50 @ 10 loads each is .005 per shot or $5 per K)

50
25
44
5
----
$124 per K

 

[meadmkr]

Cost is only part of the factor; for me its availability without having to have large stockpiles onhand. Having components that work with various calibers allows me to reload a variety & ensures that I will have the ammo I need when I want it (and tuned to my specific firearms). I've got a decent reserve of factory ammo but some guns are more choosy about what shoots well so my loads are tailored towards that goal.

Reloading 20g 7/8 load shotshells as I like either #8.5 or #9 shot for skeet and the local WW mostly sells new cheaper than I can load. The down side is that they only carry 7/8 trap loads in #7.5 plus Dicks had 20g on sale but it was 3/4oz loads of #7.5 shot. Finding #9 tends to run $7.5 per box while I can load that for about $3/box cheaper!

 

[mongoose33]

Mongoose these are todays prices. Remember I said plinking ammo.

HiTech Ammo has pulled .224 for $50
Primers will run $25, Powder Valley
TAC will run $44
Amortized brass is essentially free ($50 @ 10 loads each is .005 per shot or $5 per K)

50
25
44
5
----
$124 per K

OK, I see the $50/1000 bullets at HiTech; I think you need to add $10-12 at least for UPS shipping charges.

Primers are...not available at $25, unless you have a way to get them w/o shipping costs and Hazmat costs from Powder Valley. Even if you buy them in a case of 5000, you're still looking at over $30/1000.

And I'm not sure about the cost of powder; TAC is fairly close to 748 in price (TAC is a bit cheaper), but the loads are similar. You're still talking about roughly 6.4 cents per load.

So your bullets will run you at least 6 cents each (and maybe 6.5 by the time UPS is done w/ their thing), primers w/ shipping and hazmat are at least 3 cents each, and powder is still going to be around 6.4 cents per load.

So the only thing I see you saving on here is maybe half a cent on the pulled bullets (I'm not including brass as I process w/ an X-Die). The total again is 6+6.4+3 or 15.4 cents each minimum.

I'd submit those are prices the average person would be able to achieve at minimum.

 

[RustyFN]

Primers are...not available at $25, unless you have a way to get them w/o shipping costs and Hazmat costs from Powder Valley. Even if you buy them in a case of 5000, you're still looking at over $30/1000

.

I buy them 50,000 at a time. With shipping and hazmat it only adds $1 per thousand that way. So primers are $27 per 1K.

Bullets for 3,000,

Total Value = $147.00
Shipping = $14.04

That's $161 for 3,000 or 5.3 cents each.

Powder at graf's is $131 plus hazmat with free shipping. That comes out to 5.9 cents each.


Total with shipping and hazmat is 13.9 cents each. If you want to load cheaper then go to Pat's and buy 8 pounds of WC846 for $99. That will let you load for a total of 12.9 cents each. It all depends on how and where you buy. If you are going to buy 1,000 primers at a time then you can't expect to load cheap.

 

[evan price]

You've got to buy in bulk to see a significant savings. Buying 100 bullets, 1000 primers and a pound of powder is great for load development but not for budgets. Find what works, then buy a LOT OF IT.

Here's a recipe for around $150/thousand, and it all comes from one vendor, Widener's:

Widener's has Ramshot TAC or X-Terminator for $118/8# jug (temp out right now though).
http://www.wideners.com/itemview.cfm?startrow=13&dir=278|283|473

Widener's has Wolf primers on sale for $18 per thousand;
http://www.wideners.com/itemview.cfm?dir=278|284|737

Haz-mat, shipping & insurance on a maxed-out shipment has been about $54 total ($22.50 for haz-mat fees and the rest for shipping & insurance, but it is usually a couple dollars less); figure 30K primers and 2-8# jugs of powder. Add $1 to each brick of primers to get a total cost of $19 each, then split the remaining $24 in half for each jug of powder, total cost per jug becomes $130 approximately, or 5.8 cents per shot for powder.

I buy and sell bulk brass so it really costs me zero for brass.

Widener's:
http://www.wideners.com/itemview.cfm?dir=278|281|727
(5000) mil-spec 55-gr fmjbt-w/cannelure bullets, for $380 shipped, that's 7.6 cents each.



25 gr of Ramshot is about 5.8 cents.
Wolf Small rifle primer is 1.9 cents.
7.6 cents per bullet.

Total= $153 per thousand.
And it all comes from Widener's in one shipment and one credit card bill.

Plus you get handloaded ammo that you can adjust the powder slightly for max accuracy.
Even the cheapest Tula .223 ammo I can buy is going to be $197 per thousand and that's dirty, steel-core blasting ammo loaded in bulk.

There's ways to reduce this further, using pulled military bullets or surplus powder, maybe you find somebody at a gun show with a deal. You could get under $140 a thousand with some careful shopping around.