Those of you that reload .223, are you saving any money?

[virulosity]

Just wondering what your typical cost per round is. I am guessing that most of you aren't doing it for the money though ;)
I guess now I have a reason not to support the war. We need cheaper .223!

[anyracoon]

Right now my cost is around 11.5 cents per round of 55 FMJBT. It will go up next time I purchase componets though. You don't really save any money because you just shoot more. But don't ask what I have in Blue KoolAid equipment!

[C.G.]

Depends how you value your time. If you think it is worth a lot of money then you should be buying factory loads.

[CSACANNONEER]

If you want the "best" ammo for your rifle then , you need to reload. You can develop different loads for different purposes and optimize the potential of your rifle.

[PistolPete75]

blasting ammo cost me about 16cents a round. match 223 ammo costs be alot of time. don't load too much .223 match ammo. although, i usually load alot of .308 match ammo which runs me about 30 cents a round.

[ETD1010]

I think my 55 FMJs are 15 cents/round. . . But I've had the powder from other reloading, so my first few batches are really cheaper until I need more powder.

[Corbin Dallas]

Considering reloads are not tipping $140/500, ($0.28/round) I would say that reloading will save you money IF you shoot the same amount as you normally would.

My 9mm costs me .09/ea and 40S&W is at .11/ea

So - 90/1000 9mm, and 110/1000 40S&W

Also, I'm using Montana gold bullets, if I go lead, I could cut that by about 40%.

[ar15barrels]

Using current component prices and picking up brass off the ground, it's running me 13.5 cents a round right now.
If I valued my time at $60/hr, it costs me 28.5 cents a round.

I rarely make $60 an hour, so I figure I'm ahead if I were to be paying myself $60 and hour and only spending 13.5 cents a round out-of-pocket.

Thank goodness that I am still using up old components and loading at 8.5 cents a round. :D

I'm loading 9mm for 5.9 cents a round.
Damn lead prices keep going up so I have 7500 9mm bullets on the shelf right now.

[NRAhighpowershooter]

Am I saving $$... probably..most definately my match ammo... and absolutely on my blasting ammo... I buy in bulk...and load on a progressive.....

[Fjold]

Nope, I've never save any money and I've been reloading for over 25 years.


Because I reload, I shoot so much that it costs me more money.

[odysseus]

Outside of some special rounds, reloading never really saves money as how can you beat the cost/unit manufacturers of most ammo have?

Saying this though, it seems like it is getting close to me for quality .308. The good stuff is damn pricy right now off the shelf.

[virulosity]

Well I guess I will be buying some reloading equipment before I buy an AR then! If ammo prices aren't expected to drop anytime after the war then I might as well reload for every caliber.

[grywlfbg]

Scrounging brass at the range, I'm running $0.14/round for 55rg FMJ-BT w/ Hornady bullets, H322, and CCI #41 primers all purchased in the last couple months. You can buy 1K new brass for $155 and if you reload them 5 times you go up to $0.17/round.

Here's a spreadsheet that I stole from some guy off of GlockTalk:

http://www.one-ring.net/pics/ReloadingWithPics.xls

You will definitely save money. I have ~$1,200 invested in my Dillon 650 and everything I needed to get going. I figure I'll have my press paid for in a little over a year and after that it's gravy.

But like others have said, if you wnd up shooting more then your total costs may actually go up but your per round count will certainly go down.

[sargenv]

I think currently with scrounged range brass, I'm paying about $.04 for 55 fmj (bought 6k pulled 55's from hi-tech ammo last year as a hedge), $ .02 per primer (bought Win Small rifle before prices went up) and $.035 for 25 gr of powder (@ $9 a pound) surplus I also got before the prices went up. so.. less than a dime each currently. $99.50 a k

But I'm not shooting my 223 much lately.. been shooting my 308 instead. IMR 4895 purchased some years back, 125 HP's at $55/500 and um.. Federal Large rifle primers purchased @ $22/k. Brass I traded for.. 45 acp 3 for 1 and I picked up the 45 acp brass.

$22/k primers = .022
$110/k bullets = .11 ea
45 gr of 4895@14/lb = .09
Brass = free

$.222 a round for 308 Win... or about $4.44/box of 20. How many places can you find 308 Winchester for $222/k. I may need bullets soon.. and current prices on the 125's are 150/k, that only adds .04 to the cost of my ammo. Still quite reasonable.

[ibanezfoo]

Not sure... I bought all the equipment and whatnot and am too afraid to add up what it has cost per round so far. I've only reloaded 500 rounds so far.

-Bryan

[-hanko]

Outside of some special rounds, reloading never really saves money as how can you beat the cost/unit manufacturers of most ammo have?

Saying this though, it seems like it is getting close to me for quality .308. The good stuff is damn pricy right now off the shelf.
I can't beat their cost/unit, but I can beat the hell out of their selling price/unit.;)

I can also get more consistent rounds, load a few boxes faster than I can drive to/from an ammo dealer, and as posted above, it's easy to change my load if what I'm shooting at changes.

-hanko

[StukaJr]

Considering that I get Match ammo for the price of bulk bargain bins - I consider the .223 worth the hassle. Non 55 gr bullet loads are harder to find and are more expensive - I can make loads that are either unavailable or are cost prohibitive...
.223 is also an easy case to prep and charge.

[xrMike]

I figure my first batch of .223 (69gr. nosler OTMs, saved-up Remmy brass, RAMSHOT-TAC powder, Win primers) is going to run me about 21 cents per round. Future cost is likely to rise because I got some great deals on all my components this time.

I've been reloading .45ACP with 200gr. LSWCs for awhile and that's costing me 11.5 cents per round.

I'm not shooting any more now than I used to (since I started reloading) so I must be saving some money.

Here's a spreadsheet that I stole from some guy off of GlockTalk:

http://www.one-ring.net/pics/ReloadingWithPics.xls

Awesome spreadsheet with box labels too! Thanks.

[ETD1010]

Scrounging brass at the range, I'm running $0.14/round for 55rg FMJ-BT w/ Hornady bullets, H322, and CCI #41 primers. You can buy 1K new brass for $155 and if you reload them 5 times you go up to $0.17/round.

Here's a spreadsheet that I stole from some guy off of GlockTalk:

http://www.one-ring.net/pics/ReloadingWithPics.xls

You will definitely save money. I have ~$1,200 invested in my Dillon 650 and everything I needed to get going. I figure I'll have my press paid for in a little over a year and after that it's gravy.

But like others have said, if you wnd up shooting more then your total costs may actually go up but your per round count will certainly go down.

OOO neet!! I love spreadsheets that break everything down for you.. and it even has labels for printing! Thanks for the find!!