When is reloading profitable?

[CSACANNONEER]

Reloading is not "profitable" unless you have an 06 or 07FFL. As far as saving money, you will either have to put a value on your time or, like most of us, realize that reloading is a hobby and the time invested in reloading is your free time.

At what point is reloading cost efficient? Again, that depends on a large variety of things. It is extremely cost efficient to reload small batches of certain cartridges and not so cost efficeint to load large quantities of others. Then, there is the choice of projectiles. Loading lead free bullets will definately save you 50%-75% over factory lead free ammo.

As far as my costs to reload go, I load plinking 50BMG for under $1/round, match 50BMG ammo for around $2.50 a round, all straight walled pistol ammo (that I load for) from .25acp to .44mag for around $2.50/50 rounds if I'm using my own cast bullets made from free lead and bottlenecked rounds from 25-20 to 300WM end up running me from less than 15 cents each (most .30 cal rounds like 7.5 Swiss, .308, 30-30 for non tube guns, etc) when loading with frangibles to 75 cents each when loading lead free bullets in larger cartridges.

[beerman]

What is your time worth? for me,I reload as a hobby and do not factor it in. Heck , I'd probably be just sitting on my rump watching TV or on Calguns anway.As said earlier by Toby, I too have not bought any handgun ammo (except 22)over the counter in 15 years. Handloading will save you tons of $ , especially in the bigger calibers,which brings up another good reason to roll your own. You will never shy away fron a new caliber because of the rarity or cost of the ammo ,yea the brass may be tough to find (8MM nambu or30 mauser) but its out there. 41 mag, 10MM auto , 30 carbine , bring it on!

[GettoPhilosopher]

Sorry to dump another "is it worth it", but what about 12ga and 5.56?

[CSACANNONEER]

Cheap 12g Walmart loads are about the same cost as reloading quality 12g rounds. Yes, the WM loads can have consistancy issues but, if you don't care about that, go with them instead of reloading.

5.56 for plinking can be reloaded (if you alreay have the brass) for less than $125/K using just pricing from one source. $60 for 1K of pulled 55 grain bullets, $25 for 1K primers and $85 for 8lbs of pull down powder (less than 4lbs will be used to load 1K). That does not take into account shipping or hazmat fees. But, buying in bulk is cheaperr and will offset those costs.

[GettoPhilosopher]

$125/K? Yeah, I need to jump on that. :P

As for 12ga, I wasn't thinking bulk birdshot, I was thinking slugs and 00 buck. I've got a S12 I'm going to need to start feeding. You can cast your own 00 buck easily, right? *is completely new, doesn't have a clue, and is trying to figure out how to affordably feed his various platforms*

[Tom Slick]

I've been loading my own for a little over a year. These are the three real benefits I've seen:

No supply/shortage issue, I don't care what the local or online stores carry for loaded ammo because I'm buying components 500 to 5,000 at a time. I don't worry about what Big5 or Walmart has on sale. I don't drive 20-30 mins to find out they are out of the ammo I need.

I shoot twice as much for the same price.

I load stuff that you don't see at the store. 135gr or 200gr .40S&W? 45gr or 60gr .22-250? 7.5x55 in anything but 178gr? easy and cheap to load, hard to find and expensive at retail.

[CSACANNONEER]

$125/K? Yeah, I need to jump on that. :P

As for 12ga, I wasn't thinking bulk birdshot, I was thinking slugs and 00 buck. I've got a S12 I'm going to need to start feeding. You can cast your own 00 buck easily, right? *is completely new, doesn't have a clue, and is trying to figure out how to affordably feed his various platforms*

Casting 00 or any other roundball is time consuming but, easier than casting conicals since, you don't need to lube/size them. But, casting is another hobby in and of itself. Think: more money, more equipment, more space, more time, etc. Also, loading 00 is a little different than loading 7 1/2s. There is less load data out there, many loads require/recommend a buffer agent and, if you want to roll crimp, that's another tool and more components too.

[Beelzy]

The Answer is:.......................................When you sell your reloading gear.

[chesterthehero]

you wont make any money
you wont save any money
you will be able to shoot a lot more for the same amount of money

124g fmj 9mm cost me about $7 per 50.. my time is free since this is part of my hobby

[One78Shovel]

Here is an example.

I load most all pistol calibers. For 40 S&W I load 50 rds @$7.45 per/50 or $148.99 per 1K using Ranier 165 gr HP, 6.0 gr Universal Clays and Winchester small pistol primers.

-178S

[IrishPirate]

My range sells 115 grain FMJ 9mm bullets for about $85 per thousand. Primers are $27 per thousand. The cost of powder is about $10 per thousand. So, I paid about $122 for my last thousand rounds (I reuse brass, so I didn't include it in the math). I was paying about $250 per thousand at Walmart for WWB. I could do a little better by getting in on a group buy, but we haven't had one in a while.

Plus, I load them a little hotter than WWB so they'll knock over the poppers in the matches.

the bold is one of the biggest things to keep in mind!!! if you're buying once fired brass everytime you load, your costs will be about the same as factory. But if you load them efficiently, you can reuse the same brass many many times! Hot loads like bluenoise is talking about are good for competitions, but if you're just punching paper, you can load them to just above what it takes to cycle the action of your handgun and the brass will last longer (which helps keep your costs down!)

I bought a Lee Loadmaster about a year ago for $230 on midwayusa.com, then got 1000 O.F. brass and the Speer reloading manual thinking i would start reloading .45acp within a week. First i needed something to mount the press on, so i had to search around for the best option for my space. Then i found out I need a good scale to make sure my powder charges are accurate and safe....so i had to save up for a scale. Then i realized i need a caliper to make sure all my dies are seated and working properly too.....had to find a decent caliper for cheap (harbor freight!!). Then i found out you really need a good crimp die for .45acp to keep it safe and accurate......had to wait for those to get off backorder. Now I'm all set to start loading and i have to save up for bullets, primers, and powder! Also want to clean the brass i have......so i have to save up for a tumbler..........it's been a year since i bought my press and i haven't loaded a single round. I absolutely plan on loading all the brass i have (which is more than 1K now since i've been saving my factory brass too) and getting setups for 9mm/.40sw/.223, but now i realize that GETTING INTO reloading is the expensive part.....if you don't have at least $500 right now, you should hold off and just get everything all at once. It sucks passing by your press every day realizing that right now it's just a hunk of useless metal taking up space in your garage.

[One78Shovel]

9mm 115 gr is where it's just more fun than real cost savings.

$5.87 per/50 or $117.49 per 1K/. Still saving $70.51 per 1K

I can get good swiss GECO/Dynamite from AmunitiontoGo for $188.00 1K delivered..

-178S

[jonzer77]

I got my lee pro 1000 for Xmas and I still spent a lot of money on the misc things like ammo holder, calipers, tumbler and media, scale but it is well worth it once you start.

[One78Shovel]

Another thing more importantly than cost savings, is the personal pride taken in loading your own projectiles.

Plus come the day, and it will, when Uncle wants to ban ammo in hopes of ridding you of your 2A right, a good stash of powder and the like will come in handy. May become as good as gold.

Another benefit I like is controlling my inventory. I like to maintain at least 3K rounds of every caliber I have with the exception of my 380. Keep the rotation fresh and Uncle has no idea how many rounds of what I got.

Reloading is very rewarding, not just cost effective.

-178S

[jonzer77]

Another thing more importantly than cost savings, is the personal pride taken in loading your own projectiles.

Plus come the day, and it will, when Uncle wants to ban ammo in hopes of ridding you of your 2A right, a good stash of powder and the like will come in handy. May become as good as gold.

Another benefit I like is controlling my inventory. I like to maintain at least 3K rounds of every caliber I have with the exception of my 380. Keep the rotation fresh and Uncle has no idea how many rounds of what I got.

Reloading is very rewarding, not just cost effective.

-178S

Amen!