Cost of reloading greater than cost of buying?

[jtake]

Used military brass is also good. Not as good as say Lapua or even Winchester, but it works.

Note, most military brass will have been fired through a MG, so you will need to size with a small base size die as the case bottoms will have expanded significantly. Just buy a small base die to size with.

Also, you will need to remove the crimp from the primer pocket. You can use a Dillon Super Swager (about $120) or use various hand or drill held crimp removers to remove the crimp. This is a one-time process.

Military brass can be purchased from places like brassbombers.com with .308 brass costing less than .15 a piece when you purchase in bulk.

Lake City .308 is good for sub MOA shooting, but it just is not as consistent for precise 1/2 MOA shooting as other brass I have found.

[jwest]

Hi all,

My dad has reloaded for years and I'm familiar with the process. I used a calculator the other day to see what the cost per round would be for reloading 12g bird/buckshot. It came out to be almost 5 cents more per round, and that's not counting shipping/tax/time.

Since I'm not an expert, could someone tell me if at some point it would eventually be cheaper to reload 12g and .223 from my own brass? I have the time, patience, and skill to reload, but it seems a LOT more expensive. I don't care about specialty handloads or precision munitions. I'm a volume shooter looking to save money and learn a good skill.

Thoughts?

I posted a spreadsheet here some years ago showing the payoff of buying a Dillon 900SL and how soon it pays for itself. Component prices are important - but the payoff was sooner than expected.

Caveat Emptor always applies. Component gouged pricing was not included in my spreadsheet back then and does skew the ROI.

[mchava]

I started to reload thinking I could save money, although I did save some. the biggest gain was in 2012-13 when there was little to no ammo to be found. I had plenty of components to be able to reload when ever I wanted to go out and shoot. In fact as of 2011 I haven't bought any factory ammo other then 22lr and 7.62x39. So to answer your question yes there are times when it's cheaper to buy factory but also cheaper to reaload.

[BigBronco]

I posted a spreadsheet here some years ago showing the payoff of buying a Dillon 900SL and how soon it pays for itself. Component prices are important - but the payoff was sooner than expected.

This type of thinking always bugs me. Did you calculate the 100% pay off of the gear? Does your equipment not have equity resale value? I bet you could get 50% to 75% return on investment should you sell your equipment. Pay off should be calculated IMO on the depreciated value loss only.

[J-cat]

There are a lot of reasons why people get into reloading. I like reloading for the sake of reloading. My equipment costs more than some guns. But it's fun and interesting and stimulates the mind to learn about and control the different variables involved in internal ballistics. It's like the chemistry behind cooking. Once you know the HOW and WHY, you can figure out anything.

[sl0re10]

Hi all,

My dad has reloaded for years and I'm familiar with the process. I used a calculator the other day to see what the cost per round would be for reloading 12g bird/buckshot. It came out to be almost 5 cents more per round, and that's not counting shipping/tax/time.

Since I'm not an expert, could someone tell me if at some point it would eventually be cheaper to reload 12g and .223 from my own brass? I have the time, patience, and skill to reload, but it seems a LOT more expensive. I don't care about specialty handloads or precision munitions. I'm a volume shooter looking to save money and learn a good skill.

Thoughts?

agree on 12g. its hard to beat the prices out there by reloading. Although; one irony is I do make cheaper than norm 12g ammo by using problem reloading bullets as shot (re: 12g is a way to recycle problem materials). Also; I make a few custom rounds that are really fun so price isn't the main factor (Triple 7 with round ball is one...)... You can also make special purpose like with no plastic wads for blm (all paper, wax, and cotton patch).... these, for instance, cost me about 60 cents each and involve the least equipment (I use a lee loader setup for shotshells).

223; my cost is about 18 cents not counting equipment. I use pretty cheap equipment and shoot thousands of rounds a year so I do think I save money. Esp since no steel 223 seems like its 38-50 cents.

[sl0re10]

I know lead is one of the things that has gone up significantly in recent years. My dad went to tire stores and offered to pick up tire weights by the pound. He has a .32 mold so 00 buck was super cheap.

The issue I'm having is with powder/primers. Is there a reliable place anywhere I could buy from? My problem is that when I look up doing it through online vendors the freight destroys all notions of savings. We're talking more than the cost of the product in freight.

Anyplace in the IE or online that I could look at for primers/powder? I guess the real barrier to entry is cost of equipment... It seems like it'll save you plenty over the long haul if you have the capital to make several large purchases at once.

you have to buy big to spread out the hazmat fee... also; its not that hard considering mail order can be about 1/3 cheaper than local stores for the product. 4 items (1 pound of powder or 1k primers = 1) and you've cleared the shipping, after that is savings over local store prices...

[GW]

Okay, so what am i doing wrong. looking at sites with unprimed rifle brass in 30.06 and they range from 60-cents to $1......seems really high!?!?!?

Brass is the single most expensive part of reloading. It's also the only part of a cartridge you can reuse after firing said cartridge which is why we all scrounge ours up when shooting.
Buying new brass is quite expensive and personally I recommend against it unless you are trying to work up some special new load for your best gun. Look for range brass online for better deals.

[Cowboy T]

Okay, so what am i doing wrong. looking at sites with unprimed rifle brass in 30.06 and they range from 60-cents to $1......seems really high!?!?!?

Depends on the brass. Lapua brass is the $1/ea stuff. But if their .30-06 brass is as good as their 7.62x54R brass, you'll be using it for a long time.

One of the other reasons for reloading shotshells is ammo availability... or something the lack thereof..

Yes indeed, sarge. That applies across the board. With .22LR being Unobtainium, I can make as much cheap .38 Special as I want for my levergun. It "kicks" just about like a .22LR bolt rifle. Regarding shotshells, for a little bit there, I couldn't find any slug loads, even Remington Sluggers. No problem, I just reloaded my own. Casting your own slugs helps greatly with this.

Brass is the single most expensive part of reloading. It's also the only part of a cartridge you can reuse after firing said cartridge which is why we all scrounge ours up when shooting.

Agreed. If you take good care of your brass and use sane loads, you should get on average 10 loads. Even at Lapua prices, that works out to 10 cents/use. I haven't had a 7.62x54R case split yet, and I shoot out of a Mosin.

[kygen]

If you take good care of your brass and use sane loads, you should get on average 10 loads. Even at Lapua prices, that works out to 10 cents/use. I haven't had a 7.62x54R case split yet, and I shoot out of a Mosin.

How about PPU brass?

[Cowboy T]

Yep, PPU's good stuff as well. Very good stuff, matter of fact. I use their brass in another Mosin, and none of them have split on me, either.

I'm very seriously thinking about buying a batch of their 7mm Rem Mag ammo just for the brass.

[scotchblade]

I own .41 Magnum, .44 Special (dedicated) and .44 Magnum.

I would not own any of those if I did not reload.