Thinking about reloading. Got questions.

[a1fabweld]

I have been shooting monthly for the past year or so & I am burning a good amount of ammo. I'm interested in reloading .308, .223, .45acp mainly. I saw the stick up top about reloading starter kits but it didn't answer my question. Whats the average savings of relodaing vs. buying new ammo for common rounds like those stated above? Is the difference between presses how many can be loaded at once? I plan on getting a book soon but just want a basic understanding before I spend money on equipment. Thanks!

[f4tweet]

1. You will not save money on ammo. You will shoot more, and more accurate ammo.
2. Presses are usually single stage (rifle), and progressive ( pistol)
Good starter presses for pistol are the Dillon 550 and the RCBS Pro 2000.
A good press for rifle is an RCBS Rockchucker.
Presses and the necessary tools will run you $700 or so to start both. My .02

[bohoki]

depends on current component prices vs current ammo price

you do the math

say primers are 3 cents each a cheap bullet is 7-15 cents
and powder on a loose round number basis for 223 is 25 grains and for 308 its like 50 a pound of powder is 7000 grains and at $20 a pound so figure 7 cents for 223 load and 14 cents for 308 load

if you use bullseye with 45 its like 2 cents

so for 223
that is 7 cents bullet 7 cents powder 3 cents primer so 17 cents equals $3.40 for a box of 20

for 308
15 cents bullet 14 cents powder 3 cents primer 32 cents
so $6.40 a box of 20

for .45 fmj
bullet 14 cents powder 2 cents primer 3 cents 19 cents
thats 9.50 a box of 50

for 45 with lead
bullet 7 cents powder 2 cents primer 3 cents=12cents
so $6 a box of 50

those are rough figures not taking into account sizing lube ,cleaning media

buying reloading equipment i guess you can try to calculate when you will break even with say a rough estimate at $500 for a decent setup (progressive press, dies for the 3 calibers a scale, a tumbler, a case trimmer)

so say i divide that by 3

so that is $167 hurdle each caliber has to pay for
so if we assume 45 fmj at $20 a box and you can make it for $10 you reach the break even point at somewhere around your 800th reload
the 167 hurdle for 223 is reached assume at $8 for factory ammo and you make it for 3.40 you break even at 726 rounds
with the 308 hmm assume ammo at $15 you make it for $6.40
the break even point is 388 rounds

these are all just rough estimates assuming you shoot all 3 calibers equally

i personally would calculate i shoot 45 about 40% 223 40% and 308 20%

you can adjust your percentage to recalculate your break even point

[a1fabweld]

WOW! You guys nailed it right on the head! Even answered questions I hadn't thought of yet! Thanks for clearing the fog!

[AlexBreya]

to the guy that said you'll need $700 just for the starting equipment, thats only if you're trying to shoot for the stars. i reload .308s and i spent:

Lee starter kit: $140
Lee .308 die set: $23
Lee .308 cutters: $12
300 bullets: $60
2 lbs of powder: $65
500 primers: $10
some cleaning solution: $15

already had a caliper, so it all only cost $325. you really don't need a book on reloading unless you're looking for super accuracy. if you just want to shoot more for the same amount of money, you hardly even need instructions. adding 2 more caliber die sets would only cost another $60 or so. all you have to do for instructions is look at the min/max cartridge length, and min/max powder loads.

[Turbinator]

AlexBreya, how did you decide on the .308 dies? i.e. standard dies, not competition dies? You reloading for semi auto or bolt action? I'm thinking of taking the .308 reloading plunge too, and am curious how you made up your shopping list.

Turby