what is hotter?

[AGGRO]

10 mm is hotter

['ol shooter]

I'll see your 10mm, and raise you a .50AE.

[tanks]

Why do you care for "hot" ammo for practice ammo?

[robert101]

It seems you are planning to make a substantial investment in ammunition. Good for you. I converted (no not transitioning) to a reloader many years ago. If you are going to shoot that much then reloading is the way to go. Don't let it intimidate you. We all started out with the basics and learned from there. You can then reload as hot as you want.

['ol shooter]

Why do you care for "hot" ammo for practice ammo?

Needs full power practice for when SHTF? Mall Ninja readiness drills? Who knows, maybe he's just young, dumb, and full of c@me.

[dwightlooi]

Why is hotter important?

Reliability, accuracy and velocity are important factors.

If you are shooting paper the paper does not care if the ammunition is hotter.

Stick to name brands and watch for bulk sales from Midway,Brownells and the other dealers.

Buy components and reload. Cheaper by far.

irh

I am sure that after 2018 it'll be absolutely cheaper than buying it at a gun store or at the range. However, I did not find reloading cheaper than buying factory ammo online.

Let me give you an example...

Factory New: 308 PPU, MEN or PMC Bronze = 50~60 cents / round
(copper jacketed, brass cased, boxer primed)

My typical reload:-

Sierra #2156 Bullet = 39 cents
51 Grains CFE223 Powder = 16 cents
BR-2 Primer = 5.5 cents
Case = Free

Total Cost per round = 60.5 cents

Similar math applies to handgun ammo unless you are OK with shooting unjacketed lead bullets. For many handguns -- eg. polygonal rifled glocked, gas retarded HK P7s, etc. that is not even an option. Even if it is, you may not want to deal with the gunk. Bullets cost are the majority of reload costs, everything else is minor. And jacketed bullets like the Sierra 185 gr JSWC in 45 ACP is not cheap. Not anymore.

I am not saving any money reloading. I am however getting better ammo (IMHO).

[71MUSTY]

In So Cal just leave your ammo out on the bench at the outdoor range. It gets hotter fast.

[Calguns77]

I am sure that after 2018 it'll be absolutely cheaper than buying it at a gun store or at the range. However, I did not find reloading cheaper than buying factory ammo online.

Let me give you an example...

Factory New: 308 PPU, MEN or PMC Bronze = 50~60 cents / round
(copper jacketed, brass cased, boxer primed)

My typical reload:-

Sierra #2156 Bullet = 39 cents
51 Grains CFE223 Powder = 16 cents
BR-2 Primer = 5.5 cents
Case = Free

Total Cost per round = 60.5 cents

Similar math applies to handgun ammo unless you are OK with shooting unjacketed lead bullets. For many handguns -- eg. polygonal rifled glocked, gas retarded HK P7s, etc. that is not even an option. Even if it is, you may not want to deal with the gunk. Bullets cost are the majority of reload costs, everything else is minor. And jacketed bullets like the Sierra 185 gr JSWC in 45 ACP is not cheap. Not anymore.

I am not saving any money reloading. I am however getting better ammo (IMHO).

Lol, you must be doing something wrong. My 9mm reloads are $120 per 1k with plated. With jacket bullets im at $135 -$140 d3pending on bullet

Brass - Free
6.0gr Power Pistol - .017
CCI Primer - .035
Precison Delta 9mm 115gr Bullet- .083

$6.75 per 50

A deal on primers would drop the price also. Other calibers see bigger savings obviously and it its not hard to save over $100 per 1k on 45acp with fmjs.

I think something you're not considering is if you're reloading precision rifle rounds with match bullets you have to compare it cost wise to factory match ammo which will run you well over a $1 a round vs cheap plinking ammo.

[trackcage]

Lol, you must be doing something wrong. My 9mm reloads are $120 per 1k with plated. With jacket bullets im at $135 -$140 d3pending on bullet

Brass - Free
6.0gr Power Pistol - .017
CCI Primer - .035
Precison Delta 9mm 115gr Bullet- .083

$6.75 per 50

A deal on primers would drop the price also. Other calibers see bigger savings obviously and it its not hard to save over $100 per 1k on 45acp with fmjs.

I think something you're not considering is if you're reloading precision rifle rounds with match bullets you have to compare it cost wise to factory match ammo which will run you well over a $1 a round vs cheap plinking ammo.

My thoughts exactly. Comparing his match rounds to bulk ammo.

I've been able to get my 9mm down to 10-12 cents per if I buy in bulk and am not picky about projectile choice. This is with plated projectiles, not lead. It can be done if you are efficient about it.

[dwightlooi]

Lol, you must be doing something wrong. My 9mm reloads are $120 per 1k with plated. With jacket bullets im at $135 -$140 d3pending on bullet

Brass - Free
6.0gr Power Pistol - .017
CCI Primer - .035
Precison Delta 9mm 115gr Bullet- .083

$6.75 per 50

A deal on primers would drop the price also. Other calibers see bigger savings obviously and it its not hard to save over $100 per 1k on 45acp with FMJs.

I think something you're not considering is if you're reloading precision rifle rounds with match bullets you have to compare it cost wise to factory match ammo which will run you well over a $1 a round vs cheap plinking ammo.

When they were available, the Hornady 185 gr JSWC was $25/100

Hornady 185 gr JSWC (or 200gr JFP for that matter) = 25 cents
7.5 grs of CFE Pistol = 2.3 cents
CCI #300 Primer = 3.3 cents
Brass = free

Total = 30.6 cents

Blazer Brass Ammo = 27~30 cents

As I said the biggest cost is the bullets, everything else doesn't really matter that much. Comparing apples to apples -- jacketed, brass cased, ammo -- the Blazer brass is 30 cents (usually a bit less).

[Jimmy's]

Bake it in the oven at 400* it will all be HOT!!!

[tanks]

When they were available, the Hornady 185 gr JSWC was $25/100

Hornady 185 gr JSWC (or 200gr JFP for that matter) = 25 cents
7.5 grs of CFE Pistol = 2.3 cents
CCI #300 Primer = 3.3 cents
Brass = free

Total = 30.6 cents

Blazer Brass Ammo = 27~30 cents

As I said the biggest cost is the bullets, everything else doesn't really matter that much. Comparing apples to apples -- jacketed, brass cased, ammo -- the Blazer brass is 30 cents (usually a bit less).

You are still picking the expensive bullets for plinking ammo. Xtreme 185gr bullets are $58/500 which makes it 11.6 cents, plugging it into you components makes it 17.2 cents a round almost half the cost of Blazer ammo.

Now, you wanna go really cheap American Reloader sells pulled FMJ bullets even cheaper than Xtremes.

Edit: Also, coated lead bullets are another option and they do not make crud, but a lot cheaper 6-8 cents per depending on caliber. One other benefit is also using less powder to achieve the same velocity as jacketed or plated bullets.

[Calguns77]

When they were available, the Hornady 185 gr JSWC was $25/100

Hornady 185 gr JSWC (or 200gr JFP for that matter) = 25 cents
7.5 grs of CFE Pistol = 2.3 cents
CCI #300 Primer = 3.3 cents
Brass = free

Total = 30.6 cents

Blazer Brass Ammo = 27~30 cents

As I said the biggest cost is the bullets, everything else doesn't really matter that much. Comparing apples to apples -- jacketed, brass cased, ammo -- the Blazer brass is 30 cents (usually a bit less).

If you'll only use thise specific hornady bullets you won't save any money. But apples to apples these 230gr fmjs are .124cpr.

https://www.precisiondelta.com/products/45-cal-230gr-fmj-case-1-000/

Using your other prices your cost per round would be .18. You cant buy factory brass .45acp for $180.

Your .308 rds would also be at least .10 cheaper if you were using regualr hornady fmjs which are a better comparison to factory ammo than the match bullets you're using.

[kcheung2]

Ok, comparing apples to apples, and based on your statement that the biggest cost is the projectile.

308:
Hornady 150 grain fmj is 21 cents at Midway (and that's pricey, usually it's 17 cents)
IMR 4064 14 cents
CCI lrp 4 cents
free brass
that's 39 cents

I don't see much in the way of 150 grain brass 308 for under 40 cents.

Or 9mm:
Hornady 115 grain fmj 10 cents
Ramshot Silhouette or Power Pistol 2 cents
CCI srp 3 cents
free brass

that's 15 cents per round. The cheapest brass 115 grain fmj is 20 cents. Conceivably I could choose more expensive projectiles, but then to be fair it would have to be compared against more expensive commercial ammo too.

['ol shooter]

This thread has gone off the rails.