Am I missing something on the cost of reloading?

[tanks]

...Trust me, your next investment will be in ammo cans.

Ammo cans are not efficient. Here is a pic of afternoon's reloading session of 12K rounds.

[hambam105]

What are all those red things in the ammo bucket?

[TAS]

What are all those red things in the ammo bucket?

Lipstick. Lots of lipstick.

[wilderness medic]

Is this the rock chucker you guys were talking about? Thinking about jumping on this, what do you guys think of it?

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1527527

[davek8s]

Is this the rock chucker you guys were talking about? Thinking about jumping on this, what do you guys think of it?

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/....php?t=1527527

[ar15barrels]

Really close to getting into reloading but after pricing out materials I'm not seeing how its that much cheaper.
Heres what I found for .308 priced out to make 100 rounds

Sierra Match King bullets $38

Lapua brass $77

CCI primers $37
IMR powder $17

Total cost $168

$1.68/round doesn't seem that much cheaper than buying decent .308 from the store.
Now I understand you can reuse your brass, but only a couple times correct?

I wasn't expecting huge savings, but I'm having second thoughts about the time it takes with the cost being only slightly better.

Did I miss something?

You won't save money buying new brass for every firing nor buying in small quantities.
Plan your purchases for at least 1000 rounds at a time.
Fill up a hazmat ticket with powder and primers to avoid extra hazmat charges.

Using powder valley prices:
1000 168 SMK's $356
1000 210M primers $36
6.6lb of Varget (buy 8lb jugs) $160
100 Lapua Brass (will last 10 reloads) $74.
That works out to $626 for 1000 rounds fired or 63 cents per round.

[slayer61]

Looks like a goo snip

One thing that no one has mentioned about reloading is that you may or may not save money, but you will have ammo when it can’t be bought at the store.

snip ing Tapatalk

That's it right there. I can make smoking hot 10mm & 9X25, 357 Sig etc for me and soft shooting 45 & 9mm for the Mrs., and anything in between.

[17+1]

[bohoki]

Lucky you! I searched for .25 bullets here and got nowhere. Have you found a powder drop that can deliver reliably for those small charges? So far I've only done a small amount and weighed each, mostly because I was testing several charges. I'll eventually try my Hornady drop and see if it's usable. I also considered getting a Lee Microdisc, some say it'll do the job. I've used W231 and GreenDot, what are you using?

this item is amazingly accurate and stupid cheap i use it for 32s&w and i dont want to blow my hand off

https://www.natchezss.com/smartreloader-sr400-powder-measure-with-steel-bench-stand.html

[Bumslie]

Lucky you! I searched for .25 bullets here and got nowhere. Have you found a powder drop that can deliver reliably for those small charges? So far I've only done a small amount and weighed each, mostly because I was testing several charges. I'll eventually try my Hornady drop and see if it's usable. I also considered getting a Lee Microdisc, some say it'll do the job. I've used W231 and GreenDot, what are you using?

I got packs of 500 on gunbroker for .25 acp and 100ct packs from reloadOC.

I have a mould in my shopping cart to cast for it, too.

I used a old lyman #5 measure for the 1.3 gr LOad. It was dead on. I'm sure an updated lyman #55 would do the job, too.

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[RestrictedColt]

this item is amazingly accurate and stupid cheap i use it for 32s&w and i dont want to blow my hand off

https://www.natchezss.com/smartreloa...nch-stand.html

The few reviews I read are not encouraging, but I'm up for trying something new if it works. What powder are you using, what's your charge weight and the measure's deviation? Typical charges for .25 are 1-1.5 grains depending on powder type & bullet so there's very little room for error. It's hard to imagine this cheapo that ranges from 1-100 grains has the capability to throw small precise charges, but it would be awesome if it does.

[Red9]

Reloading is a rabbit hole. It starts with just one caliber. After a few components, the hoarding will begin. Ive got .30 caliber SMK as cheap as .15 each. Deals are out there one just needs to be patient.
Primers, powder, projectiles. One should be fully stocked. Then of course you might start buying items for calibers you dont need, but cant pass up a good deal.
Presses? They start to multiply over the years.
Dies? Never have enough. Forster and Redding are expensive for a reason. Rcbs are good, lee as well.
Get a case puller or make one, drill bit, 1/4 tap, washers, bolt amd nut.
Calipers, case gauge, scale, and case trimmer, bullet puller are basic tools you should have.
How are you going to clean cases? Wet or dry? Another added expense.
Ahhhh the rabbit hole [emoji2]

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[wpod]

I didn't start reloading to save money, though saving a bit per round will eventually offset the cost of equipment.
I reload because, for me, it's part of shooting.
I also like being self sufficient and not reliant on commercial availability fluctuations.
So I do buy factory ammo. I buy more than I shoot, so that pile gets bigger.
After shooting, I reload the brass so my reloaded pile grows too.
Started with 9mm on a Lee turret press to see if reloading was an activity worth doing. Then 44 spl/mag (combo dies) then a second 44 die/plate because I couldn't remember if I'd last reloaded spl or mag.
Then 38/357 (again two sets).
Then 223 & 762x39.
Seven die/plate sets. Plus another plate with a universal puller and universal decapper.
A substantial investment in independence, purchased over several years.
Next will be 6.5 creedmore because I want to get into long range shooting. Another money pit.
At least it's money spent (invested?) on something practical in our household.

Then there's my archery equipment. Older motorcycles and spare parts. RC planes for a while (less practical). Cycling (those spandex clad athletes you hate). The Wifes horses. Her softball gear.

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[dscoduc]

I reload for consistency and for cost savings. I have an old RCBS single stage press for long range cartridges and can't make any sense of buying a progressive.

I start with buying factory ammo and then reload that brass until I have to discard. Using this model I am able to save money each time I am able to reuse the brass.

I don't buy brass or dies for anything I don't own, and keep the process as simple as possible.

Lastly, I am not looking for that unicorn load that will produce one ragged hole at 500 yards, rather, I find a good recipe for my rifle and the reload the heck out of that recipe. It really annoyed me when Hornady discontinued the AMAX in favor of ELD-M, as I had to do another work up to find the acceptable recipe.

I think some of the people in this thread who describe reloading as a rabbit hole may have other issues not related to reloading... :-)

[bohoki]

The few reviews I read are not encouraging, but I'm up for trying something new if it works. What powder are you using, what's your charge weight and the measure's deviation? Typical charges for .25 are 1-1.5 grains depending on powder type & bullet so there's very little room for error. It's hard to imagine this cheapo that ranges from 1-100 grains has the capability to throw small precise charges, but it would be awesome if it does.

2.5 bullseye

there is a trick to using ot i have it mounted to a board that my press is mounted to

there is 2 ways to charge a case up-down or down-up i run it in the down up mode which means when i seat my bullet the little volumeric pocket is up full of powder exposed to the powder hopper so when the seating happens it kind of shakes everything so powder has a chance to seat in the pocket


if each charge you go up then down powder doesnt have a chance to settle and get a good consistancy

maybe this is in the manual i dont know i didnt read it