For all you shotgun reloaders!

[mif_slim]

So, I was trying to price out shotgun reloading vs buying from the store. I cam up with 0.43 cents per shell. Whats your guys price per shell for reloading shotgun rounds?

Im in the market for reloading shotgun shells but Im trying to find out if its worth the effort, time and money. Thanks everyone.

[freakshow10mm]

20ga 1oz lead I reload for $3.50/box of 25rds, so 14 cents a round.

[Sideline Shooter]

well that depends on what you are reloading for and how high of a volume shooter you are or want to be. Reloading for shotgun can be well worth it if you want to make pet loads for Trap, Skeet, or Sporting Clays. Then yes you will become a high volume shooter. If you want to make loads for hunting, such as steel for waterfowl, then yes there will be a significant savings on that also. I see those boxes go for $34-$45 a box of 10 on clearance. What is your intended purpose for shotgun reloading?

Sideline Shooter

[wilit]

In case you haven't seen this, way cool calculator for figuring out reloading vs. purchasing costs.

http://www.trapshooters.com/rlcalcadv.htm

[BMC]

If you are buying small amounts of reloading supplies, you won't find yourself saving a whole lot over say the Winchester/Remington/Federal four-packs or equivalent. If you buy in "bulk" then you will save more over the long run. Most people don't factor in time because reloading is more of a hobby than a job.
Me personally my reloads end up being about $4 per pox, that's a 1-1/8th oz load. Up until last week I was getting the WM federals for 3.67 a box (bulk buying deal) Unforunately the manager put the squash on that deal but it was a nice three year run while it lasted. So when the storage runs out, it will be back to the $5 a box price which still isn't too bad versus what my reloads cost. Another thing to consider is if you don't have a reloading machine and have to buy one, you'll probably want to factor that into the cost of your reloads for a while just to be honest with the final numbers.

[Revoman]

This calculator accounts for the loader too..........

http://www.10xshooters.com/calculators/ShotshellReloadingCost/

[mike100]

wow! what are you buying...even the high end sts remington loads are 33 cents a shell at walmart price of around $8 box. the promo stuff is less than 20 cents a shell.

specialty stuff like turkey loads/buckshot are probably about a dollar a shot. At something like 14 cents a pop, it is hard to beat the bulk pack promos that the major brands sell, but you can tailor your own light loads or heavy ones for handicap a good bit cheaper.

[mif_slim]

Thanks guys, thats a cool website you guys linked up! I'll be getting about 4 bux per 25. Sounds good for me since I'll be making my own lead shot.

[scrat]

Your going to making your own lead shot. DUE TELLL unless you have a littleton thats pretty hard to do.

[wellfedirishman]

Slugs are cheap

If you buy a Lee 1 oz slug mold ($20), then reloading for slugs is really cheap.

I made about 100 slugs a couple of weeks ago:
$0.00 Slugs (using free lead)
$0.04 Shotgun Primer
$0.06 Shotgun powder approx.
$0.03 Shotgun wad

So costs about $0.13 a round for slugs versus about $0.60 a round to buy them.

[mif_slim]

Your going to making your own lead shot. DUE TELLL unless you have a littleton thats pretty hard to do.

Back in the days, during the French and Vietnamese war, my grandpa and them use to make lead shots when they were fighting against the resistance. He said they use to take car battary terminals and drop them. Well, about 10 years ago my father mentioned about this and so we finally had a chance to try it out. It worked out just fine. Gotta get the right coolant mixture for the lead to be in perfect shape and also need patients. another option that was created was lead tower. But, Im looking into making one just for kicks.

[scrat]

Ok subscribing need to see more about the shot making. the lee molds. ehhhh im not into slugs i know you can get buck shot molds but smaller lead shot is what im after. im only sitting on about 100lbs of lead both hardened and soft.

[sargenv]

I made up some ITX loads for duck and goose hunting this season.. total price came out to... $1.25 a round.. and the ITX shot I got was discounted!! I think I paid $148 ish for 10 pounds... Special wads, SR 4756 for powder, Win 209's I had, hulls I had, and the shot itself. It was too pricey to load it at anything more than about 1 1/8 ounces worth.. I got 146 ish shells out of it, half in 2's, the other half in 4's. I used it yesterday and found that birds that were on the "edge" of being in range for #3 steel were being clobbered pretty good with this stuff as long as I did my part. I have yet to see how it will do on Geese.

In bulk you should be able to get the price down a bit. You'll need to get lead shot by the several hundred pounds to get any kind of break though.. and powder by the 4 or 8 pound keg.. or you can try getting in on a group buy. Primers are pricey at about $.034 - $.039 ea these days.