A little reloading info please

[1ducatiboy]

I'm considering getting into reloading 9MM and 45APC. Could someone ballpark me some numbers on unit costs goals per finished round? I know this could be a pretty wide range, I'm just looking for some realistic numbers for producing target ammo with locally available components, not including the investment in equipment.
Thank you

[DougJ]

I've been loading only since October, but man am I glad I started!

To date I have loaded about 3800 rounds total. (I just loaded a couple hundred .45 ACP last night and checked my notes.) I use a Lee Classic Turret press and couldn't be happier with how things are going. I've been loading .45 ACP, 38 SPC, and .223 Remington.

Lately I've been supporting my local store rather than buying off the internet for bullets, so it's a little more expensive. I also load fairly low volume, so I'm not saving anything buying in bulk. I normally load 200gr LSWC for the .45, and I can break that cost down for you.

Bullets - $104 per 1000 local (inc tax) or $80 shipped if you shop the net for various companies. The bullets I'm getting locally are great quality, better than Missouri Bullets buy a good bit. They're from http://xtremebullets.com/.

So currently a round costs:

Bullets - .10.4 cents
Case - zero
Primer - .03 cents
Powder - .02 cents (1lb Unique @ $21 / 5.7gr = 1200+ rounds = .01.75 cents)

So about .15 cents a round or $6.50 a box of 50 for .45 ACP. Good shooting stuff and I don't run out and have to shop for it!

[amnmmm]

Reloading my own ammo has been cost me approximately .25 per 45ACP 230 gr. and .15 per 9mm 115 gr. This included new brass. Now that I save the brass, the cost goes down to .16 for 45 ACP and .10 for 9mm per round.

[CSACANNONEER]

I've gone a step further and cast my own bullets. So, a box of handgun ammo costs me about $2-$2.50/50 rounds. Next time I have to buy powder and primers (a few years off), it'll be more like $3-$4 per box.

[rero360]

If you have Excel or the openoffice version on your computer it is actually rather easy to set up a spreadsheet where you plug in all your info and with a few easy formulas it will tell you cost per batch, cost per round, with and without brass factored in (for when you reuse the brass)

I have it broken down so it tells me how much it costs me for every component per round, per 50, per 100 and per 1000 with and without the cost of brass. Additionally I have it set up for when I put in my grain weight for powder it will tell me how many pounds I need for a batch. I have it set up for .45ACP, .308win, .500S&W, .223, .270win, and .40S&W as I have been contimplating starting to reload for them as well.

[Chief-7700]

http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

The key is to buy in bulk. When I order components typical order:
15K large pistol Primers
16# of powder
10K 200 grain LSWCs

[1ducatiboy]

A little reloading info

Thanks all. Very helpful, and much appreciated.