Reloading is NOT cheaper!

[shinzen]

Also, just as a note, if you have amazon prime, sometimes it's a better deal there than it is on midway's site. I always check between the two.

[Clever]

Natchez is very Good.

[Germz]

oh god not Horrid Fright...

Frankford Arsenal has a nice quality tumbler. a few hundred hours on mine with no issues.
$39 or $49 i believe 'twas.

[sirgrumps]

LETS DO SOME MATH, SHALL WE?
SMK 500 count 338 LM is $273 = .546c per bullet
Brass Nosler 50 count at $60 = $1.2 a case
1 pound of H1000 at $15 and a 90g charge. 1 pound = 7000g, 77.7charges in one pound = .193c a charge
Federal 215 match $35 per 1000 = .035c per primer

So my cost for one round of 338 LM ammo is $1.974x20= and $39.40 a box. Find a factory round in the store for that!

We can go with different Lapua data buy upping the charge weight to 92.2g. 1 pound = 7000g, 75.9 charges in a pound = .197c per charge.

Up the brass cost to $259.99 per 100 = $2.5999
So we get $3.3779x20 per round and $67.55 a box.

A difference of $1.404 per round and $28.15 a box.

Now a quick search for loaded 338 Lapua ammo yields.
Hornady match loads with their 250g BTHP $89.99 for a box of 20
Black hills is $119.00 for 20 with either the 250g or 300g SMK.
Lapua Secnar ammo is 69.99 for 10 rounds or 139.98 a box.
Prvi Partizan is 52.99 with a FMJ bullet per 20 (Piece of ****!)
Cor-bon at 124.99 with a 300g HPBT.
Remington at $119 for 20 with SMK
mind you I'm not counting shipping
Now from my experience with this ROUND, and the volume I shoot. I would say that your judgment and choice of words are very POOR. As for me growing up and loading 50BMG? I guess you have no idea how I can put that caliber to shame.. Don't let the size of the 50 full you, you are no match. Even beyond 1 Mile..

Your math assumes 1 critical point that you didn't take into account. Your prices id based on buying new brass and using it only once. You must adjust your cast based on multiple brass uses. And since you are using only 1 rifle in 338 lapua, you don't have to resize the entire, just resize the neck. I am assuming then you can get 10-15 reloads.

So assuming you are getting 10 uses per piece of brass, your price drops to $0.12 a case instead of $1.20

Therefore, you cost per box of 20 is even lower.

[GunNut1980]

I think reloading is one of the few hobbies that pays for itself in a way. Look at it this way. A box of 9mm is going anywhere from 13.99 and up for 50. I can reload that same 50 for dirt cheap. lets say it costs me $4 per 50. Saving $9 per box. Add that up over several boxes. That savings basically just paid for the dies, or the press, or what ever else you buy. Since I reload for multiple calibers, the savings pile up so to speak and now my equipment has paid for itself many times over.

I get to shoot a lot more because I reload, just like many others have said before. But, thats not a bad thing.

[Divernhunter]

You fail to see the basic point.
Let us say you have $500 that you spend on ammo for the year.
You buy $500 of factory ammo and shoot it. When it is gone you are done. You tend to make it last the whole year.
If you reload you spend the $500 and for some reason you usually end up spending more a bit at a time. This is after you buy the basic equipment. So you spend the money on supplies and maybe a few new add on pieces of equipment such as an upgraded scale/powder measure or something cheap like a graphite neck luber etc. Then you load up X amount of ammo which is more than factory for the same amount of money. You then go shoot more often and more rounds per trip.

AT THE END OF THE YEAR YOU WILL HAVE SPENT AS MUCH MONEY AS YOU DID WHEN YOU DID NOT RELOAD!
In truth probably more.
However you had another hobby and you shot more. You were also able to load cartridges which you would not have bought firearms for if you bought factory ammo. Plus all the other reasons people say they reload.
But bottom line is you still spent the same or more total cash money.

If you are like me and bought when prices were low and stock piled you may not be buying now but you spent more before. Then there is the occasional great or good deal you cannot pass up even now. There also may be the need to buy a powder you do not have for testing. Then of course the new cartridge for the different rifle you just got. Ever try to find used(heck even new) 264win mag brass at the range or anywhere else? Then do not forget the dies. Do not leave out the bullets if you do not already have them.

Years ago 2 boxes of factory 300win mag could last me all year. I now shoot more than that each time I take the rifle out several times a year.

You save money and it is cheaper PER ROUND.
Overall the total dollars you spend will not be cheaper and you will not really save any money.

If you do not understand that then nobody can help you out of your make believe world.

[five.five-six]

AT THE END OF THE YEAR YOU WILL HAVE SPENT AS MUCH MONEY AS YOU DID WHEN YOU DID NOT RELOAD!

For the first few years that is true. This year I have shot probably 4,000 rounds. I all I have spent is about $350 on components.

[Divernhunter]

You may be right IF you are shooting small pistol rounds and cast(your cast) bullets.
You cannot load even 223 rounds that cost with jacketed bullets. The bullets would cost more than that. Plus if you kept accurate records I am willing to guess you spent other money for supplies/do-dads this year.
Also if you spent that much the question is would you have spent more so you could shoot more buying factory ammo? I would also guess you would have shoot less rounds using factory ammo.

[MaHoTex]

How does the HF tumbler compare to the Midway vibe cleaner? The Midway one seems like it might have more purpose-specific add-ons. Shipping isn't an issue since I would buying it at the same time as the main kit anyway. Shipping isn't an issue at HF, either, because there is one nearby my office.

There are no add-ons for the vibratory cleaners that I am aware. You just throw the media (walnut shells is what I use) and some brass and put lid on it.

[Chief-7700]

Might want to buy timed shut off switch for it also. Folks have a habit of forgetting to turn their tumblers off.

[swopjan]

I guess I'll point out again that this topic was mostly tongue-in-cheek, since folks are still trying to explain that reloading means more shooting, not less money. Duh. I posted this after I won over a dozen gunbroker auctions and spent maybe $300, but got enough components that (with some trading and powder) I could shoot thousands of rounds instead of the not quite 1,000 factory rounds $300 would buy. It makes me wonder who read the content of this topic and who saw the title and just posted in response to that.

In any case, the cost of reloading really doesn't matter to me. It's nice to put rounds together for less than retail price but if it cost the same I'd probably still be getting into it. Long range target shooting, reloading, cowboy action shooting, 3-gun, plinking, whatever, it's all part of the fun.

[kkp]

You save money and it is cheaper PER ROUND.
Overall the total dollars you spend will not be cheaper and you will not really save any money.

If you do not understand that then nobody can help you out of your make believe world.

That may be true for you, but aside from your incredibly insulting attitude, you are missing some very basic points, and some very basic math:

IF you shoot the same amount of ammo, at the same frequency, that you did before, you WILL spend less money by reloading, compared to purchasing factory ammo. Period, end of story. Apples to apples comparisons, people.

Up front, initially, you will pay more for reloading, due to equipment costs. Eventually, however, the per-round savings will pay for that equipment. You WILL hit a break-even point, in terms of costs savings. (unless you spent WAY too much on reloading equipment and just don't shoot much) This is really basic math. Even people in make believe worlds should be able to understand that. How soon you reach that break-even point depends entirely on how much you're shooting, what kind of rounds you're shooting, the cost of factory ammo, and how much you've invested up-front in machinery costs. Looking at the basic math for a very basic setup (let's say $200 for a basic single stage hand-press, tumbler, and dies for .223 and 9mm), when you're comparing $0.50 per round (factory) to roughly $0.25 per round (reload yourself) of .223, saving a quarter per round means your reloading equipment will be completely paid for (in ammo savings) within 800 rounds. That's peanuts to most shooters.

Once you cross that break-even point, where the equipment costs have all been offset by the lower cost-per-round of ammo, compared to buying factory ammo over the counter, THEN you can save quite a bit of money, compared to shooting the SAME amount of factory ammo. If you choose to use up that savings by shooting twice as much ammo twice as often, fine, that's your choice... but that has nothing to do with whether or not reloading saved you money.

[drdarrin@sbcglobal.net]

I don't chuckle at people who buy loaded ammo.

Nor do I. Where else would I get 99.9% of the brass I reload.

[chardog]

reloading is sort of like running, good for the soul, I stopped running...

[five.five-six]

You may be right IF you are shooting small pistol rounds and cast(your cast) bullets.
You cannot load even 223 rounds that cost with jacketed bullets. The bullets would cost more than that. Plus if you kept accurate records I am willing to guess you spent other money for supplies/do-dads this year.
Also if you spent that much the question is would you have spent more so you could shoot more buying factory ammo? I would also guess you would have shoot less rounds using factory ammo.

Match ammo is where you save the most money, aside from the fact that even the best commercial available ammo is not even close to the consistency of the ammo I make, a match .308 round costs me about 43 cents.