Cost of reloading quality ammo

[nobs11]

Hi there,

I used to reload but I stopped about 5 years ago due to career and personal obligations. Sold all my equipment as well. Thinking of getting back into it.

I was looking at the price of components and prices have gone up through the roof. Does it make sense anymore?

Lets say I want to load 1000 rounds of good quality 75gr HPBT 223 ammo. I'm not interesting in loading pulled bullets.

Prvi Partizan 75gr "match" ammo shoots very well in my ARs and I can get it delivered for about $450.

1000 Remington cases, 1000 primers, powder, 1000 75gr Sierra HPBT bullets costs me about the same.

I haven't factored in the cost of a progressive press.

Has reloading gotten more expensive than buying ammo? This definitely was not the case a few years ago.

I understand that I would be reusing the cases but I have to factor in the time spent in cleaning, depriming and trimming cases. Wondering if it makes any sense.

[gose]

Hi there,
I used to reload but I stopped about 5 years ago due to career and personal obligations. Sold all my equipment as well. Thinking of getting back into it.
I was looking at the price of components and prices have gone up through the roof. Does it make sense anymore?
Lets say I want to load 1000 rounds of good quality 75gr HPBT 223 ammo. I'm not interesting in loading pulled bullets.
Prvi Partizan 75gr "match" ammo shoots very well in my ARs and I can get it delivered for about $450.
1000 Remington cases, 1000 primers, powder, 1000 75gr Sierra HPBT bullets costs me about the same.
I haven't factored in the cost of a progressive press.
Has reloading gotten more expensive than buying ammo? This definitely was not the case a few years ago.
I understand that I would be reusing the cases but I have to factor in the time spent in cleaning, depriming and trimming cases. Wondering if it makes any sense.

once fired brass (Rem): $70 ($180 for new)
primers: $25
bullets: $180 (SMK 69gr) $120 (Prvi 75gr)
powder: $60

$335 with once fired brass and $445 with new brass (SMK bullets)
$275 with once fired brass and $385 with new brass (Prvi bullets)

So with once-fired brass and PRVI bullets you save $150/1k, or roughly one-third.

If you shoot 1k rounds / year, it's probably not worth investing in a press just to reload .223, but when you start hitting a few k / year, it really starts to pay off.

[nobs11]

Thanks. I did not know Prvi sold components. I appreciate it. About 8-9 years ago reloading used to cut your costs by half I remember. Brass is really expensive these days. But it still makes sense I guess.

[gose]

Thanks. I did not know Prvi sold components. I appreciate it. About 8-9 years ago reloading used to cut your costs by half I remember. Brass is really expensive these days. But it still makes sense I guess.

Well, if you get once-fired brass and PRVI bullets, you are pretty much cutting it in half if you estimate another 4-5 loads out of the brass.

[PistolPete75]

the money saved by reloading is spent on time to put it together. it's your choice, spend the money or spend the time. if your going for accuracy, reloading is your best bet.

[What Just Happened?]

Reloading is for accuracy or for letting you go out and shoot more. You don't really save any money.

[Splinter]

223 and below I just buy now. 243 and up I reload. Time is money. I spend enough time driving to the range as is.

[moulton]

223 and below I just buy now. 243 and up I reload. Time is money. I spend enough time driving to the range as is.

meh....I dont do much during the day, I have got ~8 hours of time to waste during the day. Today I reloaded 250 .38 special wadcutters, 200 .223 55 gr. and tumbled and prepped 50 .270 Win cases, that took a few hours....funner than watching tv and I had my laptop right next to me to stay on calguns . It isnt that I got tired of reloading, its that I ran out of .223 cases and .38 projectiles.....its always somthing, primers, projectiles, powder, cases

[wellfedirishman]

Depends on the caliber

223 is pretty cheap to buy since is is widely used worldwide, as is 7.62x39, 9mm, etc.

If you shoot old or odd calibers (e.g. 303 British, 7.5 Swiss, 6.5 Swede etc) then reloading is very worthwhile with cost savings of more than 50%, making high quality ammo.

For magnum pistol calibers (357, 44 mag) reloading is definitely a money saver, especially with cast bullets. New 357 and 44 ammo is 40-50 cents a round approx.

For 9mm or smaller pistol calibers, its just cheaper and less hassle to buy new ammo.

[Moonclip]

223 is pretty cheap to buy since is is widely used worldwide, as is 7.62x39, 9mm, etc.

If you shoot old or odd calibers (e.g. 303 British, 7.5 Swiss, 6.5 Swede etc) then reloading is very worthwhile with cost savings of more than 50%, making high quality ammo.

For magnum pistol calibers (357, 44 mag) reloading is definitely a money saver, especially with cast bullets. New 357 and 44 ammo is 40-50 cents a round approx.

For 9mm or smaller pistol calibers, its just cheaper and less hassle to buy new ammo.

.223 is far from cheap! And some of the smaller than 9x19 pistol cartridges are kind of expensive, more so than 9x18 such as .32acp. If someone casts bullets as well, probaby can save more than enough to make reloading .38spl,9x19 worth it.

[Splinter]

I can still source 223 for 30cents a pop and its decent ammo. Anything for my bolt actions that is good quality is over a buck a shot. Thats what I mean by cheap vs expensive. I can reload 243 for 22cents a round. It would cost nearly 2 bucks a round to buy the same load. Why reload 223 when it saves maybe 10 cents a round after your break even point?

[Fjold]

Divide the brass cost by 5 reloads and reloading with Prvi bullets comes down to $220/1000.

So you're less than 50% with more accurate ammo.

[Budd]

For magnum pistol calibers (357, 44 mag) reloading is definitely a money saver, especially with cast bullets. New 357 and 44 ammo is 40-50 cents a round approx.

You aren't kidding. My .357's were the reason I got into handloading. 20 Federal 180gr hunting rounds for $20? Not for me. I think each round now is about $.20 - a huge savings.

[xrMike]

So you're less than 50% with more accurate ammo.

Yeah, I was thinking about 50% savings also.

Last time I ran the numbers it worked out that I was loading match grade .223 ammo for about 30 cents each, maybe even a little less.

The equivalent Black Hills blue box ammo costs 60 cents each.

[mbkmkk]

Reloading is for accuracy or for letting you go out and shoot more. You don't really save any money.

Isn't that right. I spend more now on shooting and reloading then I did when I bought ammo, just because I shoot more.