newbie with pal, was embarrassed to talk at gun shop

[akimiski]

What’s the cost different between buying ammo vs reloading yourself? 25% saving or 50% or 75%?

[harbl_the_cat]

What’s the cost different between buying ammo vs reloading yourself? 25% saving or 50% or 75%?

For me to reload .223, I bought most of my components 5-10 years ago when you could get primers for $2/100, bullets for $0.09, and powder for $20/lbs.

Components keep indefinitely if you store them somewhat properly, so does ammo...

So for me to load 1000 rounds of .223, what I paid for my stockpiled components costs me about $180.

I know my loads are equal quality to factory loads that are about $750 per 1000 rounds today.

So for me, the cost savings of reloading are something like 75% but that's just because I've waited VERY long before reloading components I've diligently stored away over the years.

That's the neat part about reloading. If you had the intention of doing it and got everything you needed to do it, the longer you put off doing it, the more rewarding it becomes... both financially and as a hobby...

[Aniest]

What’s the cost different between buying ammo vs reloading yourself? 25% saving or 50% or 75%?

For me, tailoring the ammunition to the firearm and the animal hunted has always been the primary reason. I shoot 125grain, 168grain and 220 grain Sierra bullets hand loaded from the same .308 rifle and scope. It took a few years to get the right combination of primers, powders, bullet crimp and bullet seating depth to get the same windage (left-right) point of aim from every one. The 125grain and 168grain are about 1 MOA, while the 220 grain is about 6 MOA, but the 220's are for under 50 yard shots only.

Which mean my second reason for hand loading: a unique, challenging and rewarding hobby could be practiced.

Lastly has been cost. Reloading to save money is for when you are shooting a lot, in my opinion. A very lot. But that also requires the initial money to pay for expensive progressive presses that put you a half step below a small commercial reloading business. Calibers for competitions out of semi-automatic firearms like 12guage, 223, 308, 9mm, and a few other handgun calibers are the main ones, where you're expected weekend of competition (friendly and up to Pro) is 200 rounds of 12guage, 200 rounds of rifle and 400 rounds of handgun. Go to 6 competitions in a year and 6000 rounds of ammo gets expensive.

[harbl_the_cat]

There's another dimension to reloading nobody mentions but everyone thinks about... the usefulness of reloading as a skill in the event of TEOTWAWKI... which for those of us who have been into guns and reloading for a while... has just happened.

The idea being if there was every a truly apocalyptic "end of the world" kind of scenario, reloading would be one of the most valuable skills to have - especially if the grid fails and supply chains collapse.

That was one thing I hadn't considered pre-COVID: having something to do when you're board as TSHTF.

One of the things that kept me sane during the lockdowns and vaccine mandates was reloading... especially case prep.

When you're not allowed to go out and do anything because you're not vaccinated, sorting 50k pieces of .223 brass by headstamp is a really good way to pass the time.

I spent as much time just sorting brass as most people did watching Netflix, YouTube or going on TikTok during the lockdowns... It was time very well spent.

[Rory McCanuck]

What’s the cost different between buying ammo vs reloading yourself? 25% saving or 50% or 75%?

This was quite a while ago, but I got a Lee kit on sale for $100.
I got components to make 100 rounds for another $100.
Store bought was costing me $2 a shot, so when I was through the box of bullets and primers, the equipment had paid for itself, and I still had about 1/3 of a pound of powder left.
Then I decided I really enjoyed reloading, and went pretty stupid buying equipment.
If I 'save' much more, I'll be living out of a cardboard box.

The biggest thing was, it got me out shooting.
When all you have is a box of ammo, you don't want to go shooting because then you'll be out.
Now, when I shoot everything up, I get to go to the reloading bench and play Mad Scientist.


*I just checked Cabela's.
The Lee kit is on for $200 now, and the ammo I was shooting isn't even available (444 Marlin) but the same ammo is available in 45-70 (very similar)
$90 for a box of 20
So, the math still works out to about the same ratio, just with a whole bunch more dollars involved.