Trekker
Active Member
The purpose of this thread is to discuss and analyze the point at which it makes more sense, purely from a cost perspective, to either buy commercially made ammunition or to reload. What I am currently wondering about is .30-06 and .223. I have not reloaded either of these, and so have less information or possibly some misconceptions.
There are a number of reasons why we reload, from customizing rounds to our particular firearm and intended usage, to cost savings, or to have ammunition when there is a shortage of commercially produced ammunition. From just the cost savings standpoint, the question is whether the cost of components {bullet, powder, primer} (brass is either re-used or salvage found at ranges) is suitably less than the cost of new ammunition. If the sole purpose for reloading happens to be cost savings, those cost savings need to be enough to eventually offset the price of the reloading equipment and make the time invested worthwhile.
As examples, personnally I do not reload shotgun shells for skeet. My shotgun is a 12 gauge and I use #7.5 or #8, so on sale I can find 25 round boxes for perhaps $6.50, or 26c per round. Between the cost of shot, powder, wads, primers, and not having any shotshell reloading gear, there is no reason for me to pursue shotshell reloading. On the other hand, reloading .38spl benefits me. A 50 round box of new .38spl can be found for $16-$20 (32c-40c). My component costs for .38spl are ~3c (primer), ~1c (powder), and ~9c(plated bullet), so a total cost of ~13c per round or $6.50 a box.
At the moment CMP still has Greek M2 .30-06, 200 rounds for $130 shipped (65c / round), and these would also leave me with reloadable brass. I do not have that good of an idea of component costs, but assuming ~4c (primer), ~21c (powder), and ~21c (Hornady 150gr FMJ-BT from Midway), that is a per round cost of 48c. I therefore have a choice between 65c a round with no effort on my part that also provides reloadable brass (which I can reload once CMP runs out), or save 17c (65-48=17) by providing my own brass and time to reload rounds.
Walmart has those Tula 500 round packages of .223 for $126.14 ($119 + tax) (25c / round). Estimating ~4c (primer), ~10c (powder), and ~9c (55gr bullet), I have a reloading cost of 23c. If I buy Walmart I get Tula steel cased ammunition that will be a bit harder on my gun, give me no brass, and I can’t take it to places like Freestate. However, the Walmart ammo is essentially the cost of reloaded ammo with no labor hours required.
There are a number of reasons why we reload, from customizing rounds to our particular firearm and intended usage, to cost savings, or to have ammunition when there is a shortage of commercially produced ammunition. From just the cost savings standpoint, the question is whether the cost of components {bullet, powder, primer} (brass is either re-used or salvage found at ranges) is suitably less than the cost of new ammunition. If the sole purpose for reloading happens to be cost savings, those cost savings need to be enough to eventually offset the price of the reloading equipment and make the time invested worthwhile.
As examples, personnally I do not reload shotgun shells for skeet. My shotgun is a 12 gauge and I use #7.5 or #8, so on sale I can find 25 round boxes for perhaps $6.50, or 26c per round. Between the cost of shot, powder, wads, primers, and not having any shotshell reloading gear, there is no reason for me to pursue shotshell reloading. On the other hand, reloading .38spl benefits me. A 50 round box of new .38spl can be found for $16-$20 (32c-40c). My component costs for .38spl are ~3c (primer), ~1c (powder), and ~9c(plated bullet), so a total cost of ~13c per round or $6.50 a box.
At the moment CMP still has Greek M2 .30-06, 200 rounds for $130 shipped (65c / round), and these would also leave me with reloadable brass. I do not have that good of an idea of component costs, but assuming ~4c (primer), ~21c (powder), and ~21c (Hornady 150gr FMJ-BT from Midway), that is a per round cost of 48c. I therefore have a choice between 65c a round with no effort on my part that also provides reloadable brass (which I can reload once CMP runs out), or save 17c (65-48=17) by providing my own brass and time to reload rounds.
Walmart has those Tula 500 round packages of .223 for $126.14 ($119 + tax) (25c / round). Estimating ~4c (primer), ~10c (powder), and ~9c (55gr bullet), I have a reloading cost of 23c. If I buy Walmart I get Tula steel cased ammunition that will be a bit harder on my gun, give me no brass, and I can’t take it to places like Freestate. However, the Walmart ammo is essentially the cost of reloaded ammo with no labor hours required.