Reloading vs buying new

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  • May 25, 2021
    54
    So how much cost savings are you going to get to reload your own ammo? Say 556 is at a $1 a round new, what would that cost be if I made it at home?
     

    Mack C-85

    R.I.P.
    Jan 22, 2014
    6,522
    Littlestown, PA
    Shotgun reloading is gauge dependent. 12s are slightly cheaper than new. 20s are a bit more savings, but 28s and .410 are much cheaper to reload....like about 3 times cheaper. Both are running between $15 - $20/box and can be reloaded for under $5/box. While primer and wad costs are about equal across the board, you are using much less powder and shot in the smaller gauges, while the new cost is much higher per box.

    Sent from my LG-G710 using Tapatalk
     

    KRC

    Active Member
    Sep 30, 2018
    612
    Cecil County MD
    Depends . . .
    Firstly, comparison pricing is difficult due to ridiculous current prices and lack/poor availability of some components.
    Secondly, do you want to include set-up costs? If so, amortized over how many years/rounds?
    Thirdly, as always, higher quality = higher cost.

    However, backing out set-up costs by amortization over a long time period, you could likely make 5.56 ammo for less than $1 a round. (Considering multiple reloadings per case.) The difference would/could/should be in QUALITY. Use of quality components and proper reloading and tuning techniques will yield far better ammo than you will currently get for $1/round.
     

    Ammo Jon

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 3, 2008
    20,643
    The consensus from the reloaders I know is that you have to love reloading as an activity upon itself. If you’re doing it just to save money it becomes tedious.
     

    Blacksmith101

    Grumpy Old Man
    Jun 22, 2012
    22,093
    In addition to saving money there are other benefits.

    You can hand load more accurate ammo.

    You can load cartridges that are not available commercially, different bullets and different power levels.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,627
    Not Far Enough from the City
    The kicker right now is what will you pay for primers....IF you can source any.

    Bar room napkin estimate, and assuming you have brass to load.

    Say you can source 15 cents a primer at the unicorn store, 13 cents a bullet, and 13 cents a powder charge, with the primers being the big "IF".
    All told, nets to 41 cents per round.

    These numbers can definitely vary significantly, as everything related to price and availability is up in the air right now, with primers being the biggest rub. Just some "sorta kinda" figures to give you a quick ballpark, if only a somewhat rough idea.

    In "normal" times, .223/.556 tends to be one of the least cost effective rounds to load for. But, any cost difference can become more significant with increased volume. And cost aside, you can make better performing ammo than you can buy, when comparing your own good loads vs. "blasting ammo" prices. The quality piece however, and what it may or may not be worth to you, is a whole different discussion.
     

    Sundazes

    My brain hurts
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 13, 2006
    21,172
    Arkham
    There was a time where the savings were significant. There was a time when they were not. Now you can't get components. If you can, they are so costly, it's ridiculous. Now, ammo is crazy but coming down. If you fear ammo will not be available for what ever reason and you want to make sure you can still manufacture it if you cant buy it, it makes sense.
     

    ken792

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 2, 2011
    4,475
    Fairfax, VA
    The .223 I compete with I still load with Nosler Custom Competition projectiles, Varget powder, and CCI primers I bought in 2016. It’s about $0.21 a round, back when match .223 was already $1 a round. Once fired Lake City brass is free, but once fired brass can also be sold.

    I didn’t consider it worth my time to load blasting .223 on a single stage, especially considering that it cost almost as much as simply shooting factory ammo I got by private sale and selling the brass. I would have only saved a few cents a round.
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,257
    HoCo
    bulk 223 is going to be About 23-25 cents plus price of Primer yes, primers were 3 cents a piece 2 years ago.
    My bulk plinking were about 26 cents including primer for the primers I still have that were 3 cents a piece. The moderatly accurate (nosler varminter bullet) was 32 cents a round
    Whats the black market price on primers now? 20 cents? (not the I have a bot price)
    Will you save $ vs say buying bimetal Tulamo for 40 cents a round? Maybe not
     

    fabsroman

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 14, 2009
    35,770
    Winfield/Taylorsville in Carroll
    Like everything, it all depends what you like in life.

    Lots of automated reloaders out there. Would not use them for precision ammo to be used in my bolt guns or for non-toxic shotgun ammo, but I would use them for clays ammo and for paper punching ammo.



    Some people enjoy shooting stuff that they themselves put together, like yours truly. Once I get my reloading room set up here, I am going to upgrade my presses.

    Riding a bike 30+ miles, digging ditches, mixing cement, home improvement, vehicle repairs, hunting, fishing, shooting, reloading, etc. isn't for everybody.

    We all have things we enjoy. Sometimes, those things even save us some money.
     

    spoon059

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 1, 2018
    5,306
    I've got a decent supply of parts, so I can still reload for pretty cheap. I started to reload for my M1. Couple years back it was 67 cents a round to buy ammo. I figured I could reload my own for about 40 cents, almost half. Now that same bullet is probably over a dollar... *IF* you can find them. So savings are huge, and ability to make my own when you can't buy makes it more attractive.
     

    mtlcafan79

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 11, 2008
    1,277
    PG
    I didn't start reloading to save money. That's the same as homebrewing beer. By the time you get all the equipment you aren't "saving" anything. Sure, each batch's materials might be cheap, but I've invested tons of time and money just to get to the point where I can pull the handle. I started to make ammo that I wanted. 5.56 load with no flash suppressant. Subsonic 300 blackout for a single shot/bolt gun using pistol powder. 165gr subsonic 9mm. 357 magnum that expels fire. Mid range 357. 38 special that shoots like a 22. To me it's a lot more about creating what you want than just saving some scratch. Buy it cheap and stack it deep certainly applies to reloading. You definitely won't save any money if you had to get started right now. Collect stuff when and where you can and you'll be ready for next time. Buying everything right now would be painful, if not impossible with all of the shortages.
     

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,633
    PA
    Nobody "saves" money by reloading, IMO it's more of an evolutionary step to shoot more, or shoot something specific. Usually end up spending a lot more to shoot a lot more. Covid pricing/availability is crazy, but probably wouldn't compete as much as I did, or buy some of the firearms and calibers I did without being able to roll my own.

    By 2019-ish pricing average costs
    1K primers=$30
    1# powder=$25
    1K 9mm bullets $80
    1K 5.56 FMJ bullets $80
    1K 308 FMJ bullets $150
    You get about 1500 9mm out of a lb of powder, 250 rounds of 5.56 and 150 round of308. Ends up about $125 for 1K of 9mm vs about $160, not a huge savings, but I could produce light loads with heavy bullets that are wonderful match loads, far superior to cheap 115gr bulk ammo. My 55gr FMJ loads ran about $210 vs $300-ish per thousand, but same deal, and dialed in for better accuracy, softer recoil, and I could use better more expensive match bullets that might cost all of $30 more per thousand vs double the cost to buy factory ammo. 308 and full power rifle cals use a ton of powder, $350 vs $500 for factory ammo, and you start to get significant savings, but then again, match ammo really only increases your projectile cost, so the more specialized ammo you produce, the more you save. Same goes for pistol cals 38 and 357 mag cost nearly the same to reload, same with 10mm and 40S&W, and you can get into some special stuff like 460 Rowland than can push a 230gr bullet to 1400FPS from a 1911, and the list goes on. THe time you spend reloading vs the ammo you can produce also varies. You can use a single stage press to stamp out magnum rifle ammo exactly how you want it, maybe 50 rounds an hour at best, and it could be well worth the $400 or so in decent equipment to do it. A progressive press can stamp out 500+ rounds an hour, but might spend over a grand to do so, and it might cost a couple hundred and take 30 min to swap over to another caliber.
     

    85MikeTPI

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 19, 2014
    2,684
    Ceciltucky
    Nobody "saves" money by reloading, IMO it's more of an evolutionary step to shoot more, or shoot something specific.

    Generalizing a bit there..

    I shoot 357sig, and even pre-panic it was selling for over 50cpr even though it cost no more to reload than 40sw or 9mm. My ROI on 357sig reloading was only a few hundred rounds and continue by stocking up during the good times and not slowing down shooting during the lean times..
     

    remrug

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 13, 2009
    1,751
    manchester md
    In normal times, you can stock up on supplies.Then knowing you you can load as many bullets as you want or need......thats something you can't put a dollar value on
     

    Wheaton Hills Sportsman

    Active Member
    Jan 27, 2012
    422
    My experience is that you save no money, you just shoot more. I am still cruising on pre panic pandemic supplies so I cannot give you a realistic estimate of the current costs.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,658
    The consensus from the reloaders I know is that you have to love reloading as an activity upon itself. If you’re doing it just to save money it becomes tedious.

    Yes.

    That said. With these prices, payback could be fairly fast. Just assume a 60cpr cost for .223. You could reasonably reload it for 30cpr if you have used brass at current prices for a plinking load.

    Now, a reasonable amount of work involved. Especially with a basic setup. But figure around $300 for a basic single stage reloading kit and dies.

    Maybe $500 for a fairly nice one.

    Of course you can go wild and have basically everything automated at a cost of maybe a couple thousand or somewhat more.

    That’s 900 rounds reloaded at current prices.

    That’s going to take awhile with a single kit.

    If you don’t enjoy it, I don’t see how it’s worth it. Pistol is a lot easier because you generally don’t need to worry about trimming cases/case prep nearly to the same level. Of course pistol ammo prices are similarly crazy. So maybe that’s a better route to go. But go with something like a lee Classic turret and if you know what you are doing g after some experience you could crank out 200 rounds an hour fairly easily. Go with a full progressive and make that maybe 400 or so. Even with a somewhat more expensive setup that doesn’t take that long to pay it off.

    But progressive or single stage, you’ll either enjoy it and keep doing it or get bored to tears.

    I happen to really enjoy it. It’s somewhat meditative. I can put on music or something relatively mindless as a documentary or something for background and work away. Not something I’d need or really want to pay attention to as you don’t want to load distracted (and NEVER drink while reloading).

    If you are hard up for money and have to shoot a fair amount it is worth it. Or if you shoot in high volumes as a competitor it is worth it. Otherwise it is really only do it because you enjoy it.

    I shoot maybe 2000 rounds a year, ignoring 22lr. Even with today’s prices I’d save maybe $600. Possibly else. With what I’ve invested in to my reloading gear it’s going to take me a couple years to pay it all off. And if am I prices drop a bunch, it would have taken me probably 4-5 years at prepandemic prices to pay it off.

    But again, I enjoy it. Not worth it if it bored you to tears or is just incredibly frustrating (and not worth it if you can’t learn to do it safely). So maybe you save a few hundred bucks a year. How many hours did you invest disliking every second?

    I’d try to track down someone who reloads and ask to try it out and use their setup a bit. See if you enjoy it or might enjoy it. Or think it is just boring as hell.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,658
    Nobody "saves" money by reloading, IMO it's more of an evolutionary step to shoot more, or shoot something specific. Usually end up spending a lot more to shoot a lot more. Covid pricing/availability is crazy, but probably wouldn't compete as much as I did, or buy some of the firearms and calibers I did without being able to roll my own.

    By 2019-ish pricing average costs
    1K primers=$30
    1# powder=$25
    1K 9mm bullets $80
    1K 5.56 FMJ bullets $80
    1K 308 FMJ bullets $150
    You get about 1500 9mm out of a lb of powder, 250 rounds of 5.56 and 150 round of308. Ends up about $125 for 1K of 9mm vs about $160, not a huge savings, but I could produce light loads with heavy bullets that are wonderful match loads, far superior to cheap 115gr bulk ammo. My 55gr FMJ loads ran about $210 vs $300-ish per thousand, but same deal, and dialed in for better accuracy, softer recoil, and I could use better more expensive match bullets that might cost all of $30 more per thousand vs double the cost to buy factory ammo. 308 and full power rifle cals use a ton of powder, $350 vs $500 for factory ammo, and you start to get significant savings, but then again, match ammo really only increases your projectile cost, so the more specialized ammo you produce, the more you save. Same goes for pistol cals 38 and 357 mag cost nearly the same to reload, same with 10mm and 40S&W, and you can get into some special stuff like 460 Rowland than can push a 230gr bullet to 1400FPS from a 1911, and the list goes on. THe time you spend reloading vs the ammo you can produce also varies. You can use a single stage press to stamp out magnum rifle ammo exactly how you want it, maybe 50 rounds an hour at best, and it could be well worth the $400 or so in decent equipment to do it. A progressive press can stamp out 500+ rounds an hour, but might spend over a grand to do so, and it might cost a couple hundred and take 30 min to swap over to another caliber.

    Your point is likely where I’ll end up as things open up more and I get more free time. Save more so I shoot more. But hey, not a terrible trade-off. For the same money and somewhat more time I get to do two things I really enjoy.
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,779
    Answer # 1 - Today is not a good time to ask questions like that . Prices and availability of both components and loaded ammo are too volatile to make any judgements .

    Answer # 2a- In " Normal " times , generic .223 and generic 9mm fmj are the least cost effective to reload .

    Answer #2b - If better quality/ specifically tailored / more accurate ammo is meaningful to you , you can reload it to your preferences for little to no difference of loading mediocre generic stuff .

    Answer 2c - For most calibers other than 9x19 and .223 , the cost reduction will range from medium to a whole lot .
     

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