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    hawxter996

    hawxter996

    this avatar is offensive!
    Nov 11, 2008
    2,425
    at home
    hello all

    i have been interested in loading my own,but im not seeing any savings.
    ive been looking at brass,primers and projectiles in .223 rem.
    when all is added up it is actually is more expensive!
    what am i doing wrong?

    please help!
     
    Darkemp

    Darkemp

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 18, 2009
    7,811
    Marylandistan
    hawxter996 said:
    hello all

    i have been interested in loading my own,but im not seeing any savings.
    ive been looking at brass,primers and projectiles in .223 rem.
    when all is added up it is actually is more expensive!
    what am i doing wrong?

    please help!
    Click to expand...

    Brass is reusable. Take that out of your cost structure for the reloads. Use some loaded ammo, save that brass, and reload and you won't have to worry about buying brass.
     
    Darkemp

    Darkemp

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 18, 2009
    7,811
    Marylandistan
    To expand:


    1000 bullets at $98.99: 9.8 cents/ bullet

    http://www.midwayusa.com/product/29...diameter-55-grain-full-metal-jacket-boat-tail

    1000 small rifle primers at $28.99: 2.9 cents/ primer

    http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1301776634/cci-small-rifle-primers-400

    1lb Varget (what I use) at $24.49 =(7000gr / 25gr) = 280 rounds per pound of powder which equals 8.7 cents/charge

    http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1009281345/hodgdon-varget-smokeless-powder

    http://www.handloads.org/loaddata/d...ton&Weight=55&type=Rifle&Order=Powder&Source=

    2.9+9.8+8.7= 21.4 cents per loaded round

    To compare:

    Tula Ammo 55gr = $4.55/ 20 rounds = 22.7 cents per loaded round
     
    km04

    km04

    Get crackin you muggs!!!!
    Jul 12, 2010
    3,740
    Harford Co.
    hawxter996 said:
    hello all

    i have been interested in loading my own,but im not seeing any savings.
    ive been looking at brass,primers and projectiles in .223 rem.
    when all is added up it is actually is more expensive!
    what am i doing wrong?

    please help!
    Click to expand...
    You aren't doing anything wrong, that I can see anyway. If you want to expand more on why you think you are doing it wrong and it is costing you more, please let us know, there are a ton of folks here with the experience to help you. People often think they will see a great savings as soon as they start reloading and that is not the case. You will see savings, but it is a gradual thing, and the more you reload then the more you will save. The advice and knowledge given here is right on the money. Brass is reusable, and the cost of the other consumables goes towards your total cost per round. Reloading does save you money, but what it does realistically is allow you to shoot much more for the same amount you would spend on commercial ammo.
     
    hawxter996

    hawxter996

    this avatar is offensive!
    Nov 11, 2008
    2,425
    at home
    no savings at all when you add in the required tools to be purchased.
    but imported ammo could go away in this political climate.
     
    Darkemp

    Darkemp

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 18, 2009
    7,811
    Marylandistan
    hawxter996 said:
    no savings at all when you add in the required tools to be purchased.
    but imported ammo could go away in this political climate.
    Click to expand...

    That's true for some rounds and why I don't load certain calibers that don't meet my time vs cost valuation. I buy 9mm, .45acp, 5.56, 7.62x39, surplus 7.62x54r, surplus .30-06. I load .308, .30-06 specialty, .30-40 Krag, 7mm Arisaka, .303 British, .38 special, .44 special.
     
    DocAitch

    DocAitch

    Active Member
    Jun 22, 2011
    687
    North of Baltimore
    I am pretty sure you should still lube those cases for any bottle necked rifle round even if you do find carbide dies (which are available for .308 and .223).
    There have been a couple of recent threads on crimp removal-there several good products to take out that crimp.

    DocAitch
     
    DaemonAssassin

    DaemonAssassin

    Why should we Free BSD?
    Jun 14, 2012
    24,000
    Political refugee in WV
    hawxter996 said:
    no savings at all when you add in the required tools to be purchased.
    but imported ammo could go away in this political climate.
    Click to expand...

    That is a misconception. In order to factor in the cost of the equipment, you need to defray or spread out the cost of the equipment over 10k-30k+ rounds. Considering the equipment will last a lifetime with proper care, at the end of it all, the equipment may only add .01 (or less) to the cost per round created. The advantage to loading your own ammo is that in the long run you are saving money, by creating match grade ammo for less than the cost of non-match factory ammo, due to you controlling the creation of the ammo at every step along the way.

    I can see why you may think that the math doesn't come up as saving you money, because you may have considered the cost of brass in every loading. When you can use each piece of brass on average 5 times before having to toss it, the actual costs are truly much lower. The only true expendables you will have to get across all 5 load cycles are, powder, primers, and bullets. After seeing it like that, dropping 400ish bucks for 1k pieces of brass becomes easy from a financial standpoint. There is also picking up spent brass from the range, but you have to be careful as to if the brass is boxer or berdan primed. One of them is reloadable and the other is not. Be sure to sort the boxer from teh berdan and toss the stuff that is not reloadable. I have broken a few decapping pins on brass that is not reloadable and it is rather irritating.
     
    Winterborn

    Winterborn

    Moved to Texas
    Aug 19, 2010
    2,569
    Arlington, TX
    Consider using Wolf Primers, they are about 1/2 price of what you quoted (plus the hazmat charge, but spread it out by ordering 5-10k at a time).

    Also, rifles are more expensive to load for than pistols. You can also cast your own bullets for even more savings.

    Most of the time I can load pistol rounds for about 1/3 the cost of factory ammo, and rifles about 1/2.

    http://www.fileswap.com/dl/wjrLzp0XXp/reloadingCost.xls.html

    Here is a spreadsheet that is useful for determining your cost per round.
     
    Darkemp

    Darkemp

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 18, 2009
    7,811
    Marylandistan
    RichB said:
    Consider using Wolf Primers, they are about 1/2 price of what you quoted (plus the hazmat charge, but spread it out by ordering 5-10k at a time).

    Also, rifles are more expensive to load for than pistols. You can also cast your own bullets for even more savings.

    Most of the time I can load pistol rounds for about 1/3 the cost of factory ammo, and rifles about 1/2.

    http://www.fileswap.com/dl/wjrLzp0XXp/reloadingCost.xls.html

    Here is a spreadsheet that is useful for determining your cost per round.
    Click to expand...

    And also different powders use different charge levels and have different costs. Again like anything else powder choice is just a matter of what you like.
     
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