Reloading cost question

pilot25 · Jun 29, 2017

I am trying to figure out the cost per bullet of reloading 5.56/.223. I've asked this on a few forums and gotten varied results. I know zero about reloading but cobbling together the items to make ammunition is bullet, primer, powder, and brass. So:

1000 of each average price range
1. primers = $35
2. bullets = $150
3. brass = $125
4. powder ($18 per pound) 7000 grains/77 needs 11 pounds = $198

Total price per round = .50 cents on average

Is my math off?

Uncle Duke · Jun 29, 2017

OP, your math is off. You can load .223 for less than $.22 a round.

Bar napkin math, with brass in hand, figure as low as $4.10 to $4.30 a box as a 'for argument sake" approximation.

Primers: Figure .035 each
Powder: Figure 28 bucks a pound, yields 280 (25 grain charges) per pound (charge weight approx. , would depend on powder selected) equals roughly .10 per charge
Bullets: Figure .07-.08 apiece
Brass: Can easily be free for .223/5.56 brass if you spend any time around a range

Melnic · Jun 29, 2017

Plinking bullets will be less expensive than better "match bullets"
I have only been reloading for about 4 years but with 223 I separate my bullet selection into 3 categories
Match
Bang for buck (like nosler varmegeddon)
Plinking.

Buying bulk 224 bullets at low cost usually put you in the plinking category.

My plinking is about $.23 a round
My Bang for buck is about $.30 a round
My Match is about $.40 a round

Most of us don't pay for brass unless we are seeding a new cartridge. 223 at least for me is free range pick up.

I can say you need to Shoot A BUNCH to make reloading save you $
For me, reloading 9mm is the biggest cost savings. 223 not so much
Its more of a hobby/passion or if you are trying to maximize accuracy by tuning a load to a firearm. This is a theme repeated over and over again in the "cost of reloading" threads that get posted from time to time.

Just amortize the reloading tools you buy (I bet you forgot something you will need later) over the # of rounds you expect to reload in say 5 years.

Biggfoot44 · Jun 29, 2017

As noted above,.223 is one of the ctgs with plentiful free to cheap brass . Between range pickups, your friends' once fired, surplus once fired, and even brass cased plinking rounds you fired yourself. Brass costs round down to essentially zero .

Bullets ( actual projectiles ) range from milsurp pull downs and commercial blems, to " normal brand name " to various premimum and super premimum of either Match or Tactical or Hunting flavors. And buying in bulk lowers the unit cost compared to 100rd consumer boxes.

The statement the OP Thinks he was looking for :

" Generic 55gr fmj .223 , and generic 115gr fmj 9mm have the smallest absolute dollar differential, compared to your handloads ."

That is a true statement, but specifically worded.
You can load your own with much better bullets, and probably bettet accuraccy than Generic, for same or less cost. Does that matter to you ? For precision shooting, or hunting it should. For primarily 25yd or closer mag dumps, not so much.

9mm and .223 were mentioned. Pretty much anything else will have medimum to huge savings.

pilot25 · Jun 29, 2017

Melnic said:
This is a theme repeated over and over again in the "cost of reloading" threads that get posted from time to time.

Yeah, sorry about that. I knew there was a thread somewhere that talked about this but my searches didn't come up with a definitive number.

I didn't think about brass being used more than once and/or grabbing them off the range.

I would reload just for the cost savings and am sure I would hate the process of making the ammunition. That is why I'm researching what the savings would be so I don't go buy a bunch of equipment that I won't use.

I bought a rifle for the first time and wasn't too excited to see the purchase price per round.

This sure is an expensive hobby.

Florida_11B · Jun 29, 2017

I agree with the above. Meaning I think you can get that cost down exponentially by collecting used brass from those whom do not reload. I just try and look at people at the range who are throwing ammo boxes away and tell them I will clean up their brass for them. This way you know that you are in essence getting once maybe twice fired brass. By my math you and Uncle Duke's reply I think you only need 4lbs of powder depending on what type of powder you need. here is the math that I got
Primer- $35
Powder- $18/LBS X 4 LBS= (You should only need roughly 3.571 LBS if I did the math right)
Projectile- 1000 rds = $150 your original cost quote
Brass- Free
Total $= 257/1000 Rounds
Grand Total= $0.257

Buying brass is what is getting you to $.50 a round which is crazy. You should be getting match grade for that.

TylerFirearms · Jun 29, 2017

Don't forget the value of your time in the calculation. If you have plenty of spare time throughout your day, it might be cost effective. If not, the cost of your time might outweigh the savings in reloading.

Not to mention the cost of the equipment to reload. That should be amortized over the cost of each round.

Uncle Duke · Jun 29, 2017

pilot25 said:
Yeah, sorry about that. I knew there was a thread somewhere that talked about this but my searches didn't come up with a definitive number.

I didn't think about brass being used more than once and/or grabbing them off the range.

I would reload just for the cost savings and am sure I would hate the process of making the ammunition. That is why I'm researching what the savings would be so I don't go buy a bunch of equipment that I won't use.

I bought a rifle for the first time and wasn't too excited to see the purchase price per round.

This sure is an expensive hobby.

Shooting can indeed be an expensive hobby. And while others may disagree, and that's fine and fair, I personally have to laugh every time I hear "reloading" and "saving money" used in the same sentence. I can't say I've saved any money over the years. What I HAVE done is been able to shoot a whole lot more, and with better quality tailored ammo with reloading, for the same money I would have spent otherwise.

Melnic · Jun 29, 2017

As hobbies go, there are plenty more expensive than shooting. Plus you gain a possibly needed skill. Hunting, survival, SHTF TEOTWAWKI etc.
More expensive than shooting
Dating
Boats
Car restoration
Stripper bars

Just to name a few.

If you want to save $ in shooting and you want to shoot alot, do half your shooting when you go out with a 22LR gun.

Biggfoot44 · Jun 29, 2017

At the risk of ire of fellow handloaders , Mr Pilot 25 is hereby recommended to NOT invest in reloading equipment, and instead buy cases ( 1,000rd boxes) of generic 5.56/.223 ammo cheap, and stack them deep .

If he is satisfied with generic , and has less than zero interest in the process , buy the cheapest ammo on sale and declare Victory.

Snav · Jun 29, 2017

I recently started loading .223 as well. I decided to initially start with a batch of 1000 unfired factory primed LC brass and HDY 55gn fmj-bt my costs are $.26 ea. using 24.2gn Ramshot X-Terminator

Rockzilla · Jun 29, 2017

here's a spreadsheet that you can use to give an idea
View attachment Reloading.xls

you use an older version of excel if needed

buy in bulk if you can, depending on the amount you want to reload
think in orders of 5k or more

RMR (Rocky Mountain Reloading)has 10% off there own bullets

-Rock

Florida_11B · Jun 29, 2017

Rockzilla, Thanks for posting that spread sheet. AMAZING using this and figuring out how much this really costs

StanW · Jun 29, 2017

I shoot great groups with a cheap ass AR, never would have performed as well with factory ammo. Same with my .243. It's a little work developing loads but makes a big difference.

rbird7282 · Jun 29, 2017

pilot25 said:
Yeah, sorry about that. I knew there was a thread somewhere that talked about this but my searches didn't come up with a definitive number.

I didn't think about brass being used more than once and/or grabbing them off the range.

I would reload just for the cost savings and am sure I would hate the process of making the ammunition. That is why I'm researching what the savings would be so I don't go buy a bunch of equipment that I won't use.

I bought a rifle for the first time and wasn't too excited to see the purchase price per round.

This sure is an expensive hobby.

Also depends on how you buy your ammo. For my most used calibers (9mm, .45, .223), I always buy in bulk (500 rounds minimum, usually 1000) when I can and stock up a little. I usually buy remanufactured from Freedom Munitions and never had any problems.
For .22lr I buy when and where I can.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pstango · Jun 29, 2017

pilot25 said:
I am trying to figure out the cost per bullet of reloading 5.56/.223. I've asked this on a few forums and gotten varied results. I know zero about reloading but cobbling together the items to make ammunition is bullet, primer, powder, and brass. So:

1000 of each average price range
1. primers = $35
2. bullets = $150
3. brass = $125
4. powder ($18 per pound) 7000 grains/77 needs 11 pounds = $198

Total price per round = .50 cents on average

Is my math off?

Cost is a bit off:
My current costs -
Target 55 grain FMJ
Primers (24.99) - .025
Powder (29.11) - .112 (will depend on your powder choice, etc... however)
Bullets (93.60) - .094
Brass (I have more brass than I could ever consume) - .000 just pick up what you use, and anything your shooting neighbors don't want to keep.

Total - .231

jimbobborg · Jun 29, 2017

Bulk Hornady 55gr bullets are $480 for 6000 (that includes shipping) from Graf & Sons https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/6136 I've found Tulammo primers again for under $20 per thousand. Benchmark uses the least powder per charge for 55s, and is available for $25 a pound now. I need less than four pounds of Benchmark to make 1000 rounds. I've never purchased .223/5.56 brass, ever. I have buckets of the stuff from other shooters and ranges. Even with bulk 55s, with my handloads, it's enough to make good hits for 3-gun out to 300 yards. If I need more accuracy out to 500, I can run 77s. Commercial 77s are $1 or more a round, I can hit $0.50 or less with my reloads.

pilot25 · Jun 29, 2017

Biggfoot44 said:
At the risk of ire of fellow handloaders , Mr Pilot 25 is hereby recommended to NOT invest in reloading equipment, and instead buy cases ( 1,000rd boxes) of generic 5.56/.223 ammo cheap, and stack them deep .

If he is satisfied with generic , and has less than zero interest in the process , buy the cheapest ammo on sale and declare Victory.

After watching a bunch of reloading videos on youTube I think you are correct. I started with Hickock45 who makes it look so simple. After 6 more videos I tuned it out.

Regarding cheap ammo; I purchased a rifle with a 1:7 twist which according to the manufacturer works best with 77 grain ammunition. Of course, that is the most expensive. How much "degradation" will I notice using 55 grain in this rifle. I have shot friends rifles before but no real understanding what the difference in bullet weights would mean. Would the manufacturer's understanding of degradation in accuracy be in terms of missing the target by inches or feet or something in between? I'm not shooting matches or anything of the sort. Just having fun shooting targets so if 55 grain is off a little I'm not worried about it but definitely don't want to compromise the integrity of the barrel.

I'd like to save money but I think I'll probably calculate doing some overtime work instead to get the pricier ammunition.

Thanks for all the responses and input.

Blacksmith101 · Jun 29, 2017

Most reloaders spend about as much as store bought shooters, the difference is the reloaders get to shoot a whole lot more.

Bisleyfan44 · Jun 29, 2017

Biggfoot44 said:
At the risk of ire of fellow handloaders , Mr Pilot 25 is hereby recommended to NOT invest in reloading equipment, and instead buy cases ( 1,000rd boxes) of generic 5.56/.223 ammo cheap, and stack them deep .

If he is satisfied with generic , and has less than zero interest in the process , buy the cheapest ammo on sale and declare Victory.

I agree wholeheartedly after reading the below bolded portion of his comment. If you don't enjoy the process, or even worse hate it, there are so many things that could go wrong. And no need in investing a ton of money in equipment and supplies only to give it up because you don't like doing it. Don't do it. Buy your ammo in bulk, get your savings that way.

pilot25 said:
Yeah, sorry about that. I knew there was a thread somewhere that talked about this but my searches didn't come up with a definitive number.

I didn't think about brass being used more than once and/or grabbing them off the range.

I would reload just for the cost savings and am sure I would hate the process of making the ammunition. That is why I'm researching what the savings would be so I don't go buy a bunch of equipment that I won't use.

I bought a rifle for the first time and wasn't too excited to see the purchase price per round.

This sure is an expensive hobby.

Reloading cost question

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