Squaregrouper
Kragaphile
I started reloading, single stage, about 5 years ago for my obsolete and hard to locate rifle calibers. I have since added .300AAC subs ($$$) and 6.5CM (repeatable precision for distance cartridges).
Getting a progressive press is now a serious consideration, and I had a session with DA's Dillon 550 for .223 a few weeks back. My component cost- powder, projectiles and primers came to 25cpr. Commercial loads can be had for 30cpr.
Herein lies my problem... I have been running the numbers, and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out the benefit of reloading common caliber plinking rounds. Increased accuracy is trivial with pistol rounds, as virtually none of us are a good enough shot to appreciate an improvement of .25" @ 25yds.
My math shows .40cpr to load my own .357 Sig, and that is an expensive round to buy. Why does anyone load 9mm, when factory loads can be bought for $9/box of 50.
I understand the accuracy thing for rifles and (obviously) understand the benefits of reloading pricey or hard to find cartridges. However, I would have to load 10's of thousands of rounds to break even financially, let alone the time for case prep and actual reloading.
Thoughts?
.
Getting a progressive press is now a serious consideration, and I had a session with DA's Dillon 550 for .223 a few weeks back. My component cost- powder, projectiles and primers came to 25cpr. Commercial loads can be had for 30cpr.
Herein lies my problem... I have been running the numbers, and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out the benefit of reloading common caliber plinking rounds. Increased accuracy is trivial with pistol rounds, as virtually none of us are a good enough shot to appreciate an improvement of .25" @ 25yds.
My math shows .40cpr to load my own .357 Sig, and that is an expensive round to buy. Why does anyone load 9mm, when factory loads can be bought for $9/box of 50.
I understand the accuracy thing for rifles and (obviously) understand the benefits of reloading pricey or hard to find cartridges. However, I would have to load 10's of thousands of rounds to break even financially, let alone the time for case prep and actual reloading.
Thoughts?
.