Pricing store bought ammo, sticker shock!

[Trey45]

Occasionally I'll ask the gunshop counterman for prices of certain types of ammo, more specifically the prices of ammo that I cast and handload for. Not too long ago I asked about Winchester USA Cowboy Ammunition 45 Colt 250 Grain Lead Flat Nose, I can closely approximate this load using the Lee 452-255 RF. It's not an exact match, but it's close enough to give me an idea of what a similar load from Winchester costs when compared to my load.

They wanted $45 for 50 rounds!

Then I asked about Buffalo Bore, one of their heavy hitters, I don't recall the exact weight, but 300+ grain +p Ruger only stuff, came in 20 round boxes for $40! That's $2 per shot!

If I had to buy my own ammo there is no way I'd shoot 45 Colt recreationally.
44 Magnum is another high priced caliber, I couldn't believe what they are charging for that stuff. Even plain old 45ACP 230gr hardball is $20 for 50!

What an eye opener, it made me glad all over again that I'm casting and handloading my own.

[white eagle]

I haven't bought ammo in so long its crazy
prices skyrocketed through the roof
oh well I see the cost increase in other areas like powder and primers ect..

[bearcove]

I buy one box of somethings to measure case expansion for a reference on pressure. Usually stuff like 350 rem mag that has older load data.

[DukeInFlorida]

I haven't bought a box of store bought (other than 22 LR) for decades.
I don't even bother looking for prices at a store.

I cast for as much as I can.

My reloading and casting gear is very well all paid for!

[Moondawg]

Several reasons for the high price of ammo. There are a lot of extra government taxes on ammo. The manufacturers are tacking on some extra to cover the costs of defending lawsuits from ambulance chasing lawers, as well as such entitites as city mayors and some states. Then you get Red China trying to buy up, and stockpile, the worlds supply of copper and lead. Have you priced copper and lead recently? Add on, the hidden inflation caused by very weak, almost worthless $$, brought about by our national debt, and our government printing money as fast as they can run the presses. I'm suprised ammo is as cheap as it is.

[DIRT Farmer]

I buy a box of 22-250 a year, the only gun I don't hand load for. 38 bucks for Remington Premier. If it didn't shoot so well I would have to work up a load. The coyotes don't know is factory.

[rockrat]

I will buy factory ammo, but only at a gun show, and only if it is a really good deal. Like 35 Rem for $15/box or 350 Rem mag for $20, like the last I bought.

[Crawdaddy]

I too havent bought ammo in ages. For those of you who are keeping track, what is your average savings in percent?

[Jim]

Garrett Ammunition makes a 540 grain "Hammerhead" round in .45-70 (http://www.garrettcartridges.com/4570540tech.html)that goes for $80 for a box of 20. I can make the same thing(not quite their velocity, though) for $2 a box.

Regardless of equipment cost, THAT'S why I roll my own.

[Trey45]

Jim, do we need to take up a collection to have your retina's reattached after shooting that stuff?

[bbs70]

I cast and load my own, so I'm not up on the prices of factory stuff.
But I've heard opinions that if the government can't take our guns that they would find a way to price the ammo so high no one could afford to shoot a gun.

[Jim]

Jim, do we need to take up a collection to have your retina's reattached after shooting that stuff?

http://floydpics.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/young-frankenstein-e1324053676733.jpg

IT'S ALIVE!!!

[Crawdaddy]

I just ran some quick numbers and I can reload 44 mag for 7.50 per box and the cheapest I saw is 18.00 on Midways website

I can reload 458 win mag for 9.50 per box and the website is 85.00

[mold maker]

Do they still sell ammo at those prices, or just decorate the shelves??
The last I bought almost gave my personal banker a heart attack, but I needed .41 brass for a new purchase. I passed on $68./50 for a later $42.69/box.
It'll be a frigid day in hades before I do that again. I love to shoot, but groceries come first.

[Blacksmith]

Jim is just shooting Manly loads insted of wimpy Girly cartridges.

Hey Jim what are you shooting that in? I'd like to try one in my .45-70 pistol.

Blacksmith

[stubshaft]

I can't remember when I last bought a box of factory ammo.

Way to go Jim, now your stepping up!

[Fredx10sen]

It has to be a close out sale or the fact that I can't find that odd ball brass for a caliber I need before I buy store bought ammo. Sorry to say that I have had a "Hoarding Problem" :-? for years now and don't really need buy any new ammo. Carp! did I just say that? Back to looking for deals on Brass and ammo [smilie=w:

[Jim]

Jim is just shooting Manly loads insted of wimpy Girly cartridges.

Hey Jim what are you shooting that in? I'd like to try one in my .45-70 pistol.

Blacksmith

A Gibbs Summit.

[colt 357]

thats why cast and my friend tell me what a good deal they got on store bought amo. then I say that is why I cast my own .

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

They make & sell factory ammo?
Whodda thunk it
:bigsmyl2:

[bob208]

back in 71 when i was first staring out. i bought my first pistol a ruger bh in .357 with a 4 5/8 barrel. back then i got a mold layman 358429 single cavity with handles. hand dipped bullets from an old wood stove. loaded with a used layman 310 tool. i shot alot. but had that pistol 3 years before i shot a factory .357 round through it.

i had 2 loads a light one for target and small game. and i used skeeters .38 loads for deer.

so that started me down the casting road. every gun i bought after that i would buy a mold for it even if a lee. i also shoot alot of cheap mil surpluss. like i would get .303 brit. for $5.00 a hundred from sears.

bought a box of factory 6.5x55 last month $24.95. i have been loading and casting ever since.

[Buckshot]

.............I went to a couple places today looking for some different 22 cal pellets for a Benjamin air rifle I just got. No luck btw. Anyway since I was there I perused their ammo shelves. One I kind of check on (Usually just to see if they have it) is 38 Super. They had ONE brand/type and as per usual it was the 130gr FMJRN. A box of 50 was $32, awk - gag! :-) It ALL seemed high to me as I'm so far out of prectice buying factory ammo I have no comparison other then what it costs me to do myself. For that same $32 I can about load 150 rnds of 38 Super with Hornady 125gr JHP XTP's. Cast 124gr JHP's are almost free in comparison;)

................Buckshot

[exile]

The last box of factory ammo I bought was .41 magnum and that was several years ago. I usually try to buy one box of factory ammo (20 rounds) for a new gun just to test the gun before I start handloading for it, except my .38's. They have never had any factory ammo run through them.

exile

[casterofboolits]

.............I went to a couple places today looking for some different 22 cal pellets for a Benjamin air rifle I just got. No luck btw. Anyway since I was there I perused their ammo shelves. One I kind of check on (Usually just to see if they have it) is 38 Super. They had ONE brand/type and as per usual it was the 130gr FMJRN. A box of 50 was $32, awk - gag! :-) It ALL seemed high to me as I'm so far out of prectice buying factory ammo I have no comparison other then what it costs me to do myself. For that same $32 I can about load 150 rnds of 38 Super with Hornady 125gr JHP XTP's. Cast 124gr JHP's are almost free in comparison;)

................Buckshot

Yup! 'Bout had a heart attack when I checked Win 38 Super SilverTip ammo.:groner: Luckily, I've got about 900 rounds in the stash and I doubt if I'll need any more. For regular use I cast a Saeco 38S-145-SWCBB and load for about $3.00 a hundred.:cbpour:

[Boondocker]

A little slip from the she boss as I may be getting a 45/70 from Santa And I do not think I will even price store bought. I think I may have some brass out in the shed I found, gotta dig. My main goal is to go all lead in my guns, whata habit. She will probably get a box with it as long as I don't see the price it won't hurt me lol.

[azrednek]

Friend of mine got hammered for $130.00 for a box of 308 Norma last year. Last time we talked he had just sent his rifle off to have the chamber reamed to 300 Winchester.

[shovel80]

Sometimes I'll buy factory ammo just to get some new brass for a new caliber gun!

TErry

[Recluse]

Jim is just shooting Manly loads insted of wimpy Girly cartridges.

Hey Jim what are you shooting that in? I'd like to try one in my .45-70 pistol.

Blacksmith

Don't know how that stuff shoots in a traditional pistol, but I can tell you it kicks like hell out of my derringer.

:coffee:

[jameslovesjammie]

If it weren't for this hobby, I couldn't afford to shoot. I shouldn't say I couldn't afford to shoot...I should say I couldn't afford to shoot AS MUCH AS I LIKE to shoot.

[garym1a2]

Why does it cost about the same to by 55fmj bullets as 9mm fmj bullets when the 9mm uses more than twice as much lead?

[frkelly74]

I usually do not bother checking prices in stores. The glimpses of price tags on boxes left at the range are enough for me. Free brass forever. I hope

[HollowPoint]

The only new brass I've bought in the last 5 years is 303 British brass.

My stash of brass for all the other calibers I load for is the same brass I've had for going on ten years.

I know that sounds like a blatant exaggeration but, it's true. I load for 44, 45, 380, 223, 308, 7.5x55 and 303 British.

With the exception of the 380 ACP, I've been re-loading and shooting all the other calibers for at least ten years; some even longer.

Once I get my 303 re-barreled with a tighter chamber, I'm hoping that the brass will last as long as all the other brass I re-load for.

Thank God for Cast Bullets and Re-loading. Without it this hobby would be well out of my reach in terms of affordability.

Someone eluded to the possibility of certain parties trying to think of ways to make shooting our guns too expensive to do. One of those ways appears to be by the implementing "Lead-Free" shooting or hunting in order to do away with lead bullets.

I know I'm not the only one but, I've begun doing some studious research on all the equipment I'll need to cast my own "Lead-Free" bullets at home for far less than the cost of a box of twenty store-bought "Lead-Free" bullets. I'd be limited to using only iron bullet molds but the "Guilded-Metal" needed to cast my "Lead-Free" bullets can be found on the ground anywhere people shoot their guns. And for the most part, it's free.

They'll never get rid of us bullet casters. There's far to many of us. The genius of the common man will prevail. The harder the anti's try to stop us from casting for or shooting our guns, the more it creates the incentive to come up with new ways to counter-act what they're trying to do.

"Necessity is the Mother of invention." Mark my words; an all out attempt to stifle bullet casters or re-loaders in general will most certainly turn around and bite them on their profit-seeing behinds.

HollowPoint

[MT Gianni]

A friend at work shoots a Weatherby 338/378. He does not reload. He got sticker shock a while back @ $140 for a box of 20 rds. A common friend who is legally blind also shot that round. He gave him some of his old loads for a lot cheaper and told him to come reload @ his place. His quote was "you be the eyes and I'll do the rest". Reloads by a blind person that you trust, ya gotta love some people.

[azrednek]

Reloads by a blind person that you trust, ya gotta love some people.

I have a totally blind friend that reloads. He lost his eyesight in Viet Nam. He either stepped into a booby trap or Charlie had a Claymore. !00% blindness with plastic eyes. All he needs is a sighted person to set up his powder measure and he is on his own. Occasionally he will need help putting the correct braille labels on powder cans or primer boxes. Arraignments were in the works to have my friend appear on TV's Real People but the show was canceled.

My blind friend also legally owns Class 3 full autos. As long as I live I'll never forget the look on the ATF agent's face when he started to hand me the application. I said no its for him.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
I get sticker shock every time I walk into a gun store these days. does not matter what I am looking at.
You are not a hoarder if you know you will use it. Buy a bulk 20 yr. supply, you save so much on the bulk discount it's way cheaper. Plus you miss out on the next 20 yrs. of inflation.
It is better than a bank savings account, which does not even keep up with inflation.
I once bought 800 lbs of sugar, the next mo. the price more than doubled. Heck that was better than playing the stock market. We used it all up in canning fruit in 4-5 yrs. By that time the price of sugar Had more than doubled again.
Same thing happens with powder,primers,etc.
About the only ammo I buy now is 22lr. which is still a shock.:Fire::Fire:

[starmac]

Just look at what grocery prices have done, in just the last year. It is a good thing they are no longer counted in the price of inflation, it would look worse for the govt.

[oneokie]

Just look at what grocery prices have done, in just the last year. It is a good thing they are no longer counted in the price of inflation, it would look worse for the govt.

Fuel is no longer included in the inflation calculation.

[DLCTEX]

The gov. has to keep the cost of living down so they don't have to pay more on SS.
Back on subject: I won a Weatherby rifle in 257 Wby. The price of ammo was $85 a box, so my sons bought me 100 rds. brass and it hasn't had a factory rd. fired in it since it left the factory. My handloads shoot better than the factory test target. I haven't bought factory ronds in years, but did have some (large box full) given to me recently by an employee.

[Artful]

Only new factory rounds I buy are russian usually. I have a few 7.62x54R and 7.62x39 reloadable cases and some 7.62x38R. Otherwise I'm still working on all the stuff I bought years ago - must moved some boxes today in the Garage and found primers for .79 a flat - J-word Sierra Jacketed 38 HP's for $3.00 a box. Powder buying is upsetting though. I think Boom-Boom is right stock up while you can.

[1Shirt]

Regardless of other factors, I think a lot of the cost is the impositions by the gov't on ammo mfg's. And of course there is supply and demand for materials and those costs have gone way up, and then in some cases there is greed.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[starmac]

What kills us up here is, there is no such thing as ups ground service, so any powder and primers have to come up by boat, + the hasmat charges.

[redneckdan]

Only box of 375 H&H I have ever seen sitting on a store shelf was well over 100 bucks and had about an 1/8" of dust settled on it. If I didn't reload I wouldn't be able to shoot it. Plain and simple.

[starmac]

375 h@h is a real common caliber here, but I have never priced it.

[pdawg_shooter]

A while back I sold a 300RUM to a fellow who does NOT hand load. A week later he called and wanted to sell it back. Said he went to buy some ammo and realized he couldn't afford it! Now he reloads and cast. Go figure!

[greenwart]

I only buy factory ammo so I can get the brass to reload with in 6.5x55 and 7.5x55.

[Artful]

Only box of 375 H&H I have ever seen sitting on a store shelf was well over 100 bucks and had about an 1/8" of dust settled on it. If I didn't reload I wouldn't be able to shoot it. Plain and simple.

Wow -

.300 RUM / .300 Remington Ultra Magnum
Sort By: Group By: High $4.27, Low $1.62, Average $3.17 - 15 Results
Manufacturer Description Grain Bullet Category Rounds/
Box Price/
Box Price/
Round Location
1. Remington Managed Recoil Pointed Soft Point 150 Soft Point 20 $32.37 $1.62 SportsmansGuide
2. Remington Core-Lokt Premier Pointed Soft Point 165 Bonded Core 20 $38.97 $1.95 SportsmansGuide
3. Federal Premium Nosler Partition 200 Soft Point 20 $48.97 $2.45 SportsmansGuide
4. Remington Scirocco 180 Bonded Core Polymer Tipped 20 $53.37 $2.67 SportsmansGuide
5. Double Tap Nosler E-Tip Lead Free 150 Lead Free 20 $59.95 $3.00 DoubleTap
6. Federal Boat Tail 180 Boat Tail 20 $59.97 $3.00 SportsmansGuide
7. Nosler Nosler Trophy Grade Custom Polymer Tip 165 Polymer Tipped 20 $61.77 $3.09 SportsmansGuide
8. Nosler Nosler Trophy Grade Custom AccuBond 180 Bonded Core 20 $61.77 $3.09 SportsmansGuide
9. Double Tap Nosler AccuBond 200 Bonded Core 20 $68.56 $3.43 DoubleTap
10. Double Tap Nosler AccuBond 180 Bonded Core 20 $68.56 $3.43 DoubleTap
11. Double Tap Barnes TTSX Lead Free 150 Lead Free 20 $72.91 $3.65 DoubleTap
12. Federal Nosler Partition Premium 200 Soft Point 20 $75.53 $3.78 AmmoBank
13. Remington Core-Lokt Premier Pointed Soft Point 180 Bonded Core 20 $79.91 $4.00 AmmoBank
14. Remington Swift Scirocco Premier Bonded Core 180 Bonded Core Polymer Tipped 20 $82.43 $4.12 AmmoBank
15. Remington Swift Scirocco Premier Bonded Core 150 Bonded Core Polymer Tipped 20 $85.49 $4.27 AmmoBank


http://www.ammoengine.com/find/index/rifle/375_H_H_Magnum

.375 H&H Magnum
Sort By: Group By: High $7.13, Low $2.18, Average $3.78 - 21 Results
Manufacturer Description Grain Bullet Category Rounds/
Box Price/
Box Price/
Round Location
1. Prvi Partizan Soft Point Round Nose 300 Soft Point 20 $43.69 $2.18 AmmoBank
2. Federal Soft Point 300 Soft Point 20 $46.67 $2.33 SportsmansGuide
3. Federal Soft Point 270 Soft Point 20 $48.37 $2.42 SportsmansGuide
4. Nosler Nosler AccuBond 260 Bonded Core 20 $58.27 $2.91 SportsmansGuide
5. Federal Power-Shok Soft Point 270 Soft Point 20 $61.51 $3.08 AmmoBank
6. Federal Power-Shok Soft Point 300 Soft Point 20 $61.51 $3.08 AmmoBank
7. Nosler Nosler Trophy Grade Custom Polymer Tip 260 Polymer Tipped 20 $65.97 $3.30 SportsmansGuide
8. Double Tap NOSLER PARTITION 300 Soft Point 20 $67.47 $3.37 DoubleTap
9. Double Tap Nosler AccuBond 260 Bonded Core 20 $67.47 $3.37 DoubleTap
10. Double Tap Nosler AccuBond 300 Bonded Core 20 $67.47 $3.37 DoubleTap
11. Nosler Nosler Trophy Bonded Bear Claw AccuBond Bonded Core 250 Bonded Core 20 $69.97 $3.50 SportsmansGuide
12. Double Tap Barnes TSX Lead Free 235 Lead Free 20 $72.91 $3.65 DoubleTap
13. Double Tap Barnes TSX Lead Free 270 Lead Free 20 $72.91 $3.65 DoubleTap
14. Remington Swift Safari Grade Pointed Soft Point 300 Soft Point 20 $74.97 $3.75 SportsmansGuide
15. Federal Premium Trophy Bonded Bear Claw Cape-Shok Bonded Core 300 Bonded Core 20 $77.57 $3.88 SportsmansGuide
16. Double Tap Woodleigh Weldcore Jacketed Soft Point 350 Bonded Core 20 $83.79 $4.19 DoubleTap
17. Double Tap Woodleigh Full Metal Jacket 350 Protected Point 20 $89.95 $4.50 DoubleTap
18. Federal Nosler Partition Premium Safari 300 Soft Point 20 $97.47 $4.87 AmmoBank
19. Federal Premium Safari Trophy Bonded Bear Claw Bonded Core 300 Bonded Core 20 $107.26 $5.36 AmmoBank
20. Remington A-Frame Safari Soft Point 300 Soft Point 20 $108.99 $5.45 AmmoBank
21. Federal Premium Trophy Bond Sledgehammer Solid Safari Solid Point 300 Bonded Core 20 $142.54 $7.13 AmmoBank

Makes me glad I reload - course you still have to buy powder and primers. :shock:

[BOOM BOOM]

Hi,
Got a gift card to a local gun store(Gunnies) from my daughters. $20 so thought I would go buy some j bullets for my 7MM Mag.:groner: ****!!!! bullets were over $32.
Bought them anyway, will be enough to last me Till I can not hunt anymore due to old age.
99.9% of my shooting is cast so it is always a shock when I walk in & see the changes.
I used to buy both pistol & rifle bullets for a little over $5 a box.
I am not a hoarder, as I have just barely enough reloading stuff to last 10-20 yrs.
By then I'll be so old I do not know if I will be still able to shoot like I do now.:Fire::Fire:

[theperfessor]

My BIL is building up a 1911 .38 Super. Went to local gun shop right before Christmas to get him a box of factory stuff. Yikes! Just as Buckshot posted, it was over $50 for a box of 50 HP premium ammo. I like my BIL, but I don't like him that much. I ended up getting him a box of the 130 FMJ round nose stuff. He casts and reloads so the brass will get reused.

[troyboy]

It is not just the price of factory ammo. Look at the price of components now. Won't be too much longer and the middle class will be gone

[Nobade]

Today I was looking at Remington branded 338 Lapua ammo. I thought $152.95 for 20 rounds was a misprint, but they tell me that's the real price. Wow! At least it had Lapua branded cases, and they are $3 each, but 90 bucks for 20 bullets, powder, and primers is kind of harsh.

[Pigslayer]

I, like many here have not purchased store bought ammo in decades until recently when I bought ammo for my Mosin simply to get the brass. I was lucky in that it was only about $16.00 per box and it did shoot well.

[looseprojectile]

To use an extreme example as I did in another thread.
In 1959 I bought cigarettes for 9 cents a pack.
At the same time a box of 38 special ammo was $2.95+ tax.
Now cigarettes have increased to $10.04 a pack.
That same ammo could be $370.00 with tax if it had increased at the same rate as smokes. Just the tax now would be ten times what the ammo cost in 59.
Guns and ammo are cheaper than they have ever been due to un equal inflation of all the other stuff we buy.
I haven't bought a box of factory center fire ammo in fifty years.

Crikie, don't let the anti gunners see this post.

Life is good

[wv109323]

About the only ammo that makes sense (cents) to buy is some of the promotional ammo ( in 9mm or .38 spec.) and some of the steel case military rounds.
It is hard to match some of those prices if your objective is to make noise and stir up the dust.
But any quality ammo you are way ahead to load your own with premium components. Usually you can come up with a load that exceeds any factory.
The U.S. Marines are assemblying their own match and sniper ammo from new components. That should tell you something.
As many as 25 years ago ,some of the Army Pistol teams were shooting reloads when Factory Match was available to them. The claim was better accuracy out of the reloads with cast boolits.

[3006guns]

Started casting and reloading for .38 special in 1970. Haven't bought a box of factory (drug store) ammo since. Components, yes....especially brass and primers, but I really have enough stored to last me awhile.

It still amazes me how wasteful and "unfrugal" some shooters are. Just yesterday I had my Arisaka at the range, testing some new loads when another shooter showed up. We were the only two people there and after exchanging "howdies" he unpacked a compact .45. I was picking up a few .45 acp empties and asked if he'd like to scrounge some.

"No" he said, "I don't reload." He then pulled a half CASE of factory ammo out and got set up. I left for home but came back the next day and the ground was littered with around 200+ nice, new cases which I promptly scooped up.

Thanks Bub!:mrgreen:

[Reload3006]

this thread is a perfect example of why I decided it wasnt so expensive to get inot swaging after all LOL

[evan price]

At the club range this AM I found three empty boxes of PMC Bronze 38 Special. $19.99 per box.

My local gun shop has Federal LEO 147-gr 38-spl +P+ Hydra-shok for $16.99 per box. Was traded in by the prison when they traded in their S&W model 10's recently. That's the only store-bought 38 Special I have bought in years and that's only being used for carry ammo and some practice.

With my own range brass, boolits from range lead, 3.5 grains Titegroup and a Wolf primer, I am shooting 38 Specials for 3 cents each, $1.50 per box.

357 Mag is $29 a box. 44 mag & 45 Colt is $39 a box. 45 Auto is $15 a box.

My Lee gear is long since paid off.

[shdwlkr]

I have some firearms arms that are not really easy finds anymore in factory stuff one costs around $3 each and another is running $2.50 each so if you don't reload you are not going to be shooting a lot of these or you are way richer than I will ever be.
I bought some brass last summer for one of my firearms and now the price is so high for brass I am not sure I could afford even that.
I still buy my 5.56mm factory as so far it is sort of acceptable in price but soon even that is going to get to costly.
I have a 38 super and can't even afford the factory stuff so I reload or it sits and yes I do use the j-word bullets in it as I am still looking for a cast I like for it and my 9mm yep got one of those two and some 38 specials and 357mag so one mold can do duty in several firearms got to thing ahead on this stuff.
Lead is even getting hard to find and get a hold of but maybe with some luck I will find some at a really good price that will fill my truck and not have to think about that again.
Powder and primers are getting expensive also but one thing is good at least they are in the stores right now.

[looseprojectile]

I traded my ex son in law a custom 98 mauser 6 X 284 rifle for two Swede mauser carbines.
He went online to find ammo. The cheapest he found was $90.00 a box.
I gave him a bag of sixty rounds that I loaded with my ho made 84 grain swaged bullets. He shot two rounds at a hundred yard target and put them into a half inch inside the orange dot. I was tickeled as he was. First time out for my bullets. Powder is a full case of Thunderbird 5070. Didn't chrono them, seemed to be respectable.
Wish now that I had kept the gun. I will supply him with all the ammo for that gun.
He doesn't shoot much.
Do the people that sell that kind of custom loaded ammo really make that kind of money?
There used to be a guy in a little town north of me that called his business Chets Custom Cartridges. He was there mostly to BS. Had him do a little gunsmithing for me. Maybe he paid for his hobby doing that.
Buying factory ammo is like buying gas for a fortytwo foot twin V8 powered Tollycraft. If you have to ask what it costs you can't afford it. [I owned one once].

Life is good

[Rich/WIS]

What gets me is the price difference between stores. My SIL has a 223 WSSM, ammo was $39 a box at Gander Mountain and $22 a box for the same brand and load at the local Ace Hardware. Same was true for 300 Win Mag. Some of the high cost seems to be overhead for a fancy versus simple store.

[canyon-ghost]

I started reloading and casting almost as fast as I shot 40 round silhouette matches. It all happened at once, Winchester 22 Hornet was $45 a box, even ten years ago.

$$$$$$$$$ I heard you $$$$$$

[Alchemist]

Store bought ammo makes a new boolit mould like a lot more affordable doesn't it? With proper care it will make more boolits than you can ever shoot, and your heirs can continue using it after that.

Gradual attrition of brass and replacement of powder & primers are a caster's main limitations to ammo independence.

[Moonman]

Store Bought Price Increases should just bring SMILES to you faces when you look at your supplies and your well equipped bench.[smilie=w: