it is now cheaper for me to shoot my cast 44spc than 22LR

[St Pete of casting]

The reloading equipment has already paid for itself due to the fact that I can load light enough to keep shooting my revolver.

44 brass 20c each expect to get 10 uses 02c

Red neck gold 240g 10c

Unique powder 5g 1c

stock piled primers 3c

Total 16c

LGS 50rd 22lr $17 34c

less than half, and yes that is a light load, I use 7g with cast in my Henry and 9G with FMJ which I use to clean out the lead.

[The Dar]

If you intend to only use your 44 brass for 10 reloads, please send it all to me before you toss it in the recycle bucket. :kidding: I load my 44's with a medium load and I have lost count of how many times my brass has been reloaded. I shoot 'em till they split.

[Targa]

I haven't worked the math but I know I couldn’t afford to shoot my .44’s and 45’s as much as I do if I didn’t reload. And even if I didn’t save anything it is just a lot more fun and rewarding to reload. Casting your own bullets takes it to a whole new level.

[Targa]

If you intend to only use your 44 brass for 10 reloads, please send it all to me before you toss it in the recycle bucket. :kidding: I load my 44's with a medium load and I have lost count of how many times my brass has been reloaded. I shoot 'em till they split.

X2^^.... I haven’t even tried to keep count.

[Sam Sackett]

+ 1 on the savings. I don't bother tracking how many times my 38 casings have been fired. They seem to last almost forever with the light loads I shoot (mostly cowboy & paper chasing). I scrounge for lead and cast my own, mostly 125 grain stuff. The last brick of primers I picked up were $45 (the most I ever paid).

Brass - 0.0
Primer - 0.05
Powder. - 0.01 (8 lb jug of Bullseye at $150 - (56,000 gr / 3.0 =18,667 loads or 0.008 per load)
Bullet - 0.02 (0.50 per lb + propane,etc) at 56 bullets per lb
Somewhere around 7 to 9 cents per shot. A whole lot cheaper than buying, even 22 or.

Sam

[Winger Ed.]

Figuring my time is worth about 7 cents an hour---- an amount my ex-wife would agree with:

I sort of guess-ti-mated years ago I could cast, gas check, and load a hot rod .357Mag. in my old scrounged up brass
for close to the same price as buying CCI Stingers or Mini-Mags.

So for the approx. the price of premium .22s, I could drop the hammer on .357s.
.38Spec. and .45ACPs were even a little cheaper than that.
Components have gone up since then,, but so has premium .22s, and at a similar rate.

Ya tend to make better rifle ammo than store bought, but the savings aren't quite as large.
Unless you fire less common, or big cartridges.

I haven't been to Bass Pro for 4-5 years,
but the last time I was there, it caught my eye when I saw some Weatherby Magnum ammo for $70 a box of 20.
If I didn't cast & load for my .45-70, I don't think I could afford to feed it.

[M-Tecs]

I have some 45 Colt shot with mild loads that have been loaded around 50 times.

[Harter66]

Dad gave me a 12# keg of Unique about 20 yr ago then he bought an 8# with some other stuff and gave it to me shortly after I bought one while I could get it . He left me 2 more 8# jugs . In a complete fluke smarty-pants moment I dumb lucked into 6-8# of Herco and I have about 8# of the 12# keg of Red Dot my grandfather left ........
I don't count powder either .......

When I do math on what I saw last and box tags ;
4.8 for 380 , 9mm , 38 Special .
5.6 for 357 , 45 ACP/S&W/Colts
7.5 for basically everything in a 308,'x57 or 06' family case , gas checks .
7 for 45-70 .
MSR compatible cartridges are 14¢ due to the use of "real rifle" powders .

When you're looking at a buck a round for 223 , 50ish for a box of 264 WM , 26 for 45-70 cowboy and 35/50 for Colts I don't mind the time involved to shoot them for $4.50 to $18/100 in the least .

It does make me sad to watch the Unique fall into 12 ga cases 25.0 gr at a time .

[9.3X62AL]

If an LGS is charging $17 per box of fifty 22 LR cartridges--even Eley Tenex--you need to find a less predatory LGS. That's $170 per brick.

My mid-range 44 Magnums (#429421 @ 1000 FPS) run me about 14 cents each for primer, powder, and alloy. Brass lasts so long I don't add it to the cost, those aren't a "consumable element".

[44Blam]

For me, 44 mag in a "normal" load is 240 grain booilt and unique. It costs about 8 cents per round.
44 mag in a "heavy" load is 240 grain boolit with gas check and W296 and is about 20 cents per round.

[44Blam]

Dad gave me a 12# keg of Unique about 20 yr ago then he bought an 8# with some other stuff and gave it to me shortly after I bought one while I could get it . He left me 2 more 8# jugs . In a complete fluke smarty-pants moment I dumb lucked into 6-8# of Herco and I have about 8# of the 12# keg of Red Dot my grandfather left ........
I don't count powder either .......

When I do math on what I saw last and box tags ;
4.8 for 380 , 9mm , 38 Special .
5.6 for 357 , 45 ACP/S&W/Colts
7.5 for basically everything in a 308,'x57 or 06' family case , gas checks .
7 for 45-70 .
MSR compatible cartridges are 14¢ due to the use of "real rifle" powders .

When you're looking at a buck a round for 223 , 50ish for a box of 264 WM , 26 for 45-70 cowboy and 35/50 for Colts I don't mind the time involved to shoot them for $4.50 to $18/100 in the least .

It does make me sad to watch the Unique fall into 12 ga cases 25.0 gr at a time .

I like Herco for 12 ga loads... And 10mm loads... I am positive that it can be used for other things. :-o

[beagle]

Realized this years back. I've been shooting .38/357 in my Marlin and Blackhawk for years. About 25 to one as opposed to .22 LR. Of course, you had to have the foresight to have stashed components ahead of time./beagle

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Pretty much stopped shooting 22lr during the last shortage. Replaced them with homegrown 38s and haven't looked back.

[Goofy]

Been a long, long time since I devoured much .22 RF ammo. Have plenty but just don’t feel the need. Combination of guns and ammo are such that they all shoot remarkably well and I rarely need to shoot anything twice.

That said, I do shoot CF a fair bit with cast subsonic loads. One uses a case made by necking down .357 brass to .30 cal. Purchased 250 cases 5 years back and have 100 cases yet to be fired. Over 1,300 rds fired to date and somewhere around 700-800 of that with the first box of 50. I’ve yet to lose a case. 180 gr bullets at an average of 1025-1050 FPS. Annealing can be your buddy.

Treat my .22LR CF ammo the same way and haven’t lost any brass to split necks. Costs about 4 cents per round, primer, powder and lead.

[oley55]

If you intend to only use your 44 brass for 10 reloads, please send it all to me before you toss it in the recycle bucket. :kidding: I load my 44's with a medium load and I have lost count of how many times my brass has been reloaded. I shoot 'em till they split.

^^^^I was thinking the same thing. I have Federal 44mag brass from the mid 80's that I've reloaded MANY, MANY times.

[samari46]

Used to shoot in the monthly steel plate matches at out local range. And in agreement with those members that said if they didn't reload they couldn't afford to shoot as much as they did. I always bought hard cast 230 gr round nosed bullets, primers in 5000 cases, and 8lb jugs of powder. And occasionally mined the pistol range berm for many of the hard cast bullets I and my friends launched down range. I'd separate all the 45 hard cast bullets and smelt them down and made into ingots. Those went into a labeled 5 gallon bucket. All the rest went into another labeled bucket. The club president got a laugh when he found out I'd been mining the berms. Dirty job but I was the only one mining. Frank

[dtknowles]

The reloading equipment has already paid for itself due to the fact that I can load light enough to keep shooting my revolver.

44 brass 20c each expect to get 10 uses 02c

Red neck gold 240g 10c

Unique powder 5g 1c

stock piled primers 3c

Total 16c

LGS 50rd 22lr $17 34c

less than half, and yes that is a light load, I use 7g with cast in my Henry and 9G with FMJ which I use to clean out the lead.

Yes and it is cheaper to shoot my stockpiled .22 LR and new bought .22 LR. If you had to use new bought primers your story would be different.

Tim

[kevin c]

Over the years I've gone back and forth between practicing predominantly with reloaded centerfire or .22 LR. The reasons have varied: cost, availability, the intent of practice (accuracy, acquiring new skills in live fire, recoil control, plinking for fun or whatever). Most recently I've been shooting .22 to save my back the literal pain of picking up the brass. As I get back to match shooting I'll move more to centerfire. I have sufficient stock in primers and .22 ammo to do either.

[Kraschenbirn]

Pretty much stopped shooting 22lr during the last shortage. Replaced them with homegrown 38s and haven't looked back.

Same here. And I'm still loading some brass from the early 1970s, gifted by an LEO buddy who was shooting on his department's pistol team back then.

Bill

[Bad Ass Wallace]

When I retired I bought 2 cases of Federal 22RF for $AU315/5000. This same ammo 4 1/2 years later is selling for $AU670/5000, wasn't I a silly boy?

A also aqumulated over 2500 lbs of scrap lead and now I cast for almost 100 guns using bulk purchased powder, primers and cases.

https://i.imgur.com/OErgWQt.jpg

[David2011]

Back when all I had to reload was Trooper Mk III and a Blackhawk in .45 Colt, primers were $0.69/C. Rimfire .22 was $1.00/box. Light and moderate cast handloads have always been cheaper than .22 LR. Just more so now. Nobody bought scrap wheel weights back then. They were always free for the asking.

Now, .45 Colt, .45 ACP and .38/.357 are all about $3/box with pre-crisis components.