Cheaper or not does not matter to me. Availability does matter. Components I "hoarded" years ago provide inexpensive reloads today. Plus, while some were searching for a box of 243 in the stores, I had 20 boxes waiting to be reloaded. Buy components when things become available again and never worry about what you shoot come hunting season. Plus prices will continue to rise. Some of us remember .10 coca-cola.
Some of us remember nickel cokes.
Old retired guy in Baton Rouge La.
Now that I got old.......still don't know how that happened, today I enjoy reloading more than shooting the stuff, which is a minor problem I have to live with...
And with all the gear acquired over the last forty years or so, this shooting thing costs me virtually nothing, range lead, wheel weights & the found lead makes it all worthwhile........
"Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too."
A buddy wanted some 45 colt.. they are going for 60$ per 50 around here for cowboy stuff.. and 80$ per 50 for others. Yikes.
I sat and made up some cast lead 200gr last night over titegroup. With primers at 15 cents and powder at 45$ a pound.. they are only costing me .. rounded up.. 22 cents each. With my old primers and old powder calculation.. they are costing me 10 cents each.. reused cases.. etc. ( that's with about 10bhn scrap lead.. If I need harder.. add a penny and can bump up to linotype mixed. )
I'm still glad I reload. I made up 45colt and 9mm last night.. will do 44 spl and 45 acp tonight I think.
Along with being cheaper I have found in revolver shooting that my cast bullet loads are also much more accurate than store bought. Factory ammo is tailored to the lowest common denominator as far as bullet diameter goes in my opinion.
Britons shall never be slaves.
I started after the Pickle Suit time (Armor) because my dad was a reloader. Muzzle loading also. He and his Navy buddy cast their own HPWCs.
I bought one box of 32 Win. Special (to get the brass) in 10 years.
But now it is all about being able to weekly shoot calibers others dream about. Plus those expensive, hard to find to buy special calibers.
Life is fine with a well fed accurate firearm !
"Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
Male Guanaco out in dry lakebed at 10,800 feet south of Arequipa.
Buying new brass is loading not reloading. Save the brass you shoot and reload or buy once fired.
40sw reload cost
Once fired bought and shipped online $.05
Primers $.10
Powder $45/ pound=7000gr/5gr per load=1400 loads=$.035
170grain boolits cast from lead purchased from the Captain a vendor sponsor $1.46/pound delivered=41 boolits /pound $1.46/41=$.035
Powder Coat .01/boolit
Total $.23/round X 50=$11.50 per box using brass you buy once fired
$.18/round X50=$9.00 per box if you use your own brass or scrounged brass
That's where you really make out.
It doesn't cost but a few cents more to load a .30-06 or .300WinMag than it does to load a .300Weatherby Mag.
5-6 years ago I was in a Bass Pro, and glanced over at the factory ammo shelf.
A box of Weatherby ammo, for 20 shells, was $72. even back then.
In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.
OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
EVERYONE!
Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.
I have been hoarding long enough and am old enough that I will never have to buy another piece of brass, primer, pound of powder, pound of lead or piece of loading equipment as long as I live. That being said, my reloads cost me nothing as the money was spent long ago. Also I have been gifted powder, primers, brass and lead which also makes reloads free. Most of my brass has been found or traded for on the original Ammo Brass Trader or the current ABT. My equipment was mostly bought used and/or years ago which means I could easily sell it for more than I paid
So yes, my reloads are a LOT cheaper than factory loads and made to my needs. I can load 25/20, 256 win, 30 Rem, 7.7 Jap, 32/20 for next to nothing. Try buying any of that at any price.
And I do need 30 or 40 different calibers to load for. It keeps me from spending my money on shrinks.
Last edited by rbuck351; 05-24-2022 at 01:26 PM.
Most all my brass is free for the picking-up. I did buy 80# each of .223 and 38SPL (shiny as new) at the local yard for $1/#. I like rolling my own because I can tune the load to my needs. I would NEVER shoot commercial 44MAGS! Unless I want to spend weeks in a cast! But I can light -load 44's to a comfortable 45LC feel very easily. Same with 38/357MAG.
And all the rifles I like to shoot (from 223 up thru 45LC).
All the tons of Pb and alloy I have ranged from 30˘ to $1 a pound over the years. That included pure Sn, high Sb alloys, Bi alloys, and COWW's, along with the normal soft Pb
I figured I saved some money re-loading in the olde days of component pricing. It was just fun!
Today, I load very little due to the vast supply of ready-to-go things I have loaded in the past & stored away. By the time those dwindle down to under 750 rounds each, I hope prices are back down and I will start in again.
Happy shooting!
banger
If my ciphering is correct to load a box of 1oz 12 ga with powder at $40, shot at $75, primers at $.065 ea. and wads a nickel it would cost north of $11 per box of 25 shells. ok, I’ve got the hulls, primers and powder. Still, Let’s go Brandon!
"My main ambition in life is to be on the devil's most wanted list."
Leonard Ravenhill
Hmm.. 1 1/8 oz loads of shot or buck and 1oz slug for me are:
.09 powder
Hulls free
.10 primer
.00 fiber wads ..i punch my own
.03 wads
.13 shot or buck
.11 slug
So 35 cents for shot or buck and 33 cents for slugs, each shell...so.. 8.75 for shot/buck and 8.25 for slugs, per 25 round box is what it's costing me.
If you want to win matches, your ammo must be prepared to exacting specification. I can not buy the perfection that I seek, so I make my own perfection, pretty much like BR shooters, except I prefer reactive targets. I only shoot paper for sight in and load development.
“There is a remedy for all things, save death.“
Cervantes
“Never give up, never quit.”
Robert Rogers
Roger’s Rangers
There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
Will Rogers
What missionary said. Nearly all the cartridges I like to shoot haven't been available in 75 years and some have never been available in the US. So, if I'm going to shoot them I'm going to handload...which in most cases also means forming and/or turning brass cases. I guess I'm saving money if I can make what can't be bought at any price, even with the addition of a lathe and mill. If it can be bought I ain't much interested in it anyway.
"In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'
The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery
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