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This is gonna be long.
This is a breakdown of reloading vs. off the shelf .45 acp ammo. All prices are at the reloader's worst case scenario (hightest prices for components). BTW, you don't need to spend $1500 to get rolling with a Dillon setup.
Reloading vs. Off the Shelf Loaded Cartridges:
Cost for Off the Shelf Cartridges:
$10.00 for 50 rds.x 20 =
$200 per 1000 rds + 6.1% tax=
$212.20 Total
Total cost per round=
$0.2122
Total Cost per 10000 rounds=
$2022
Reloading
$600 for Dillon RL 550B Press and all hardware (no tax because it’s bought out of state) (if you go with a single stage, this cost will be much lower)
$120 for 8lbs. of powder (good for just over 10000 rounds (1296 rounds per 1 lb of powder at my 5.4 grain load)
$20 for 1000 primers
$45 for 1000 bullets
$785 Total
$0.012 per round in powder
$$0.02 per round in primers
$0.045 per round in bullets
$.077 Per Round not including price of equipment.
Total Cost per 10000 rounds (including startup costs)
$0.06 per round cost for equipment over 10000 rounds
$0.012 per round cost for powder ($120 per 8lb, 10000 round keg)
$0.02 per round cost for primers ($20 per 1000 x 10 = $200 per 10000.)
$0.045 per round cost for bullets ($45 per 1000 x 10 = $450 per 10000.)
Total cost per round over 10,000 rounds:
$0.137 per round including startup costs.
Total cost per 10000 rounds=
$1370
A cost savings of $652 which pays for your press. From this point on, you only reference the part of the formula that doesn't include the press costs. ie:
$0.012 per round in powder
$$0.02 per round in primers
$0.045 per round in bullets
$.077 Per Round not including price of equipment.
Total cost per 10000 rounds = $770 which is about a 206% savings from off the shelf. At this point, you're saving money hand over fist, or more accurately, like most handloaders, you're shooting a whole lot more for the same money!
Note: None of this includes initial outlay of brass cost or renewing that supply as needed. Pistol brass lasts a long time and is difficult to add into the formula with any precision. Because of it's long life, it is such a negligible part of pistol reloading that I don't include it in my breakdown.
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