Of all the center fire rifle rounds in modern existence, the ultimate in least cost effective to reload would be the 7.62x39 mm.
This is simply because:
--surplus ammo in this caliber is amongst the cheapest of any rifle caliber
--available of surplus ammo is staggeringly high
--availability of decent, boxer primed and non-steel brass is relatively scarce
--most of the rifles in this caliber benefit the least from better produced, handloaded ammo
Add all that up and it's got to be the least cost effective to reload. Most all other calibers go up from there.
Your question is, what center fire ammo is cost effective to reload? The answer is most all of them, depending on how you can obtain reloadable brass and how much you pay for your bullets. The most cost effective rifle rounds to reload? Anything defunct or impossible to get otherwise. Next to them would be the ungodly priced factory stuff, such as ANY of the Weatherby Magnum cartridges.
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For the price of reloading 7.62x39, I could have just as well reloaded ?
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Tough call to answer this one. I would say you are better off shooting surplus in crusty old chi-com rifles. You don't have to chase brass. Of course, you also are not building a growing stock of brass, either.
If your next rifle is 7.62x54R, you should probably stick to surplus.
If your next rifle is .308, .223 or .30-06, start whoring brass and getting set up to reload.