reloading...

[big daddy 9mm]

hey guys I have another question to bug you with but am sure that everybody loves to put their two cents in so..... I have been looking at brass prices and things on the internet and I am interested if reloading really saves you that much money. what are you guys opinions on the money that you will save by reloading calibers like 357mag and 41mag and 44mag.




Has anyone here had experience with ammunitionstore.com

[Hal]

Considerable.

Most are going to tell you you won't save anything because you'll shoot more, and that will chew up any potential savings. That may be true for some,,,but for others, finding the time and place to shoot is as much (if not more) of a limitation than the cost of ammunition.

Using new unprimed brass and lead (not jacketed) bullets, my cost per round for the .44 Rem Mag was half to 2/3 rd of what factory ammo sells for. Reusing the brass cuts the price even more.

Others will tell you their time is worth something also, and figure in the time involved.
- whatever -
I find reloading/handloading as pleasant a past-time as I do actually shooting... and to no small degree,,,more interesting..

[Dave R]

You should be able to save at least half in your ammo cost by reloading.

The biggest single variable in the cost of reloaded ammo is the bullet cost. If you use premium bullets, i.e. Speer Gold Dots, or Remington Golden Sabre, etc., The costs will run you (I think) about $8 per box of 50 reloaded cartridges. But that compares to $10-$15 per 20 or 25, so you're saving half or more.

For plinking ammo, I like Laser-Cast bullets. $25 per 500 or something like that. I think my cost on reloaded 9mm is $3.29 per 50, compared to Wal-Mart $6 per 50. So maybe just under half at the low end.

For .357, .41Mag and .44Mag, you should save well over half.

[tjhands]

Big Daddy, have you checked out the reloading room on this website? It's got lots of great advice on the topic you asked about. Do a search in that room.

Reloading is a lot of fun, and to me at least, just as addictive and entertaining as shooting. I see them as totally separate hobbies.

[big daddy 9mm]

it does greatly interest me and I do want to do some serious reloading in the future also to customize some loads.



also is there a difference between handloading and reloading???

[tlm225]

Yes it does, especially if you don't put a price on your time. Not counting the price of the brass (which you reuse) I save about 30% when loading jacketed bullets and about 50% loading lead. Using a single stage press I can crank out about 100 rounds per hour at a steady pace.

[xXStarScreamXx]

I used to pay 17 a box for .357 sig. Now I make them 4.75ish. Just go to the range and scrounge your brass, buy in bulk from midway usa, and have fun and reloading helps make shooting cheap

[Smokey Joe]

Big Daddy 9: The difference between handloading and reloading is very minor; the 2 terms are almost completely interchangeable.

Technically, If I buy new never-fired brass and load it with my hand-powered equipment, I am handloading but not reloading.

If I fire that brass, and then resize it, put in new primers, powder, and a bullet, I am handloading AND reloading.

If I send the fired brass in to a commercial outfit, that does the same thing on powered machinery, they are reloading but not handloading.

In practical everyday usage, nobody I know splits hairs like that.

[JoeHatley]

Here is a very informative 3 part article from Real Guns that should help you decide if you wanna take the plunge.

www.realguns.com/archives/reload.htm

www.realguns.com/archives/reload2.htm

www.realguns.com/archives/reload3.htm

Good Luck...

Joe

[LAH]

Buy good tools, learn to use them, purchase bullets, powder, primers and brass in bulk. Don't put it off, go for it.

[Leftoverdj]

Savings can be huge with odd calibers and home cast bullets. A box of .41 Mags equivalent to the old police load runs me less than $3. I also shoot .357 Max, and those are not even made any more. Those take a gascheck and that runs the price to $4 per 50. Shoot some .32 S&W Long WC, and I would not even know where to buy those. Shoot some .25-20 for about a tenth of factory ammo. Nearly forgot the 9mm Largo and I load those for $2-$3 a box.

[big daddy 9mm]

thankyou for the responses. you have really answered my question. since we are on the topic there is one more thing I have been wondering about; I know that casings are not filled to the max with gun powder so there is extra room in the shell. is the powder allowed to move around a little bit in there or is there a 'wad' type thing that filles the space.




3 dollars a box for 41 mag!!! that is awesome. I really want to get into 41 mag in time.

[tjhands]

I only reload for handguns, and you don't use a wad to hold the powder for handgun rounds. It just jiggles around in there. If you take a factory round - especially a caliber with a long length like a .357 mag or .44 mag - and shake it next to your ear, you'll hear the powder shaking inside.

[XDoctor]

It depends on how you look at it. To set myself up with a good press, tumber, scale etc. plus the cost of dies for whatever calibers you want to reload, it cost quite a bit. I would estimate somewhere in the $400-$600 range. With the small amount I save by reloading it takes a long time to make up that much cash. Then you have to ask yourself how much your time is worth.

Saving cash is, IMHO, not a good reason to get into reloading. Get into it to learn more about shooting, to increase your accuracy and to pass the time if you easily become bored.

If you do get into this, I would advise you to stay away from the crazies that will say to you..."Its good that you reload.... Be sure to stockpile brass, powder, primers and bullets..... The end times are coming and....."

I bet I've heard that 10 times in the last year.

[Smokey Joe]

XDoctor--Well, on stocking up, I just don't know. The crazies could just be right. But I don't consider myself one of them.

OTOH, if I stock up on powder, primers, bullets, and brass,today, I have a nice lot of powder, primers, bullets, and brass, at today's prices, rather than at tomorrow's prices, which are likely to be higher. And powder, primers, bullets, and brass are not known for deteriorating on the shelf.

And then I've got the supplies when on some winter night I get the sudden urge to load up some ammo.

Actually, I think any reloader is going to gradually accumulate a nice supply of various components, mostly rejects: A half-box of bullets his gun didn't like; a partial jar of slightly slow powder; you change your preference halfway through a K of primers, etc, etc.

[rangermonroe]

I bought a reloading kit from www.midwayusa.com, that set me back about $100. By the time I was all set up, I was loading two calibers for under $200.

I Save between $10-$15 a box, depending on which I am shooting.

I also enjoy loading, so I don't keep track of $/hr I am "spending ".

One of the hidden benefits is loading "premium " ammo for the price of commercial ball ammo. Then, you gan go to the range and shoot your carrying/hunting ammo without breaking the bank.

I loaded some winchester combined tech for about $.65 each last year.

[Johnny Guest]

Differences between Handloading and Reloading are subtle but they are there.

I recently blundered onto a long-sought revolver, an S&W Model 58, in a pawnshop in Denton. Hot Dawg! Still enough daylight to run out and shoot it. HA! I ran out of sunlight, chasing around, trying to buy some ammo for it. There wasn't a single round of .41 magnum for sale in a shop in the whole town. The next day I found dies, new Win brass and Speer bullets at the Sportsman's Warehouse in Lewisville, but STILL no loaded ammo. Somehow, I didn't feel like driving all over Fort Worth and Dallas to find some no-doubt overpriced factory ammo.

A friend gave me a few rounds of .41 he had reloaded, plus a full box of commercially handloaded ammo. When I spent some time at the press that weekend, I had some additional handloaded ammo in the new W-W brass I had purchased. I'm tickled to death with my M58, but, two months later, I still haven't owned or fired a single round of factory loaded ammo in it.

It 'twern't for handloading/reloading, my M&P-on-steroids would have pretty well starved to death by now!

Best,
Johnny

[caz223]

If you buy a progressive press, and don't mind buying components in bulk, you can literally pay for a reloading setup and all of your components in a season of shooting or less.
Impatient readers, zoom down and assume $1000 for a cadillac style dillon 550 setup and 1000 rounds worth of the best components.

I'll use a dillon 550 and .41 magnum for exhibit A.
$350 Dillon 550 press and conversion kit of your choice.
$55 .41 mag dillon dies.
$120 Complete upgrade package, includes strong mount, bullet tray, roller handle, bins, brackets, etc.
$16 4 pickup tubes, large primer.
$6 bench wrench
$6 setup video
$14 primer flip tray
$50 powder scale
+$20 shipping
------------------
$587 total cost from dillon
As you can see, I've spared no expense. You could literally save $100 or more by shopping around, or buying stuff as you go.

Now, on to stuff from midway.
$105 Starline brass, box of 1000, new.
$119 Hornady XTP-HP bullets, 10 boxes of 100.
$20 Frankfort arsenal dial caliper
$6 Hornady one shot, don't even think about skimping on this.
$7 Loadbooks USA .41 magnum reloading manual
$70 Frankfort arsenal complete tumbler kit, including media seperator, polish, media, 5 gallon pail, huge funnel, etc. (You wont even need this in the first 1000 rounds.) Shoot, you could go for a year without needing it.
$20 shipping
--------------------
$347 complete

$934 grand total
Now you need 1000 primers, CCI large pistol magnum, and at least 2 pounds of blue dot or 3 pounds of H110 or 2400, etc.
$60 locally for powder and primers (Once you decide on a powder you like, you can buy it online in bulk along with primers, and save $5 a pound in powder and $5 per thousand primers .)
(Figuring the cost for blue dot, $20 per pound, times two plus $20 per thousand for primers.)
grand total $994
OK, as you can see, you could literally shave HUNDREDS off the cost of equipment and components by buying a little at a time, or by not needing the best in components (If you wanted to shoot lead bullets, for instance it would be a LOT less.), and save those hundreds as part of your reloading savings.

That buys everything you need except for a place to bolt your press to, and it buys enough components to make 1000 loaded cartridges.
Assuming you paid $30 a box for your .41 mag ammo, and also assuming that your starline brass is good for at least 20-30 loads, you can load your first thousand rounds of ammo for $14.50 a box. I'll figure $15.
20x15=300, you saved $300 in the first 1000 rounds
After your brass is paid for, you can now load .41 mag for $9 a box.
I'll figure $10
20x20=400, that's right, you save $400 for every thousand rounds after that.
So it takes less than 3000 rounds of .41 mag to recoup your ENTIRE setup, even sparing no expense.
Now after your equipment is paid for, you can 'pay' yourself for loading.
The pay, is to pay for future equipment purchases.
OK, you save more than $20 a box for .41 mag.
You can load at least 6 boxes of .41 mag per hour.
That's $120 PER HOUR. At a fairly leisurely pace.
It only takes an hour or two of that, and you can afford to add caliber conversions, etc.
Even if you got an awesome deal, and you were paying $20 a box or less for factory loads, it would take about the same amount ot time to pay for it.
You're STILL saving more than 50%.

Basically, you can buy all the equipment for free if you shoot 5000 rounds a year, and 'work' 3-5 hours a week at reloading.

[caz223]

If reloading weren't possible, there's just no way I could afford to shoot .41 mag, 10mm, .357 mag, .44 mag, .45 colt, or 357SIG.
I like 9mm, but it's just not the same as shooting a nice .41 mag 5" blackhawk, 10mm 1911 commander, or N-frame .357 mag.

[Kamicosmos]

I don't remember my numbers exactly, but I got into reloading shortly after buying my first handgun: a .44 Mag Redhawk.

I had collected a few hundred pieces of brass already. I bought the RCBS Special 5 reloading kit at a gunshow for $175, and got dies, bullets, primers, and a couple pounds of H110.

I think it was costing me around 4.50/50 rounds since I already had the brass. I actually kept track of my 'savings' and I had the kit 'paid off' in about 2 months because I went from shooting 50 rounds a week to shooting 150 a week!

For me, it's a great complimentary hobby to my shooting. I have a couple presses, and I load for everything I shoot, including my AK!

Give it a shot, and if you don't like it, you can always sell or give away the equipment. Even if you don't care much for it, you can always load a little to pass time on rainey days or something.

[big daddy 9mm]

cez223.... that is alot of info, I will read that a couple of times at least. I am very grateful for the time that you guys have spent typing. there is one more thing I have been wondering about. I have noticed that you cannot get 45-70 under a dollar a round. you dont have to give me details but aproxx. how much would it be to reload 45-70. 40 to 60 cents a round???

[kkb]

For 45-70...
If loaded with Nosler 300gr Partitions: $0.90/round
Using cast 350gr FP: $0.27/round

I pulled my numbers from a Cabela's catalog but didn't figure tax or shipping. (i.e. These are high retail prices)

If you want to run your own numbers you can use this cost calculator.

[drinks]

9mm;
My .45-70 loads are about 10c each, my .44mag. are about 8c each, .38sp about 6c.
A classsic Lee loader is less than $20 plus shipping, with primers, powder, bullets and cases you are loading ammo!
This is a great learning tool and will give you hands on experience and can be used almost anywhere, will not wear out and can be sold or given to another beginner to start him down the slippery path .
Don

[caz223]

Indeed, you can start out with a LEE loader kit.
The $20 ones that you use a plastic hammer to seat the primers.
You can start reloading for $100, components and all.
You gain LOTS of knowledge and learn to trust manuals and powder dippers.
The downside is that you can only load about a box of 50 per hour, and it's almost like work. That, and you're somewhat limited in component selection.
I started out that way, and I made a lot of ammo sitting indian style on the cement basement floor with a Lee loader, hammer and block of wood.
The ammo shoots as good as any, better than ANY factory load and the cost of admission is low.