Loading cost for the rounds you load

[kxkid]

Just wondering what people are reloading a box for. I have calculated the cost of 223 rounds of what I want to load for 223 to be about 3 bucks a box of 20, thats just the components for the load.

45 is about 7.50 for a box of 50.

Going to be getting into 40, 380 and 9 also. This is a huge savings over what I can find it in the stores for. Thats one thing thats been holding me back from shooting as much as I would like. I just wish there was a way to speed the case prep up. I use Isso over a tumbler, it does a great job just takes a while to dry when its cold here in az summer time not a problem.

[PawPaw]

If you really want to get your per-round cost down, consider casting your own bullets.

Bullets are the biggest per-unit cost in reloading after you amortize the start up costs. Bullet casting is very economical on a per-unit basis, depending on your cost for raw material. I've been fortunate up to this point as my lead is free, what I'm able to scrounge or beg. Now that the EPA is getting involved and other manufacturers are getting away from lead the availability of free lead is diminished somewhat but as of this time I haven't had to buy lead.

Basically, if your lead is free, your bullets are free after the start up costs. I figure that handgun rounds cost me four cents per and rifle ammo is about seven cents each as long as I'm using cast bullets. I don't know that I'd use cast bullets in the .223, but for the .45-70, cast bullets are very attractive.

[spacecoast]

I purchase my bullets (don't cast) and my costs are similar to what you have calculated. 10 cents apiece for .38 special, 12 cents for 9mm (plated), 15-20 cents for .357 mag (jacketed), 12 cents for .45 ACP. .380 ACP is financially the most % saved considering the high cost of the relatively cheap-to-load ammo.

[MrWesson]

I cast 9mm using free wheelweights

1000rds = $40

$2 per 50rds

[CrustyFN]

Well let's see.

223 = $110 for 1,000 rounds
9mm = $70 for 1,000 rounds
38 = $70 for 1,000 rounds
45 auto = $25 for 1,000 rounds

When I get the rest of the molds I need all of my pistol calibers will be down to $25 per 1,000.

[parttime]

25.00 a thousand, that is a very good deal.

The cheapest I can come up with is about .042 per round, powder and primer.

[CrustyFN]

I have a lot of primers that I bought for $16 per 1K and powder for $12 per pound.

[parttime]

It just pays to buy in bulk whenever you can I guess.

I hate to think what the price of primers is going to be in the near future with the price of gas going up the way it is.

Heck, I should be buying gas cans and filling them instead of primers and powder!!!

[engineermike]

See if this link come through. It will get you pretty close on your cost.

http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

[FrankenMauser]

All of the following should be achievable in most parts of this country, with current prices. Loads marked with an asterisk (*) have not had current costs calculated, in several months; but the price should still be achievable.

Select pistol cartridges: (50 rounds / box)

.380 Auto - $2.50 - $5 / box*
9mm - $2.29 - $6 / box*

.32 S&W - $3.32 / box *
.32 S&W Long - $2.14 / box*
.32 H&R - $10.35 / box (11 gr Lil Gun, 85 gr XTP)
.327 Federal w/ Lead bullet - $4.03 to $4.92 / box
.327 Federal w/ ".327 Approved" Jacketed bullet - $9.73 to $14.32 / box (amortizing the cost of brass across 50 reloads per piece)

.44 Rem Mag w/ Lead bullet - $9 / box


Centerfire rifle, common (.243 Win, .270 Win, .30-06; 20 rounds / box; 10 reload life expectancy for brass):

Cheap / Bulk / Factory-seconds bullets - $4.92 to $9.75 / box
(R-P, FC, Win, PMC, PPU, S&B brass)
Average / Semi-premium bullets - $8.90 to $13.82 / box
(Norma, Nosler, R-P, Win brass)
Premium bullets - $14.35 to $27.93 / box
(Lapua brass)

Other:
.30-40 Krag - $8 to $11 / box
(generally semi-premium bullets)
7.62x54R - $6 to $12 / box
(cheap to semi-premium),
7.62x54R premium - $28 / box (Woodleigh 215 gr RN)


Of course, I reload most of those for far cheaper prices, even with premium components. I shop around, buy on sale, and keep my eye out for incorrectly priced merchandise.

If you calculate the cost of my primary 9mm load based on the original purchase price of the components, I'm reloading for $1.24 / box (purchased lead bullets - not self-cast). When you remove any cost for the cases, I'm reloading for just over $1 / box (I use only range pick-up brass in the 9mm). There's so much available for the taking, it's stupid for me to pay for it. (...obviously not possible for all shooters).

[kxkid]

I don't want to shoot led down my barrels and have the rifling clogged. Yes I clean my guns and even with jacked bullets they get it, ESP my 23 since it has over 5000 rounds through it and took some time to get the barrel looking new

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[spacecoast]

When you remove any cost for the cases, I'm reloading for just over $1 / box

Uh-huh, right. If you don't mind, please clue the rest of us in to those 2 cent primers (actually I have some of those) plus the free powder and bullets.

[CrustyFN]

Uh-huh, right. If you don't mind, please clue the rest of us in to those 2 cent primers (actually I have some of those) plus the free powder and bullets.

He has to be talking about 50 round boxes. I'm loading for the same price with components I bought two years ago. For me it breaks down like this.

1,500 pounds of free lead = free bullets
Brass picked up at the range = free brass
primers bought for $16 per 1K, I buy them 50,000 at a time
powder $12 per pound = $7 to load 1K

That gives me a total of $23 to load 1,000 rounds or $1.15 for a box of 50. I rounded up to $25 because I have had people complain that I didn't include electricity.

[arizona98tj]

Uh-huh, right. If you don't mind, please clue the rest of us in to those 2 cent primers (actually I have some of those) plus the free powder and bullets.

If you look, he actually said..... (emphasis added by me)

If you calculate the cost of my primary 9mm load based on the original purchase price of the components, I'm reloading for $1.24 / box (purchased lead bullets - not self-cast).

FWIW, I have Winchester primers on the shelf that were purchased a couple of years ago for $50 per case (5K). I believe that comes out to a penny per primer (without the tax). Cast your own bullets and one is under $1.24 per box (50).

[Rangefinder]

Cheapest is my handguns at about $0.04 per pop---it comes down to cost of a primer and about 2-3gr. powder average. I cast for almost everything. Still, I can load my 7mm Remi mag for about $0.60 each with the top shelf stuff. $12 bucks for a box of 20 sure beats the premium $50 per box for the same thing factory loaded.

[FrankenMauser]

Originally Posted by spacecoast

Uh-huh, right. If you don't mind, please clue the rest of us in to those 2 cent primers (actually I have some of those) plus the free powder and bullets.

Arizona98TJ clarified as well as I would have, with:

Originally Posted by arizona98tj

If you look, he actually said..... (emphasis added by me)

FWIW, I have Winchester primers on the shelf that were purchased a couple of years ago for $50 per case (5K). I believe that comes out to a penny per primer (without the tax). Cast your own bullets and one is under $1.24 per box (50).

Just because you sell components for a living, doesn't mean you have to rag on people that stock up when they're cheap.
My shelves are stock with MANY components that are 20-30 years old.

The point of bringing up that ridiculously low price in the original post, was to point out that components only get more expensive. Stock up when it's cheap, and enjoy your preparedness for many years.

When I run out of a lot of, say 1,000 9mm bullets, I'll buy 2,000 to replace them. But, I wait until I come across a smokin' deal. My last purchase of 124 gr LFPs ran just over $32 per 1,000, including shipping - while everyone else was scrambling to find the same thing under $60 per 1,000 bullets. Over time, the quantity on hand and total savings add up (and let me go even longer between purchases).

If you're still curious - The load in question is using lead bullets purchased second-hand for $9 per 1,000, primers purchased in the '90s for $9 per 1,000, and Unique purchased for $8 / lb. It comes out to $1.16 per box of 50.
Adjusting for inflation from 1994, that is $1.68 in today's dollars.

[spacecoast]

Just because you sell components for a living

Nope, that's not me. We do more on the Space Coast than make bullets, you know

Cast your own bullets and one is under $1.24 per box (50).

True, but he's not casting his own. But of course, he has an infinite supply of 9mm bullets that cost .9 cents apiece. Not to mention some sucker that will ship him 124 LFPs for 3.2 cents apiece.

$5-6 a box using purchased components is a much more realistic number.

And by the way, what is a "second-hand" bullet?

[Don P]

I shoot cast lead that is purchased and my cost is for 38 spl, 357 mag, 9 mm 40 S&W 10 cents per round and for 45 acp cost is 12 cents per round.
$100 per 1K and $120 per 1K respectfully.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Adjusting for inflation from 1994, that is $1.68 in today's dollars.

If you're talking about components that you keep on hand for 20 or 30 years, you really need to consider the interest that could have been made on that money. Truly, in today's world, the .15% you get in a bank account is pretty irrelevant but in the 80s and a few times since interest rates were high.

Point being, using your money for something because it's "cheap" isn't "free" when you hold those components for decades at a time. There is "opportunity cost" just like everything else and, in the case of cold, hard cash, there is real cost of lost interest or earnings from other areas.

If someone who bought $1000 of loading components 10 years ago and still has them sitting on their shelf had used the money to buy gold instead....

[FrankenMauser]

If someone who bought $1000 of loading components 10 years ago and still has them sitting on their shelf had used the money to buy gold instead....

If you want to make that argument, Gold is a poor choice. I've been watching the metals markets for as long as I can remember. In 2003, there was an upset in trading. Gold and Silver got a lot of attention, but it was the lesser-known precious metals that presented good investment opportunities.
Rhodium fell on its face, and I almost dropped the cash on 6 ounces, at $450 / ounce.
In 2008, it peaked at over $10,000 / ounce. It would have been a profit of just over $50k, after fees and commissions. ...But, of course, I had invested in other things.


There are always better places to put your money, than firearms hobbies. I won't argue with that.

But I buy when I have the money, buy in bulk, and buy cheap. When everyone else is scrambling to find components during times of shortage, and can't withdraw those 'invested' funds from their failing bank... I just keep on shooting what I've got. If I do happen to run low on something (like the 9mm bullets mentioned above), I have enough time to wait for a good deal to come my way. It's not preparation for TEOTWAWKI. It's just the way I do things - which happens to have some nice benefits during tough times in the shooting world.

Poor investment, in regards to the "big financial picture"? Absolutely.
But it's quite nice to have enough of a cushion to take my sweet time in locating components; when everyone else is juggling new powders, foreign primers, and never-before-used bullets, because they can't find the components they prefer.

True, but he's not casting his own. But of course, he has an infinite supply of 9mm bullets that cost .9 cents apiece. Not to mention some sucker that will ship him 124 LFPs for 3.2 cents apiece.

It's not unlimited. There was a huge gap in component purchasing, between 2000 and 2008. I bought almost nothing during that 8 year period. I'm almost out of all pistol components purchased prior to 2000. The "original purchase price" per box will jump considerably, some time later this year. (And I'll be making a massive jump forward with small pistol primers - all the way to 2009 purchase dates.)

As for those bullets...
I'm trying to find the guy again. I bought those bullets from a 22 year-old college student casting them in his garage, somewhere in western Kentucky. They're every bit as good as Midstates, and the price is unbeatable. He also casts on an as-required basis, so he does custom alloys at no extra cost (unless the alloy itself requires a higher price point). ...I just can't find his phone number or website bookmark any more.

[Brian Pfleuger]

^^^^
I don't disagree, it's just that many of the arguments for buying mass quantity seem to imply (sometimes say outright) that doing so makes for a financial savings, even investment.

Your reasons are entirely valid, particularly for a guy who shoots a lot, but the guy who thinks "Gee, I'm gonna buy 200,000 primers because in 30 years they're going to be twice as expensive!" needs to realize that it's NOT likely a wise investment, speaking purely in terms of financial gains.