22LR vs Centerfire Handgun Reloads

[jmorris]

^if you see the numbers calculated in that post, it’s pretty obvious that the costs have been well calculated. I bet he didn’t even hire an accountant....

[FrankenMauser]

Definitely not. An accountant would have rounded everything to $0.00 and called it good.
A scientist would have thrown everything right out the window, after seeing a different number of digits of precision in each value.

[briandg]

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Enjoy your weekend.
I know you and I disagree a lot, but I'm not really trying to argue here. But, the discussion is here and I dabble in many of the less popular activities in the reloading world, so it's fun to talk about how some of those activities compare to "normal" people's reloading.

Of course I did. how could I expect everyone else to read my posts without giving due courtesy? The most important thing is that if a person doesn't read the learning process is cut off at the stalk.

My grand dad would have been right there with you guys, saving every cent he could. The old guy straightened out old nails and reused them as he worked. I've done that, it isn't worth it. I gotta admire the guy for being able to drive a recycled nail, it's like trying to pound a soda straw through the top of a pop can.

I also gotta admire you people who will go to the ends of the earth to take complete ownership of their hobby. Not very many people are interested in such depth of understanding or independence.

You know, if you came by to visit, there are still numerous old mines with existing pockets of galena ore. Rent a truck, haul a few tons home, and you can refine your own for a new experience. I'll even give you a hand with the maps.

[FrankenMauser]

I think I'm too old, and still too young, for Galena. Maybe one day...

Enjoy your weekend, man. If I can get over this Korean Crud that I've got, I'll try to enjoy mine.

[reddog81]

Originally Posted by FrankenMauser

briandg, I understand your position and point of view. I just don't agree.


$0.00495641 for a bonded bullet.
$0.00045641 for an unbonded bullet.

Less than half a cent for a bonded bullet.
Less than one two-thousandth of a cent for a standard bullet.

Impressive! I wish this forum had a LIKE button for posts like this.

[briandg]

Ehh, once again, he used free stuff like found brass and salvage lead. If he was really trying hard, he could make his bullets for free like other people do. But since I am a precise thinker and speaker it would come out to zero, as he said, by rounding it off to two decimal points off of the dollar.

Now I really want to own a gun that can shoot one of those .40 bonded bullets and something to shoot them with.

Now I wonder. with all of the people who make free bullets from found lead, would they still be free if a stranger came to the front door and asked for a cup of bullets?

Let's be serious, I won't even give a stranger at my door a cup of water. I've got a garden hose he can borrow if he'll pay me a penny.

[briandg]

The offer still stands for anyone who wants to collect ore straight from the vein. Our ore around here even has a tiny bit of silver that can be collected after smelting. Lead can be obtained from the mineral galena by using a standard upflow furnace and charcoal. Every lead bullet made, probably up a bit past 1800 or so was cast from lead smelted by hand.


It would be an interesting thing for people to experiment with, I did so when I was a younger guy. Used a section of clay sewer pipe full of charcoal and a blow pipe.

[BBarn]

From the responses, I wasn't really missing anything. If you have to pay anything near market price for lead, you can't reload anything for the current cost of non-target grade 22LR ammo. If you want to scrounge lead and do the work of making it into bullets, you can meet, or slightly beat, the price of 22 plinking ammo.

I've cast bullets, melted down wheel weights, and even scrounged a bit of lead. It's more mess and work than the rest of the reloading process. If it makes you happy to engage in all that... enjoy. But I'll leave it to when it becomes necessary to my shooting.

[jmorris]

Occasionally in one of the threads I'll read a comment about someone being able to reload rounds for less money than they can buy 22LR. While I enjoy reloading, I simply cannot make the math support that statement.

.....If you want to scrounge lead and do the work of making it into bullets, you can meet, or slightly beat, the price of 22 plinking ammo.

And you just ruined your own argument.

[reddog81]

Originally Posted by BBarn

From the responses, I wasn't really missing anything. If you have to pay anything near market price for lead, you can't reload anything for the current cost of non-target grade 22LR ammo. If you want to scrounge lead and do the work of making it into bullets, you can meet, or slightly beat, the price of 22 plinking ammo.

I put about 300 cast bullet rounds downrange yesterday. This included 120 rounds of 9x21, 30 rounds 38 ACP, 75 rounds 9mm Luger, 30 rounds of .45 Colt, 30 rounds of light .30-06 loads, and 15 .460 S&W. I'm sure these 300 rounds cost more than plinker grade .22's, but I'd be willing to bet they cost less than a box of 500.

[BBarn]

Originally Posted by jmorris

And you just ruined your own argument.

From a scrounger's point of view that's true. But I'm simply not interested in starting with dirt bank lead and turning it into a bullet to save a nickel or dime per shot of centerfire.

Besides, I place scrounging outside the arena of reloading. As a scrounger, I would sell range pickup brass and reclaimed lead to offset the cost of purchased reloading components or ammo. And if I put the proceeds from the sale of reclaimed lead and brass toward the cost of 22LR...

[jmorris]

From a scrounger's point of view that's true. But I'm simply not interested in starting with dirt bank lead and turning it into a bullet to save a nickel or dime per shot of centerfire.

It’s not a point of view, opinions are opnions and facts are facts. I understand your opnion and have had the same one at times in my life. Like I said before, if everyone reloaded there wouldn’t be any free stuff to pick up because everyone would gather up what they (re)use every time they shoot.

However, from the OP.

Occasionally in one of the threads I'll read a comment about someone being able to reload rounds for less money than they can buy 22LR. While I enjoy reloading, I simply cannot make the math support that statement.

You have been shown “the math” and it works, after taxes. If you choose not to “go through the hoops” that’s fine but you can’t ignore the fact that it can be done. That’s all you were missing.

Just because you choose not to do something doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

[BBarn]

There are obviously different ways to look at it. If one wishes to include the benefit of scrounging in their range regime, they can do so. But it should be applied across the board since it can be used to offset the total cost to shoot any ammo, 22LR included.

[COSteve]

While I've never heard of anyone being able to reload a centerfire load for less than a 22lr, I do know for a fact that I can and do reload 158grn plated .357 Mag loads for less than I can find 22mag ammo. For example, I currently reload my .357 Mag loads above for 13.1¢ per rd and the cheapest .22 Win Mag I can find is Armscor 40grn .22 Win Mag for $7.02 per box of 50 or 14.0¢ per rd plus shipping.

[FrankenMauser]

The mere fact that we're discussing how cheap we can go does highlight something else:
That, as reloaders, many of us are always looking at the bottom line. If a little labor here, and a little trick there, and waiting for a better deal over here, will save use a bit of money, we do it. If those same concepts don't 'save' us money, but stretch the dollar further, we do it.

Just how far each individual is willing to go may differ. But, for the most part, we're all still working on pinching pennies in every way possible, even if still reloading with the primary focus being higher quality ammunition - or ammunition 'tuned' to our specific firearms.

I've seen some people that claim reloading isn't about the money, that they use new components for EVERY load, and that the only reason they do it is for the hand-tailored loads.
But even that could be argued to be false, according to some of the arguments I've seen here. If it isn't about the money, why do it yourself? There are reloading services out there that will load custom ammunition for you! Then there's no need for stocking components, owning the reloading tools, or spending time reloading.



COSteve - I really like the ArmsCor .22 WMR. Not only was it exceptionally cheaply priced when I bought my .22 WMR, but it performs very well in my rifle.
.22 WMR is one of the few places where I saw the writing on the wall, before the Barackalypse. I managed to set aside enough funds to add another 1,500 rounds, or so, to the stash, before prices went crazy. I've got one of the large-size Cabela's 'dry storage' boxes packed to the gills with ArmsCor, Fiocchi, and a small amount of Winchester Supreme 30 gr and 34 gr HPs, and CCI Maxi-Mags.
I'm probably set for life, at this point.

[jmorris]

I've seen some people that claim reloading isn't about the money, that they use new components for EVERY load, and that the only reason they do it is for the hand-tailored loads.

I am both, just depends. Some of my reloads cost me more than buying factory ammunition but I make them because they are simply better than any factory ammunition. Some I reload because nothing like it can be bought at any price and some I load for economy.

Reloading isn’t a “one size fits all” activity, lots of ways to “skin the cat” so to speak.