rescueswimmer

Here is a quick ? and maybe you could shed some light on this for me. I have reloaded in the past for my father in law he has 4 presses and likes to shoot a lot. Well here is my question before I go out and buy my self one. Im trying to see where if any money I am going to be saving. I realize depending on how much you shoot ect ect. Right now I would be reloading 9mm and 40 S&W. would like to get a 45 and then do that. Here is my dilema. Maybe Im just not finding the right prices. This is an estimate on what its going to cost me for the 40.

Brass about .05 (untill I get build up a good collection my self)
FMJ .15-.25
powder ??????

So at the bottom end I think Im about .22-.27 for a round of 40. Now I noticed in bulk I can get 500 rounds or 40 for .23 a round. Am I missing something. (these prices were at midway usa) Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Shizzlemah

Dont figure the brass price into the reloads unless you are buying brass (but realize you get many shots out of a piece of brass).

I can do a box of .357sig hollow points for about $7, versus $25-30 retail.


Flipping through the midway cataolog, used 40 brass is 2c-5c.
New brass is 12-17c.

.40 FMJ bullets are 7-10c (ranier) & 12-14c for golden saber
9mm FMJs aroud 6c, 8c for Rem HPs.

Primer, 2c each.

Powder, figure $20/lb, and that works out to 3c for a 10 grain charge. You'll likely use a little less.

So you can load .40 for under 17c/rd even buying used brass or recycling your brass is about 12c/rd ($6 per box).


Cheapest 40 I have seen was 9.50/bx for steel case, so $6 is a pretty good savings.

10gr is a hot charge for .40. I run about 6gr for the 45.

Pete

I'm continually told that nobody reloads to actually save money, they just get more ammo for the same amount of money.

rocky

9mm probably will never be cheaper to reload either. Unless prices skyrocket.

__________________
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Nemo Me Impune Lacesset

Link to my kydex builds:http://rocknloadkydex.blogspot.com/

blueyedevil

Well, trying to quantify what each bullet is gonna cost you is rather difficult to do, simply because the cost of the components alone isn't close to what you have invested.

The more you shoot and the more expensive the ammo is your loading for will generally mean more of a value gained.

Some things your forgetting: 1) Primers 2)initial investment in equipment and 3) Time (if you value your time and labor as anything).

With most pistols your not going to be experiencing much of an accuracy improvement as you would with rifles. And generally you're just gonna be reloading light target ammo for practice.

with auto pistol, powder goes a long way, light target loads will be 6-7 grains of unique or similar powder (1pound=7000 grains~1000rds).

Your brass will have different service life depending on the gun your shooting it with, how hot the loads you're firing are, the quality of the brass itself and finally how good you are at reloading and not overworking your brass. So if you figure you're getting an average of 5 reloads per brass you can figure that you're only spending 1/5 of the original investment in brass per round. However you don't truly recoup that untill you've actually reloaded a whole lot.

But, auto pistol brass is pretty easy to come by, you can usually scavenge all the brass you'll ever need from your local pistol range.

The real question is, how much ammo will you have to reload to recoup the money invested in your initial equipment. And to be honest most people never will. But the good news is, it can be a rather enjoyable hobby, and it usually makes you a better shooter. The bad news is, if you get hooked on it and are already hooked on the firearm side of it, it can lead to a whole lot of money being tied up in your reloading/safe room.

P95Carry

Mixed bag! It will take quite some time to recoup your investment and be in profit but as has been mentioned, overall you will feel an extra freedom to shoot more!

Scavenging brass should not be too difficult and with target loads brass will reload many times. IMO tho it is worth it - partly because you are in control of your loads which with rifle is more than useful and the other thing - if you have a good stock of consumables then in a time of shortage, or even if your pocket book is rather thin - you can still load up

It's a long term proposition IMO - but well worth it.

__________________
Chris - P95
NRA Certified Instructor & NRA Life Member.

"To own a gun and assume that you are armed
is like owning a piano and assuming that you are a musician!."

If a BG dies as the result of pointing a gun at me, then he has merely succumbed to an occupational hazard of being a thug

Chuck R.

Switch to cast bullets and buy in bulk.

I load .45ACP for .09 a round.

200 SWCs $116 per 2000 delivered

Primers 5000 for $118.0

8lbs 231 powder for $115.00

Brass while a cost, really lasts as long as you don't over do it on the pressures and belling/crimp. I've got .45ACP brass that I've loaded countless times. After that initial purchase, the cost of your reloads drops considerably.

Chuck

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Miggy

And that is why I love reloading 9mm.....

I pick plenty brass from any range because everybody says the same thing. I think I have close to 10K in cases at home.

Brass being free means I only spend $88 per 1,000 rounds ($60 on Rainier 124 FNP bullets, $20 for 1K primers (group buy with club members) and bit more than half a pound of titegrup $8. I don't buy powder or primers online saving me the cost of Hazmat and Transpo). The cheapest I have seen is 9mm Wolf at $169 w/ delivery.

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GunFreeZone.net

Geezer

I agree with the others - it will take time to recoup your investment, but reloading is so much fun and rewarding, the cost per round, to me, in not important. Also, there may/will be a time when ammo will be taxed to the point that it won't be affordable. As for components, you can Dillon-out a hefty chunk of change for the best, or get good ol RCBS equipment on ebay for very cheap prices. Reloading adds a lot of pleasure to the hobby.

rescueswimmer

Wow you guys were fast on that one. I under stand the ROI will not be seen for many many years but I would like to start shooting more and This seems to be the best way to stock pile some good range ammo and a good old stock pile. Thanks again for the info. I saw the rainer and was not sure about them, but it appears you guys use them.

Last question any good links to reload supplies, ie primers ect.
Can you guys recomend a good clean burning powder.

Thanks again.