223/5.56 reloading value?

[joshh]

i have an old press and some reloading equipment that i inherited, and have been considering if i should dust it off. the only rifle rounds i go through a good amount of is 5.56/223. i can get steel cased 223/5.56 wolf ammo for about $200/1000rounds shipped. this works out to $.20/round. at current prices, would it be worthwhile to reload?

 

[EddieCoyle]

i have an old press and some reloading equipment that i inherited, and have been considering if i should dust it off. the only rifle rounds i go through a good amount of is 5.56/223. i can get steel cased 223/5.56 wolf ammo for about $200/1000rounds shipped. this works out to $.20/round. at current prices, would it be worthwhile to reload?

Not if you're happy with the steel-cased stuff you're buying and you value your time.

 

[DukeInFlorida]

What E/C is saying is that if you put a zero $$$ per hour rate on your time (think of it as a hobby), then all you have is materials:
3 cents for a primer (max)
3 cents worth of powder
8 cents for a bullet (max)

You're up to 14 cents a round. That's a 25% savings over your crappy steel prices.

You'd end up with much better ammo to shoot.

Makes sense to MOST of us.

 

[joshh]

What E/C is saying is that if you put a zero $$$ per hour rate on your time (think of it as a hobby), then all you have is materials:
3 cents for a primer (max)
3 cents worth of powder
8 cents for a bullet (max)
You're up to 14 cents a round. That's a 25% savings over your crappy steel prices.
You'd end up with much better ammo to shoot.
Makes sense to MOST of us.

thank you. those are the #'s i was looking for. for that, its worth it. i understand the steel cased stuff isnt the highest quality but for general shooting it seems ok. for anything competitive or long range i would def use better ammo. my next ammo order will be brass cased so i can start piling up the shells. i recently started saving my 9mm shells too.

 

[drgrant]

I have to agree with EC. Rifle ammo is huge time sink even if you have the right gear to do it. Pistol ammo is like a fraction of what rifle cartridges take
to churn out. The brass sometimes doesn't last as long, either. (For example, with some FC cases they wont hold primers after a couple of
firings, and that brass essentially is scrap from that point onward). So the loss/churn rate on brass is a lot higher than it is with most handgun
cartridges.

The biggest upshot of rolling your own rifle ammo is you can tailor it to the gun to make it way more accurate than most of the cheap steel cased garbage.

-Mike

 

[EddieCoyle]

Duke's numbers look pretty good, but I think he's a couple of cents low on the powder, may a little high on the primers.

It cost me about $150 per $1000 to make my own (including the amortized cost of the good once-fired brass that I bought up front).

The first time through the brass, it takes me about 10 hours to make 1000 rounds (including trimming and removing the primer crimp). After that it's about 5 hours per 1000 rounds.

If you're using a single stage press and hand-operated trimmer, figure about 40 hours per 1K rounds.

 

[DukeInFlorida]

So, even using E/C's number of 15 cents each (versus my 14 cents each), it's still there in terms of economy.
It's certainly there in terms of quality. (Comparing reloads to your cheap steel stuff).

Now, you can buy pretty decent match grade stuff, but then there's not even a question about the economics. Reloads will be virtually just as good, if not a bit better (depends on your skill level and tools)

Reloading is a hobby like lots of other hobbies. Some people are too busy to have any hobbies. Others take pride in woodworking, or metal working, or gardening. Lots of us take great pride in the ammunition that we create. Some of us take it to great extremes, including casting bullets, swaging bullets, etc.....

I enjoy the reloading as much as I enjoy the shooting. And, I enjoy the shooting a LOT!

 

[Slowdive]

I enjoy the reloading as much as I enjoy the shooting. And, I enjoy the shooting a LOT!

Most re-loaders will tell you its worth it, and as has been stated you can make better ammo for less money. That said most that reload like reloading for it's own sake, myself included. If your only justification is to save 5 cents a round may not be enough for it to be worthwhile for you. If you don't find it interesting and you don't have the time it might just feel like work. Try it and see if its something you like.

 

[mac1911]

If you have time that you can use reloading like me.
I have 3 kids wife, works nights, im pretty much done with house duties by 10pm I stay up till 12 on most nights anyway so I have about 10hrs a week to reload.
I decided to reload
1. Was tired of looking around for ammo to purchase by the 1k or more boxes( price was secoundary)
2. I cant get amm shipped to me
3. Although I shoot a lot of wolf ammo through my AR its for plinking range fun.
4. I reload for 30-06 and come in at 30ish cents per round,
My 5.56 loads run .16 ea I have a single stage press for now, its slow but I am in no rush....it will be a few weeks before I gwt to ther rangew again anyway....wait Im going to do a flyby tomorrow to test run a newly stocked 1903a3 and some new rounds....quick session on the fly on the way home from work.

In a nut shell if you shoot a lot and can get over time or some other means to cover your cost think about that. There is no OT at my job and a 2nd job is out of the equation. I still spend about as much on ammo now as I did before reloading BUT I can shoot 2 times as much, generally