Reloading: The Math

TonyDedo

TonyDedo

Joined
Jan 31, 2007
Messages
3,555
Likes
438
Feedback: 78 / 3 / 0
I was having an argument with a guy the other day about the value of reloading - his argument was that wage you could be paying yourself if you were doing something else negates the savings of reloading. So I decided to sit down and figure it out (this is what accountants do when they get bored):

Facts:

I anticipate a demand of 12,000 rounds of .45ACP per year.

My reloading costs are $0.10/round
Powder $15/lb* $0.015/round
Primer $50/5000 $0.01/round
Bullets $75/1000 $0.075/round
Brass free**
$0.10/round

*1lb of powder is 7000 grains, at 6 grains/round that’s 1000 rounds plus 167 grains of spillage
**this assumes I can pick up 12k rounds of brass per year, which is questionable

So my direct costs are $0.10/round * 12,000 rounds = $1200

With my reloading press (Dillon XL 650) I can comfortably reload 500 rounds/hour. So that means I must reload for 24 hours to produce my annual consumption of ammunition.

Let’s assume I make $25/hours (it’s more than that, but let’s stick with a nice round number).

So my opportunity cost (the dollars that I could be making elsewhere if I wasn’t reloading) is $25/hour * 24 hours = $600

So my total cost reloading 12k rounds of .45ACP is $1800/year, or $0.15/round. Not bad.

However, that’s ASSUMING that I can just spend the time I reload working instead. However, I reload on evenings and weekends when the office is closed. Furthermore, I am a salary employee, so I can’t choose to work more hours for more pay (again, not exactly true, but let’s run with it). So my opportunity cost model doesn’t work. However, what I CAN do is go down to Dicks/Target/big-box-store XYZ and get a night & weekend retail job making $12/hour (and that’s being generous).

So now my opportunity cost is $12/hour * 24 hours = $288.

And now my total cost of reloading 12k rounds is $1488, or $0.124/round.

My alternative is buying new or commercially reloaded ammo.

My best source for buying new .45ACP ammo is the Remington UMC, which can be found on sale at Dicks for $12/box of 50 (lets assume I drive to NH for my 12k purchase, and there’s no sales tax).

12,000/50 = 240 boxes * $12 = $2880, or $0.24/round. That’s TWICE the cost of reloading.

However, I have a good source for quality reloaded ammunition. I can buy 200gr lead SWC in .45ACP for 10.25/box (again, lets be nice and assume there’s no tax/shipping/etc). Now, I don’t shoot lead or SWC, but lets run with it for sh*ts and giggles.

12,000/50 = 240 boxes * $10.25 = $2460, or $0.205/round. The cheapest I can find, and still nearly a grand more per year.


So your lesson for the day, kids, is that is pays to reload. And don’t become an accountant.
 
It's not about the time, its about the hobby.

I find it amusing how some people are so quick to attach a "time value" to the process of reloading, yet those same people will spend countless hours in front of a television watching mindless shows along with multitudes of commercials or playing some child's video game.

Reloading provides exercise for the mind and body, teaches a science and helps enlarge one's ammo stock.

Any time spent reloading is time well spent.
 
A well thought out and comprehensive post Tony. I've posted similar, less detailed cost comparisons before with similar results. What is not mentioned here is the MUCH higher quality possible with reloads not to mention loads specifically tailored to a particular firearm.
 
The biggest reason I reload is to supply the nessecery rounds I need to keep myself proficient with my carry weapon. What good is it to carry a gun if you can't put the rounds where they belong. That being said. I also think reloading is a hobby, and how can you put a price tag on something you enjoy doing.

Kurt
 
As an ex-internal auditor and accountant, what about the capital cost?

Dillon 650 + dies + powder scale + tumbler, + media + whateverotherstuffyoubought.

Hint: It STILL pays to reload [wink]

12,000 rounds eh? 1,000 a month, or about 4-5 boxes a week, every week. Sounds like fun to me [smile]
 
dixidawg said:
As an ex-internal auditor and accountant, what about the capital cost?

Dillon 650 + dies + powder scale + tumbler, + media + whateverotherstuffyoubought.

Hint: It STILL pays to reload [wink]

12,000 rounds eh? 1,000 a month, or about 4-5 boxes a week, every week. Sounds like fun to me [smile]
Click to expand...

Right, I was thinking about that, but ran out of time. Initial investment was about $1000, give or take, so you'd want to depreciate it as machinery and equipment using straight line depreciation over 7 years. Thats about $143/year, so add that to the annual ammo cost.
 
Finalygotabeltfed said:
It's not about the time, its about the hobby.

I find it amusing how some people are so quick to attach a "time value" to the process of reloading, yet those same people will spend countless hours in front of a television watching mindless shows along with multitudes of commercials or playing some child's video game.

Reloading provides exercise for the mind and body, teaches a science and helps enlarge one's ammo stock.

Any time spent reloading is time well spent.
Click to expand...

+1

-Cuz
 
Finalygotabeltfed said:
It's not about the time, its about the hobby.

I find it amusing how some people are so quick to attach a "time value" to the process of reloading, yet those same people will spend countless hours in front of a television watching mindless shows along with multitudes of commercials or playing some child's video game.

Reloading provides exercise for the mind and body, teaches a science and helps enlarge one's ammo stock.

Any time spent reloading is time well spent.
Click to expand...

Well put.

My two cents worth:

TonyDedo figured it out for .45 ACP (good job by the way). The savings is much more significant if you load "exotic" calibers. I load .45 ACP, but in the last year I've also loaded at least 1000 rounds each of .500 S&W Magnum, .460 S&W Magnum, .30 Carbine, .44 Special, and 10mm.

The .44 Special and 10mm cost about the same to reload as .45 ACP, yet factory ammo is much more expensive. I reloaded very good .30 Carbine ammo for $0.10 per round vs. $0.20 for the cheapest crap you can buy. Using plated bullets and my own brass, I loaded .500 Magnum for $0.25 per round vs. $1.50 per round for factory ammo.

Once you reload, you have no need to fear any caliber.
 
Man! Where can you get primers for $10/1000? That would be a damn good price!

FWIW- I can't put a value on reloading... sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes not... but it gives me a good feeling of satisfaction.
 
I'm trying to find out whether it's still worthwhile to reload. A friend of mine told me that it'll cost me to over a $1000 to buy the set up to reload. Issat true? He also told me it'll be a fun hobby but in all honesty, I don't know how much time I have to reload. I can buy the ammo for $23-25 per hundred. If you can offer a better place to get a .40cal or .38SPC, I'd gladly learn about it. So long as it doesn't filth up my gun that is.
 
You can make your $800-$1000 start up cost (It's only that high if you go with a progressive press! But, it's much faster than a single stage) VERY quickly! Yes, it's worth it. With a dillon 650, you can crank out (conservatively) 500 rounds an hour. 15 minutes a day after work will net you 625 rounds a week at that rate. Using the midpoint of your factory ammo cost, you'd be spending approx $150 a week to stash away all that ammo at $.24 cents a round; you can reload those calibers for approx $.10 a round. It's silly not to get into reloading if you shoot a lot. Besides, you can develop your own loads... making your handmade ammo more accurate than the factory stuff. YMMV
 
I started to reload just after I became addicted to IPSC competition. You simply cannot feed your habit with factory ammo, its just too expensive.

Whether or not it is cost effective depends upon how you do it. I buy everything in BULK and get together with my fellow shooters when my individual order isn't enough to rate the max discount. My next order for powder and primers will go about $800, and will keep me shooting for about a year.

I have been shooting and competing for almost 30 years and know only one person who became a top competitor without reloading. He was sponsored by a major firearms manufacturer.
 
From a business point of view the labor cost is a real cost. Only problem is I don't do this as a business. If I was not reloading, I would be wasting the time somewhere else. reloading keeps me out of trouble so it offsets the labor cost 10 fold [wink]

BTW, if you could e mail me where you buy primers at 5000 for $50 I would appreciate it. I get good prices and mine are double that amount.
 
With the cost of my setup I figure it would be about 2 years or so before I make up for the upfront cost. This is fine by me as I find it interesting, relaxing, and fun all at the same time.
 
Round Gun Shooter said:
reloading keeps me out of trouble so it offsets the labor cost 10 fold [wink]

BTW, if you could e mail me where you buy primers at 5000 for $50 I would appreciate it. I get good prices and mine are double that amount.
Click to expand...

Gary- you used to get in trouble?!? ;o)

Hey... count me in on the primer deal too. For prices like that I would even switch to another brand than Federal and put heaver springs in my guns!
 
Start up costs can be less than $600. A Dillon 550B is $375, Scale $50, Bullets $25, Primer $25, Powder $25, Reloading Book $20, and the brass is free (mostly) for a total of $520 and these are conservative figures.

BTW if you haven't looking in a while Dillon has updated their website and it looks a lot better than it did before.
 
Lugnut said:
Man! Where can you get primers for $10/1000? That would be a damn good price!

FWIW- I can't put a value on reloading... sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes not... but it gives me a good feeling of satisfaction.
Click to expand...

Um, yeah... I think I mixed up my powder ($50 for 4lbs) and primer prices there. Primers should be $20/1000. Oops. Sorry to get your hopes up. My bad...
 
The costs on the primer are very low. $35 per K is almost the going price in this area. $70 per k of bullets is also low unless you are talking lead. Even lead is going for more than that lately. I figure about fifteen cents per round is closer to reality these days. 12K rounds ...about $1600 with no brass costs.
 
EddieCoyle said:
The .44 Special and 10mm cost about the same to reload as .45 ACP, yet factory ammo is much more expensive. I reloaded very good .30 Carbine ammo for $0.10 per round vs. $0.20 for the cheapest crap you can buy. Using plated bullets and my own brass, I loaded .500 Magnum for $0.25 per round vs. $1.50 per round for factory ammo.

Once you reload, you have no need to fear any caliber.
Click to expand...

+1.... the savings increase almost exponentially on any caliber
that's remotely exotic. And even on the ones that aren't, money
can still be saved.

-Mike
 
Lugnut said:
WOW- no that seems VERY HIGH. I've seen around $22-$25/1000 lately.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that seems anomalous to me too. I usually check out the
prices of primers for the hell of it, and worst I've seen so far is
$26/k for WLPP.

-Mike
 
sdavid said:
Start up costs can be less than $600. A Dillon 550B is $375, Scale $50, Bullets $25, Primer $25, Powder $25, Reloading Book $20, and the brass is free (mostly) for a total of $520 and these are conservative figures.

BTW if you haven't looking in a while Dillon has updated their website and it looks a lot better than it did before.
Click to expand...

You will also need a tumbler (I prefer the small Dillon) and a set of calipers, not to mention a bench. We are now approaching $700.

I would also like to know where primers can be had for such a geat price.
 
As interesting as the economics (and economies) of reloading may be, my advice to anyone who is considering reloading SIMPLY to save money is: Don't.

Approached with a hobbyist's concern for safety and precision, reloading is an entirely safe pastime. Approached otherwise, it can lead to some painful consequences.
 

Similar threads

reloading 8.15x46r
Replies
20
Views
305
Stee
S
show us your reloading room
Replies
3
Views
154
peterk123
P
Shotgun reloading classes
Replies
7
Views
244
EddieCoyle
EddieCoyle
12ga Reloading for hunting.
Replies
9
Views
299
DW357
DW357
Bullets to keep cost down on reloading 223?
Replies
18
Views
585
EddieCoyle
EddieCoyle
Back
Top Bottom