The Costs of Reloading
How I Shoot For Pennies
When I tell people that I make my own ammo I usually get one of two responses:
1. Wow, that sounds dangerous.
2. Wow, you must save a ton of money.
As for the first, anything is dangerous if you jump into it not knowing what you're doing, but with proper research you are quite safe. As for the second, it's a bit complicated and could be answered in two ways:
The short version: I may be able to make ammo for 1/7 of the price of factory, but I shoot seven times as much so it's a bit of a wash.
The long version:
I decided to reload when I saw that .45 ACP was $25 for a box of fifty rounds. If I wanted a hobby that wasted that much money I'd start buying scratch tickets. I needed another way to get cheaper ammo that was as good or better than factory (keep this in mind). So I did some research and bought the things needed to turn a pile of components into shootable ammo.
To make things easy here, I'm going to base this off of 1,000 rounds so things add up easier and to give you a feel for the benefits of both buying in bulk, and how cost is reduced over time.
To start, I bought the following:
Lyman 1200 Pro Sifter - $60
Lee Classic Turret Press - $100
Lee .45 ACP Dies - $40
Lee Scale - $20
*I bought a few other things but this is the bare minimum to get started short of a reloading book which I borrowed from someone else.
So it's a pretty hefty startup price ($220) but like anything, there's overhead. The cost of these is the equivalent of 440 rounds of ammo.
The next thing I needed were the components themselves.
1,000 brass .45 ACP Cases - $65
2/3 lb Titegroup powder - $15
1,000 Large Pistol Primers - $40
1,000 plated 230gr RN Bullets - $120
Total for first 1,000 rounds: $460 (The equivalent of buying 920 factory rounds).
I was lucky because reloading pistol didn't require case lube or anything so I was able to save a bit here and there to keep my costs down.
So the cost of my first 1,000 rounds was almost as much as factory ammo and I spent the equivalent of $23 on a box. It wasn't the dramatic savings that I was looking for but I knew there was overhead so the cost over time would improve.
So I decided to make 1,000 more. Luckily this time it was far cheaper the second time around.
1,000 brass .45 ACP Cases - $0 (I reused the ones I had)
2/3 lb Titegroup Powder - $15
1,000 Large Pistol Primers - $40
1,000 Plated 230gr RN Bullets - $120
Total for second 1,000 rounds: $175 (the equivalent of 350 factory rounds).
The cost of my second 1,000 rounds was MUCH cheaper than the first which made the cost equivalent to $8.75 a box.
But wait, there's more:
The place that I order my bullets from does a brass credit program. I collect brass that I don't use, send it in and they give me $2.50 credit per pound for my order. The only cost to me is the $16 shipping to send them the bullets. $16...for 1,000 bullets in exchange for about 50 lbs of brass (sure I may be able to sell for more, but this takes little effort).
Here's my current cost for loading 1,000 rounds:
1,000 brass .45 ACP Cases - $0
2/3 lb Titegroup Powder - $15
1,000 Large Pistol Primers - $40
1,000 Plated 230gr RN Bullets - $16
Current cost for for $1,000 rounds: $71 (the equivalent of 142 factory rounds).
This comes to $3.55 for a box of 50. Want to make it even cheaper? Collect range lead, cast it into bullets and cut out another $16. But primers by the case and save another $5 or so. Buy the powder in bulk and but a bit more out.
The average cost of my first 3,000 loads of .45 ACP: $11.76 a box.
So to those who are debating whether or not they want to drop $500 on reloading supplies and take on the hobby, I hope this helps and sheds some light on the real costs of reloading. Will it be more expensive for some calibers? Yes, rifle is more expensive, but not by much if you really shop around. Will it be cheaper for others? Maybe.
If this turns one person away from being a slave to factory ammo prices and opens them up to the world of reloading then writing this was worth my time.
--Anthony
How I Shoot For Pennies
When I tell people that I make my own ammo I usually get one of two responses:
1. Wow, that sounds dangerous.
2. Wow, you must save a ton of money.
As for the first, anything is dangerous if you jump into it not knowing what you're doing, but with proper research you are quite safe. As for the second, it's a bit complicated and could be answered in two ways:
The short version: I may be able to make ammo for 1/7 of the price of factory, but I shoot seven times as much so it's a bit of a wash.
The long version:
I decided to reload when I saw that .45 ACP was $25 for a box of fifty rounds. If I wanted a hobby that wasted that much money I'd start buying scratch tickets. I needed another way to get cheaper ammo that was as good or better than factory (keep this in mind). So I did some research and bought the things needed to turn a pile of components into shootable ammo.
To make things easy here, I'm going to base this off of 1,000 rounds so things add up easier and to give you a feel for the benefits of both buying in bulk, and how cost is reduced over time.
To start, I bought the following:
Lyman 1200 Pro Sifter - $60
Lee Classic Turret Press - $100
Lee .45 ACP Dies - $40
Lee Scale - $20
*I bought a few other things but this is the bare minimum to get started short of a reloading book which I borrowed from someone else.
So it's a pretty hefty startup price ($220) but like anything, there's overhead. The cost of these is the equivalent of 440 rounds of ammo.
The next thing I needed were the components themselves.
1,000 brass .45 ACP Cases - $65
2/3 lb Titegroup powder - $15
1,000 Large Pistol Primers - $40
1,000 plated 230gr RN Bullets - $120
Total for first 1,000 rounds: $460 (The equivalent of buying 920 factory rounds).
I was lucky because reloading pistol didn't require case lube or anything so I was able to save a bit here and there to keep my costs down.
So the cost of my first 1,000 rounds was almost as much as factory ammo and I spent the equivalent of $23 on a box. It wasn't the dramatic savings that I was looking for but I knew there was overhead so the cost over time would improve.
So I decided to make 1,000 more. Luckily this time it was far cheaper the second time around.
1,000 brass .45 ACP Cases - $0 (I reused the ones I had)
2/3 lb Titegroup Powder - $15
1,000 Large Pistol Primers - $40
1,000 Plated 230gr RN Bullets - $120
Total for second 1,000 rounds: $175 (the equivalent of 350 factory rounds).
The cost of my second 1,000 rounds was MUCH cheaper than the first which made the cost equivalent to $8.75 a box.
But wait, there's more:
The place that I order my bullets from does a brass credit program. I collect brass that I don't use, send it in and they give me $2.50 credit per pound for my order. The only cost to me is the $16 shipping to send them the bullets. $16...for 1,000 bullets in exchange for about 50 lbs of brass (sure I may be able to sell for more, but this takes little effort).
Here's my current cost for loading 1,000 rounds:
1,000 brass .45 ACP Cases - $0
2/3 lb Titegroup Powder - $15
1,000 Large Pistol Primers - $40
1,000 Plated 230gr RN Bullets - $16
Current cost for for $1,000 rounds: $71 (the equivalent of 142 factory rounds).
This comes to $3.55 for a box of 50. Want to make it even cheaper? Collect range lead, cast it into bullets and cut out another $16. But primers by the case and save another $5 or so. Buy the powder in bulk and but a bit more out.
The average cost of my first 3,000 loads of .45 ACP: $11.76 a box.
So to those who are debating whether or not they want to drop $500 on reloading supplies and take on the hobby, I hope this helps and sheds some light on the real costs of reloading. Will it be more expensive for some calibers? Yes, rifle is more expensive, but not by much if you really shop around. Will it be cheaper for others? Maybe.
If this turns one person away from being a slave to factory ammo prices and opens them up to the world of reloading then writing this was worth my time.
--Anthony
