12 cents to pull the trigger . . .

I suppose if I became seriously wealthy I'd buy off the shelf and just spend my reloading time shooting!!! In the mean time when I reload for my 44 mag I'm saving serious coin and I save a decent amount for all the other calibers as well. And I enjoy the reloading time. Not in a rush. Take is slow be safe.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
I'm in the same ballpark; $5.65 per 50 rds of 9mm, or $11.30 per 100, so $113.00 per 1,000. The brand I used to buy cost about $180 per 1,000. I've rolled about 4,000 rds so far, so I've 'saved' about $268 in two years. Not a lot considering my time. However, I've rolled about 3,000 rds of .44 mag/special. Retail they run about $45/box, or $90 per 100. So $900/1000. My reload cost is about .22/rd, $22/100, $220/1,000. So I've 'saved' about $1,800 just on .44 mag/spl rds in the last three years.

Interestingly, for most handgun calibers (excluding magnums), my cost is right around half of retail. For example, .45 auto around here retails at about $21. It costs me about $10.60 to make the same box of 50. Same ratio for .40 S&W, .38 spl., etc.

Most of my reloads are for range practice or general plinking though, so I'm not using premium bullets/brass, which helps keep costs down.

For hunting cartridges my costs are about 65% of retail so I'm not really saving anything on those rounds. But for those rounds, I don't care about saving money as much as I'm concerned about getting as much performance as I possibly can. And they only account for about 20% of the total rounds I reload.

But my primary reason for reloading is that it gives me another option to occupy my time besides sitting in front of the idiot box for a couple hours. And at the end of a reloading session I've got a real finished product to use later. Which isn't true of most of the other things I might've been doing in the same amount of time.
 
Well I used to think I saved money and turned out better rounds.

Then I got to hunting and ran out of hand loads, bought facgtoyr. Dang, it shot as good as my hand loads and not as time consuming

Target shooting is another matter. I do a lot of that now (and no hunting) and the cost is not the issue exactly, its the cost of quality rounds and custom work.


No regrets but after 400+ for an annealed and $190 for a auto dispenser, thats going to take quite some time to amortize!

We don't talk about the 300 in trimmers now either.

On the other hand I hate to think what a pound of hunted meat cost (so I am saving money)
 
I may enjoy the reloading the most....If wealthy, I might just reload and pay others to shoot it
Click to expand...

There are some people, like you, who want to build a display for their hand loads that has a plaque detailing how uniform each round is, and how many careful hours were spent making it. :p

There isn't a single issue with that. If you love it, do it!

But I like to shoot my hand loads, so I will use any time saving technique I can provided it doesn't significantly affect accuracy.
I am not an IBR competitor, so 1/20" groups isn't going to happen in any of my rifles.

I have been slowly figuring out what matters, and what doesn't make much difference.

So far I have found,

Seating depth consistency matters a lot
Annealing for consistent bullet hold matters
Neck concentricity matters a lot
Consistent primer ignition matters a lot

Weighing each powder charge is a waste of time if the powder meters within 1-2 tenths out of a thrower.

Primer lot difference is mostly non-existent

And progressive presses will make 1/2 moa ammo in my comp. AR, no worse than my single stage made stuff but in 1/6 the time
 
I still don't understand why "time" keeps coming up in these cost considerations...??

To me....:
A. Loading is part of the gun hobby....even if the cost savings was a push, i would still reload. Yes time is valuable....but time spent on a hobby is really valuable !!

B. A good progressive press like dillon 650 with a case feeder...turns out 15 - 20 boxes an hour.....and i waste more time every week than that watching tv, i barely care about...if i had loading to do, I would do that instead. I'm retired....I have a lot of time...

C. Reloading is relaxing...and quiet time in my shop.../ it gets me out of my wife's hair, its fun.

D. I load and shoot about 25,000 rds a year...mostly 9mm...avg about $6 a box....so i don't really save money, i shoot twice as much ( avg 8 - 10 boxes a week of 9mm). So I will spend about 25 hrs a year, on my press, loading that 25,000 rds....or more or less 30 min a week...

For me --- and i think many loaders....time is not a factor...
 
I keep repeating that unless someone is paying you for your time to do it then your time is worth nothing. Are you paying yourself?
 
I keep repeating that unless someone is paying you for your time to do it then your time is worth nothing. Are you paying yourself?
Click to expand...

The "time" thing keeps coming up as people rightfully account for opportunity cost. People do pay me for my time. I have a career, and consult on the side at $250/hour. The logic is that I could theoretically do more hours of consulting if I did less reloading.

But, if you go a step further, and realize you are going to budget in a number of hours for leisure anyway, and each leisure hour provides at least as much utility as what you could make per hour getting paid working, then budgeting in your own time is a wash.
Furthermore, if you get more $$$ worth of utility from reloading than utility from spending the extra money you get from working more, then you are making the highest and best use of your time from a utility maximization standpoint.
In which case, your time value is (-$) and the cost per round is reduced due to a "satisfaction" factor adjustment.

So, in the end, it really depends on how much you enjoy reloading.

For me, the worst day I have ever had reloading is better than the best day I have ever had at work.
 
Yes you could work 80/100hrs per week if you so desired and your family/personal life would allow it. But how does that translate to someone paying you to load ammo? But if that is the case that time spent on hobbies has a monetary value then when will we be forced to pay income tax on that time?
 
To me, Reloading is a whole other hobby than shooting.

I like to make ammo at least as much as I like to shoot it. And I love my guns and my fishing and my hunting as well. People who reload tend to be of like mind which suits me just fine too.

;)

Happy reloading.
 
I have never tryed to figure cost out of loading my own loads out. I load every thing in hand guns from .380 to 454 casull and in rifle 5.56.. 308 amd 30-06 .. 303 enfield... 6.5x55 swed .. i can do 270 wichester and 300 weatherby but havent yet.

I do it be cause i like love it and i have taught my sons also to.

Cost has not been.a factor.. not because i am rich but i just enjoy the hell out of it and there is always something you can learn.

Now if you ask my wife... "damit ... what the hell you need now and whats that going to cost" lolol..... ahhh welll

I jyst sprang on her that i am getting a new Dillion super 1050 for rifle.

Gonna cost 3500.00 the way i want it... it was all picture and no sound for a week
 
There are shooters that are also " reloaders" - like me & a lot of you......and shooters that have no intetest in "reloading" - like some of my buddies that just do not enjoy it ( don't want the expense of equipment, live in high rise condos, are afraid of making a mistake & blowing up a gun, etc).....all of which is fine.

Its my opinion, that most of the guys that think, as loaders, we can't discuss cost of loading unless we factor in paying ourselves $100 an hour or something...are often folks that just look at shooting as some kind of utilitarian activity ...vs part of a satisfying hobby that might include reloading, gunsmithing, collecting guns...etc.

I feel sorry that those folks can't see the joy in reloading or many of the other parts of the hobby....over just shooting for utilitarian reasons..../. or at least recognize the joy we feel... / ...but reloading is not for everyone ! Equipment is not free...and it does take a level of attention to detail that some do not think is enjoyable .....

But I will continue to discuss cost of components ...without any cost factor for labor...in my reloading, doing my own gunsmithing, time I spend at gunshows, time I spend looking on internet for another special gun in my collection or amusing myself on gun forums..:)
 
Reloading is its own Zen game. While concentrating on powder measurements you can't worry about your upcoming knee surgery.

I don't care how cheap bulk ammo is, eight bucks is still enough savings to buy a six pack of stout.
 
I have a hobby, (casting), that feeds a hobby, (reloading), that feeds a hobby, (shooting), so time is a wash. Hobby time is hobby time. I know a guy who's hobby is building custom electric guitars, really nice looking stuff. He doesn't cost it out, but does it for fun, as well, hobby time is hobby time.
 
You don't know what real savings are until you reload black powder cartridges. They are very difficult to find "store bought" and if you do they are prohibitively expensive. And many of the old BP calibers I like to shoot can't even be purchased; if you don't make your own you don't shoot the gun. I do enjoy my time reloading but it's also pretty much a necessity when shooting holy black.
 
I too find bullet casting a reloading therapeutic time. I do it as much because I like to as to make shooting fun and more accurate. That said, I make .300 Blackout plinker loads for under a nickle a round.

Tony
 
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