12 cents to pull the trigger . . .

[armoredman]

Seamus, I have a gunsmith buddy who loads a caliber so obscure we don't what it's called, but it uses a 38SW case with a .34 caliber cast lead bullet he has to hammer through a home made sizing die, then load with the Holy Black, as the gun is something like 100 years old. He also reloads 22LR with home cast bullets, powder coated. I thought THAT was really stepping out...but they work, most of the time.

 

[reddog81]

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

Under a nickle? You must have bought your supplies 30+ years ago or are getting stuff for free. Most load data shows around 15 grains of powder which is around $.05 right there. Primers are about $.03 and bullets are going to be around .02. That's only $.10 each round, but it's still 2 nickles. I cast my own and can reload light .30-06 for about $.10.

 

[reddog81]

IMO time has to be considered. Maybe it's insignificant for some, but to others time has value.

If your knocking out 100 9mm rounds per hour on a single stage press to save $6 you'd be better off going out and mowing yards around your neighborhood and buying ammo. It takes $500 to $1,000 investment to get a decent progressive press and all the necessities to bring the time down. At a savings of $3 per box of 9mm it's going to take a lot of reloading 9mm to see any savings. Factor in any reasonable value on your time and you'll never see any "savings". I reload 9mm because I want to, not because i'm saving money.

If I had kids or even another time consuming hobby it would be hard to devote a couple hours per week to casting and reloading like I do today.

 

[FrankenMauser]

If the cheap loads ever get boring, you can get into wildcats.
Complicate matters with obscure or expensive brass and an uncommon bullet diameter, and it gets interesting.

Even though it shouldn't be that way, I am almost always thinking about the cost of the particular load being used, every time I pull the trigger on the .475 Tremor:
"Two bucks."
"Two bucks."
"Dollar-fifty."
"Dollar-fifty."

Even with 'cheap' handloads, it's as expensive as shooting mid-range factory ammo for a centerfire rifle.

...And that's not even factoring the cost of the dies or the barrel.

No, I'm not complaining. It's just something I'm aware of when I shoot the rifle.
Because if factory ammo was available, it would be like the 'high end' .458 SOCOM loads, at $100+ per box of twenty.

 

[Geezerbiker]

Can you tell me what 2 gains of Red Dot cost? That's how much I put behind an 86 grain cast bullet in my .300 blackout. I got the lead for free so I suppose if I had to pay for it, I would be closer to a dime a round rather than a nickel...

Tony

 

[briandg]

I really believe that this is a dying art. Every year, the number of enthusiastic shooters gets smaller, and there are more distractions. There are so many people who feel that ten bucks a box for ammo that will be used in a five minute burst is just fine. Spending over a thousand on a quality press and kit isn't an easy decision to make, and almost everyone lives for NOW. These days the largest selling calibers are, no surprise, .223, 7.62 39, and nine mm. As it stands right now, it would take decades for a good press and kit to pay for itself.

The average person in America will sit on his can at Facebook for an entire day, but can't even think about spending a few hours at the bench, or checkering a stock.

 

[armoredman]

reddog, last time I worked it out I'm doing 9mm for something like $2.50 per 50 rounds or so. I haven't seen 9mm for sale that cheap in many years. But like you say, I do it because I want to, and because when nobody else can BUY ammo I'm still at the range. In '08 during the ammo panic, I had the WHOLE place to myself a lot. I buy in bulk and get good deals from people who have what I need, and keep costs waaaay down. I also use a single stage press that was a gift many years ago, no need to upgrade to a super expensive setup for what I want. If I load 100 rounds in a sitting, I'm happy. I killed some time productively, had fun, and now have more ammo. As for lawn mowing...this is AZ; only lawns around here are on putting greens.

 

[Don P]

Using coated lead bullets it is costing me .10 per 9mm round

 

[briandg]

I think that when discussing the actual costs of reloading it's ridiculous to drag in the free bullet argument. The actual poundage of bullets cast by individuals is absolutely insignificant.

Primer, powder charge and bullet are the actual costs paid by all but a small number of people. Most of the people here would also choose not to use two grains of red dot into an oversized case under an 86 grain bullet.

I just loaded up a box of .38 wadcutters using 2.6 grains of accurate 2. I don't know how you get that to work safely and properly. I don't really need to or want to know.

 

[Geezerbiker]

The case on a .300 Blackout is only a tiny bit more than a .38 special. A friend choreographed the load to 760 FPS...

Ever read the Ed Harris notes on low powered rifle loads with Red Dot?

Tony

 

[briandg]

The case isn't what matters, it's the amount of space in the burn chamber. Red dot and aa 2 are equal in these properties. I just loaded 148 grain wad cutters with 2.6 and 158 swc with a bit over three.

Unless you load very deeply your burn chamber will be significantly larger you bullets about half the weight, and your powder charge will be a bit more than half.

Ed Harris? Why would you ask that? With all if the written material available to me, I can see no reason to do so.

If someone told you that it was okay, fine, you'll do what you want to anyway. Myself, it sounds like that will eventually stick a round, and may pile up a dozen or more before you realize it.

 

[reddog81]

I think that when discussing the actual costs of reloading it's ridiculous to drag in the free bullet argument.

I just received 50+ lbs of lead and a couple pounds red dot and blue dot from the 1970's. A friends dad has been sitting on it for years and wasn't sure what to do with it. I've got some old primers that were given to my for free a couple of years ago. I might as well start a post about how reloading is free...

 

[briandg]

When I was a kid I did all of my reloading for free. My dad bought the equipment and supplies, and shot the shells. So, it's possible. I did a butt load of reloading for free.

 

[armoredman]

..so, you gonna use all that lead??

 

[armoredman]

I think that when discussing the actual costs of reloading it's ridiculous to drag in the free bullet argument. The actual poundage of bullets cast by individuals is absolutely insignificant.

If we want to go with costing out including FREE stuff, I will mention that my powder was a Christmas gift, my press was a gift, my mold was a birthday present, a friend gave me 4000 primers as a present for helping fix her house, and a buddy who scores lead every so often usually brings me a few pounds here and there just to make sure I don't run out. So if you wanna get ridiculous, I am RIGHT NOW loading 9mm for the cost of the electricity to run the lead pot and the toaster oven. So, figure 150 - 200 rounds for $.25? Yes, a quarter. Obviously that is a VERY strange connection of some wonderful people who know my favorite hobbies, and unlikely to happen to many folks, nor is it likely to happen like that again for me either, but for right now it's the happy truth. The cost I mentioned was with buying everything myself.

BTW, the insignificant people take up a lot of room over at castboolits.gunloads.com.

 

[briandg]

If you collect some extra brass as you shoot, stockpile it, you can get almost two bucks a pound. Sweep up a few pounds as you are out there shooting up all that free ammo, and by george, you are being PAID to shoot.

 

[briandg]

I dumped over forty pounds of lead that my doofus brother in law gave me. Yep, it took two trips from the truck to carry all that stuff to the barn.

Why did I do that? he was doing toxic waste remediation at an old industrial site, and it was all battery plates.

Right, i'm going to melt down mystery metal from a factory that made military and aerospace work. Who knows what they had laced that lead with? It was an eagle picher plant, and they honestly made batteries used in the moon launches, cruise missiles, even minutemen. They may have even used leftover Pu 239!

I didn't even make any money. I donated it to the city recycling bin. I was afraid to drive that stuff past the geiger counters at the actual recycle center. Best to get that tar baby into someone else's hands.

 

[kmw1954]

So at this pace are we all going to have to cost out the square footage of the room we use? Prorate the heat and electricity from our house bill?

Sorry folks but this thread has really deteriorated.

 

[Old 454]

I too cast my own bullets.... i get all my lead free from old water services.
What i have to pay for is tin and linotype or superhard to alloy the lead.do i save money casting and reloading... yes i do... how much i never tryed to figure out.
I get all the once fired cases i need from the range and have 5 gallon buckets of diffrent caliber cases.
The fact is.. i love reloading and casting.
The fact i get satisfaction of reloading my own cartridges and probably making a better bullet then i can buy.
I use a dillon xl650 but started out with a lee loadmaster.
I got my dillon frim an estate sale at a really rediculous price as they just want to get rid of it and all the gun powder and primers dies etc. I was just floored when they said take it all for 250.00.

Do i like Lee Loadmaster.. no.. but with that being said i would never have gotten into reloading if it was not for Lee presses that was able to get at a resonable price.

So anyway i love to reload and cast and i have tought my two sons how to reload and cast now if they would help with the brass seperation .... lolol

 

[armoredman]

So at this pace are we all going to have to cost out the square footage of the room we use?

If you really wanted to save money, you would have rented out that room and used the money to by factory ammo!

Sorry couldn't help it.

If I need to buy lead, I have a Doe Run Secondary smelter about 15 miles from me, get certified bullet metal there, or cast up wheelweight ingots from the great guys at castboolits.gunloads.com. Last time I bought there it was about $1 a pound plus shipping. However, my best friend commented today that with all the ammo she shoots that I make, (as she emptied another 15 rounds down the tube of my CZ P-10C), she was going to have to buy me another 25 pound string over at the smelter...

The fact is.. i love reloading and casting.

*mic drop*