Shooting isn't the only hobby where the extra distribution and middlemen involved make it cheaper to buy some stuff ready made. I remember when Heathkit TV's got more expensive than off-the-shelf TV's, and wondered how they were staying in business (ultimately, they didn't). In shooting, it was shotgun shells that first became as expensive to reload as the bargain bulk shell purchases are to buy.
The commercial ammunition maker buys his powder and primers and bullets direct from their factories. He doesn't pay for it to be trucked to the national distributor, who makes a margin, and trucked from him to the regional distributors, who make a margin, and trucked from them to the retailers who make a margin. He just pays the factory's margin and gets it all in bulk and doesn't pay to have it neatly packaged into small containers (another big expense and shipping space hog). His powder is bulk grade, which he does need a pressure gun to evaluate, but thereby avoids the cost of having the powder blended to control the burn rate to fit recipes in books. Plus, he buys very large quantities. Economy of scale.
The handloader can minimize cost with purchasing larger quantities as well. I almost never buy fewer than 5,000 primers at a time, fewer than 1000 pieces of new brass, less than 8 lb's powder or fewer than 2000 bullets. The only exceptions are smaller quantities to try out. The best buys I've been part of in the past have been group factory buys of components: a pallet of primers, 50K of the same match bullet, etc. Then prices looked very much more favorable. The trick is getting the group to agree on what to buy before you buy it. 50K is a sort of magic number. It's the minimum that Starline wants, for example, to put a custom headstamp on brass. But if you can find 25 club members each willing to buy 2K, you can cut a better deal.
Your observation about the relative cost of rifle bullets is interesting. I will mention they are being fired in guns 5-10 times more precise than a handgun typically is. They have to hold up to higher acceleration, both linear and angular (rotational). But I suspect it is the precision element in forming the jackets that costs you more. Call Hornady or Sierra with your point about comparative costs and see what they say.
The commercial ammunition maker buys his powder and primers and bullets direct from their factories. He doesn't pay for it to be trucked to the national distributor, who makes a margin, and trucked from him to the regional distributors, who make a margin, and trucked from them to the retailers who make a margin. He just pays the factory's margin and gets it all in bulk and doesn't pay to have it neatly packaged into small containers (another big expense and shipping space hog). His powder is bulk grade, which he does need a pressure gun to evaluate, but thereby avoids the cost of having the powder blended to control the burn rate to fit recipes in books. Plus, he buys very large quantities. Economy of scale.
The handloader can minimize cost with purchasing larger quantities as well. I almost never buy fewer than 5,000 primers at a time, fewer than 1000 pieces of new brass, less than 8 lb's powder or fewer than 2000 bullets. The only exceptions are smaller quantities to try out. The best buys I've been part of in the past have been group factory buys of components: a pallet of primers, 50K of the same match bullet, etc. Then prices looked very much more favorable. The trick is getting the group to agree on what to buy before you buy it. 50K is a sort of magic number. It's the minimum that Starline wants, for example, to put a custom headstamp on brass. But if you can find 25 club members each willing to buy 2K, you can cut a better deal.
Your observation about the relative cost of rifle bullets is interesting. I will mention they are being fired in guns 5-10 times more precise than a handgun typically is. They have to hold up to higher acceleration, both linear and angular (rotational). But I suspect it is the precision element in forming the jackets that costs you more. Call Hornady or Sierra with your point about comparative costs and see what they say.
