.223 ammo cost?

I started reloading because of higher caliber ammo (.270, .308, and 30-06). I received a Hornady Starter Kit ($249 on sale) and each die set was $35 or so. Hornady has a promotion for free bullets (500 for the kit and 100 each for each die). Only cost for that was shipping, total for free bullets was $50. I spent another $200 dollars on accesorries (primer, tumbler, trimmer and case prep). Each powder was about $25 at LGS (Each pound can make about 100 large caliber ammo). So far my cost was $804. The results were 400 rds of .308, 200 rds of .270 and 200 rds of 30-06. So roughly it cost me $1 per round which is about street value for those caliber.

But now I have all this reloading equipment that has paid for itself so when I decided to reload .223 at $25 for a lb of powder (each can can load rought 250 cases) and $50 for 500 bullets (Hornady 55 gr FMJ), brass is free (well at least the ones I collected , the ones I shot and the ones someone left at the range) and $20 for primers. The die again is $35 (I got 100 free bullets again) and for good measures I bought an extra powder measure insert $20. So my cost for 500 rds of .223 ammo is $175. It does not seem like much of a deal since I can buy 500 rds of XM193 for $153.

So where does all the savings come from? Well I keep reloading. I buy 500 more bullets ($50) and two more lbs of powder ($50) and primer ($20). $120 for 500 rds. Not bad. I do this a few more times and maybe its not such a bad deal after all.

I go through on average about 250 rounds with my AR per trip to the range. I go to the range at least twice a month. That's roughly 6000 rounds in a year. I think I see the savings of reloading!

Well what about the time spent reloading. Have I figured out how much that cost? It's my hobby so it does not cost me anything. That would be like saying it cost me $30 to ride my bike for an hour.

While not everyone has the same experience or cost with their reloading, I have to say, it works for me. My reloads also outshoot bulk ammo (less than 1 MOA). If you only shoot about 500 a year with your AR, it's probably not economical for you to reload. So not saying its the best option, but it is a good one.
 
I am lucky to be able to buy American Eagle 55gr .223 Rem at a local department store for between $28 and $32 per 100, depending on whether it is on sale. This is the cheapest I've found when you figure in the hefty shipping and handling costs from all the "cheap" online sources.
 
There is a gun store down in Richmond,Ky where my dad lives that does mil surplus .223/5.56 for around $125 per 500 in a metal ammo can. It seems to be good stuff and I can get 1" groups at 400yrds with it. Fortunatly for me I have bought alot and so has my father where we now get dealer cost on it. I am still going to start reloading though, i've got enough brass, just need the other supplies.
 
1 inch groups at 400 yards? About 0.25 MOA? That takes precision reloads and a $3K+++ bench rest rifle. Mighty fine shooting!
 
There's so much cheap ammo now available in .223......3-5$ a box. I would do that to get you out shooting, the reloading can come later if you so wish.

some of the cheap stuff actually groups well enough to provide satisfaction, you just try a bunch of different kinds....i think if thats a chore to someone then shooting may not be a fulfilling endeavor.

Now some of my favorite hunting ammo can be quite expensive, which makes me wanna start reloading my own hunting ammo.

But I think most of us wish to get you out shooting first and foremost.

.223 is an excellent caliber for fun, hunting and whatever you wish.
its not the most desirable caliber for some things, but it's definitley, economical and performs good enough to cover a lot of uses.

I know that you can kill a pig and a raccoon in the same day
with the same rifle....you can say the same for .308 but it won't be pretty.
 
I'm still thinking about what Gerhard said about buying cheap ammo versus reloading. The reason I started reloading in the first place was that I was paying about $1 a round for 270, and paying way too much (in my view at that time, which was 30ish years ago) for pistol ammo. If we load for a 223, maybe surplus imported ammo is competitive, but have you looked at the cost of a box of Weatherby ammo? And if you shoot a pistol a bunch, and buy ammo, that can run up some serious bills. I can load lead wadcutters over a small lump of Unique, and we're talking somewhere around 5 to 7 cents a round. And so maybe it's really 10 cents, but that's cheap. I got the cases off the ground at the range, so no cost there. If you don't shoot much, reloading won't pay for itself. If you do shoot a bunch, you can pay for reloading gear pretty quick. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir for most of you guys, but reloading is the way to go, particularly if you want to shoot groups you can brag about. And somebody is now going to say that "if you reload, you'll shoot a lot more". Well...that is what we do with all these rifles and pistols, isn't it? As Troy Landry might say, we "Choot em". I'm loading for my 260 today and tomorrow, and Chooting it.
 
My cost to reload "premium" hunting ammo is $7 per 20.

Cheap plinking reloads are $4 per 20.

I can occasionally find factory ammo (usually Herters or other steel cased Com-Bloc stoff) for about the same price.

And yeah, 7.62X54R can be pretty close or less than that. Add in a $95 Noisy Magnet rifle, and that's about the beast value in firearms.
 
Talking about "low-cost" ammo ....... what are you guys' experiences with steel-cased Russian ammo?I've bought/shot only .223 in rifle ammo, and found it to be very inconsistent accuracywise,and it leaves an extraordinary amount of powder residue in my DI AR-15.
 
From what I've seen, it's good for plinking but if accuracy and tight groups are what you're looking for, look elsewhere. My LaRue will run it with no problems, but it looks more like a pattern than a group. My Winchester 70 seems to hate it as well.
 
There is a gun store down in Richmond,Ky where my dad lives that does mil surplus .223/5.56 for around $125 per 500 in a metal ammo can. It seems to be good stuff and I can get 1" groups at 400yrds with it.
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You are talking about a 1/4" MOA setup (rifle and ammo) and on top of that, military surplus ammo? Sorry, can't believe that one.
 
what are you guys' experiences with steel-cased Russian ammo?
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I shoot LOTS of russian steel case ammo in my four AR's. I have had very good luck with Brown Bear, Silver Bear and WPA ammo. As a matter of fact, I just bought 2K rounds of WPA ammo to keep me shooting all summer long.

Brown Bear and WPA will shoot 3-3.5" groups @ 100 yards all day long with any of my AR's. This is the same accuracy as I got out of Federal or American Eagle XM193 or PMC .223 ammo for 2/3 the cost of brass case ammo. Where I really see the limitations of russian ammo ammo is out at the 300 yards mark. The groups REALLY open up and that's where high quality reloads would start to shine in my opinion. For less than 200 yard range plinking, I will stick to my $.18/round WPA ammo.
 
don't want to thread highjack.

I guess I should have put that I only did it twice.I understand that most people that do this on a regular basis spend more in a firearm than I make in a year. I was given the chance to shoot on a 400 yard range after an appleseed that i did. I shot two 1"groups of 3 rounds. I only shot it twice and it was probably luck. I was just saying that I was impressed using mil surplus ammo. For the money, until I reload, I will be sticking with this for all shooting aspects. I'm not a competing in any events, the farthest i usually shoot is 100-150 yards. So in regards to this thread about cheap ammo, I believe that mil surplus is a good way to go if you can find a good deal and don't have the means to reload.
 
There is a gun store down in Richmond,Ky where my dad lives that does mil surplus .223/5.56 for around $125 per 500 in a metal ammo can. It seems to be good stuff and I can get 1" groups at 400yrds with it.
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That sound like a load of, well.

1 inch groups at 400 yards? About 0.25 MOA? That takes precision reloads and a $3K+++ bench rest rifle. Mighty fine shooting!
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+1 on the percision ammo and no off the shelf rifle is going to do that.

Maybe a one shot group. I've been shooting .223/5.56 for a lot of years and a lot of rounds down range and the best 400 yard groups I have seen were around 3 inches and they were not shot by me.
 
Talking about "low-cost" ammo ....... what are you guys' experiences with steel-cased Russian ammo?I've bought/shot only .223 in rifle ammo, and found it to be very inconsistent accuracywise,and it leaves an extraordinary amount of powder residue in my DI AR-15.
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That's exactly my experience. Inaccurate and dirty.

ETA: Also stinky. Harsh ammonia smell. Makes me wonder what kind of powder they use...
 
I average about $329/1000 delivered when shooting .223 surplus. While I shoot my .223s and .308s quite a bit I still own several .22LRs. That makes my shooting cheaper yet. Nothing wrong with owning both a .223 and a .22LR now is there? I go through 100-200 rounds per range visit with the centerfire rifles depending on how much time I have. I go to the range at least once a week if not twice depending on the weather and my work schedule.
 
I don't reload for the cost savings. I reload because it helps me tailor the load to each rifle. I buy in bulk because I hate running out. I'm not sure how many 8 lb kegs of powder I have around but it's a few more than just a few. Last best guess is that I have 10k rounds of 223 brass. No point having that much brass if I don't have the rest of the stuff to make it go bang. You know, for the zombies and such.:cool:
 
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