.223 ammo cost?

Ok I ill cover it two ways. I just loaded 1,000 rounds. My equipment is so old that if I have to put a sur-charge on reloading then it is well under 1 cent a round.

My cost to load 1,000 223 - 55 gr FMJBT

1,000 Hornady bullets - $79 price delivered.

RL7 2 pounds - $50

Rem Primers 1,000 - $28

Brass - were all range pickup - free ( on third reload)

Thus I loaded 1,000 yesterday for $157

On Saturday I bought 300 steel case Tul Ammo brand rounds for $5.99 a box.
My total cost was $89.85. I bought the steel case for today when we shoot targets in the action range in the woods. It is harder to find your brass there.

Now It took me 2 hrs round trip to pick up the 300 rounds. It took me 2 1/2 hours to make 1,000 rounds.

Cost for 1,000 rounds

Reloaded - $157 my cost per 20 = $3.14
Bought Steel @ $5.99 per 20 = $299.50

So at the present time buying local my savings is $2.85 per box of 20.

Anytime I can get close to my reloading price point I do buy ammo rather than reload. Amount of 223 shot each year - approximately 3,000 rounds. There have been times in the past that it was cheaper to buy than reload.
 
1,000 Hornady bullets - $79 price delivered.

RL7 2 pounds - $50
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Where do you get 1000 Hornady bullets for that price? I'm paying to much for 500 at $49 plus shipping.:eek:

How many gr of RL7 powder do you use for each round? I use about 27.4 using BLC2 and 25.3 using H335. I can only squeeze out about 250-260 rds per lb of powder. :(
 
I got lucky and walked into a Local shop that had them in bulk and they were cheap. I may regret I didn't buy more. In addition I picked up new 40 S&W Winchester brass at $9.99 per hundred.

But if you look around you can find them cheap. Midway has a good price right now at around $89 for 1K. I think shipping for me is $12, so that would be $101 for 1K. That is a little cheaper than you are paying now.
 
I must have been thinking about something else. :D I use 20.1gr and that would be a little more than 2 lbs so my actual powder cost would be correct at $71. S

So 1K cost me $178. or $3.56 per 20 - sorry about that.
 
There is no doubt that with significant volume and investment of your focused time and labor, reloading will give you cheaper and actually better (albeit somewhat less reliable -- and please let's not argue this point) ammo. If you shoot a Weatherby Magnum ANYTHING it is sorta expected. But when you add in all the factors, I maintain it is never as inexpensive as people crow...

...just like everyone who goes to Las Vegas basically breaks-even. I just can't figure out how the casinos stay open!

As for 1" groups at 400 yards with surplus or overun ball ammo? There is some doubt. Are you sure you meant "inch," not "foot"!? That said, once is luck. Twice, if true, is a miracle -- call The Pope!
 
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Price doesn't really go down much if you reload -- people always leave out costs like the amortization of the equipment you keep buying, the time you spend, the Hazardous Goods shipping fees, shipping fees, taxes, the price of components TODAY vs. a decade ago. They almost ALWAYS seem to have a vested interest in underpricing the real cost -- it is like listening to fishing stories. Or gamblers! Ever meet one who wasn't always a little ahead of the game?

When components were impossible to get during The Great Obama Run on ammo, alot of folk STIIL argued centerfire ammo cost less to make than buying cheap rimfire ammo.
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This is totally wrong. Now, for my .243 Winchester, I buy my powder and primers locally and my bullets online so I don't have to pay hazmat fees. With tax I'm paying $24.40 for a lb of powder, I picked up primers last August on sale at a local shop for $28 with tax, and the last 1000 of primers I bought were at a gun show and were also $28. So $28 for primers seems to be pretty easy to find around here. Then the bullets have gone up in price since I last bought them, but they are now $25.57 +$10 shipping no matter how many boxes you order within reason. At least it's never been more than $10 for me. So lets say I buy 2 boxes. That comes out to $30.57 for the box of bullets, or I can get them locally for a similar price.

I load 40.3 grains of powder per round. So punching that into the handloads cost calculator, it shows me my reloads cost me $.474 per round. Or $9.48 per 20 rounds. The local gun shops is selling factory ammo with the same bullet for $29.99+tax, or I can get it a tad cheaper online and pay shipping which about equals out. Factoring in tax for the ammo at the store, I'm saving $22.01 for each box of ammo I reload. Now, I will agree I have quite a bit of money into my equipment. I have close to $500 into the equipment, but that's with dies for several calibers. You could also get set up for a lot cheaper. So essentially I have to load 23 boxes before I really start saving anything. When I probably shoot 23 boxes in 2 years if not faster. So for 2 years saying I just reload for that one caliber, I will have paid for my investment, and after that I will be saving on average $253.12 per year saying I shoot 23 boxes every 2 years. That's a pretty substantial savings in my opinion.

Then you have to factor in that the factory ammo shoots .8" groups where my handloads shoot .4-.5" groups.

You also have to figure in that while I don't save as much on average, I'm saving money from loading for other calibers too. On .223 it seems like loading Nosler ballistic tips will run about $6 a box or cheaper if you buy in bulk. Yes, you can buy cheap steel case ammo, or bulk fmj ammo for the same price if you buy in bulk, but then you will more than likely get 3" groups at best instead of the sub moa groups often achieved with the Noslers all while not paying any more. If you compare what it costs you to reload the Noslers compared to buying them in factory ammo, the cost savings once again is huge.

9mm is the same way. You can reload fmj's and save $3 a box or so over factory fmj ammo from Walmart. Not a huge savings, but it does help. Then you realize you can load premium ammo for $10.50 or $11 which is what it costs to buy the FMJ at Walmart. So you are essentially getting what's equivalent to the $30 a box ammo for $10-11.

Wanting premium ammo is where the huge savings are. With the cheap bulk ammo there is savings, but it's relatively small.

So, counting current prices, and counting what the equipment that will most likely last a lifetime costs, just loading one caliber and not counting the others I load for, some of which I save about as much, I will be saving quite a bit a year after the first two years.

In actuality with the other calibers I reload and the amount I shoot, the equipment has probably paid for itself in quite a bit less than a year.
 
@ Gehrhard - you'll never be convinced no matter what evidence is put in front of you. Keep buying your cheap ammo and let us reloaders pay the outrageous price for bullets, primers, powder and the upkeep of our equipment. :rolleyes: Safe shooting!
 
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