for target loads is it cost effective?

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Ocraknife

New member
I'm not a competitive shooter neither am I a frequent hunter but I do like to plink and poke holes in paper. My centerfire chamberings of choice are 9mm, .40 and 10mm in that order heavily weighted toward 9mm due to cost.

Is it really cost effective for me to get into reloading if, at this point, I'm not looking to build the perfect round for me and just want a plinker?

I'm not saying I won't get into reloading if it isn't cost effective, I probably will at some point either way, I just may hold off a little while if it isn't.

Thanks!

Okra
 
Target shooting to me is precision shooting and handloading is the only way to go.
Casual plinking, if you like to spend the money and don't think you'll be shooting much after a few years, then buy factory ammo.
Personally, if you aren't interested in reloading, please don't even think about trying it. The purpose is NOT to save money but to shoot more and get better.
Once you have a spent case, you have about 50% of the cost of factory ammunition in your hands. Equipment you buy will last for decades, so your estate can sell it.
But, again, please don't think about reloading if your goal is only to save money.
 
Absolutely. I shoot idpa, my ammo isnt by any means match grade, but I use good quality components and my 9mm cost is half or less than cheap factory ammo. Granted you have the buy in cost but the long you reload the more you save.
 
Reloading is relaxing and the funny thing is once you start, you will take pride in being able to shoot your own rounds. Reloading is a hobby in itself and while we like to think we do it to be able to shoot, at some point you will start shooting just so you can reload. I don't know about others, but I take more pride in my reloading than my shooting, even though I am not a bad shot, pretty good actually. But to me reloading means more to me than going out to the range.

Sounds funny, but true.

Good luck and stay safe.
Jim
 
Target shooting to me is precision shooting and handloading is the only way to go.
Casual plinking, if you like to spend the money and don't think you'll be shooting much after a few years, then buy factory ammo.
Personally, if you aren't interested in reloading, please don't even think about trying it. The purpose is NOT to save money but to shoot more and get better.
Once you have a spent case, you have about 50% of the cost of factory ammunition in your hands. Equipment you buy will last for decades, so your estate can sell it.
But, again, please don't think about reloading if your goal is only to save money.
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That's kind of what I thought. I certainly do want to get better and I like the idea of learning the chemistry and physics behind shooting. If I felt I could come close to breaking even if reloading cost more money I'd still do it.
 
I have to agree. If you aren't really stoked about the IDEA of reloading, or have an inkling that you will really enjoy it based on other DIY type hobbies, I wouldn't encourage you to get into it. You can save money. I'm sure that I haven't, but I could have and probably will at some point. I just LOVE the concept of engineering loads to near perfection. I love tinkering with micrometers and studying powder characteristics vs bullet weights and seating depth and primer choice and amount of crimp and all sorts of other generally esoteric stuff. I love creating theories, loading up batches, and testing the theories on the range.
Not everyone is as easily amused as me. I like reloading as much as I like shooting. Lots of people I know have asked me about reloading - but I know that they wouldn't really enjoy it. I don't encourage them. I couldn't imagine sitting in the basement, creating ammo just because it was a little cheaper, but not loving the act of it. This is just my outlook. There are probably tons of high volume shooters who slog through reloading for strictly economic reasons. It may be an economic necessity for them to reload. I couldn't see that being very enjoyable.
 
I disagree a little. I was really looking to get into reloading but I bout a small estate of reloading gear, TONS of bullets and brass and a cheap little press, I thought what the heck, lets try it. I started reloading 9 and was hooked. As The fella above mentioned I kind of look forward tk reloading now mpre than I do shooting.
 
Chainsaw,

I'm sure there are many people who had a similar start and outcome as you. All I'm saying is that I personally won't encourage a person to make the investment unless they have a real interest in the concept of reloading itself. I know plenty of people with a reloading kit gathering dust because it just wasn't for them. I'm not trying to discourage people from reloading. I'm just saying that the person should do a bit of soul searching before hand and really question if it's the sort of activity that appeals to them. As you know, it's an entire hobby in itself.
 
Certainly right there. It can be a bit of investment depending on what a guy dexides to buy, like that blue brand, and how many times have we all purchased items/tools etc only to have it go nowhere! I think its just one of those things for me I really enjoy fmso I encourage others but your words should certainly be taken to note as well.
 
MY feeling on reloading has vacillated from "looking forward to it", to "this is a crashing bore", and back, several times over. One of the FIRST reasons I got into handloading was when my only "white-tail worthy" rifle was a Vz-24 Mauser in 8mm, and the only ammo available was the anemic Federal or Remington loadings (back then, European ammo was VERY expensive).

Learning to shoot larger-bore sidearms required a lot of range time with milder handloads, gradually increasing the ballistics over time.

The lower cost per round was not an initial incentive to reload, but over the years, I've saved a lotta money doing so.
 
There are a just too many variables to give a flat yes or no. Assuming you would reload primarily to save money rather than as a hobby in itself or to produce ammunition better suited to your needs, you have to decide at what point you will amortize the cost of your tools and components.

Can reloading become the main hobby? Of course it can. It has been said that some shooters reload so they can shoot; others shoot so they can reload.

Usually shooters reload not to save money on a fixed amount of ammunition, but in order to shoot more, so another factor is not how much you shoot now, but how much you would like to shoot if the cost were less.

If you now pay $.50 a round for 9mm, you can probably reload for $.25 a round or half the cost. But if your reloading tools cost $200, you will have to load 800 rounds before breaking even and that does not count your labor.

If 800 rounds is more than you shoot in ten years, reloading would probably be a waste of time. If you shoot than much in a month, reloading is probably for you.

Jim
 
Ocraknife, thanks for asking our advice.

I answer: Take enough money to buy two years worth of ammunition. One box of 50 each weekend (and allowing for missing a few outings makes 40 boxes or 2,000 rounds)

You could vey likely buy a press and that many bullets, primers and enough powder for them all. (If you are careful, you can get 10 firings out of each cartridge case.

for example. 2,000 bullets, 200 brass casings, 2,000 primers, 3 lbs of powder plus the cost of your hardware. You have maybe $1,000. That same $1,000 will buy those same 2,000 rounds over the counter. There's your break-even point (ignoring your own time). Don't shop for these figures, I just pulled them out of thin air.

Your mileage may vary. 500 S&W Magnums cost about $2.25 per round. Components are about $0.75. For 9mm or 45 ACP, it might hard to make a breakeven point. For .357 Mag, 44 Mag, 45 Colt, or almost any rifle round larger than .25 caliber it will be easy. Anyhow, there's your startup cost conquered.

3) Room to do it? My first setup fit in a footlocker. Mount the press on a 30" 2x6 strapped to an end table. Scale on the coffee table. Dropcloth on the carpet. 50 rounds an hour while ignoring the television. Easy, two hours once a week and I was all set.

4) I really enjoy having the independence of not wondering if my retailer will have ammunition for me. I especially enjoy being able to load bullets to whatever power level I like. My friend's 500 Smith is a pussycat firing 350 grain bullets at 800 fps.

If you waqnt to count your time into the mix, check out this thread.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=663065

You are correct about learning more about your firearms. When you reload you pay attention to internal ballistics. The studying you do to work up loads pays benefits you can only try to imagine until you reload.

Lost Sheep
 
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Let's see here.
500 round nose 115gr 9mm x-treme bullets $39.29
http://www.xtremebullets.com/9mm-115-RN-p/xc9mm-115rn-b0500.htm

6.3 gr BE-86 smokeless powder 8lbs (currently unavailable) $131.99
http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/27126

CCI small pistol primers $26.50 per 1000
http://powdervalleyinc.com/

Save your brass, so we'll call that free.

Plug these numbers at http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

You'd be paying $.12 per round. A box of 50 would cost $6.

The cheapest, crappiest 9mm ammo can be found for $.17 per round, $8.50 for a box of 50, when it's in stock.
http://www.sgammo.com/product/wolf-...-steel-case-wolf-wpa-polyformance-or-military

Note that this ammo cannot be reloaded and is considered mediocre quality (at best).

You are saving at least 5 cents per round, and that is comparing your very good bullet against the bottom of the barrel bullet. So by reloading you are saving $2.50 for every box of 50, using ammo that you created, and shooting a higher quality cartridge than if you just bought 1000 rounds of Wolf ammo.
 
Assuming you would reload primarily to save money rather than as a hobby in itself or to produce ammunition better suited to your needs, you have to decide at what point you will amortize the cost of your tools and components.
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And, if you don't find handloading to be a hobby and craft in and of itself - something you enjoy doing - then you also have to factor in your time. Usually this juncture is the deciding factor.

Can reloading become the main hobby? Of course it can. It has been said that some shooters reload so they can shoot; others shoot so they can reload.
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Just yesterday, I had the urge to get out to the garage to load some ammo. Not because I need ammo. But because I enjoy loading ammunition. It has become a hobby and craft in and of itself to me (actually, it did over 30 years ago). Originally, I loaded so I could shoot. Soon thereafter, I found myself shooting so I could load. And that is the difference between those who continue to load their own, and those who find their equipment collecting dust.

Once loading becomes a hobby as something you enjoy doing, then you don't have to factor in your time into the cost of your hand crafted ammo.

And then there's also the fact that no handloader saves any money - they just shoot more ;)
 
One more thought, the equipment doesnt need to be expensive. Lee dies are just fine for most needs, natches has em for ~$28, add a lee press (the cheap little bench mounted one) for ~$30, a hand priming tool ~$40, and some means to measure power, lets say the lee perfect powder measure and you can see your cost can be pretty low for straight wall cases. When you start reloading rifle it gets a lottle more complicated but can be done cheap, youbstart to pay for convenience to save time.
 
Ocra, it really depends how many rounds you go thru a week, and how much time you have to load, and how much money you have to spend. In competition, it's usually 20 to 50 thousand rounds a year, depending on how many matches you get to. Most guys run the Dillon 650's and 1050's, with bullet and case feeders. These machines can easily crank 1,200 to 1,800 rounds and hour, but cost well over $2,000. Then you have bullets, primers, powder, once fired cases for most guys. The other end of the scale is maybe just a few hundred rounds year. So you get a used single stage press and dies from ebay, Lees are fine for that, and start saving all your brass, and maybe look into casting bullets. The rounds you make will certainly be more accurate than what you can buy. Keep in mind there is a price break buying bullets, primers, ad powder in volume. A couple of other things, digital scale ($20 ones are fine), calipers, tumbler and media. So lets say you have invested, $250 all up to start. Your first loaded costs $250, the 2nd cost $125, the 3rd cost $83, and so on. The equipment doesn't wear out. I've run over 400,000 rounds since I started back into competition after my back injury in 98 on my original 550 and a Square Deal I got as match product. Now primers and bullets used to be lots cheaper that today. We would buy 200K primers at a time for $7 a thousand, 400 pounds of bullets, for .45acp 230 gr cast lead, it was $17 per thousand. Once fired cases used to be $9 per thousand, and powder hasn't actually gone up so much, TiteGroup was $88 for 8lbs back in 98.

image37165.jpg
 
I find reloading is fun.

I can certainly understand some folk would think its a crashing bore, similar to washing dishes or ironing clothes.

If you're not immediately turned off by the repetitive nature of the job then I think you'd enjoy it.

You don't have to spend a ton of money to get into reloading. But ask around and spend enough to get good quality equipment.

P.S. 9x45. Thank you for posting the picture. I'm thinking about taking it over to my local public radio station and flashing it at the commentators to see how many will swoon and have a case of the vapors.
 
For pistol cartridge reloading, you can buy perfectly adequate reloading equipment for not a whole lot of money (LEE). The more you shoot the faster it'll amortize, but it'll pay for itself quicker than you might expect.
 
Dale, thanks for the compliment, but my setup is pretty much entry level. There are guys out there with several Dillon 1050s. They don't have a reloading bench, they have a "Shrine" to reloading..... WOW! If I had that kinda of $$$, no more reloading for me!

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For pistol cartridge reloading, you can buy perfectly adequate reloading equipment for not a whole lot of money (LEE). The more you shoot the faster it'll amortize, but it'll pay for itself quicker than you might expect.
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Agreed. One of these posts comes up about every other week. You don't need to spend much money to setup for one or two pistol calibers on a simple single stage system. With 10mm it will pay for itself quickly. With .40 savings can still be significant. With 9mm, it may or may not be worth the time involved for you.
 
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