How much is your reloading time worth?

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Prof Young

New member
So as a follow up to a "discussion" in a previous post about whether it is worth while to reload 9mm given the prices you can get the cheap stuff at . . . I conducted at bit of research.

At a casual pace I can easily reload 150 9mm in an hour. (using turret press) So the math is easy. At a savings of ten cents a shot, (an easy to achieve savings) my time is now worth $15 an hour. At 12 cents a shot savings my time is now worth $18 an hour.

Okay, so imagine a part-time-in-retirement job you enjoyed that you could do anytime you want, as much or little as you want, and you get paid $15 to $18 buck an hour for it. And you don't even have to leave home.

Is it worth it . . . ?

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
It’s something to pass time for me.

I go downstairs and crank out 50 in 10 minutes on a progressive. Right now, I have 9 mm, 357 Magnum and 44 magnum sitting in the collection bin. I just crank out 50 when I have a free moment. Sometimes, I’ll do 100-200 at a sitting on different stations.

Changing the tool heads on a progressive takes more time than I want to spend, hence separate progressives exist.


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I think the “what is your time worth” argument is hooey. We all have hobbies, we all have things that we like to do just for the sake of doing. You are not taking time out of the money making portion of your day unless you have enough already according to your standard, your job doesn’t allow it or you perhaps are a fool. There’s lots of things around my house that I have to do that don’t make me money, more still that don’t save me money. Add to that the fact that I enjoy reloading and it pays. Do it if you enjoy it but trying to tell others that it’s not worth their time is like telling them they married the wrong woman, it’s not for you to say.
 
$0.0
I enjoy it. It's a hobby. Well worth it. Time spent reloading is down time for me. I don't shoot large volumes of ammo as I like to hit what I aim at rather than spray and pray type shooting (I am not trying to provide covering fire as the Army requires at times). Single Action shooting suits me just fine. Last time I was out I just shot my ROA for a couple of hours.... No hurry up loading powder/ball and then cap.... Reason I mention this is I just use a Single Stage press for all my reloading. No interest in a progressive. Last weekend I reloaded 400 rounds (300 .45 Colt and 100 .44 Special) . Enough to last a few weeks. BTW, I even get out the 310 tool once in awhile and load up some .45 Colt! So, I still have plenty of ammo to shoot when I go out to the range. Oh, and not retired yet!

I suspect if I loaded 9mm, I'd still feel the same even if factory ammo is 'cheap'. I get satisfaction of making my own ammo. Only .22LR do I buy factory because it is 'impractical' to reload, it is cheap, and makes for good practice ammo. I don't mind practicing point shooting with .22LR and missing now and then using a Single Six :) . Well missing more often than naught! Still fun sometimes.
 
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I'm with the group on the bench seat that says I'm doing this for myself, for my own interest. I'm not going to pay myself or send myself a bill and because I'm doing this for my self no one else is going to pay me either. Therefore because I am not getting paid for the time spent then this time is worth exactly what I'm getting paid. ZERO!

Now if I were still working and had to take time out from my work schedule or turn down other work to accomplish this then I could argue that this time has monetary value. But if I'm just taking time out of another personal activity like hunting, fishing, raking the yard or cuddling with the spouse watching TV. Then again time has no monetary value. If there are those that think it is worth money then someone needs to start paying me for sleeping.
 
My original interest in reloading was to know how to do it. There may have been a cost saving issue, but that was naïveté. Having saved 9mm (mostly) brass for many years, my further interest in reloading was to validate the reason that I’d saved thousands of empty shells. I knew nothing about cleaning, decapping, resizing...none of it. I only knew it was possible to put powder back in this empty, stick a bullet on top, and ready to shoot again. Did I already mention naïveté?

This year I began that journey in earnest. I bought my press kit, tumbler, kinetic puller, 9mm dies, and thought I was ready to go. Except, no bench...no powder...no primers...no bullets...oh, wait, Hornady gave me 500 XTPs free for my press purchase.

Once I actually had enough equipment, components, book knowledge, You Tube knowledge, I was ready to make my first rounds. Let me tell you...that box of beautifully shining 9mm ammo, sitting heads up in their new 100 round Berry’s case was so emotionally filling, all thought of saving money went out the window. Looking back now...I cannot believe how much I have spent on this activity. I’m an addict...who needs drugs? They’re probably cheaper, actually. Would you believe I just bought my first rifle dies (300 AAC Blackout)? I don’t even own a rifle...unless you count my bolt action Savage 17 Mach 2.

So save money? No...I was a sailor, but never a drunken one, but now I’m spending money like the proverbial figure. Now that I have the dies, naturally I’ll have to make some 300 Blackout ammo...then I’ll have to build/assemble an AR to be able to shoot my new loads. It’s a blessing, fellows....and a curse.

So cost savings....sure. I’ll likely save $20 an hour if I stop reloading.
 
I do not reload for just cost savings these days. When I started out it was to have more ammo. I had plenty of down time to work on stuff. Now later on I changed career paths recently, and am making much better money. I still reload. If I did not spend the time reloading. I would be sitting in front of a computer of TV. Also I like to have something constructive to occupy my time when I am not working. It is going to be a long cold winter in the panhandle of Nebraska. I have a hobby that is going to keep me inside, and warm. By spring I should have a few tons of ammo loaded up.
 
The cost per hour is more than what everyone on this form makes in a lifetime combined. And well worth it.
I GET TO LOAD WITH MY GRANDSON.
 
I bill my time at $95/hr... at least to my customers. Using that metric, I wouldn't load any ammo. That being said, I don't have a lot of free time, so it's more of a quality vs utility thing. I prefer to spend my time reloading for cartridges that would cost me more otherwise... .41MAG, .348WCF, and cast bullets in the .30's. I also load 1000 .45ACP at a time... it's not a big money saver, but I like to load .45ACP, so there is that.

I haven't loaded 9mm or 5.56mm in any quantity in a very long time. I don't think the effort I spend to load 2 specific rounds that I use to shoot body-sized targets is a good use of my limited time... the trade off is I get bulk ammo to work through at a reasonable price without the effort. I'm starting to see bulk 7.62mm in the same light as well, although I will still load for it, too.

Truth be told, I had somewhere in the neighborhood of 15K once-fired 5.56mm cases and probably 4-5K 9mm cases... and I scrapped most of it. I know, even though I'm a brass scrounger at heart, I'll never load those cases up... so why hang on to them? That is not to say I don't have the components to load them... after the last Shortage, I'm not going through that BS again... and I will continue to load for quality in those cartridges, just not generic blasting ammo.
 
Loading pistol rounds on my Dillon, about $100/hour. Loading rifle rounds on my Dillon, about $130/hour. Loading Hunting/Precision on the Rockchucker, about $15/hour.
 
It takes a long time to get out of the red if you consider the cost of the equipment. Time is only relevant if you are trying to do it for profit. Relax, enjoy your successes and failures.
 
I think the “what is your time worth” argument is hooey.
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It depends on who you are and where you are in life. I am in the reserves, have a full time job, and 3 kids at home. I have little money and less free time. Yes, reloading is a hobby and somewhat of a stress reliever to me... but at the end of the day my time, right now, is either money or family time. That's my lot in life for at least the next few years. That being said, once I finish this current batch of .223 I will probably not reload .223 plinking ammo any more. 9mm and .45 is still worth it. My mil-surp rounds are definitely worth it as if you want full-house ammo for them you are all but required to reload or pay dearly. .357 is more than worth it.

Now were I an empty nester, my feelings would likely be much different.

EDIT: Forgot to add, $18 an hour (saved not made) to do something I like is good enough for me. Not my top earning potential but not bad for hanging out in the garage making freedom seeds :D
 
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$1,000,000.

Love reloading because it feels so good to do something manually, with my hands while existing in this electronic, computer driven world. And it produces a product to enjoy now or barter or trade when SHTF.
 
Being retired and considering the money I have spent on my guns, the time I spend practicing, the gas and time I spend to drive to the range and and matches the time spent reloading is negligible. It is all just part of the hobby. I could be spending the time and money on boating or golf or going on cruises or trips to Vegas but I find shooting to be more enjoyable
 
I once did a time study and calculated about 100 rounds loaded per hour - from range brass to boxed, labeled, finished product. That was with a single stage. With my progressive press, coupled with my "hybred-progressive" (prime and charge off press) loading style; I'd say I'm probably running in the 140-ish rounds per hour neighborhood. But a time study is moot for me, because . . .

Reloading is part of my hobby. I'm not paid for hobby time.
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. . . of that ^^.
 
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