Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
Online for .22lr runs $.13 per round for the cheapest.
As I said, it's higher priced online at the moment and hard to find. Making permanent claims based on temporary conditions is silly. Yes, .22 is hard to find right now. It won't be forever and it's coming back in supply.
Brass is free - that's why it's called - reloading.
Brass is only free if you have access to a range where folks leave an unlimited supply. Most folks buy brass. It's not free. Even so, I said "that's without including the brass", hence... the price I listed is with "free" brass.... and it's still more expensive.
Even at your claimed 1 cent per shot, that's fully 1/3rd the price of .22 ammo, all by itself. Just adding a primer makes it more expensive than .22
That's simply not true at all.
It certainly is true for the VAST majority of reloaders. Look in the reloading forum. Tell me how many times someone asks what press to get for reloading 9mm and the response is "Get a Whack-a-mole!"
You're literally talking about the exception that proves the rule.
Most folks will spend $350 or more on equipment. No one who shoots more than very occasionally is going to be happy loading handgun rounds with a whack-a-mole kit. Personally, I consider it foolish in the extreme. You could work a part-time job for 3 hours a week and buy the ammo and be far ahead.
Don't assume that because you can find .22lr, locally that everyone can.
I don't assume it, in fact I fully explained the whole situation. That price is from MidWayUSA, not local.