Reloading Cost vs. Factory Ammo
- Thread starter N5ATK
- Start date
searcher
Gold $$ Contributor
Yes - I agree. I see guys shooting ten or twelve boxes of .300 Win Mag ammo at a setting. When I ask them if they have thought about reloading - most of them say something to the effect of "yes - and are interested - but it seemed like a lot to figure out". A lot of folks apparently think it is much harder to learn than is the case. Certainly, some guys aren't concerned with the cost of ammo, nor care for attaining the accuracy their rifle is probably capable of. For others, it may be the cost of equipment and/or the undertaking of figuring it out. I think if most folks who can afford the outlay for gear had someone to guide them in equipment purchase and help setting things up, loading a few rounds with them - many more would be doing it. For those guys shooting, as you mention, the odd calibers, it sure makes sense. Look at the price of Weatherby ammo. That is some expensive practice, and I'd guess many of those rifles have seen little action as a result.
I know this thread is about cost, but just now coming out of the loading room there something else to think about; much time and really lots of work.
joshb
Gold $$ Contributor
I grew up hearing stories about the Great Depression and WW II life on the home front. People had to get by with next to nothing. They had to scrounge for what they needed or make it themselves. Growing up on a farm, miles from town with little extra money around instilled certain values in me. Take good care of what you have. Learn how to fix anything. Be prepared for harder times by stocking up when you can. To me, reloading is part of that. Being able to make what I need. The craftsman in me knows I can make it better. With a lot of tips from the guys on this forum, I think I make the best ammo possible.
Reloading is a great hobby for a retired guy who sucks at golf. I burn time making ammo that I shoot and ammo that I save for harder times.
Reloading is a great hobby for a retired guy who sucks at golf. I burn time making ammo that I shoot and ammo that I save for harder times.
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
We have two gunshows annually at the small town that is twenty miles from my smaller town. Almost every time, I come home with a beater press, powder measure, scale, dies etc., that are priced low enough that I can give it to someone I know to get started loading.
I've got a grandson clear across the country in North Carolina. Before he moved over there, I got him set up with a very basic outfit with a RCBS press, dies, and the basics for packing 38 Special. I mean really basic -- Lee scoop measures, along with a Lyman pocket scale, an older Lyman manual, and brass, Berry's bullets, can of Green Dot -- everything fit in a fairly small tool-box.
He's been loading and shooting his revolver, and is now expanding into 9mm. I can put together a small flat rate box and send him most anything he needs in the way of tools, brass, bullets -- It's good to see him take an interest and learn the basics. jd
I've got a grandson clear across the country in North Carolina. Before he moved over there, I got him set up with a very basic outfit with a RCBS press, dies, and the basics for packing 38 Special. I mean really basic -- Lee scoop measures, along with a Lyman pocket scale, an older Lyman manual, and brass, Berry's bullets, can of Green Dot -- everything fit in a fairly small tool-box.
He's been loading and shooting his revolver, and is now expanding into 9mm. I can put together a small flat rate box and send him most anything he needs in the way of tools, brass, bullets -- It's good to see him take an interest and learn the basics. jd
Is that counting primers on hand too?
dellet
Gold $$ Contributor
Reloading vs off the shelf ammo is vicious cycle. It’s easy to calculate how long it takes to get a return on your investment. First calculate the cost of your loaded rounds, compare that to the cost of purchased rounds and you have a base number. This allows you to calculate the number of rounds needed to recoup your investment, without counting labor.
To make this simple, let’s use $1 per round savings.
If you spend $1500 for your initial setup and supplies, then you need to load 1500 rounds to break even. At that point you’re out of supplies and you spend another $500. Another 500 rounds needed to load to get get back to “0”.
The good news is that after loading those 500 rounds you still have supplies left over to load a second 500 rounds. These extra rounds are pure profit.
Once you reach the point of paying off your initial investment and earning a profit. That $1 per round you are saving becomes like Bitcoin, you can’t see it or feel it in your pocket, but it’s there. Now when loading you’re getting paid $1 a round like a sub contractor. An experienced ammunition tech, (after serving as an apprentice) on a single stage press can easily load 20 rounds per hour of ammo that meets or exceeds the quality of off the shelf ammo. Basically earning a wage of $20 an hour before taxes. Depending on lifestyle and dependents, that may or may not justify the moonlighting as an ammo tech. The $40 earned loading ammo in the evening, won’t pay enough to the take the wife and kids to dinner because they don’t see you as often tax. But it’s a start.
There are a couple ways to improve your financial position. Make better ammo, or more. Maybe a combination of both. This requires another investment.
If you go the easy way and produce more, average ammo. You’ll need a progressive press. At 100-150 rounds an hour, you can easily pay off that investment the first weekend.
If you choose quality over quantity, this requires more and better tools. Precision measuring tools, scales, maybe a computer and program. Not normally calculated in the mix, but needs to be, is a test platform that can test the quality ammunition to prove its worth. That means things like a new custom rifle, maybe a scope, front rest. Those sort of things. As you can see, the initial investment in producing custom ammo is pretty big, but it can be done over time. The good news is that is that custom ammo with development is easily $15-20 per round, so it won’t be long before the initial investment is returned.
There aren’t too many evening jobs that can generate $1-200 per hour from home. Hand loading in one of them. The biggest problem is the taxation depending on your lifestyle. Many tax agents are narrow minded and refuse to see the income actually generated by turning the extra bedroom or their parking spot in the garage into a loading area. So keep that in mind when considering the supplemental income.
Also it’s not really a good idea to quit your day job to pursue this career full time. It’s best to reinvest in materials for a few years and develop a stock pile deep enough to continue loading for a number of years. Then it’s like free ammo money in your golden years. Pounds of powder, thousands of bullets, a bench full of presses, all paid for, ready to turn components into profit. With unlimited time to crank out loaded rounds.
This post should not be considered sound marital or financial advice.
To make this simple, let’s use $1 per round savings.
If you spend $1500 for your initial setup and supplies, then you need to load 1500 rounds to break even. At that point you’re out of supplies and you spend another $500. Another 500 rounds needed to load to get get back to “0”.
The good news is that after loading those 500 rounds you still have supplies left over to load a second 500 rounds. These extra rounds are pure profit.
Once you reach the point of paying off your initial investment and earning a profit. That $1 per round you are saving becomes like Bitcoin, you can’t see it or feel it in your pocket, but it’s there. Now when loading you’re getting paid $1 a round like a sub contractor. An experienced ammunition tech, (after serving as an apprentice) on a single stage press can easily load 20 rounds per hour of ammo that meets or exceeds the quality of off the shelf ammo. Basically earning a wage of $20 an hour before taxes. Depending on lifestyle and dependents, that may or may not justify the moonlighting as an ammo tech. The $40 earned loading ammo in the evening, won’t pay enough to the take the wife and kids to dinner because they don’t see you as often tax. But it’s a start.
There are a couple ways to improve your financial position. Make better ammo, or more. Maybe a combination of both. This requires another investment.
If you go the easy way and produce more, average ammo. You’ll need a progressive press. At 100-150 rounds an hour, you can easily pay off that investment the first weekend.
If you choose quality over quantity, this requires more and better tools. Precision measuring tools, scales, maybe a computer and program. Not normally calculated in the mix, but needs to be, is a test platform that can test the quality ammunition to prove its worth. That means things like a new custom rifle, maybe a scope, front rest. Those sort of things. As you can see, the initial investment in producing custom ammo is pretty big, but it can be done over time. The good news is that is that custom ammo with development is easily $15-20 per round, so it won’t be long before the initial investment is returned.
There aren’t too many evening jobs that can generate $1-200 per hour from home. Hand loading in one of them. The biggest problem is the taxation depending on your lifestyle. Many tax agents are narrow minded and refuse to see the income actually generated by turning the extra bedroom or their parking spot in the garage into a loading area. So keep that in mind when considering the supplemental income.
Also it’s not really a good idea to quit your day job to pursue this career full time. It’s best to reinvest in materials for a few years and develop a stock pile deep enough to continue loading for a number of years. Then it’s like free ammo money in your golden years. Pounds of powder, thousands of bullets, a bench full of presses, all paid for, ready to turn components into profit. With unlimited time to crank out loaded rounds.
This post should not be considered sound marital or financial advice.
Coyotefurharvester
Silver $$ Contributor
For me it's like painting a fishing lure, fletching an arrow. All my elk, bear and antelope taken with arrows/ammo I assembled. I prototyped/tested conibear trap boxes for a friend who is a paraplegic trapper. Replaced some low quality windows in the house this fall, so I'm staining/poly prepping new oak trim/casings. I had plenty of ammo thru the covid, friends were asking for hunting loads as ammo was hard to find. And my wife never sees a receipt for a 50$ box of ammo.
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
The economics of my reloading system are due to a few particular things.
First - I'm an old bastard, and most of my equipment was amortized years ago.
Second - I'm a sixth degree blackbelt in the art of "Tightwaddo", and when I see some component, tool, or technique that will fit into my program i jump on it. This involves buying the left over supplies of dead guys, the discards and cast-offs that are found on the "Market Place" on our forums, and from our small town gun-show.
Third - If the particular shooing I'm doing doesn't require great precision, I don't spend time and money for great precision. And for me, that's usually. I don't do competitive shooting, except with myself. If I'm banging a steel gong at close range with a pistol, I'm gonna use the cheapest bullet I can find, (or cast) with a very safe and cheap, (and thrown) powder charge. My main standard for my best rifles is .5 MOA, and if I can achieve that I'm pretty happy. I realize that is a combination of my shooting skills, my reloading technique, and my actual equipment.
Forth - I do a lot of loading and shooting that could be described as "pot-luck". Old milsurp rifles, and some handguns that I can pretty much make safe and shootable ammo for with various combinations of powder, primer, and bullet. I'm talking about sometimes reduced powder loads that can be put behind whatever bullet I might find in the fridge so to speak.. I've got a plethora of old loading manuals and recipes that I can find to make use of ancient powders that haven't been sold for years -- and I make use of them. (WARNING!! I don't recommend this for anyone else, especially beginners)
jd
First - I'm an old bastard, and most of my equipment was amortized years ago.
Second - I'm a sixth degree blackbelt in the art of "Tightwaddo", and when I see some component, tool, or technique that will fit into my program i jump on it. This involves buying the left over supplies of dead guys, the discards and cast-offs that are found on the "Market Place" on our forums, and from our small town gun-show.
Third - If the particular shooing I'm doing doesn't require great precision, I don't spend time and money for great precision. And for me, that's usually. I don't do competitive shooting, except with myself. If I'm banging a steel gong at close range with a pistol, I'm gonna use the cheapest bullet I can find, (or cast) with a very safe and cheap, (and thrown) powder charge. My main standard for my best rifles is .5 MOA, and if I can achieve that I'm pretty happy. I realize that is a combination of my shooting skills, my reloading technique, and my actual equipment.
Forth - I do a lot of loading and shooting that could be described as "pot-luck". Old milsurp rifles, and some handguns that I can pretty much make safe and shootable ammo for with various combinations of powder, primer, and bullet. I'm talking about sometimes reduced powder loads that can be put behind whatever bullet I might find in the fridge so to speak.. I've got a plethora of old loading manuals and recipes that I can find to make use of ancient powders that haven't been sold for years -- and I make use of them. (WARNING!! I don't recommend this for anyone else, especially beginners)
jd
WyleWD
Silver $$ Contributor
This should help you with your decision...........WD
https://ultimatereloader.com/tools/reloading-costs-calculator/
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