Reloading has Become Expensive!

[Seancass]

Shooting with cast bullets is almost a second hobby. Once figured out, you can shoot it without leading issues. My 38 special is under $12/100. 44Mag with cast bullets can be under $15/100. Try finding factory ammo that cheap!
9mm with XTP hollow points is $26/100. Most of your variable cost is in the bullet, shop around, many places will do free shipping occasionally!

 

[dsol]

I cast my own for .38/.357, 45 ACP and 45 Colt. As long as you don't push them too hard, they will not lead the barrel. Fit is more important than hardness. I just use a mix of range scrap and wheel weights with a few percent tin to help the flow. Tin is easiest to find at yard sales as pewter, otherwise it is a bit expensive. Anyway, as long as I size them a couple thousandths over the bore, and don't push them to magnum velocities, cleanup is pretty easy. Casting is the easiest way to keep your reloading expenses down. If you don't want to get setup for casting (it can be pricy), find a reloading buddy that does. Bring him lead and split the bullets with him.

For 9mm, I prefer plated or jacketed bullets. Bought in bulk, they can be pretty cheap, look for sales at Midway or other reloading suppliers. 9mm is a pain to shoot cast, the tapered case tends to size the bullet down just enough to make it lead the barrel if everything is not just perfect. Jacketed is just the easiest way to plink with 9mm, although I am looking into powder coating as a possibility.

 

[tk71]

Stock up when there are sales on bullets and buy in bulk.I have yet to find a place to buy brass reasonable online.

 

[Broom_jm]

I've been away from reloading for several years. I loaded a whole lot of ammo back in the 90s, and I still have some of the ammo I loaded back then. I've saved a lot of brass in the mean time and thought I would check into the price of putting some of that spent brass back into action.

I was amazed at how much bullets, brass, and powder have gone up in price. Generally the prices are double what they were the last time I was reloading, back in the early 90s. But I still have all my gear, and have been getting the itch to go back into production.

I went to Cabela's (granted not the most economical place to shop) to write down the prices for brass, bullets, primers, and powder. I did a little math, and figured out that to reload .357 mag or .45 acp, would roughly cost about 53 cents per round using my own brass, add roughly 30 cents more per round if purchasing new brass.

Even at 53 cents per round, its hardly worth the trouble to reload. You can find good factory ammo quite often on sale for about the same price. At that price, what is the advantage to reload pistol ammo? I don't see much advantage. Pistol ammo is normally shorter range, and the difference in accuracy between factory and reload is not as noticeable as it is for rifle ammo.

Rifle ammo is a different animal because to get the same accuracy with factory ammo, it gets a lot more pricey. To me, that is where the advantage is for reloaders.

So, I may keep my pistol brass around for SHTF, but otherwise, I'll continue buying factory pistol ammo and saving the brass in case the prices for individual components ever comes back down to earth.

If you don't mind, can you share the math you used to calculate that cost per round? Using the most expensive jacketed bullets, I still don't know how you come up with that much, especially since you've got brass on hand. All I can think is you calculated the cost of new brass into your first estimate.

 

[88E30M50]

Right now, I'm running at around 17 cents per round using Xtreme 230g plated bullets bought in bulk on black Friday, 4.6g Titegroup bought at $20 lb at Atterbury and primers bought at $29 at the 1500.

 

[hps]

My figures put me at $8.15 per 50
xtreme bullets
powder
primers

 

[jglevyjr]

Profire sent out this email a few days ago:

Stocking up for USPSA or IDPA? Getting ready for the spring rush? Profile has over 10k lbs of brass in stock and we're offering substantial discounts on all major calibers. As a special thank you.... Take 15% off on all brass orders between now and Friday. Checkout Code: RED15. All brass orders ship in 24-48 hours and are guaranteed to be in stock. Want to save on shipping? Local pickup in the store available as well. Click HERE ----> www.Profirebrass.com Absolute satisfaction or your money back.

Profire Arms and Supply 7341 Rockville Road Indianapolis, Indiana 46214 317-757-8132

 

[Broom_jm]

That's cool and everything, but "brass" is the one thing that isn't too hard to find right now...it's all the stuff needed to reload it!

 

[ryknoll3]

Powder seems to be the only thing that's harder to come by. I've seen plenty of primers around, and you can get all kind of bullets online.

 

[jcwit]

Isn't this just like .22's?

All of you should have planned ahead and stocked up. LOL

Seriously, look into casting, you should be able to still find wheel weights available, many times for next to nothing.
I have always got all the lead I needed by helping to clean the indoor range I'm a member of, so bullets themselves are for all intents are free.
Powder even at $30 bucks a lb. will only cost $ .03 cents a round for handguns.
Primers at $40 bucks a thousand "which is way on the high side" comes out to $ .04 a round.
Brass is reusable especially in handguns, can be reloaded till it splits or the primer pocket becomes lose.

So that brings the cost to $ .07 a round or $7.00 a hundred.

Enjoy a new hobby.

 

[throttletony]

just this weekend at dayton show.
500 vance 230r RN @ $48
primers $30
Titegroup $30
my used brass, = $0.15 per round or $14.74 per $100

I'm finding very similar prices for .357/38 spl