Is reloading worth it?

Is reloading worth it?

I currently have been reloading for over 3 years. I started out on another RCBS Rockchucker single-stage and moved up to a Hornady LNL AP press. I reload for several different calibers, but mostly pistol. I use both of my presses for certain operations. Originally, when I was looking to get into reloading the price of ammo wasn’t as bad as buying it today.  But, the cost saving of re-loading was very appealing to me at the time because I was shooting a lot. The thing about reloading is your cost of time worth the price of reloading or just buying ammo. There are several people who have had videos on re-loading that can help anyone looking to get into this hobby.  I will not debate which type of press to go with but I will say only this whatever press you are looking to get into make sure the company stands 100% behinds its warranty.

The companies I have worked with in the past do have good warranties and do not ask questions. Would be RCBS, Hornady, and Dillion. Now, that being said the price of these presses is not cheap if you are looking at the good press. Currently, I have over $1000 invested in my setups.  If you do only a little shooting and want accurate ammo for hunting I would recommend a single-stage type of press. If you do a lot of pistol shooting and need to crank out a lot of rounds I would recommend a Progressive press. Everyone has his or her personal preference for what they like. There are the Dillion camp and others that will tell you to go all Dillion, and vise versa on other platforms.

Do your research and watch lots and I mean lots of videos on youtube to help you understand the basics of reloading. A good reference to look up is the ulitimate reloader’s channel.  This channel was helpful to me when making my decision when getting what I wanted for my progressive press.

One of the biggest questions that come up is how much will I save in reloading? Now this question really depends on what you are planning to reload. There is the cost that you have to look at is your bullets, primers, powder, and brass.

When it comes to bullets lead, plated, or jacketed I recommend you buy them online and not at a local store. Even with shipping, you will get a better deal on bullets from a vendor online than say your local sporting goods store. That being said when getting powder and primers I recommend getting them at your local sporting goods stores. The reason for this is that you have to pay hazard shipping on the product that outweighs buying in small quantities.  Brass cases are animals in their own right if you belong to a gun club or range. You might be able to get your brass for free. If not you can buy them online as once-fired brass. I recommend going to sites that deal with once fired brass solely than buy say from midwayUSA’s once fired brass. You will usually get a better deal, and you might get some extra brass thrown in for free. To figure out how much you will be spending you have to take the cost of everything into account.

Example:

500 Bullets of .40 S&W plated bullets run about $50 - $70.

1lb of pistol powder will cost $18 - $30

100 CCI small pistol primers are around $3.30 - $4

500 Once fired Brass Free - $25

Now take the cist of each item and break it item into its individual cost.

Bullet: $50/500  = .$.10

Powder !lb (7000 grns): $20/7000 = $.003 / grain of powder

Primer: $3.30/100 = $.03

Brass: Free - $.05

Now you take the number of grains you are loading say 6.0 grains of powder.

.003 * 6 = .018

So roughly $.02 per bullet.

Each round will cost between $.18 - $.20 per round to manufacture, and this is not including your time into making the rounds. On a single-stage press you could make 50 rounds per hour realistically, and on a progressive 250 -500 per hour depending on your setup. Now there are other people out there who can probably reload a lot faster than I can but I’m just putting in what I think is reasonable while still reloading safely.

The current price on 10/04/2013 at a major online store for a 100 count of .40 S&W Winchester White box ammo was costing $29 on sale.  You can see that the savings are between $9 - $10, but this is not including your time to actually making the ammo. So you have to take into consideration your time in making ammo. It is a very self-satisfying hobby to get into, but if you don’t think you have the time for a hobby then I would just go out and buy the ammo while you still can. You never know with the way things are going these days if we will be able to purchase ammo at a reasonable price for much longer.

I hope this little blurb can help you in making some decisions on if it is worth you getting into reloading. If you do; I think you will greatly enjoy the hobby. Good luck on your venture if you do decide to get into reloading.

On a side note, there are some common sense things I need to say about reloading. Don’t smoke or drink alcohol while reloading it can lead to you harming yourself or others.