It's a simple economics formula.

Primer = 0.02
brass = 0.30 (re-usable up to 5 times)
powder is a little more complicated
you buy a 1lb can of powder for about $18. There is 437.5 grains per ounce by 16 ounces, = 7000 grains in a can.
18/7000 = 0.002 cents per grain. I load 62.6 grains into my 264 win mag,
62.6g x 0.002 = 0.16
powder = 0.16
bullet / projectile = 0.25
for a grand total of about $0.73 per round to reload.

Now granted this is for my 264 win mag, results of price tend to very with powder type and bullet selection used, and if you buy new brass every time you reload. I generally use my brass about three to four times before throwing them in the dumpster.

Now a box of equavilant factory loads for my rifle are generally about $38 for a box of twenty or $1.90 per round. As illustrated aboves, its a lot cheaper to reload your own ammo rather then buying factory ammo. Plus with your reloads you can tailor them to your rifle to make it shoot better then any factory ammo could.

So, thats how I do it. I started when I was in college and poor.

But you still have to sit there for hours, trimming brass, measuring loads, installing primers and bullets.... my time is worth far more than the money saved, especially when I'm wasting my time on something so tedious!

Like your car isn't tedious? or cheap?

Your right about the time, but once you have everything set up it only take but 10 minutes to load about 20 rifle cartridges. With the progressive loader in the posts above you could crank out about 20 pistol bullets in about 1 to 2 minutes.

To each his own.

My car is tedious... I *hate* working on it these days because it's no longer doing stuff to go faster, it's doing stuff to fix what's broken. :mad:

No doubt, once you've been reloading long enough it gets tedious. It still works out for several situations, although I now do shoot some factory ammo now and again.

For specialized high-performance guns that are used in competition, reloading is mandatory. Fitment, pressure tuning, function, and accuracy all must be developed for the individual weapon.

For guns that simply are expensive to shoot, reloading (especially progressive) is the only way to go. My .45 Colt is the perfect example of this. I can load it for 1/2 the cost of new ammo, and get the bullet and velocity combination I prefer. With the progessive machine it only takes 30min to load a couple hundred rounds.

For hunting rifles, premium ammo often costs $2-$3 per round. I can load my own with the same projectiles for like $1 or less. Then I can use the same load with a cheaper projectile for practice and not have to worry about large differences in point of impact and trajectory.

Before saying that reloading is cheaper, you gotta account for the cost of the equipment you use.

The basic equipment is actually pretty cheap. You don't need much more than some specialized pliers, cutters, and a scale.

The crazy ass home assembly line stuff though can't be all that cheap. But I'd guess it still pays for itself pretty quickly when you're saving $2/round on really expensive ammo.

So reloading is making your own bullets?

Here I thought it referred to shooting your gun fast and dropping the clip and slamming another one in and continuing to fire in succession like in a competition or something.

Not quite "making"... more like "assembling" your own rounds. Basically you trim a used brass case to the proper length (they stretch when their fired), prime it, pour the correct amount of gun powder into it, and press a bullet into the tip. It's not complicated, just tedious.

Equipment costs are a factor, especially if you buy the high-speed stuff. Still, if you shoot 1000's of rounds per year it pays for itself pretty fast. I bought my progressive over 12 years ago, so that's taken care of.

"specialized pliers, cutters, and a scale" --- dude, that is the funniest description of reloading gear I've ever heard.

Let's say for example that you could get a basic kit (new retail) for....oh....$250 tops. That's good quality stuff that will last a lifetime. To add a caliber is only like $40 (new retail). To go progressive and get a bunch of other time-saving devices say $1000 total.

It's not like the tools wear out, either. You're still only talking a maximum of 50% depreciation as long as you buy the good brands. In the case of my antique tools, they are actually appreciating even as I use them.

All the accuracy gear is pricey, but you aren't trying to save money with that --- you are trying to win.


Oh, and a few reloaders "make" their own bullets too --- lead, linotype, molds, and a sizing setup....personally, I just drive over to West Coast Bullet at Mound House and pick them up cheap (handgun bullets, that is).

Yup, the first box of ammo you produce generally costs you about $300 for a box of 20. LOL I've had my stuff for about ten years, bought it all the first summer after graduating from HS (97). Only time I buy new stuff is when I buy a new firearm.

now if I had access to my friend's full auto MP5 in 9mm Luger all the time, I wouldn't reload for that one. At $7 a box of 50, its not worth it to reload considering how many round you can put through it. I burned up 180 rounds of 9x19mm rather quickly.

for teh lazies that dont wanna go there it is exactly what it looks like.
http://www.seasonshot.com/

Dude that's sweet :) until they come up with cajun or BBQ flavored arrows i'm gonna have to say gun hunting is now cooler.

Q: What did the Doe say as she staggerded out of the woods?

A: I'll never do that for five(5) Bucks again.

I wonder what would happen if gang members started using that.
http://indi.ca/images/lanka/tyrone_biggums_crack.jpg
"god damn that nigga shot me with some spices! That nigga shot me!! Its burns nigga, it burns! It tastes like thanksgivin! DAAHHH!

insert anecdote here!

I should have dropped this on the thread at first.

A guy I work with told me he killed an Elk a while back. He said he waited 6 years for his tag, and has to wait a decade now before he can even apply for another one.

Anyway I didn't pay too much attention until he showed up this week with the stuffed head in the back of his truck. This thing was huge! I told him to take a photo of it and send it to me so that I could post it here. The room has 10' ceilings, and the top of the horn is about 2 inches below the ceiling.

BTW his wife has given him 1 week to get it out of her house :lol:

:whammy:

I'll take it off his hands and out of his wife's mind.

Bump. Anyone get any tags this year?

Hell no...

If anybody wants to try to pull antelope tags next year, I can describe to you an excellent place that was literally crawling with them. I saw over twenty individuals while I was out by Wells on BLM/ranch land which is open to hunting last week.

They were literally crawling?

My problem isn't finding them, so much as actually getting a tag within a decade... that and shooting with a bent scope rail. (see page 1)