Reloading used to be cheaper

[BruceP]

Even at today’s component prices I can load premium loads tailored for my 270 Winchester rifle at just under $1 a load. I can’t buy factory any cheaper. Also I recently bought the first box of factory 223 Winchester silver box for $24 and 4 out of 20 rounds failed to fire in my TC contender or my Kimber rifle. They did finally fire in the ar.

 

[FOTIS]

That's $200 worth of powder these days. LOL

 

[DrMike]

Yup! True dat!

 

[FOTIS]

I just wish that everyone will remember these sellers whether or not prices ever get back to Normal.

For me Cheaper than dirt, Brownells and a whole bunch of others are on my poop list.
There is no reason why they want $600 / 8lbs when hodgdon or midway are $395 or whatever.

 

[Joec7651]

Actually...


I keep saying that because...

It's...true?

I posted something to follow-up that post but it got lost in internet land..

Since you made the statement "keep saying that" then you'd know somewhere along the way in previous posts since you're following along I stated ...pretty crystal clear I believe....loading your own is still cheaper and significantly so using a premium bullet. The more premium the bullet the more the savings.

Everyone loads ammo for different reasons but most...(not all) but most...are not loading ammo and using a remington core-lokt bullet.

Again..most...(not all) are loading premium bullets.

BTW, Ironic to me seeing complaints of prices for things on a Nosler bullet site. Nosler definitely the most expensive of the big 4 bullet mfg's and it's not even close. Sort of funny to me...

So sure if your goal for reloading is to save absolutely positively every last penny and use the cheapest bullets possible then I'm sure you can find a common caliber like say 30-06 or .243 win loaded from the factory and either a wash or close to it comparing it to loading your own.

I'll work my math and let's see where we're at..

Sticking with Nosler bullets and using Brownell's latest high price offering for powder....
We'll use a 300 wsm real quick and use a box of 20 of comparably loaded ammo from Winchester.

$590 for 8 lbs.
That's 56,000 grains of powder.
Thats 888.888888 rounds using a charge of 63 grains of IMR 4831 per round.
Powder
$.66 (cents) per charge per round
Primers
We'll use $100 per 1000
That's a dime per round.
$.10 (cents)

Bullets
30 cal 180 grain Ballistic Silvertip
We'll even use Nosler's price on it's website
$57.95 for 50 bullets
That's a $1.16 per bullet

So far we have per round
$1.16 Per Bullet per round
$.10 primer per round
$.66 powder charge per round

Brass...
Let's use new winchester brass but we'll average it out over 10 firings per case...
$50 bag of 50 cases
But we'll load them 10 times each conservatively
That's a .10 ( cents) per piece of brass

$1.16 Bullet
$.10 primer
$.66 powder charge
$.10 per brass average over 10 firings

That is $2.02 per round

$40.40 per box of 20 rds

If we compare to the closest comparable factory offering
Winchester Supreme
300 WSM
180gr Ballistic Silvertip

Now from what I gather Olin hasn't loaded that since 2019? Supply issues...
But in 2019 that factory offering was around $78 per box of 20

If you fast forward that price to present day I'm betting they'd be around $95 per box of 20

So let's see...
$78>$40.40

Reality today
$95 SIGNIFICANTLY>$40.40

That was using Brownell's price on 8# keg
Full tilt price from Nosler on Ballistic Silvertip

Even if we bought brass and threw it away after one firing..
It's now $60.40 per box of 20 Ballistic Silvertip
Still over $30 cheaper per box of 20 if they were adjusted an available to present day price

Remington core lokt for laughs...

5 years ago on midway they were .31 per bullet
165 gr core-lokt 30 cal

Just swapping bullets and all else being equal
That's $23.20 for a box of 20
300wsm loaded with core-lokt

Even that is cheaper...

So yes...

In my world even using $590 for 8 pounds of powder it's still cheaper to load than buy...
Significantly


Hornady whitetail ammo
$42.99 box
165 gr interlock

If I load them
Those bullets are $.40 per

$33.20 per 20 rounds
42.99>33.20


Noe let's not even go dowm the road of equipment...

How are you going to quantify that?

You better add in all your weapons, optics, etc of you want to do that.


I don't reload to save money...

But it does in fact save me money and that's buying product at full tilt.

But you have to include equipment……………..you just wore out a keyboard!

LOL, just bustin‘ your stones.

 

[Joec7651]

I just wish that everyone will remember these sellers whether or not prices ever get back to Normal.

For me Cheaper than dirt, Brownells and a whole bunch of others are on my poop list.
There is no reason why they want $600 / 8lbs when hodgdon or midway are $395 or whatever.

Amen to that.

 

[nhenry]

I just wish that everyone will remember these sellers whether or not prices ever get back to Normal.

For me Cheaper than dirt, Brownells and a whole bunch of others are on my poop list.
There is no reason why they want $600 / 8lbs when hodgdon or midway are $395 or whatever.

Agreed, Fotis. Say it louder for the people in the back

 

[ShadeTree]

Not 3 mo's ago a LGS called me and said they had a 8 lb jug of IMR 4350 in for $345. I laughed in my head and said no thanks! To them I just said I think I'll hold off for now. In that short time now you see IMR 4350 listed for $385.

The jug I have I paid $169 for it. I'm thinking that was early 2020. I can promise you I'm not paying $385 for a jug of IMR 4350. My stupidity does have a limit and I will come up with alternatives. Among them that $17.99 per box 30-06 ammo is looking better all the time.

 

[RL338]

If your casehead stamp starts with a W at $10/round , loading at today’s prices is still cheaper.

 

[ShadeTree]

If your casehead stamp starts with a W at $10/round , loading at today’s prices is still cheaper.

Yep. The farther you drift away from common or standard cartridges the more expensive factory ammo becomes without a doubt. Those big uncommon cartridges are outrageous. I have four 30-06's if I'm remembering all of them right. I don't ever plan on having less than 2 that's for sure.

I found 308 Winchester 180 grain Federal Fusion ammo for $21.99. I live in a pretty good place I think for buying stuff and I know I can't go into any retail shop and buy 30 caliber premium bonded bullets and load them up for $ 1.10 a round. The bullets alone would cost me right at that.

 

[35 Whelen]

Saying you might be able to reload the brass 10x isn't truly relivent as the actual cost to buy it at about $1 a piece means that first loading for box of shells is $1 not the .10 cents you might be able to amortize it into at some time in the feature? So using a Buck a piece for brass to load the first box, then .90 cents for second loading and so forth it will take 9 boxes of reloads before you could use that .10 as a valid figure.
Anyway at $1.00 ea for brass the true cost to load the first box is now one hell of an expensive cost; compared to a few years ago! Go figure.
E

 

[wbm43]

Reloading used to be cheaper

True. So did eggs.

 

[Aussie Wanderer]

Yep was definitely cheaper 3 years ago, but not only that, my choice of components was far better, particularly where powder is concerned.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Yep was definitely cheaper 3 years ago, but not only that, my choice of components was far better, particularly where powder is concerned.

Powder now becoming more available, but the primers are still playing catchup. Dan.

 

[FOTIS]

If your casehead stamp starts with a W at $10/round , loading at today’s prices is still cheaper.

Yup! Go buy 20 rounds of 378 416 or 460 Bee.

Heck even my 338 RPM costs 118$ for 20 rounds...which I beat their performance with my reloads which I started from stratch!

 

[hunter24605]

Hey Jeff let me know when you're having a fire sale,getting rid of your reloading stuff cause you've started buying factory Dan.

Dan, fire sales on powder?

 

[nhenry]

338 RPM

How you liking that thing?

 

[FOTIS]

175 Hammer hunters so far so good.

69gr RL16 3050 fps (same velocity as factory in my accumark six lug, but they used 185 TTSX)
70gr RL16 3065 same hole as above
71gr RL16 3105 1/2" apart from above group

64 gr H4895 3220 fps safe max in my mind. just slight cratering.......

70 gr CFE223 3100 fps

Modified Ladder test so I know where I am at with pressures. I had nothing to go one so I did not want to waste a whole day pulling ammo.

Thinking 69-70 RL16 should very very accurate and is not a max load.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Dan, fire sales on powder?

Yard sale, fire sale whatever Dan.

 

[Vince]

Finally added up the cost of reloading, including my hourly wage, and found that it’s cheaper for me to just buy manufactured ammo.

If I can find a reasonably accurate factory load I’ll use that. With everything I’ve been through over the last few years reloading, like cooking, has lost all it’s appeal.

Vince