Reloading

[Excavator]

Between my brother and I we have 8-10 custom rigs. They are all shooting hand loads. So all load development is done, by the shops that built the guns. We have the recipe for each. That being said, we have never reloaded. However with having a 700 yard range out the back door. It is getting expensive buying handloads from the gun Smith. So my question is what is the cost savings to loading your own? An what is the cost to buy all high end components to start reloading.

 

[memtb]

Not only is it cost effective, especially if you shoot a lot....but, there is a great deal of pleasure developing your own cartridges! Yes, your initial cash outlay, is a bit pricey.....but, worth every penny! memtb

 

[Tensilon]

Boy you may get an awful lot of advice regarding this area. Here is some decent advice that won't cost you much. Buy the book "The Practical Guide to Reloading" by Nathan Foster of Urenui, Taranaki, New Zealand. I am not affiliated in any way with this fellow but he knows his stuff and this book can probably save you quite a bit of cash in regard to deciding what equipment to purchase. I didn't know what worked well and what didn't and I went with the advice of some of my friends as I acquired the different elements of reloading equipment. Most of them do not reload to the level of accuracy that I generally manage to achieve. Over several years I ended up spending probably between $3000 to $4000 or more on different pieces of equipment. Had I known what I know now I could have been much more particular about what I bought and what I use the most. I just worked a 14 hour night... after I sleep some I could shoot you a note with some of what I think is necessary and what is fluff. You can certainly save a lot of money by reloading and you can certainly make more accurate ammo than you can buy. However, you can also spend an awful lot of money chasing that one hole group by doing more things to make your ammo just a little more accurate. Kinda like going down a rabbit hole... That book will go a long ways in regard to enlightening you about what to do, what you may want to buy, and how to use it properly.
Let me know...
Tens

 

[MachV]

If you stick to the list you have now and buy right you could cut your round cost in half BUT my money is on it costing you twice as much and thats before rebarreling cost ;-)

 

[Excavator]

So is it safe to say it would cut cost in half? I just picked up a bunch of ammo from our builder for 4 different guns and the bill has around $1,100. This is the most ammo I have ever ordered at once. So it opened my eyes as to what I am spending on ammo. I normally only ever order 200 rounds at a time. So have never got shell shock.

 

[DocDoc]

I think the advice is half the cost per shot, but you will shoot more, so total savings may not be much. The real pluses are the ability to choose bullets, try new powders, personal satisfaction, and enjoyment.

 

[Tangent]

To me it boiled down to the cost of my time and how I could spend time to realize the biggest gains.

For me, it's more expensive to reload than to buy ammo based on the value of my time. I also see much higher hit percentages at distance the more I'm out shooting & reading wind.

 

[corsair4360]

May I suggest you find someone to assist you in your new adventure of reloading. I have been at it for 40+ years and have rifles that have never seen a factory load. Let us know what part of the country you are in and I am sure someone will be happy to help.

 

[memtb]

So is it safe to say it would cut cost in half? I just picked up a bunch of ammo from our builder for 4 different guns and the bill has around $1,100. This is the most ammo I have ever ordered at once. So it opened my eyes as to what I am spending on ammo. I normally only ever order 200 rounds at a time. So have never got shell shock.

"Ouch"! memtb

 

[MachV]

So is it safe to say it would cut cost in half? I just picked up a bunch of ammo from our builder for 4 different guns and the bill has around $1,100. This is the most ammo I have ever ordered at once. So it opened my eyes as to what I am spending on ammo. I normally only ever order 200 rounds at a time. So have never got shell shock.

Only listening to half of what we are tellin ya is NOT SAFE. That $1100 is a drop in the bucket! Heck that was my last powder order and about what is stuck into the second Dillon press settup. The stockpile of bullets and primers add up in a hurry let alone the brass that dont last as long as most people will tell ya. Just the dies for your rigs are going to run you more than $1100.
Now if you are in it for the long haul and can keep from fiddleing with what is working, you may be able to break even.
Even is the best you can hope for$$$ but reloading is a great hobby

 

[corsair4360]

Only listening to half of what we are tellin ya is NOT SAFE. That $1100 is a drop in the bucket! Heck that was my last powder order and about what is stuck into the second Dillon press settup. The stockpile of bullets and primers add up in a hurry let alone the brass that dont last as long as most people will tell ya. Just the dies for your rigs are going to run you more than $1100.
Now if you are in it for the long haul and can keep from fiddleing with what is working, you may be able to break even.
Even is the best you can hope for$$$ but reloading is a great hobby

Many years ago it was substantially cheaper than store bought ammunition, not now.

 

[Barrelnut]

Like others said it can get surprisingly expensive to reload. BUT that is mainly because of the perceived need to constantly upgrade your reloading equipment believing/hoping that the latest most expensive reloading tool will somehow make the ammo or shooter shoot better. If you can somehow avoid that pit fall, reloading can be surprisingly cost effective if you shoot enough.

I just ran the numbers for reloading Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor Precision Hunter ammo vs buying it per round.

Looks like this:
$1.80 per round to purchase at Midway
$0.69 per round to reload. (This is based on reloading the same brass cases 10 times. This is normal though and where the most money is saved reloading)

Right now you can get a RCBS reloading kit on Midway (on sale) for $319 and a set of RCBS 6.5 Creedmoor dies for $34. Total: $353 to get started.

At those cost you would break even on the upfront cost of reloading gear after reloading just 318 rounds. After that you are saving $1.11 for every round you load

 

[User4302021]

Forster Co-ax (if you can find one for sale) and Forster dies. You won't regret them.

 

[JJMoody]

The accuracy potential of factory ammo anymore is impressive. Rolling your own will save you money as long as you don't add up what your setup costs are. Blinders and a really strong sense of justification without regard to the facts, have really helped me stomach the costs of hand loading.
This year alone
$200 each on 3 sets of top end dies plus bushings
$350 on a new Forster coax
$220 twice on 8 lb jugs of powder
About .55-$1 each bullet
$350 on 150 pieces of brass
about $70 on primers
Measuring tools, neck turning lathe etc......
All this on top of a small plethora of tools and components gathered over the last 20 ish years of loading
Yeah, it can pay for itself, as long as you convince yourself you're saving money. When I started loading at 15 years old, a good guy gave me an old lee kit, I figgered a powder, bullets, whatever primers were on the shelf and some cheap dies. Read everything I could get my hands on and spent an inordinate amount of time crafting loads for rifles that weren't worth the loads that resulted, but dang it, I did it myself! It's a cool hobby, if you have the time to devote to it and are into doing everything you can to wring out everything from the system you're creating, then starting over to tweak one little thing...