cost of reloading

[Deavis]

I am wondering where you can get 1k bullets for 275 45ACP.

There is always steel and import.

At this point in life, I no longer assign value to the time I have available.

That's a real shame, I think my time becomes more valuable the older I get (assuming that is what you meant) especially now that I have a son.

Unless you are missing work to reload, it is a mute point.

It is semantics but you are making an opportunity cost comparison without bothering to value it. Whether you are fishing, loading, or watching TV, it can be assigned a dollar amount and a convenient measure might be your salary as you point out. Another convenient measure might be what you would pay to have your wife out of the house shopping so you can get some silence. It can all be equated to money, it may be subjective, but your free time is worth something. I bet that we can find out very fast what your time is worth by me offering you work this Saturday at $1 per hour. I bet your time is worth more than that, if not, I've got plenty of work for you to do at that rate! Ever processed brass?

the financial benefits as I own odd calibers and Magnums.

Absolutely, the math is definitely in your favor there, on match ammo, on Cowboy ammo, and self-defense ammo.

 

[texfisher33]

I didn't read every post but take a look at Montana Gold. Not as cheap as plated or lead but a good price imho.

 

[Bacon]

Check out 44 magnum or 500S&W or premium hunting cartridges. Anything where price is over $1.00 a cartridge. But them I just don't get the boutique bullets when my Remington core lokts blow golf ball sized holes in deer.

Bullets are way more expensive and powder charge is much higher so you have to factor in that.

I reload 270win and 300aac......and the powder charge alone doubles the cost to reload 270

 

[propellerhead]

Now take the $500 I'll need to replace the Dillon that I stupidly sold, divided by the $2.25 I save per 100 rds., and I'm even after 22,200 rounds. (or 222 boxes/100) Good thing I still have my scale, tumbler, and all the other assorted reloading supplies.

I did the same thing and decided to keep shooting factory ammo. I shoot mostly 9mm so the cost savings wasn't that significant.

Also, having to store all the reloading gear was a "cost" in my view.

 

[randmplumbingllc]

Look....if you are doing to reload, just to save a few bucks....to me.....not worth the time and effort.

Now if you shoot a ton, like to tinker, want the best round for the lowest price or just want the pride that reloading brings....then go for it !

Not only do I reload about a dozen different cal's, but also cast my own lead bullets and swage my own jacketed .45 ACP and ..223 Remington.

Here is the reason that I do what I do.....

Remember late 2008 ? You could not walk into any retailer and walk out with any factory ammo. (Thanks to Mr. Obama) I don't worry about that happening anymore. I just make sure that I have a good stash of powder and primers. I have all the brass I could ever need and can now make my own bullets.

To me, reloading is a security blanket of sorts. I will make damn sure that the ammo shortage of 08 and beyond never happens to me again.

 

[OLDVET]

As stated earlier, just after Obama took office factory ammo was hard to find and expensive. Today, things have eased considerably to where you can once again find reasonable priced factory ammo for most calibers. When I find good deals on reloading components I buy large quantities. Two years ago Cabela's had the 200 gr. Oregan Trail Laser Cast bullets on sale for $30 for a box of 500. I ordered 16 boxes, 8,000 bullets total. Last time I was in Cabela's the same bullets were now $63 for 500. When I buy primers, I order 15,000 to 20,000 at a time. It cost me about $5.40 to load a box of fifty .45 acp rounds as oppossed to the $20(+) at the store. Reloading for my .223, .308, and 30.06 saves me money over factory ammo. Shooting and reloading are hobbies for me. The most satisfaction I have is when I shoot a nice tight group and I know the rounds that did that were made by me. I used to fish, hunt, play golf and ride my Harley. I now enjoy spending a productive evening reloading so I can shoot the following weekend. "Reloading saves you money" is a myth. The cost per box will be cheaper, but most people end up just shooting twice as much. Nice problem to have, huh?

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

Look....if you are doing to reload, just to save a few bucks....to me.....not worth the time and effort.

Now if you shoot a ton, like to tinker, want the best round for the lowest price or just want the pride that reloading brings....then go for it !

Not only do I reload about a dozen different cal's, but also cast my own lead bullets and swage my own jacketed .45 ACP and ..223 Remington.

Here is the reason that I do what I do.....

Remember late 2008 ? You could not walk into any retailer and walk out with any factory ammo. (Thanks to Mr. Obama) I don't worry about that happening anymore. I just make sure that I have a good stash of powder and primers. I have all the brass I could ever need and can now make my own bullets.

To me, reloading is a security blanket of sorts. I will make damn sure that the ammo shortage of 08 and beyond never happens to me again.

There's something about being self sufficient that you just can't put a price on.

 

[Outbreak]

It is semantics but you are making an opportunity cost comparison without bothering to value it. Whether you are fishing, loading, or watching TV, it can be assigned a dollar amount and a convenient measure might be your salary as you point out. Another convenient measure might be what you would pay to have your wife out of the house shopping so you can get some silence. It can all be equated to money, it may be subjective, but your free time is worth something. I bet that we can find out very fast what your time is worth by me offering you work this Saturday at $1 per hour. I bet your time is worth more than that, if not, I've got plenty of work for you to do at that rate! Ever processed brass?

How do you value free time against salary? If you are a salary worker, you get paid the same no matter how many hours you are at WORK. In order for your FREE time to be worth something, you'd have to prove that you could be worth something. If you're a wage-earner who has the option of working unlimited hours/week for $X per hour, then your free time could be worth something. For salary folks, free time is just that- free.

 

[shortround]

Since I shoot reloads for my own enjoyment, the time I put into the hobby cannot be assigned a dollar value.

Some folks spend money and time at the Cinema: I don't.

Some folks spend money and time on Golf: I don't.

Some folks spend money and time on Computer Games: I don't.

Some folks spend money and time in a Casino: (I do about every 5 years).

There are plenty of other things to waste time and money on.

Reloading is not one of them. And, when factory ammo is cheaper than reloading, it is best to shoot factory ammo and save time!

 

[Deavis]

For salary folks, free time is just that- free.

Your argument is so fundamentally flawed that it warrants a response.

First, being a salaried worker does indeed mean that time per hour is not paid directly like a non-salaried worker. However, calculating a salaried worker's pay per hour is as simple as dividing the amount that worker waspaid for the year by the number of hours they worked in the year. It is simple math and easily done, so yes, anyone can put a value on their time per hour, even salaried employees. Also, acting like once a salaried worker is off the "clock" so to speak ignores the fact that it is completely possible to maintain multiple jobs and ensure a continuous stream of income or, perhaps better phrased, opportunity to exchange time for money.

Second, time is not free. It is a scarce resource, unless you have the elixir to live forever, it can be assigned a value just like every other economic commodity. How you value your time may vary, since valuation is a subjective measurement, but to act like it has no value is ridiculous. It is simple deductive reasoning to prove it. If I offer you a dollar an hour to get off your couch and come help me process a ton, literally, of 45ACP brass this weekend for $1 an hour and you say no, then your "free" time MUST be worth more than a dollar an hour to you. Same thing if I offered you $100 for your car and you said no, your valuation of your car is says that is is worth more to you than $100. However, I bet if I offered most people on here $250 an hour to come run my auto-reamer this weekend, the couch would wait because sitting on it would be worth less than the money I was offering.

The enjoyment I got from writing this post was worth putting aside the other work I could have been doing that would have made me money. Just like going to karate with my son tonight will be worth more than the money I could make working. I see opportunity in every minute of my life and when you run a business, if you don't put a value on it, you won't be successful. Regardless of whether you choose to assign a value to your time spent reloading, it is there, ignoring it doesn't make the truth go away. Just because you don't work in your "free" doesn't mean you couldn't be.

Back to the brass, I have to chase the ream a bit.

 

[shortround]

You cannot put a value on the time I put into a project.

Enjoy the time you took to write your post, and tell us how much it cost you, in a Dollar value!

 

[TheDan]

I see opportunity in every minute of my life... Just because you don't work in your "free" doesn't mean you couldn't be.

Bingo... I can find ways to earn money every second of the day. Doesn't necessarily have to be connected with my day job either (although we have so much work to do that I can pretty much log in remotely and do some work anytime I feel like it). If I could work an hr and buy a couple boxes of ammo, then it's not worth it to reload that caliber. The more expensive a caliber is off the shelf, the more it tends to be worth it however. Speaking of which, I need to get some .44mag dies

Another example... When something breaks on one of my cars, I fix it myself. While I enjoy fixing up cars, I loath simply fixing them when they break. So why don't I take it to the mechanic? Because it's more cost effective to do it myself than it is to pay them. Now if I got paid $100/hr, you bet I'd be taking it to the mechanic

Either way, learning how to reload is worth it as is learning any skill. It's just not cost effective to devote huge chunks of time to.

 

[Deavis]

You cannot put a value on the time I put into a project

You are partially right, because valuation of your time is a subjective measure and would require you to participate for an accurate outcome. However, you can do it really well, even if you choose not to for your own reasons. Not personal but you are acting like a shopkeeper who keeps an interesting object under glass and refuses to talk about a price. Anyone can put a price on it, but it may or may not be what the shopkeeper wants or what the object is worth at large. Of course, those of us who want to know can look into the market and probably find a substitue to put a value on that object. Tell me your project and we can go to the market and find our what it might be worth, after all TheDan can do it with his car repairs.

and tell us how much it cost you, in a Dollar value

Certainly, I spent about 5 minutes on and off with that post while I was taking a break. If I had been processing brass, 45ACP to be specific, I could have processed enough brass to net about $13.78 in income if sold whole. I can price my time in all sorts of ways, tonight I'm analyzing data for a client, so the time would have been worth about $6.82.

Of course we are veering away from the point that most of us have already made. reloading is a valuable skill, can be rewarding, and in many cases can be a real money saver on a per cartridge basis, even factoring in time. If you want to do it, enjoy yourself.

 

[Vaquero]

Not counting the time spent firing, picking up brass and reloading. (since it seems to be an issue) I'm running an even $6.00 a box on .45 acp. I get paid plenty for "work". My enjoyment is just that. Latest figures put a hunters cost per Bobwhite quail at +$250.00 per bird. It really aint about saving money or surviving SHTF but it sure is handy when our Govt. pulls stupid crap and ammo gets scarce. The prices I quote are from components bought in Feb. 2012, I have powder and bullets stored from the 1980s. I could quote some rediculous costs per round but it wouldn't be relevant. BTW. My progressive press is new from Christmas.
I loaded 1000 rounds of .45 and broke even on it based on Wally World ammo at 20.00 per box.

 

[shortround]

You are partially right, because valuation of your time is a subjective measure and would require you to participate for an accurate outcome. However, you can do it really well, even if you choose not to for your own reasons. Not personal but you are acting like a shopkeeper who keeps an interesting object under glass and refuses to talk about a price. Anyone can put a price on it, but it may or may not be what the shopkeeper wants or what the object is worth at large. Of course, those of us who want to know can look into the market and probably find a substitue to put a value on that object. Tell me your project and we can go to the market and find our what it might be worth, after all TheDan can do it with his car repairs.



Certainly, I spent about 5 minutes on and off with that post while I was taking a break. If I had been processing brass, 45ACP to be specific, I could have processed enough brass to net about $13.78 in income if sold whole. I can price my time in all sorts of ways, tonight I'm analyzing data for a client, so the time would have been worth about $6.82.

Of course we are veering away from the point that most of us have already made. reloading is a valuable skill, can be rewarding, and in many cases can be a real money saver on a per cartridge basis, even factoring in time. If you want to do it, enjoy yourself.

You sir are a professor of practical economics. I have immensely enjoyed your comments, but wonder why you would steer away from my original point: YOU cannot assign a value to my time.

Thank you kindly for your comments.

 

[deemus]

It's also not always about the money, but being able to "Custom-Taylor" your loads in any fashion you see fit!

Load for accuracy, speed, recoil, to name a few of the things you can have control over.

Besides that, it's a way to hide from the wife and kids for a few hours.

Brad

This. For me its finding "the" load that a particular rifle "likes." Its impossible to do that with factory stuff. You can try different mfgs, but its not the same as developing the perfect load for a rifle. For me its less about the cost savings (although it is cheaper for sure) than it is getting the load I want.

I am loading 9's and 40's for around .35 - .40 per round. which is alot cheaper than most ammo you can buy. When I do find some cheap pistol ammo I buy it though.

 

[deemus]

I didn't read every post but take a look at Montana Gold. Not as cheap as plated or lead but a good price imho.

I tried some out this past year. I will be buying more. Very affordable and they seem to shoot fine.

 

[Deavis]

YOU cannot assign a value to my time.

Well, actually I can but it may or may not match your subjective analysis. The more complete information I have about you, the closer I can come to the theoretical value that you would assign your time. Of course, you are steering away from my original question, why don't you put a value on your time?

Deemus, Checkout Zero bullets as well, they are a little cheaper in bulk and shoot just as well.

 

[skinman]

Do you put a dollar value on your time when you are researching and shopping for a new personal weapon and factor that into your cost? How about when you are posting on this forum...how much does that cost?

The point is that if you are trying to factor in a dollar value for the time spent when you are doing something recreational or that you enjoy, or should enjoy, then you are completely missing the point of recreational time. If you are trying to factor time cost into reloading, then maybe you should reconsider reloading because buying factory loads will definitely be cheaper in that case every time...just saying...

 

[cuate]

I have reloaded both rifle and pistol ammunition for years and it definitly saved me lots of money. We're talking about .38 SPL, .357. .44Mag., .45ACP. .45 Colt, 30-06 and on and on...Presently having a ball shooting a 1895 Nagant pistol, caliber 7,62X38R which when I can find it (Privi) costs 30 bucks for 50 rounds. But using the fired Prive Brass & 30 Carbine dies, small pistol primers, either .30 or .32 caliber pistol bullets and IMR Trail Boss powder I can make ammo for that old Nagant that doesn't break the bank....Oh,and I load 9mms , too, for another pistoi.