Reloading

[manitou]

You don't have to get all the most expensive gear. I reloaded with a Lee kit for over a decade and rolled plenty of bullets that would group .5" or less.
Like with most, I have upgraded some items chasing 1/4" groups... and reading too much on the internet.

 

[RYEWSKY25284]

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.

It sounds like you're already spending quite a bit on the rifle collection. I'd say don't worry about what it'll cost you to get set up to reload. It's a rewarding experience to develop your own loads and the knowledge your will gain is priceless. Right now you have a good feel for what a nice rifle should shot like. Learning to reload will greatly expand your understanding on how it ALL ticks. you will enjoy shooing even more than you do now. Buy good equipment, don't go cheap. You'll only have to buy it once. The extra $$ you spend now will reward you for decades. Take the leap, You won't be sorry.

 

[RYEWSKY25284]

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...

The experience is worth every penny.

 

[JJMoody]

" Some of the prices quoted here are kind of extreme, $350 for 150 cases? $1100 for dies? Let's get real guys...

Yep
Still cheaper than Nosler.

 

[PhilipK]

My uncle's family gave me all his old Herters reloading equipment after he went into a nursing home. Needless to say, I am new to reloading and were possible I use his equipment.
I did my research, watched numerous videos on reloading and followed the advice of several friends and family on reloading. When the time came to actually reload I was fortunate enough to have my brother on hand to watch over me and correct my mistakes.
If you can, find someone who can be with you your first time you actually reload. It pushed up my learning curve to the point that I am now confident to reload on my own.

 

[JJMoody]

Like has been said on here already, you don't have to get the most expensive.... but you probably will. Sooner or later you probably will.

 

[jasonco]

If you go into reloading and NOT factor in the significant investment in tooling, reloading is cost effective! I myself, like other long time experienced reloader's, could supply munitions to a small developing Country!

 

[cajun]

you don't need thousands of dollars worth of stuff to reload accurate ammunition. Some folks get so hung up on the reloading part it becomes the thing instead of shooting. Buy a good starter kit and watch some youtube videos.

 

[DemoRN]

I don't really ever comment. NEVEr.
#1 do your homework.
#2 be prepared to learn through failure. This is an art. Learning takes time.
#3 give it time. Be meticulous.
#4 single stage press and build slowly.one step at a time and small batches.
# 5. Get neck tension down. It is a feeling
#6 weigh every charge the same. Yes use your scale don't just drop tube. Measure twice cut once.
#7 make sure you are lubing each piece of brass exactly the same.
#8 booze after bullets.
#9 even if you buy same the stuff as another guy has it will run and press/ measure differently.
#10 shoot ladder loads at 400 - 600 yds to get powder charges down and loading parameters.


I run a MEC metal press, Redding dies, Forster Primer. Rcbs beam scale 1010. Rcbs powder dropper, Imperial sizing wax, graphite inside necks, Hornady comparator, Hornady neck trimmer.
If I do my part my loads are 1/3 to 1/2 moa and no I don't neck turn out to 600.
I load for 1/2 the cost of shelf ammo.

 

[JJMoody]

I can probably put together 2-3 "kits" worth of beginner equipment, and will if time permits, to do a @Remmy700 memorial give away for Christmas to a new reloader. If you have money up front and "invest " in tooling you might not pile up a bunch of crap you don't need, but I'd bet dollars to doughnuts (I win either way on that bet), that there's a veritable gold mine of stuff collecting dust on just about every 5+ year old reloading bench in America. Likely, it's just my weird sense of humor that's lost on all but like 5 people, but I envision there to be a mystical " Island of Misfit Toys" ... reloader version....located somewhere near the North Pole ( of Idaho), where two unlikely heroes can reconnect unloved brass, dies and presses with the less fortunate, who will truly appreciate sloppy linkages and slightly scraped up case bodies that still perform in a 30-30. Just like I did.

 

[TRG65]

If I look around my loading room and what I considered good enough a few years ago, and what I have and am chasing now. I agree with others you start questioning am I saving money.

20+ years ago I started with a used Lee progressive and some RCBS pistol dies (all gone) to support an IDPA habit. Then I got a free RCBS Junior single stage (still around but not mounted). Now to support a USPSA habit, there is a 1050 with heads for 9mm and 223. For the PRS habit there is a 650 with either Redding competition bushing dies, or Whidden bushing dies (depending on cartridge), in Whidden floating tool heads, and accompanied by an autotrickler with Area 419 upgrades beside an AMP annealer.

I'm getting better and more consistent results now for my rifles than I ever have in the past. Results that I haven't been able to get using factory ammo the few times I've tested it. I could get good enough, but not what my handloads give me. Using my son's Creedmoor as a base line I'm saving $0.87/round shooting 147 ELDs. My 6.5x47 or my 338 WinMag or my 6.5 Addiction I would be saving even more. You pretty much can't buy fact 6.5x47 and absolutely can't buy 6.5 Addiction factory.

Looking at the rifles I track, I loaded and shot close to 2500 rounds between two rifles over the last year, probably another 1000 in 223 and 338, and another couple hundred for my son's 6.5 Creedmoor. Then a few thousand 9mm between my son and I. There is no way I could shoot this volume buying factory ammo, but 1 year's "savings" comes close to paying for the auto tricker and AMP. Another year or part would be necessary for the Dillon, toolheads, and dies. But if I didn't have all the stuff, I wouldn't shoot this much.

 

[Philward]

View attachment 156483

Yep
Still cheaper than Nosler.

I kinda figured it was something large and not common.

 

[Bigeclipse]

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.

It depends what brass and bullets you use and how much shooting you do. To get all the equipment is going to likely cost you well over a grand if you buy new. Hand loading is fun to some people and totally boring to others. It used to be on the fun side to me but now that life has gotten so busy I actually dread the day I need to load and I am actually going back to custom ammo loads or just over the shelf.

So with all that said....if you shoot a lot, loading your own will likely result in being cheaper but could take time. For example, let's say you buy custom ammo which costs 60-80$ per 20 rounds. If hand loading, you are looking at a buck a piece per brass for quality brass (lapua for example). Brass, if annealed will last 10ish loadings, if not annealed then maybe only 3-4 times. This depends on how stiff your loads are. That means on the good side...(10x firings) those brass cost you 10 cents per round. Now comes the bullet. Cheap bullets (Nosler Ballistic tips for example) can cost about 16$ for 50 while expensive bullets could be close to a buck a bullet. So lets split the difference and call it 50 cents per round. My guess when all said and done between powder, bullet, brass, and primer...you are looking at a buck a round if not more (Mine cost me 1.80$). That means loading 20 rounds is 20$. That means you save 40$ per box. If reloading stuff plus dies cost you 1500$ then it will take ~38 boxes of ammo or 750 rounds shot down range to just pay the reloading off. Now also, keep in mind that this is assuming no load work up since you already know your loads. If you throw in working up a load...sometimes I am lucky and find a good load in about 40 shots (so only 40$ spent) but other times with a picky rifle it could take me 150 shots so 150$ spent. Lastly, I am not sure how much your time and energy costs but as I have stated, I used to love working up loads but now with work and a baby it is just not possible so time is definitely money to me. Just my two cents.

Most people don't hand load to save money unless they are doing bulk loads for pistol and AR15 shooting. They are doing handloads for accuracy.

 

[JJMoody]

Well @Excavator, after reading, you figgered up anything conclusive yet??!!