Thinking of reloading

[capona]

You won't save money reloading. You will spend money reloading.
The only caveat being if you shoot many thousands of round per year like 10,000 you can start to see some savings. But, that was before prices on components went through the roof and out of supply.

For now, and probably at least the next year or two if not longer.
I'd say you are dead in the water now, components are gone. If you don't have powder and primers, a press doesn't do you much good.

 

[WahooYahoo]

With ammo hard to find, and with the rebellion upon us, was thinking of getting into reloading. How many 100s or 1,000s of round does it take for the economics of it to make sense?

DONT DO IT! If you're considering it economically..., I don't know if I can reload enough in a lifetime to break even. I do it for the enjoyment of it, because I have an inherent desire to make "mediocrity" better.

 

[foul bore]

I started reloading 45 yrs ago to save money, and I did. minimum equipment. Everything has changed, my goals have changed, equipment has changed. I now reload to get the best out of every rifle I own. cost effective, no. very enjoyable, yes. Should you decide to pursue this be patient, save your brass, buy equipment when the right deal comes along. The same with components. We do this to have fun. Good luck to you

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Let's face it - Reloading is an addiction that sucks you into the abyss. As soon as you've taken your first game animal with a handload it's all over. Probably more addictive than crack. LOL

 

[Pointman]

I never got into reloading to save money........in fact expected to spend a lot from the git go. My goal was accuracy, knowledge, and being able to shoot the bullets I wanted in cartridges that wasn't available in factory ammo at that time. Now I'm very glad I did and enjoy loading my own, bad times now and it could get a lot worse before it gets better with component availability. Don't let it stop you but give it some thought none the less. Good Luck

Agree! I originally got into reloading in the early '70s due to a lack of ammunition for a 25-06 I bought. Then I found out that there was virtually no brass available for it. I asked the RCBS guys and they suggested along with a die set, I could use one of their 25-06 trim dies to neck 30-06 brass down. In those Halcyon days of old, I could find a plethora of military surplus 30-06 at Gun shows ( no virtually unknown in Commifornia). That started me down the road of a reloader. I got an RCBS Jr. press but found it difficult to press the mil brass into submission so I gave it to a hunting buddy and got a Chucker. Do I save money, possibly after the costs of equipment are amortized. The Chucker now gas been related to brass prep only. I now seat the bullets with a M.E.C. press. Now I rarely need to "teak" bullet runout. Save money, probably not but the extension of a hobby is worth it.

 

[Patriot007]

As stated in a couple of places above, reloading has many facets to it.

I reload pistol cartridges and AR loads for convenience and quantity. I have loaded literally tens of thousands of rounds of these simply to feed the many guns that I need to have a large quantity of ammo on hand for.

Those (pistol and some AR) would be loaded by me for specifically economic/savings reasons. My "real" rifle loads, however, are loaded with entirely different end goals in mind.

Most of us here load for accuracy, velocity, overall quality of loads and other issues that have very little to do with any economic savings. The question you asked about any known break-even point, falls apart in this realm. I can guarantee you that with components, time, effort and equipment costs including much specialized equipment/tools, my finished loads cost considerably more than any factory ammunition I have ever purchased.

figure out why you would want to reload. Either cheap ammo, or accurate ammo? Often it is hard to do both.

Combine all of that with the near impossibility of finding "shootable quantities" of any of the components required to complete a round, and, as stated above this is a difficult time in history to get into this hobby.

You explained that very well Sir.
Thank, You.
The POI on that was spot on.

 

[lejuch]

Instead of looking at the cost savings of reloading....you might want to think about the entertainment and enjoyment value you might get from reloading.

I get a lot of enjoyment from reloading and shooting my loads for precision rifles. Of course, on the flip side of it, I get much less enjoyment in loading pistol ammo on my Dillon.....just seems like its more of a production line compared to loading accurate rifle stuff.

^^^^This^^^^

 

[emp1953]

With ammo hard to find, and with the rebellion upon us, was thinking of getting into reloading. How many 100s or 1,000s of round does it take for the economics of it to make sense?

You will find reloading components as hard to find as loaded ammo. But.... if you had all the components stockpiled already, and were not able to purchase loaded ammo, the economics of it sort of fade away. You'd at least have ammo. More to your question, I've found that I can load much more accurate ammo, with better performance on game than I can buy off the shelf. As far as prices, you'd have to compare the quality of what is reloaded to some of the highest priced premium ammo on the market. I'd say that those savings are worth chasing after.

 

[Don Titus]

With ammo hard to find, and with the rebellion upon us, was thinking of getting into reloading. How many 100s or 1,000s of round does it take for the economics of it to make sense?

You don't specify whether you shoot handguns and/or rifles...nevertheless the answer is pretty straight forward: reload for rifles for accuracy (not saving $) because if you aren't in to high volume/match shooting you can't justify the economics. If you are a handgun shooter and you shoot regularly, the economics of reloading, especially with a turret type press make sense...

 

[ragsflh]

was at a gun store other day.winchester man was in there,says primers be shortage till next summer at earliest.supply has gone nuts

 

[emp1953]

You won't save money reloading. You will spend money reloading.
The only caveat being if you shoot many thousands of round per year like 10,000 you can start to see some savings. But, that was before prices on components went through the roof and out of supply.

For now, and probably at least the next year or two if not longer.
I'd say you are dead in the water now, components are gone. If you don't have powder and primers, a press doesn't do you much good.

I saw an interview "with an industry insider" who said that 97% of primers are going to the ammo manufacturers, here in the US and abroad. Only 3% can be attributed to hoarding. An interesting revelation.

 

[J-B welder]

You stand to pick up a good amount of equipment from those who are frustrated enough to get out of the hobby during these dry times.

I'm not sure this is actually true any more. Most of the used equipment I'm seeing online is going for what the out of stock new stuff is listed at. Or higher. Probably some bargains out there, but I'm not seeing them.

 

[jasonco]

I will say this, with respect to 223/556, in that it's cheap AF to reload!

 

[emp1953]

I'm not sure this is actually true any more. Most of the used equipment I'm seeing online is going for what the out of stock new stuff is listed at. Or higher. Probably some bargains out there, but I'm not seeing them.

I got good prices and quality at yard sales / estate sales. I picked up a used Rock Chucker, uniflow and a 10-10 scale. All are functioning perfectly after a thorough cleaning job.