223 reload or buy new

[daspurlock]

I thought about reloading but the only cals I shoot are 223 & 9mm. I have always bought my ammo and was wondering if it's cheaper to buy or reload? Just picked up 300 rds of HSM 55 gr v- max today, for 22.85 + tax per box of 50. I buy my 9mm ammo at wal-mart for 18.95 for 100 rds. I don't think I could reload for that. Thought I would ask people who do.

 

[malern28us]

Either way really. I think I had it figured out to $6.50/50 for 9mm and $8.50/50 for .40S&W the last time I calculated it out.
I think you can pick up steel cased .223 for $119/500.

 

[usmcdjb]

I bought 2500 rounds of once fired 223 from midwayusa before the ammo insantiy happened. Then it struck. Decided I would load up some ammo. I actually ended up buying 6K - 55gr FMJ, so got more brass and powder and primers and went to work. On a single stage rockchucker press.

I got them done. Sized. Tumbled. Trimmed. Primed. Loaded. It took me a couple years, and sore/tired hands. But I did them.

And I'll never do it again! Plinking ammo is too cheap to buy. And my time is worth more. If you want limited amounts of something special, I'd say go for it. I still do that for some 223, 243, 308 and 300WM.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I thought about reloading but the only cals I shoot are 223 & 9mm. I have always bought my ammo and was wondering if it's cheaper to buy or reload? Just picked up 300 rds of HSM 55 gr v- max today, for 22.85 + tax per box of 50. I buy my 9mm ammo at wal-mart for 18.95 for 100 rds. I don't think I could reload for that. Thought I would ask people who do.

I reload 9mm for $12 per 100. So for what you are paying for 100 rounds, I can reload 150 rounds. That adds up if you shoot a lot. I shoot on average 2,000 rounds of 9mm in a year. With the money I save, I can reload another 1,500 rounds. It's all about what your time is worth to you. I do not have an accurate numbr for .223, as the bullets where given to me.

 

[straight-shooter]

According to the handload calculator i can make 50 rds of .223 using Hornady 55gr FMJ for $12 so quite a savings there. 9mm calculates to about $13.00 using Rainier bullets for 100 rds. While the savings for the 9mm is not substantial, the advantage of handloads is more than worth it for me in terms of increased accuracy.

The feeling of satisfaction of better accuracy and tearing out the 10 ring is the reason i go to the range in the first place. I have yet to feel good about leaving the range after punching holes all over the entire 8x10 paper.

Hand loads do make a difference.

 

[malern28us]

My thoughts were more towards having the ability to make more ammo if SHTF.

 

[SSGSAD]

My thoughts were more towards having the ability to make more ammo if SHTF.

^^^^^ YES, THIS ^^^^^

 

[U.S. Patriot]

Not to mention when ammo spikes again, just wait until election time. People will be *****ing and moaning about ammo prices and supplies.

 

[rockhopper46038]

Well, 9mm is close for me, but I don't pay for brass, so although I buy a lot of 9mm when I can find it for under $9/box, I still keep lots of components on hand for it too. .45ACP is a different story, it really pays to reload that caliber. I buy my 7.62 x 39 as surplus, not into .223 yet, so I don't know what that pans out as.

 

[Streck-Fu]

According to the handload calculator i can make 50 rds of .223 using Hornady 55gr FMJ for $12 so quite a savings there.

At ~$14.50/50rds for factory loaded ammo, I'd hardly call it 'quite a savings' once you consider your time and equipment buy in costs. Your return on investment will be several thousand rounds if not more.

Where handloading has the advantage is if you want to control a hunting round, match round, or load a more expensive round.

With 9mm you can economically (but still more than factory ball) handload all defensive HP bullets and practice with the same thing you carry.

 

[daspurlock]

According to the handload calculator i can make 50 rds of .223 using Hornady 55gr FMJ for $12 so quite a savings there. 9mm calculates to about $13.00 using Rainier bullets for 100 rds. While the savings for the 9mm is not substantial, the advantage of handloads is more than worth it for me in terms of increased accuracy.

The feeling of satisfaction of better accuracy and tearing out the 10 ring is the reason i go to the range in the first place. I have yet to feel good about leaving the range after punching holes all over the entire 8x10 paper.

Hand loads do make a difference.

I don't think thats apples to apples when your Hornady are fmj and the ones I'm talking about are v-max. I'm sure there's not much difference but you still have no time figured into it. Even at your price there's only $11.00 difference a box. I bet you work for more than $11 an hr, unless someone gave you your equipment that price has not been added to ppb.

 

[malern28us]

I don't think thats apples to apples when your Hornady are fmj and the ones I'm talking about are v-max. I'm sure there's not much difference but you still have no time figured into it. Even at your price there's only $11.00 difference a box. I bet you work for more than $11 an hr, unless someone gave you your equipment that price has not been added to ppb.

The $11 a box adds up if you shoot quantity. Calculate out the difference if you figure on shooting 10K rounds/year.

 

[daspurlock]

I don't think thats apples to apples when your Hornady are fmj and the ones I'm talking about are v-max. I'm sure there's not much difference but you still have no time figured into it. Even at your price there's only $11.00 difference a box. I bet you work for more than $11 an hr, unless someone gave you your equipment that price has not been added to ppb.

$11 per 50 rds goes down when you figure your time and cost of equipement.

 

[sgreen3]

I reload .223 an according to the hand load calculator a 1000rds runs me about 175 bucks, which is about half price. So its worth it, plus I just like to reload I think its fun. I reload .308 also but its more for precision, an the savings is noticable.

 

[red_zr24x4]

I couldn't tell you the last time I bought 9mm,.223, .308, 30-06.
If you've been saving all the brass you shot thats one less component you need to buy.
Using surplus powder in your .223 for range ammo will cut the price more
Buying surplus .223 fmj will cut it again.
I don't mind spending time reloading it gives me something to do when I'm not shooting plus its just a natural step in the shooting process.
When I went to South Dakota pding All my ammo was made with surplus powder and I was scoring hits out 400-500 yrds with my .223 bolt gun.

 

[windellmc]

$225 will get you a Lee turret press setup to load .223. I figured $150/1k to load .223 with surplus powder and bulk M193 bullets. I did find that Hornady 55g FMJ are the cheapest bullet I could buy in bulk, and they are supposedly more accurate than the Lake City M193 bullets.

Having said that if you need to buy brass you are looking at roughly $65/1k of once fired LC brass. So my theory is this. Buy 1k rounds of LC or IMI M193 or M855 and save the brass. You can find it for around $290/1k right now shipped. Long story short I saved brass and can now load for about $150/k. I need to load about 2k rounds to pay for the press, but a used press is worth a fair amount so if I decide to quit reloading I can recoup a lot of the money.

As others have said if you want to shoot .45ACP or .40 reloading can save a lot of money. If you want to shoot 9mm 124g or 147g rounds reloading will save you quite a bit also. There again buy some factory ammo and save the brass.

With handgun rounds you can go even further and cast your own bullets. If you can get used tire weights from a tire shop for free you can get the bullets real cheap with a little work. I think you can buy bulk lead pretty cheap too.

Another thought. You can find Wolf .223 steel cased ammo for about $210/1k shipped. That gets you down close to the cost of reloading brass without the work. You need to have a rifle that will shoot it though.

 

[sbcman]

I had to make this choice recently. I decided to load 9mm and cast my own bullets for it, which gets the price down to about $4.00/50. The round shares primers with my 38/357 (which I also reload for and cast for). I don't know what it would cost buying bullets.

For 223, I ran the cost calculator several times and just couldn't justify not buying steel cased stuff- it was almost identical in price. My 223 is a Saiga and it puts a massive dent in every round, so I really wouldn't feel comfortable reusing the brass. Plus, Wolf and Tula both give me 1 MOA, which I am fine with. If the accuracy was unacceptable with the factory stuff, I'd reload. This is a long way of saying that if the cheaper stuff gives you what you want out of the rifle, I'd stick with it.

Definitely reload 9 though, and if you can, drop the price substantially by casting your own.

 

[jdhaines]

I only reload for 9mm at the moment and I just made a big order for everything I'll need to do .223. When I bought the 9mm stuff I figured it would take about 2-3 years to get my money made back. It'll be longer now that I picked up stuff for .223. The thing is, I bought all quality items, good warrantied equipment, and tools that will last. These tools will last a long time. My savings over my life could be substantial. Start saving brass, start saving for a progressive, get to a class, etc. It can be a big savings in the long run. Plus it's really fun.

 

[Broom_jm]

People reload for all sorts of different reasons. I got into it so I could cut groups in half on my hunting rifles, and it worked beautifully. Back then, 25 years ago, it was unusual to get factory ammo to shoot MOA from even bolt-action rifles, let alone a semi-auto. Since I started reloading I've picked up various wildcat and obsolete rounds for which buying commercially produced ammo is prohibitively expensive. If I didn't handload, I wouldn't own or shoot those rounds. How boring!

What I discovered along the way is that I LIKE the process of reloading. If all I shot was 223, 308 or 9mm, I'd absolutely still load for them. Why not? Do you really need to watch that re-run of Law and Order...AGAIN? Reloading is relaxing and rewarding. If it cost me exactly the same for factory 9mm as it does to load them myself, I'd still reload them. The fact that I save a few dollars on each box I load is just icing on the cake. When you consider my equipment was bought n' paid for before some of you guys were born, it's a no-brainer.

If it costs you $250 to get set up with a Lee Classic Turret press and you only save an average of $5 for each 50 rounds you load, you break even in 2,500 rounds. Depending on how young you are and how much you shoot, this might take 2-5 years, at which point you are spending a dime less each and every time you pull the trigger. If you eventually shoot other rounds, and odds are you will, the savings over quality ammo will really make it worth your time.

If you get into reloading and find that you simply enjoy it, as a hobby, all this talk of economy will be meaningless. Looking at reloading as a means of saving money, or spending less, misses the point for most folks. It's like playing a round of golf, except at the end, you are further ahead financially, and a whole lot less frustrated!

Another thing I'll add is the "green" concept. I'm no tree-hugging PETA whack-job, but I like the idea of not just throwing stuff away. Maybe that's why RCBS equipment is green?

 

[woody131]

I have said this over and over reloading is not all about saving money.Reloading is for tuning different types of components to a specific gun to get the best performance out of it . You will eventually start to save money down the road as you Pay for the initial equipment cost. Reloading is something I enjoy more than watching tv and that's what most people are doing anyway. I load .223 on a dillon 550 and can get 350 to 400 in a hour. Using surplus components bought in bulk I load it for $140 a 1000.The more you shoot obviously the easier it will be to justify the money up front. Come election time you will wish you already started if don't now.