How much does one save on reloading your own pistol ammo?

[85s10]

I have an opportunity to purchase Lee Reloading equipment and was wondering if it is still worth the effort with increased cost of reloading supplies. Looking at 40 and 357 Mag.

 

[8th SPS USAF]

Depends on the cost of the Lee reloader. You want to load Lead or Jacketed ? Lead I think about 1/3 cost of jacketed. Buying 40cal not bad, but 357 Mag high. Most of us reload to shoot more, better bullet performance , relaxing .There are a lot of good lead bullet makes/sellers on the net. If you find any ask here before you buy. SnS, Gardeners ,just two. Good luck be careful.

 

[gregkl]

I reload 9mm. I use FMJ RN bullets and my cost is $0.17/round so about half of factory.

 

[PistolBob]

I have been reloading handgun ammo since 1982, and I estimate I have saved enough money to buy all the guns I have in my collection. So...reload, and get free guns.

 

[boatswainsmate]

This might help.
Reloading Costs Calculator « Ultimate Reloader Reloading Blog

 

[gregkl]

This might help.
Reloading Costs Calculator « Ultimate Reloader Reloading Blog

Cool. Earlier I said it cost me $0.17/round. I added that up in my head for this thread. Then I used the calculator and entered the real numbers. It came up with $0.169/round.
Must be all the financial crap I have to do for my job!

 

[wolfman]

I cast my own bullets and reload .45acp for $.06 ea, and $.08 ea for my .480.

 

[hammer24]

I don't know that I really save any money, as a matter of fact i know i don't. I am just able to shoot a lot more than I otherwise would, and tailor loads to my liking.

 

[ckcollins2003]

I have an opportunity to purchase Lee Reloading equipment and was wondering if it is still worth the effort with increased cost of reloading supplies. Looking at 40 and 357 Mag.

I load .40 for 17 cents a round, so about half the cost of the cheapest crap you can find at wal-mart. The more expensive the round, the more you save by reloading. Your savings are dependable on what type of bullet you buy, whether or not you have to buy brass, powder choice, primer choice, whether you count your time invested or not.

Really, if you count time invested at $10 an hour, your not saving money, but most people who reload do it as a hobby and don't count their time invested. If you're only doing it to save money, I wouldn't necessarily suggest investing in it. It is time consuming and you have to buy in bulk to get the real savings.

 

[slowG]

I like matching my loads to be accurate and reliable. It's always on hand I don't have to go out and get it. It saves a good bit an is worth it. Just do a hand ful of rounds at a time. so you don't get burned out.

 

[throttletony]

For those calibers you'll save a bit. About 40% over factory if u use (decently priced) plated bullets, and closer to 55-60% with (decently priced) lead projectiles.
Brass and projectiles are the most expensive components, and the cost of the brass amortized over time with more use.

Is it the lee single stage or their turret? Turret is faster and perfect for handgun rounds.
Also, don't forget the cost of dies

 

[DIRTROAD]

You won't save any money but you will shoot twice as much well worth it

 

[1988-4551]

Wolfman is close, I just save a touch more by melting wheel weights which takes longer.

 

[slowG]

You won't save any money but you will shoot twice as much well worth it

Its what 300$ or close to it for 1k lower quality 115gr 9mm?

I just paid about 150$ for enough material to make 1k rounds of 124 gr. Higher quality and a little more then half the price. Just my experience.

 

[Gluemanz28]

Buy in bulk with other reloaders to save cash and build a stockpile to use load in when the factory ammo dries up. The Zombies are coming so you better be prepared. GET READY THEY ARE COMING!!!!! (slaps self). Sorry that happens sometimes. I must go reload now to relieve the tension.

All kidding aside if all you are looking at is cost savings you are missing the point. If you will take one of Profires classes, you will load a better round on your first bullet than any factory bullet you can buy.

buy the stuff and take a class. You won't be sorry.

 

[spencer rifle]

Factory JHP 124 grain 9mm - 35 cents each if you're lucky
Reloaded - 12 cents each
.308 factory - 65 cents each
Reloaded - 25 cents
Always having it when you need it - priceless

 

[Jackson]

No one has asked this important question: How many rounds do you shoot a year?

If you only shoot 1,000 rounds per year and you can save .10-.15 cents per round, you just saved 100-150 dollars a year. That's not worth the effort for the time invested, in my opinion.

If you shoot 10,000 rounds a year, you save 1000-1500 dollars a year. Now you're getting closer to 100 bucks a month savings. This is where I start to think its worthwhile. But you're also looking at a bigger progressive press so you're not spending your whole life on it.

Now everyone will come out and start talking about their cast lead and super cheap reloading, ignoring the cost of their brass and the time input. That's all well and good, but not the whole picture. Someone above posted .17 cents for 9mm and I agree with that. You can also get 9mm for 25 or 26 cents per round at Wal Mart. So I think a .10 cent savings is about what you can expect.

As people have mentioned, the savings get better with more expensive rounds. Its probably better with .40 than 9mm. They also get better with rare cartridges. So if you're loading something like that, you should certainly look in to it.

In general though, I think its only worth it if you're doing pretty good volume. I would not want to piddle around with a single-stage or turret press to save myself a couple hundred bucks every year. Its just not worth the effort to me.

 

[danmdevries]

I sat down and crunched numbers a few years ago. The break even point for me, for investment of equipment and supplies, was around 10,000 rds of .45acp, and even higher for 9mm.

I still bought in, and the amount of self-made ammo that I've shot puts me somewhere in the neighborhood of $1/rd for .45 and maybe slightly less for 9mm. To be honest, the majority of what I reload is .38 and .357. I've loaded and shot a little over 2000rds in 5 years between the two. Doubt I'm anywhere near breaking even, but it seems revolver ammo has a better ROI than SA. Especially when you're looking at large bore shooting, .44mag and up. I think break even point on 357 was around 6-7K rounds.

 

[straight-shooter]

About the time I break even is when something else equipment wise comes up because I upgraded. It's a tough road to stay ahead once your knowledge increases and you find better ways to streamline your process.

The most important aspect to reloading for me is better quality and accurate ammo. I've found there's no way a ammunition manufacturer can make ammo that's accurate for every gun out there.

It used to be your couldn't save much by reloading .223 but it isn't the case anymore, .308 is a huge savings. Incorporating powder coating into my regimen for pistol has increased my production cost but not by much. Money can be saved and I don't really shoot anymore then I used to when I purchased factory ammo but then again I'm sure some do.

 

[Jackson]

About the time I break even is when something else equipment wise comes up because I upgraded. It's a tough road to stay ahead once your knowledge increases and you find better ways to streamline your process.

The most important aspect to reloading for me is better quality and accurate ammo. I've found there's no way a ammunition manufacturer can make ammo that's accurate for every gun out there.

It used to be your couldn't save much by reloading .223 but it isn't the case anymore, .308 is a huge savings. Incorporating powder coating into my regimen for pistol has increased my production cost but not by much. Money can be saved and I don't really shoot anymore then I used to when I purchased factory ammo but then again I'm sure some do.

I think reloading for rifle is a whole 'nother ballgame. More savings, more gains to be made in terms of tailoring loads to your rifle. Unless you're a really serious bullseye shooter, economy is the main advantage for pistol reloading and it takes volume to achieve it.