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Cost Per Round
- Thread starter Bulldawg165
- Start date
Yeah, it really is not about saving a lot of money in the 9 or .40 caliber. It will be slightly less than buying $11.00 a box steel cased Russian stuff. It is a lot cheaper when you reload your own .45 ammo. But it is also about learning a new set of skills, and not being caught in a run on ammo like a few years ago when the stores could not keep ammo in stock. I lived in MN a couple of years ago and bought a Ruger LCP and could not find any .380 ammo for months locally or online. I finally sold the gun NIB and never fired!
I started off with a Lee Turret Press and I still use it dedicated to 9mm and I have a Dillon Square Deal progressive for my .45. I only use one powder. Unique works fine for both 9mm and .45. In fact I don't see any need to even waste my time trying another powder! I used to use Bullseye but I see no need to go back to it. Nothing wrong with it.
I started off with a Lee Turret Press and I still use it dedicated to 9mm and I have a Dillon Square Deal progressive for my .45. I only use one powder. Unique works fine for both 9mm and .45. In fact I don't see any need to even waste my time trying another powder! I used to use Bullseye but I see no need to go back to it. Nothing wrong with it.
I recently started reloading, so I was in your position of crunching numbers and seeing "is it worth it" not long ago. This is for .45.. so it won't be exactly the same. .40 should be a little cheaper.
~$120 for 1,000 Ranier plated bullets
$22 for a pound of powder which should give me about 1,400 rounds
$35 for 1,000 primers
I have just been reusing my own brass, but I plan on buying some more range brass from The Brass Exchange which is like $60 per thousand, and then i can reuse that over and over.
So that comes out to about 18 per hundred, but will increase when I buy some more brass, but that will then average out over time. I used to buy Federal or WWB, so I'm easily saving 50%, getting MUCH better ammo, and I really enjoy reloading.
~$120 for 1,000 Ranier plated bullets
$22 for a pound of powder which should give me about 1,400 rounds
$35 for 1,000 primers
I have just been reusing my own brass, but I plan on buying some more range brass from The Brass Exchange which is like $60 per thousand, and then i can reuse that over and over.
So that comes out to about 18 per hundred, but will increase when I buy some more brass, but that will then average out over time. I used to buy Federal or WWB, so I'm easily saving 50%, getting MUCH better ammo, and I really enjoy reloading.
It varies by type, bottleneck rifle cartridges may vary greatly due to pressures, caliber, etc. Straight walled handgun cartridges can vary greatly too, but it's not unusual to get 20 or more loadings from target velocity rounds in .45 ACP, 9 mm, etc.
Many times I'll lose it before I wear it out. I usually throw away pistol brass when the primer pocket gets wallowed out. You can feel the primers seating too easy. It's best to segregate your loadings into batches and keep a count on the number of times they've been loaded.
I keep good records on my bottleneck rounds, but I admit to losing count on .45's and such. It seems like they just keep going and going?
to add another thoguht to Chucks info!
the weapon can also play a large roll in how many times that a case can be reused.
generally weapons (military/ inexpensive) will have oversized chambers and that allows the brass case to expand to much, and also improper crimping is a big culprit is short case life.
the weapon can also play a large roll in how many times that a case can be reused.
generally weapons (military/ inexpensive) will have oversized chambers and that allows the brass case to expand to much, and also improper crimping is a big culprit is short case life.
Wow! Everyone here has provided great advice! I really appreciate all of the responses and information
Regarding pistol case life, I only load .45acp in enough quantity to expect to need to cull cases. Having said that, I've never had a case come up that I thought was 'worn out' to the point it would be unsafe to shoot.
I have .45acp cases that I've reloaded a dozen or so times and that are still going strong. Among those, I have a handfull of military surplus brass that I bought from a reloader that he had at least two reloads on, likely many more than that. Lots of my other brass came from GA Arms or Atlanta Arms 'factory' reloads, so all of that has been at least twice fired before it ever makes it into my reloading room.
I also have some commercial 30-06 brass that is so old it is marked " .30 Government 1906" that had been reloaded at least once (twice fired) when I got it and I have multiple (low power) reloads on. Same can be said for lots of my .38/.357 brass.
More rifle stuff - My .223 training load is a fairly hot one. Same for my 7.62x51 training loads. Both of those I only expect 3-5 loadings out of. When a rifle cartridge starts to look funny I toss it in the scrap bucket. Not worth the hassle or possibility of damaging a high end rifle just to get one more loading out of a piece of brass.
I have .45acp cases that I've reloaded a dozen or so times and that are still going strong. Among those, I have a handfull of military surplus brass that I bought from a reloader that he had at least two reloads on, likely many more than that. Lots of my other brass came from GA Arms or Atlanta Arms 'factory' reloads, so all of that has been at least twice fired before it ever makes it into my reloading room.
I also have some commercial 30-06 brass that is so old it is marked " .30 Government 1906" that had been reloaded at least once (twice fired) when I got it and I have multiple (low power) reloads on. Same can be said for lots of my .38/.357 brass.
More rifle stuff - My .223 training load is a fairly hot one. Same for my 7.62x51 training loads. Both of those I only expect 3-5 loadings out of. When a rifle cartridge starts to look funny I toss it in the scrap bucket. Not worth the hassle or possibility of damaging a high end rifle just to get one more loading out of a piece of brass.
You can save money reloading yourself, but if you were to buy new brass and load yourself, it would actually cost you more than what you can buy assembled. The savings is definitely in the brass. I really see the savings on rifle cartridges. The cheap stuff (plinking loads) is hard to beat in price, but if you bullseye shoot, the custom loads required cost a ridiculous amount at the store. I can reload the expensive bullets for what the cheap stuff cost at the store and make my gun drive tacks that it wouldn't do with factory loads. I typically can load 100 rounds for the price of 20 even from Georgia Arms who is some of the cheapest around. I would say that reloading has actually cost me more because I shoot way more than I would if I didn't reload. It is both fun and rewarding when you improve the accuracy over factory loads by loading yourself. If you decide to go with cast bullets, you can save a ton on the pistol ammo, just have to clean your weapon more.
