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Question to expierenced reloaders

There's another point to remember, the more you reload, the more you'll shoot. I use to shoot maybe a total of 100 rounds when I went to the range, now I bring 500 rounds of each caliber and don't bring much home.
Yes, the initial cost is steep, but after that, with the exception of consumables, adding a new caliber is simply the cost of the dies and time to learn that caliber. I started with 9MM and 5.56, then added .40S&W, then added .308 to the mix. I can also do .38, .357 and .45ACP.
Plan on not adding your labor to the mix and the ROI isn't that bad. Getting someone else willing to share the expense also helps.
I usually stockpile shells and process them at.one time, and load a new batch when the surplus drops to around 1K per caliber. Lastly, once you start down the path to the dark side, you'll never be able to look at store bought ammo the same.
 
The equipment cost is high, but that should not be figured in price per load. When done with reloading the quality stuff can be sold easily.
 
One consideration: store bought ammo can be resold if not needed. You can't sell reloads, it is worth less than scrap as it needs to be pulled down.
 
For me it is worth it because my son and I both shoot a lot of .223 from his AR and my varmint rifle. I load very high precision rounds for my varmint rifle, so def a yes to that. I shoot a lot of .40 S&W as well. The factory ammo I've tried just can't match my hand loads for accuracy and consistency. It will take several thousand rounds to make your money back when it comes to the popular calibers as mentioned before, but if you have oddball calibers that are hard to find ammo for, or the ammo is stupid expensive, then reloading starts saving you pretty quick. I load mostly for precision in my varmint rifle, but I've got some parts coming in a few months that I'm on a list for.. gonna be building a custom 6.5x47 Lapua. I will def have to reload for it, factory ammo is expensive and hard to come by for that caliber. I took my varmint rifle out to 700 yards last weekend and it was consistently producing 3" groups and several that were around 2.7" with the winds blowing pretty good. At 100 yards its dropping 1/4"- 1/3" groups regularly. The best I could get with factory ammo was around 1-1.5".

I also really enjoy reloading. Its very relaxing and fun. A word of advice, go ahead and get a Stainless Steel media wet tumbler. I just recently got one, and brass prep has increased exponentially! No more brushing case necks, cleaning primer pockets with a brush for hours on end, or wiping off dry media residue! I use a universal decapping die, then toss 500+ pistol brass or as much rifle as I want in the tumbler with a pinch of lemishine and 2 tbs of Dawn, and let it run for 2 hours. Pour out the dirty water, rinse a few times with a media separator in water to remove the stainless media, shake off the excess water and toss into an old food dehydrator for about 10 min to dry and toss in the bin. They are now ready to resize/trim/prime/charge/seat bullet. To hell with cleaning primer pockets with a brush. I've seen days I cleaned so many with a brush that I couldn't make a fist with either hand for a few days LOL! On the other hand, I have a dry media tumbler that is pretty much new with 5lbs of walnut media and media polish that are sitting in a closet.
 
If you are shooting for accuracy and not plinking, it is worth it.

Example: my AR15 will shoot 26.0 grains of BL(c)-2 and a 55 grain bullet into 1/2 to 1 MOA at 100 yards. I have not found any other load, factory or handload, that will perform at better than 1MOA in this particular gun. I am sure that another magic load exists, but I know this one works, and it is always available from my self.
 
if you are just plinking with standard loads (223 in 55gr FMJ, 9mm in 125 FMJ, etc) you will find it hard to save money by reloading unless you switch to lead or plated bullets, or find really good deals on powder, primers, bullets or brass. Keeping an eye on the ODT can help with prices but good deals get snatched up quickly

If you plan to shoot more, or want more accurate loads, or you shoot non standard loads, the more you save. So if you want to shoot 77gr HPBT 5.56 rounds, 9mm 147gr JHP, etc, then it's worth it to reload. Ditto on any round that approaches $1 a round or more.

The more expensive the ammo the more money you can save by rolling your own. If you have time and the equipment then it's even better. I don't have much time these days but still try to get down there and prep brass and figure out loads even when I can't shoot nearly as much as I want to. As other threads mention, prepping brass takes time to do it right and its nice to have 1k rounds of brass that's ready for the Dillon.
 
Obsolete cartridges, match shooting, black powder cartridges, mid-range target loads.....you're better off reloading. Modern common stuff, buy factory.
 
I just about choked the other day when I saw some 218 bee and 348 win at a shop (when they actually had some in stock). no question about reloading those things. I think my 348 brass is worth more than the rifle is some days.
 
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