Does reloading save money?

BRACES of Bristol - Sauer 100 XTA Stainless Package
I home load for 243 and 223.
It’s a hobby in itself, but I enjoy shooting. If you homeload you end up shooting more to start off with because your testing loads to find the one that suits your rifle. I’m still loading to the same recipe now that I was 4 years ago. (I still have the same components)
The cost to start reloading is not massive £400ish but the stuff will last you or you could sell it on, if reloading is not for you.
It is nice when you load your own ammunition and shoot a deer or a fox with it.
 
caberslash said:
You'll hear some telling you otherwise, that their setup was bought for £200 or less and they paid £25 per thousand for primers and £30 per lb of powder. They might be telling the truth, but in those days a new car was £5k and a good house cost £25k. :old:
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This is so true.
 
Initially NO, long term NO but for different reasons. If you only use a few boxes per year the initial outlay is relatively high but bought second-hand less so. You will find that you use more because the cost is roughly halved per shot, good because you learn more about shooting in different conditions. Also it is also different angle complimentary to the main one. You can tune your ammunition to your rifle and learn a lot about ballistics in the process. I started when living in a remote part of Africa, moved back to the UK and found the only local RFD that had my caliber in stock had two boxes available and every time I went there it was a different make! However he had a good stock of the necessary reloading components. I now have four loads which I know very well and I'm confident with them, I can switch from lead to copper, and fox to Reds and know exactly how they are going to perform -if they don't it is my fault not the equipment.
It takes me a couple of hours to reload 50 rounds of each, I find that case preparation - particularly cleaning and drying takes more time but I can do other things whilst they are drying.
Just make sure that the calipers and the scale are of good quality and consistent ie not the cheapest you can find. Use good quality brass, some of the stuff out there is only good for 2-3 reloads whereas Norma, Sako and Lapua you can achieve many more reloads.
Reloading courses seem to be rather thin on the ground, but find somebody local who will help you isn't too difficult just ask around at your local range.
 
I sold my wife & girlfriend for a significant amount to a western slave trader, sold my car to a gypsy, & had enough to buy a reloading kit, plus all the usual stuff that I dont need, & have just made up my first batch of 40 bullets. Was it worth it? ...... Hell yes!
 
i shoot a 17 rem, to buy a box of factory ammunition 483x510-High-Performance-Rifle---No-Load-Line-.jpgit costs £57 for 20 rounds and is not that accurate in my rifle, i can hand load 20 homeloads for £ 6.20, which is super accurate bs.
 
bluesako said:
i shoot a 17 rem to buy a box of factory ammunition View attachment 296558which cost £57 for 20 rounds and is not that accurate in my rifle i can hand load 20 homeloads for £ 6.20 which is super accurate bs.
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Yes, but that's not a far comparison because you are just including the marginal cost of the powder, head and primer. Not sure if you are including brass in the £6.20? But anyway it must exclude all the fixed costs of kit (press, dies, scales etc.) which the factory ammo user doesn't need.
 
It depends on the cartridge and how many years you reload for. My .222 uses 15p of powder per shot. The bullets cost 13p each (I use cheapo Ace bullets). The primer about another 5p. Brass is reloaded multiple times so close to free. So in total that costs about 33p a shot, not including purchase price of reloading gear, which would add perhaps 10p per shot overall averaged over several years of use. So we could say 43p per shot all in for reloading my .222 cartridges. Factory ammo for .222 is about 88p per shot from the NRA armoury at Bisley. So reloaded ammo is about half the price of factory ammo for .222. But if you shoot a larger more popular cartridge such as .308 reloading is less sensible financially. For me it works out at about 30p of powder, 40p for the bullet and 10p for the primer. That is 80p per shot for consumables. Add 10p per shot for cost of buying reloading gear and I get a per shot cost of about 90p for my .308 reloads. That makes little sense to reload when you can buy GGG 7.62 147gr FMJ from the NRA armoury for 93p per shot and not spend any time reloading.
 
Just done the calcs for my 6.5 creedmoor using current prices for RS62, Lapua LRP brass, 143 Hornady ELD-X and the batch of 1,000 primers I bought this week:

- 50p for the bullet
- 27p for the powder
- 16p for the brass (assuming 8 reloads)
- 8.5p for the primer

Total: £1.02 per shot
 
4616Oxon said:
I am sure this has been done before but thought it may be more pertinent now. Does reloading save money? A box of good quality ammo for 6.5 Creed and others is now £50-£55. I know you can get it cheaper Hornady white tail ammo etc but you often have to travel. I have kept all my factory cases just in case! I have heard you can get the kit for under £400 and you can go on courses. Also how long does it take to load 20 rounds of ammo on average? I am fairly time poor!
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No, but you can shoot more and it's quite satisfying when you shoot deer with your own home loads.
 
muddy42 said:
Yes, but that's not a far comparison because you are just including the marginal cost of the powder, head and primer. Not sure if you are including brass in the £6.20? But anyway it must exclude all the fixed costs of kit (press, dies, scales etc.) which the factory ammo user doesn't need.
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matey you would cry if i told you what my reloading set up cost all those years i am including brass, brand new brass at £ 5 a hundred, i bought 1500 brand new cases, i bull**** you not, i dont have to, bs
 
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www.henrykrank.com

Price Comparison Of Bought v Reloaded Ammunition Part 1: PPU 308 Winchester

Price Comparison Of Bought v Reloaded Ammunition Part 1: PPU 308 Winchester, we discuss the merits of reloading ammunition, or simply just buying it.
www.henrykrank.com www.henrykrank.com

Could article here although some prices a little out of date now.

As others have said, will you save money? No. Will you enjoy it? Yes, it's a different aspect of the sport that you can do at home. You can tailor a round to your rifle - last time out at 300 yards at Catterick I got 5 V bulls in a row with my 1974 Lee Enfield Enforcer which was very satisfying, especially when the range officer thought I was using factory ammunition and he was even more impressed when I told him I was using el cheapo Sellier and Bellot bullets at £20/100!!
 
In most cases no it's not cheaper in some it may be it has been cheaper.
I started home loading over thirty years ago
Exchanged a stalking outing for a full reloading kit still using it get.
Never had to buy brass get all my used brass
from friends and clients.
Bought a large.amount of primers cheap some years ago when an RFD was closing down
So my costs have been limited powder and
bullets for some time.
So for me it has been cheaper though that was not my reason for home loading.
 
4616Oxon

Not so sure cost +or- is the main driver these-days.

IMHO it is more about ensuring one has access to ammunition with which to hunt .

Loaded ammo has a limit on what one can possess. Some calibers are getting hard to find (this has been going on for a few years)

If you can get the calibre you seek, it may be a different brand/weight etc. Then you have to use some up to get zeroed.
This has never been factored in to any "cost" analysis I have seen.

Given there is now no restriction on possession of components, it seems to me that being able to re-load, even if one prefers proprietary ammunition, is eminently sensible,
if only as a back-up

(Also most likely more accurate and if you have an unusual caliber essential, but that is answering a different question)

"The ability to re-load and still get out hunting - Priceless",,, to borrow a phrase

Ade :cool:
 
Its a bit like home growing your own vegetables, they can be costly in time and effort at times with blood sweat and tears.......but you wont get any better vegetables on your plate.

I actually have all the kit including two presses and at least a dozen die sets but don`t do it myself.. A couple of the boys love farkin around with that game and do it for me. I`m only shooting deer basically and I`m sure that their loads are better MOA than what`s required. For me testing loads on the bench is utter boredom. Other than that Winchester factory loads have served me well for a long time.
 
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