Pricing up a Reload for a reloading beginner

Hornady

Well-Known Member
Hi, im new to reloading and i think im going to try it in .223 variety for Foxes.

Now i went off the prices from Midway for things and powder from a different site.

can anyone confirm if this sounds correct?

40gr Vmax 16p each 250 bulk buy
Primer 3p each 5000 bulk buy
Remmingon Brass 3p per shot based on 10 shots per brass 500 bulk buy
Blue Dot powder 15 grains per shot at 1p per shot 464grams per tub

This a formular my friend uses for pushing a 40gr Vmax at 3700fps using fast burning powder.

23p per shot seems very cheap!!! have i got this wrong?

thanks for the help.
 
Remington brass is not the best. Lapua or Norma is better and will last longer and costs more.
You can get once fired in the UK or USA (www.oncefiredbrass.com, www.brassman.com)

If you have a hot load (3700FPS) the brass will not last a long as a medium load (3100FPS).

Starting out, I would not buy 5k primers, 100 of one brand and 100 of another to find out which go best. And they cost between 3.5-5p each depending if they are std or benchrest.

The powder calcs are out, for 222 the costs are this.
Vit 130 1kg: £70
21.2 grains per round.
15.432 grains per gram
21.2/15.432=1.373 grams per round.
1000grams per Kg
70*.1373=9.6p per round.

Each round will be about 30p

You have to factor in equipment if you buy it, if you use your friends then the cost of dies and maybe a few other calibre specific bits for £50 total and your time as well.
 
with regards to brass how do you know how many times u can shoot it?
 
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Hornady, it all depends on the calibre & how hard you shoot it, but as a guide I would hazard a guess of around five times before needing some further attention, this for the harder shooting cals such as .270 etc. Steve.
 
ill be shooting 223 normally with 40gr bullets but might pop the odd 50gr for longer ranges, 3500-3700 fps
 
I have not had to attend to anything untoward in this calibre since I started shooting it, if on the other hand you were shooting a ranch rifle I would tend to refer you to MUIR of this site.
 
Sorry whats a ranch rifle?

Also is the brass from the premium makers 4x better than the remmington brass? because its 4x the price.
 
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Sorry whats a ranch rifle?

Also is the brass from the premium makers 4x better than the remmington brass? because its 4x the price.

A ranch rifle is normally a M14 or a pick up truck rifle for targets of opportunity.

Is premium brass worth 4X more than other brass is difficult one to answer, if you want accuracy then it is the way to go, if you are just reloading for cheapness then buy or scrounge for nothing from your local range old fired cases, there are plenty of 223 cases in the bins.

You can anneal the cases to get them to last longer, but with 223 it probably not worth the bother.

ATB

Tahr
 
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