It's easier to just load up and forget about counting the saved money, just keep it in mind and let 'er rip. Reminds me, should get started on the varmint loads as spring is coming.

As an example, I have 1000 rounds of 308/223 reloaded. At a savings of approximately $1/ round, the $1000 in reloading equipment is already paid for. With plenty of profit left to make. You could reload gold medal match ammo for the cost of bulk milsurp, and then reload the brass again. If you shoot 100 rounds a year, just take the plunge and load it all yourself

Sounds good qwert, how about some 44 mag brass, I haven't cleaned it yet.

If you want to get more shots outta your 300WM, learn how to anneal. I can help with that too....LOL :)

Nah, you won't save any money at all. Unless you shoot as much as Jerry Miculek. You'll just go in a deep hole of tools, dies, and powders and you will never be found again. And you will love it.

I just finished making a DIY wet tumbler. I tell the wife it will save lots of money. I also tell her that her butt looks great in those jeans.

Let's see a picture of your DIY tumbler.

I'm working in Ft Mac while the tumbler is in Edmonton.
I just used a windshield wiper motor I found at Pick'nPull for 20$, and old computer power supply, and two 5 gal buckets. Here is where I got the idea:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_con...&v=FMVRDAxKT38
If I were to do it again, I would use the smaller 2 gal buckets Mine is freaking huge. I could tumbler 2-3000 cases of 9mm if I wanted to in this thing.
The tricky part was finding a way to add blades inside the bucket.
Wet tumbling is far better than dry tumbling. Far, far, far better. And it's still noisy but not as much.

Here is a different video showing the same idea:
https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=4skIIRlFeQw
Next I am building an annealing machine. I figured I would build 4 or 5 and put the rest up for sale on Youtube.

Btw, maybe I should start a thread on that when I get home and I take pics of the tumbler. If you are going to make one, don't bother with the power supply. Just plug the motor to any old car battery you got laying around. The motor doesn't draw all that much power from it anyways. And it will be less bulky without the power supply. Use 2 gal buckets. 5 gal is way too big unless you want to tumble brass and mix concrete for your next house all in one tool.

If you're doing it to save money, imho you're in it for the wrong reason. Personally, I load for precision and accuracy. Yeah so factory premium loads, let's say for .308, now are ridiculous prices. Not only do I do it cheaper but more importantly, I make them better for my rifle. More accurate. More precise.

But really costs for me don't enter the equation. Especially when I can tailor a better round for my rifle(s).

You may have you own reasons.

I like reloading. Investment-wise, the best decision would be to sell all the equipment and give money to the significant other. Best investment ever.

I don't likely save money but what coin info spend goes farther. As for hobbies it's cheaper than sledding or 4x4'ing..........

Pretty clever ...sell the beginner equipment ... give funds to significant other to reduce resistance and induce feelings of guilt .... replace with high end equipment:)

Where are you buying Sierra Match Kings for $55.00 per 20.
Here they are $59.00 per hundred.

Read what he posted again.

You could compare reloading to other things that cost/save money. If you took a taxi to work every day, it would cost only a few dollars each day. The purchase of an automobile would cost thousands. Divide that investment by the number of times you drive it to work over the life of the vehicle. Add in gasoline, insurance, maintenance, unexpected repairs and you start to think I should have kept taking a taxi! But the freedom of having your own car to use whenever you need it or want it is taken for granted, as well as the costs.

Yuppers, the cost of the hobby depends on your needs and wants. Ha.

Nothing like stock piling bullets to the roof,,, fill the cabinet with many 5 gallon pales of powder,,, then top the cupboards full of primers and top quality brass. LOL.

Cry once at the costs,,, Grin from ear to ear knowing that a person only needs to restock every 2 or 3 years.

Don't forget to order 2 extra rifle barrels per gun incase you get things rocking. Ha.

The old guy told me that I can't put a price tag on good times. LOL

Okay, I see where I went wrong.

He listed Match King +Bullets at $55,00 and then Match King Ammo at the same price.
I thought the word ammo was a misprint. Now I see it was a comparison.

Thanks for clearing that up

It also depends a lot on the components available to the individual and the size and availability of the ammo.

I pay $65.00 to $95.00 per 50 for 218 Bee ammo but much less per round for the components to reload then he does because of what's available to me in that cartridge.

The ammo is relatively rare up here so it's expensive for what it is.
For reloading, the only brass I've been able to find is Winchester brass and it's relatively inexpensive.

Also, I can only find one type of factory ammo, where if I reload I have some choices. That has to be considered.

I've seen ammo for some cartridges listed at $95.00 per twenty.
There ought to be some savings there.

It is entirely possible to save money hand loading most centerfire cartridges, but most of us spend the money saved on more stuff!
Cat

As mentioNed above :

yes you can save money,
yes you can shoot more, yes it's another hobby that takes time away from the tv,
Yes you can get busy then put it away for 6 months and pick it back up nothing is dead.you can do as much or as little as you want.

I like that dies cost are a box or two of factory
Versitility for most calibres.
Can recycle factory brass that was thrown away

Buy good used equipment, it can last you a lifetime, and maybe the guy before you and the next guy.

:sHa_shakeshout:

Car and Keg, ...you got it!
Fifty odd years ago I got into reloading for a 30-06, .......quickly found out I was making cheaper and better ammo, and that meant I was saving money, ........so I bought more rifles/handguns and reloaded, .....now I was really saving big time money!!!
Now I look at the 100+ dies, 125 molds, plus presses, a huge stock of powder and bullets for 200+ firearms, and wonder why, if I've been "saving" so much money, where it went!!!
But it's been a fun ride "saving"!

You were going to burn it up one way or the other, and that's what you do with every shot you take, so, may as well do it right.

Most of my money lately has been on guns, rings, sights and scopes. Think this year I've spent maybe 175.00 on reloading gear, a die and a hand primer, some decap pins, and I forgot to look for a new small primer brush today. As to powder and bullets and primers---about 6-700 or so. But, that is around 1000 bullets, about 6-8 lbs of powder, and 1000 primers. Haven't bought any brass this year, haven't bought any in likely 3 yrs or more now. I have 120 Bees primed to load, 100 in reserve, 100 .223Rem primed to load, 200 in reserve, 100 7-08, 50 or so loaded, 100 reserve, have 30 30R ready to go, 100 brass primed and ready to load, about 280 in reserve , 25 7Rem mag ready to go, plus 100 brass primed and ready to load, and haven't touched the 300H&H yet, but have 65pcs of brass to do for it, and 200 or so in reserve. and at least 50 loaded rounds for each gun, couple of them have 200 or so ready to shoot.

And I have a choice of 8 or so bullets and weights for each cartridge, 30-55gr in .224, 100-168 gr in 7mm and 165-220gr in .308, and then there are cast bullets for the .22 and 7mm.

And at least 4 powders that will work in one or more of those cartridges.

Still have some shotshells I loaded 20+ yrs ago, too, and some hulls, wads, powder and primers and shot for them.

and 500lbs or so of lead and tin and wheelweights and some blends.

Not sure where I may have saved any money, but, that is also 35+ yrs worth of accumulation, and I didn't go short on anything thru the last big component shortage, and got to shoot some different and some out of the ordinary guns, and meet some cool people. And I won't run short til I die as far as I know.

I may be poor, but, I'll have had my share of fun.

Up front costs are high and you just shoot more so it kind of works out to break even. It is fun to try different things and you can really customize your own ammo to your needs and wants better then anything you can find on the shelf.

It becomes much more advantageous if you shoot lots or want to shoot a less common cartridge.

touché LOL

No. Not unless you shoot a **** ton and in more then one caliber. My reloading set up cost sits around 5g right now and I got rid of my progressive press set up. Not including components. Its a hobby so unless your in it for the hobby or sheer volume just buy very limited cost difference esspecially when you factor in time and barrel life “lost” testing.

If it's all about cost, you would be best to buy a 30-06 and a 223, but factory ammo and only shoot a couple boxes each per year.

OTOH, loading will allow you to shoot oddball and or expensive cartridges without paying a huge amount for factory ammo. The benefits of reloading really depends on what you shoot and how much.