Cost reduction for 65 reloading

[Bfglowkee]

If you buy powder in the 8lb lots all the time that's accurate pricing...but so many reloading folks buy 1 lb at a time which jumps the PPR(price per round) anywhere from 3-10 cents depending on the powder. I firmly recommend to folks all the time that the first 40-60 rounds you shoot be factory. This way you get to see where your rifle sits in terms of "off the shelf" performance. You get a baseline. Then you recoup some of your costs by picking up that brass and now you have a foundation of brass to begin reloading. Its fire formed to your barrel.
In the end reloading is a double edged blade. If you shoot a round that is less readily available then you are able to reliably produce your stash to train and plink etc. It takes time which is rarely accounted for in terms of costs cause we pawn it off as hobbying and we rarely "charge" ourselves for it. But if you do take that into consideration then the PPR jumps drastically. It boils down to each person chooses if reloading is worth it to them. If $0.74 a round is your threshold for value then that's where you sit. If its $1.00 perfect. just be honest with yourself when you decide to undertake reloading and know that the excitement today for loading may not be there tomorrow but the shooting will be.....

[LR1955]

I'm struggling a little with this as well.

With 6.5 Creedmoor; loaded ammo can be had for as low as $0.65/shot for brass cased ammo; if you really know how to shop. Great source for brass casings to then reload. Also, 6.5 CM is common enough, that I'm starting to find casing on the ground. Not a lot, but some. So with reloading, brass value has some cost, but not so bad.

With .223, brass is free on the ground pretty much everywhere. It truly is a zero cost component of reloading (depending on your ranges).

With 6.5 Grendel. Holy shit. Loaded ammo is $1/shot. If you have a line on Hornady brass cased ammo for $0.74/round delivered and in hand after tax, please tell me where. And brass on the ground is non-existent. You can run 7.62x39 casings, which can be found on the ground but the way everyone around here acts it's like: ZOMG ONLY DESPERATE POOR PEOPLE DO THAT!! So.... uh, OK then. Meanwhile, I've got a small pile of pick-up 7.62x39 brass I'll be running. Back on topic, you can buy 6.5 Grendel brass, but at 35 cents a casing. Which while a great deal I suppose, it's still sort of well... crap. .35+.04+.30+.08 = why-the-Hell-am-I-Buying-Brass?--OH-yea-because-ammo-prices-are-absurd!

But wait, it gets worse; somehow small primer low pressure Grendel brass supposedly goes loose primer pocket on everyone in like 4 loadings; which is a fast rate of depreciation. I haven't run that many loadings to tell myself on that yet; but how the Hell a low P small primer fat-head (lot's o' strong supporting brass) does that, I have no idea. But it is a nice extra slap in the face in the world of $1/round ammo.

FWIW, I got lucky and found a forum member dumping their once-fired brass for about 13 cents a casing, so bought almost 500 of those. That helps. Also, I found Speer TNT 90's with rebate for on the order of 14 cents a bullet. I also got some good deals on primers. So combining that, I can be running:
.13+.03+.14+0.08 = $0.38/shot for decent hunting quality 1.5 (or better) MOA ammo. Which is good. I like that better.


And meanwhile, I can buy 2 - 2.5 MOA Wolf Steel 6.5G for $0.27/shot delivered in hand.

So far, I've shot well over 400 rounds through my Grendel; and will easily be over 1000 rounds before it's 1 year old. If all of that was factory Brass ammo, I would quickly exceed the purchase price I have invested in the gun! Thank God for Wolf Steel. My advise, buy a lot of Wolf Steel now, while you can.

LG:

1. No vulgar or profane language on the forum.

2. No one is stopping you from forming 7.62 X 39 brass and shooting it through your Grendel. I can't fathom why you would even mention this again. Once more -- if you want to deal with 7.62 X 39 brass with your Grendel, go for it.

3. I have never seen anyone but you claim we used 7.62 X 39 brass ILO Grendel brass because we were poor. We used it because no Grendel brass was available and or we knew we could not recover the case when fired.

4. We would experience loose primer pockets when using Wolf MPT and 7.62 X 39 brass. Both used large primers and the brass was normally lousy to poor in quality. I do not know of anyone who has only gotten four shots with Lapua Grendel brass (small primer) unless they used a gigantic overload.

5. Only 1K rounds in one year?

6. Re-read 1 above.

LR55

[roor]

I've calculated around .75 cents per round not including shipping. I always order when where's a free hazmat deal. I need to also get my brass annealed but it has almost paid itself off but then it's about 50 cents.

Lapua fired 5x - .20
123 scenar - .35
powder ~ .25
Primer - .2

[lazyengineer]

LG:

1. No vulgar or profane language on the forum.
Gotcha - unaware and apologies

2. No one is stopping you from forming 7.62 X 39 brass and shooting it through your Grendel. I can't fathom why you would even mention this again. Once more -- if you want to deal with 7.62 X 39 brass with your Grendel, go for it.
I was unaware it was a frequent mention. Sorry that's apparently a sore spot.

3. I have never seen anyone but you claim we used 7.62 X 39 brass ILO Grendel brass because we were poor. We used it because no Grendel brass was available and or we knew we could not recover the case when fired.
It was hyperbole to a degree. Various posts from numerous more experienced members discourage the practice today, claiming that 6.5 Grendel brass is common and inexpensive. That has not been my own observation or assessment. Comming in from the .223 world, Grendel brass is quite expensive, and not common at all

4. We would experience loose primer pockets when using Wolf MPT and 7.62 X 39 brass. Both used large primers and the brass was normally lousy to poor in quality. I do not know of anyone who has only gotten four shots with Lapua Grendel brass (small primer) unless they used a gigantic overload.
Lapua brass is a semi-exotic and not really representative to what most folks have. I've seen multiple posts from experience people saying that the more common and standard brands of brass such as Hornady and Federal open up quickly. Apparently those posts aren't the norm and were misleading?

5. Only 1K rounds in one year?
I like the cut of your jib on that one.

6. Re-read 1 above.
OK then.

[LR1955]

LG:

Roger.

There are a few threads on brass life. One thing for sure is that the large primed brass does not last as long as the Lapua small primed brass. I think the mean for the Hornady brass is six shots. I do not know what the mean is for Lapua brass in terms of loose primer pockets. I have had them only because I experimented a lot with loads before there was published load data. Thus my warnings to guys who want to experiment with fast powders. I shoot my Lapua brass twenty times on average before I toss it into the recycle brass bin. Trim it around ten or fifteen shots. Never have had to turn it or anneal it. Just size, prime, load, shoot. In the long run, the Lapua brass is cheaper.

LR55

[lazyengineer]

LG:

Roger.

There are a few threads on brass life. One thing for sure is that the large primed brass does not last as long as the Lapua small primed brass. I think the mean for the Hornady brass is six shots. I do not know what the mean is for Lapua brass in terms of loose primer pockets. I have had them only because I experimented a lot with loads before there was published load data. Thus my warnings to guys who want to experiment with fast powders. I shoot my Lapua brass twenty times on average before I toss it into the recycle brass bin. Trim it around ten or fifteen shots. Never have had to turn it or anneal it. Just size, prime, load, shoot. In the long run, the Lapua brass is cheaper.

LR55

I need to go reread your posts. I try to read them all, but didn't catch that. If I may - has your testing shown that fast powders tend to loosen primer pockets faster than slower powders do?

[LR1955]

I need to go reread your posts. I try to read them all, but didn't catch that. If I may - has your testing shown that fast powders tend to loosen primer pockets faster than slower powders do?

LG:

With the Lapua brass, I can not tell the difference. Keep the loads within the recommendations of the reloading manuals and the Lapua brass lasts so long that the headstamp becomes worn off and the rims get chewed up to the point that you look at the brass and figure you got enough out of it.

However, use a good sizing die with good lube! I use bushing dies and the bushings are just right that I don't overwork the necks. Also, I use Dillon Spray lube. Other guys here say the Hornady spray lube is also great.

LR55

[RMiller]

I reload and buy factory ammo. My reloads cost more in my mind than the factory ammo does for time spent on reloading them.

I have reloaded a couple cases 19 times so if I can expect 10 reloads from a case and calculate the case cost that way it looks a bit better.

[bj139]

I would buy the factory loaded at 74 cents and then reload using those cases. It gives you a baseline to start from, all factors considered.
The cases will be fireformed to your chamber and with minimal resizing will be more accurate.

[LtDan]

I don't reload to save money I reload to try to get all those bullets in the same general area 107-4.jpg

[LRRPF52]

Buying an initial large batch of factory, brass-cased ammo from AA, PF, or Hornady is a great way to lay down your reloading brass foundation to build off of.

The price of the Hornady stuff is hard to argue with and the brass lasts longer than I initially thought it would. At least mine has. I honestly can't recall losing a Hornady case yet other than one in the weeds or dirt.

Maybe because I go back and forth between factory ammo and hand loads depending on the season.

I also have a lot of Lapua and Hornady cases, so I've rotated load batches between the two to increase case life in both, and still have boxes upon boxes of unopened Lapua brass dating back to the first years of manufacture, as well as later years in the new blue plastic cases.

Lately, I've been shooting a lot of Federal and Hornady factory loads because it's just too easy to shoot factory vs hand load, especially with 2 kids in soccer.

[JASmith]

...Lately, I've been shooting a lot of Federal and Hornady factory loads because it's just too easy to shoot factory vs hand load, especially with 2 kids in soccer.

Yikes!!! Those guys will have awesome physical conditioning when they get to high school age!

Back to the OP: I love to hear the debates about cost of handloaded ammunition. I know from my own experience from my HS and college days that I could handload 215 gr pistol ammunition for about the same price as one could buy bulk 22 LR ammo.

I shot enough then that it made a real difference to a youngster working with a very meager budget.

Might still be possible today even though the 5+ jump in prices from the '60s to now clouds the issue a bit.

[rabiddawg]