How many rounds do you think you will be shooting regularly? What type of shooting will you be doing?
Read the FAQ posted, answer the questions, and then ask your questions. Please.
maybe only 300 a month. And only range plinking.
I helped a friend pick out all of his reloading gear last week. When I figured it up for him the component costs were 12.5 to 17.5 cents per .45 cartridge depending on the components and if he reused brass. You can just about increase that price by 1/2 if you buy once fired brass or double it for new starline brass. Based on my Bullseye target load, component price breaks down to:
$0.09 per bullet
$0.01 per powder drop (4.0grns or less)
$0.04 per primer
brass is reused so $0.00 in this case
The generic answer I give when someone asks how much does it cost to reload .45 is -$7.50 per 50 with reused brass or $14.50 with new brass. Of course that comes with the caveat of it depends if component prices have gone up in the last few weeks.
$0.09 per bullet
$0.01 per powder drop (4.0grns or less)
$0.04 per primer
brass is reused so $0.00 in this case
The generic answer I give when someone asks how much does it cost to reload .45 is -$7.50 per 50 with reused brass or $14.50 with new brass. Of course that comes with the caveat of it depends if component prices have gone up in the last few weeks.
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I pretty much agree with Copper01. To get a realistic cost per you round should spread the cost of the brass over the expected number of reloads. I know that depends on a lot of things, but for my purposes, I usually say I can get 10 reloads out of brass when I start with new brass. Some get more, some less, but I usually lose it before I wear it out. That said, I pay about $100 for 500 pieces of Starline brass from Midway USA (cost of brass + postage). That's 20 cents per piece. Divide that by the expected life of 10 reloads equals 2 cents per reload. Add that to Copper01's 14 cents per round cost and get 16 cents per round or $8 per box. The going rate in Duncan right now for a box of 45 acp is around $22 a box. If you average 6 boxes a month, that's an average savings of $84 per month. At that rate, it doesn't take too long to pay for the equipment.
Something else that you will need to consider. You won't be buying 50 rounds of components at a time. The smallest bag of bullets I've seen around is 250, I buy 2k at a time to get the price down to 9 cents. Same thing with powder, a 8lb jug is going to have a lower component cost than a 1lb container.
Its one thing to go down to the corner store and pay $20 for a box of ammo, it's another to lay down $150 even it means having 1000 rounds.
Its one thing to go down to the corner store and pay $20 for a box of ammo, it's another to lay down $150 even it means having 1000 rounds.
Copper, that is the problem I have at present. I want to reload. I can time to time round up the $18 for a box of 50. I cannot easily round up $140 for a reloading setup not accounting for the components to reload with.
I am still intending to reload. I'll get there. Someday.
Great thread with good info. Thanks gang.
I am still intending to reload. I'll get there. Someday.
Great thread with good info. Thanks gang.
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