just recently purchased a 308 was wondering if reloading is worth the time it takesto save the money or is it just a hobby to break even thanks for ur response
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it's absolutely worth it. some people look at the initial price of buying all of the equipment and think it wont justify the price of the ammunition they will make with it. just keep in mind that whichever reloading press/equipment you buy, if you go to sell it, you'll be able to recoup most of your money back. if you end up not selling the equipment, it still doesn't take very long to break even. my .308 rounds are approximately $0.30 per round which ends up being about $6 a box for premium ammunition tailored specifically for my rifle. a fair warning for you though, it's very addictive but so much fun testing different powders, bullets (and bullet depth), primers, and cases. you'll spend alot of time on the hobby but i think it gets you much more in tune with shooting. i've only been reloading for about 5 years but there's a wealth of knowledge on here from people who have been making ammo for longer than i've been alive. good luck if you decide to get into it. it's a ton of fun guaranteed (if you're safe about it, that is).
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Used to be that the only way to truely tap the accuracy potential of a rifle was to handload for it. With todays premium ammo not so much.
To some degree, this is true. You can still hand-load for your rifle and get more accuracy than Black Hills or Federal Gold Medal Match, but when it comes down to just reloading .308 (if that's what you're asking), I can get the American Eagle 168gr OTM for around $.72/rnd and its really hard to beat that price even with reloading and while the accuracy isn't as good as hand-loads, its pretty darn good.
Federal Gold Medal Match is often available for around $1/rnd when it goes on sale. That's only about $.20-.30/rnd more than hand-loads (last time I checked, it might actually be more expensive than $.70-.80/rnd for good components now days - I haven't looked in a while).
Sure takes a lot of shooting to make up for the initial cost of reloading equipment. I'm not trying to talk you out of it because if I had the time, I'd reload, but for me it was an issue of time and not money (I just don't see that the money benefit justified the extra time that I don't have right now).
Now, if you're going to reload multiple calibers or you're really into shooting tiny groups at long-distances (and you've got the rifle to do it), then its probably worth it.
$.30/rnd - holy crap that's cheap? What components are you using? What accuracy are you achieving with these loads (and I've got to ask, what rifle are you shooting it through)?
That's pretty darn cheap.
If you are going to shoot 50 rounds or less, then no reloading is not your game, shot the factory stuff. Unless you just want to reload then go for it.
But READ-READ-READ loading books first then deside.
This.
Then here's the entry level setup for under $34.
http://leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1288199671.3827=/html/catalog/cleeloader.html
ezb, don't know how critical the 168gr load is to you, but using the 145gr FMJBT mil bullets from wideners, I come up with $0.30/rd also. That is however buying 2k bullets at a time.
Using 168gr BTHP mil bullets also from Wideners, and Fed Match primers, I find $0.34/rd.
Both loads using once fired lake city brass from Wideners, and assuming you can get 5 loads from each piece of brass. And if you're not pushing the limits of load/pressure, that isn't too much to expect.
Push that up to 168gr Sierra MatchKings, Lapua brass, and still only $0.52/rd.
Put Lapua 167gr Scenars in it, and it'll cost you! All of $0.55/rd.
Going with the premium reload @ $0.55 / rd, comparing that to the FGMM 168gr load you mentioned @ $1.00 / rd, there is a savings of $0.45 / rd.
Redding T7 Press = $215
Redding Competition 3 Die Set = $204.99
Redding Shellholder #1 = $7.89
Redding 3BR Powder Measure = $119
RCBS Power Case Trimmer = $249.99
Add $50 for miscellaneous funnels/loading blocks/ case lube / primer trays etc.
Total, $846.87
Number of rounds to pay off equipment = 1882
Keep in mind, that's premium equipment and competition dies.
Going with the 168gr mil bullet @ $0.34 / rd, comparing that to the AE 168gr load you mentioned @ $0.72 / rd, there is a savings of $0.38 / rd.
And take a different route to get into reloading.
Hornady LnL single stage kit = $319.99
Hornady 2 Die Set = $30.99
Hornady Bushing Neck Sizer Die = $37.57
Hornady Cam-Lock Case Trimmer Kit = $64.99
Total Cost: $453.54
Number of rounds to pay off equipment = 1194
Personally, that equipment along with taking care to check components and loaded rounds for consistency would probably be capable of beating FGMM on accuracy, especially if you also took the time to tailor your load to your gun.
Or, as I've shown before, if you want to get into reloading on the cheap, get a Lee kit, good bang for the buck.
Lee Single Stage Kit = $91.99
Lee Dlx 3 Die Set = $28.99
Lyman Accutrimmer Kit = $41.49
Add $25 for miscellaneous loading blocks/ case lube etc.
Total Cost: $187.47
Number of rounds to pay off equipment = 494
Since time is a big concern to you, you could for not much more $, upgrade to a Lee Turret, and then have the option of auto indexing. The indexing mechanism is simple to remove, and you could use it as a standard turret.
If you index with a single case, and set up an automatic powder feed, you not only save the time of installing/removing dies from the press, but also handling the cases after each operation.
Using 168gr BTHP mil bullets also from Wideners, and Fed Match primers, I find $0.34/rd.
Both loads using once fired lake city brass from Wideners, and assuming you can get 5 loads from each piece of brass. And if you're not pushing the limits of load/pressure, that isn't too much to expect.
Push that up to 168gr Sierra MatchKings, Lapua brass, and still only $0.52/rd.
Put Lapua 167gr Scenars in it, and it'll cost you! All of $0.55/rd.
Going with the premium reload @ $0.55 / rd, comparing that to the FGMM 168gr load you mentioned @ $1.00 / rd, there is a savings of $0.45 / rd.
Redding T7 Press = $215
Redding Competition 3 Die Set = $204.99
Redding Shellholder #1 = $7.89
Redding 3BR Powder Measure = $119
RCBS Power Case Trimmer = $249.99
Add $50 for miscellaneous funnels/loading blocks/ case lube / primer trays etc.
Total, $846.87
Number of rounds to pay off equipment = 1882
Keep in mind, that's premium equipment and competition dies.
Going with the 168gr mil bullet @ $0.34 / rd, comparing that to the AE 168gr load you mentioned @ $0.72 / rd, there is a savings of $0.38 / rd.
And take a different route to get into reloading.
Hornady LnL single stage kit = $319.99
Hornady 2 Die Set = $30.99
Hornady Bushing Neck Sizer Die = $37.57
Hornady Cam-Lock Case Trimmer Kit = $64.99
Total Cost: $453.54
Number of rounds to pay off equipment = 1194
Personally, that equipment along with taking care to check components and loaded rounds for consistency would probably be capable of beating FGMM on accuracy, especially if you also took the time to tailor your load to your gun.
Or, as I've shown before, if you want to get into reloading on the cheap, get a Lee kit, good bang for the buck.
Lee Single Stage Kit = $91.99
Lee Dlx 3 Die Set = $28.99
Lyman Accutrimmer Kit = $41.49
Add $25 for miscellaneous loading blocks/ case lube etc.
Total Cost: $187.47
Number of rounds to pay off equipment = 494
Since time is a big concern to you, you could for not much more $, upgrade to a Lee Turret, and then have the option of auto indexing. The indexing mechanism is simple to remove, and you could use it as a standard turret.
If you index with a single case, and set up an automatic powder feed, you not only save the time of installing/removing dies from the press, but also handling the cases after each operation.
