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Cost per round to Reload?

sjalter

sjalter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
Messages
391
Location
Hillsboro, TN
Does anyone have a cost breakdown on what it cost per round to reload? If it is easier to figure the cost for a 100 rounds that would be ok too. Also how much time is involved per round or per 100 rounds. I guess the cost would vary depending on the caliber, I am primarily interested in the .243 caliber.
 
good ?,thats where the smaller cases save money from what i have read,i reckon the bullet $ will be a big factor.i have had folks tell me it is dirt cheap to shoot a 22 hornet,mike243
 
I love shooting my .243 but it cost me about .50 cents per shot...that adds up in a hurry! My son and I fill up 2 litter bottles with water and put them out 200 to 300 yards and watch them explode when we hit them which is usually every shot...man what a blast. We can easily go through 20 rounds a day.
 
I haven't ran one in a while now on any caliber but,the quick answer is less than half the cost for the same or simimilar factory loads.

Sorry but I really don't want to take the time and figuer it out at persent.However if you go to Midway USA or Cableas site you can get a ideal for yourself. Take the Cost of the Compeants ,Brass,Bullets Primers and Powder broke down into there cost each X the # of rounds.

BTW incase you don't know Powder 1 lb = 7000 grs a 40-43 gr charge weight would be a good ball park for most 243 thinking IMR 4831/4350 & 100gr bullets.

That siad if I get bored later today or tonight I will try to run some # and get back to you.
 
sjalter said:
I love shooting my .243 but it cost me about .50 cents per shot...that adds up in a hurry! My son and I fill up 2 litter bottles with water and put them out 200 to 300 yards and watch them explode when we hit them which is usually every shot...man what a blast. We can easily go through 20 rounds a day.
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Did you mean 20 rounds as indicated? That's just a box of shells, and the .243 caliber is pretty common, that is, Walmart material, so the cost of a box of factory ammo is pretty cheap entertainment for an outing with your son. If all you are ever going to do is explode water bottles and shoot just a box of shells an outing, I don't know if reloading is going to save you enough money to even fool with it.
 
Tiny said:
I haven't ran one in a while now on any caliber but,the quick answer is less than half the cost for the same or simimilar factory loads.

Sorry but I really don't want to take the time and figuer it out at persent.However if you go to Midway USA or Cableas site you can get a ideal for yourself. Take the Cost of the Compeants ,Brass,Bullets Primers and Powder broke down into there cost each X the # of rounds.


BTW incase you don't know Powder 1 lb = 7000 grs a 40-43 gr charge weight would be a good ball park for most 243 thinking IMR 4831/4350 & 100gr bullets.

That siad if I get bored later today or tonight I will try to run some # and get back to you.
Click to expand...

I did not know that 1 lb of powder = 7000 grs, that's an interesting bit of information...thanks for sharing.

In fact I know next to nothing about reloading but I am interested in learning.
 
4onaside said:
sjalter said:
I love shooting my .243 but it cost me about .50 cents per shot...that adds up in a hurry! My son and I fill up 2 litter bottles with water and put them out 200 to 300 yards and watch them explode when we hit them which is usually every shot...man what a blast. We can easily go through 20 rounds a day.
Click to expand...
Did you mean 20 rounds as indicated? That's just a box of shells, and the .243 caliber is pretty common, that is, Walmart material, so the cost of a box of factory ammo is pretty cheap entertainment for an outing with your son. If all you are ever going to do is explode water bottles and shoot just a box of shells an outing, I don't know if reloading is going to save you enough money to even fool with it.
Click to expand...

Yea your right we are not spending a whole pile of money for an afternoon's worth of fun but if I can save some money then why not try. Besides I have about 200 empty .243 casings that I need to do something with.
 
Cost depends. If you have some "odd-ball" round, yes its cheaper. With the cost of brass, powder, etc, right now, I cannot reload some calibers as cheap as I can buy them. Once you own the brass the cost comes down. If you are into exact/bench rest type shooting, handloads matched to your weapon wins hands down, but that is not a cost issue.
 
Since you already have your brass, just looked at Cabelas current shooting/reloading catalog. And, as I said, you might want to stick to an occasional box of factory ammo like you are currently doing.
Components, powder, primers, bullets, etc. $40.00
That's basically 5 boxes of shells, or $8.00 a box. Pretty cheap eh?
Now, in order to load these five boxes you need a scale($72), RCBS press(their cheapest listed is $120), a set of .243 dies($27) and a shell holder($7)for a total of $225.
Amortize that into your first 5 boxes and you per box cost is $53 a box. Moral is that you can buy a goodly number of Remington factory ammo for $265. Loading is great fun, and if you are going to expand into other catridges and stay with it as a hobby for years to come, then go for it. But, if you are just trying to save a little money for your immediate future, you can see that's not going to happen. Good luck.
 
4onaside said:
Since you already have your brass, just looked at Cabelas current shooting/reloading catalog. And, as I said, you might want to stick to an occasional box of factory ammo like you are currently doing.
Components, powder, primers, bullets, etc. $40.00
That's basically 5 boxes of shells, or $8.00 a box. Pretty cheap eh?
Now, in order to load these five boxes you need a scale($72), RCBS press(their cheapest listed is $120), a set of .243 dies($27) and a shell holder($7)for a total of $225.
Amortize that into your first 5 boxes and you per box cost is $53 a box. Moral is that you can buy a goodly number of Remington factory ammo for $265. Loading is great fun, and if you are going to expand into other catridges and stay with it as a hobby for years to come, then go for it. But, if you are just trying to save a little money for your immediate future, you can see that's not going to happen. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Yea that does put things into perspective cost wise...I guess if your going to go that route you have to be in it for the long haul in order for it to pay off.
 
When you reload you just wind up shooting more if you're like me. There's not really any savings, you just get to shoot more often without any more of a hit on the bank account. It's more a thing of enjoyment than savings.
 
I can load 300 WSM with a 165 grain Nosler Accubond for .67 cents a round. (I already have the brass)
If you buy brass, it will be around a dollar a round for the first loading.

A box of Federal Accubonds at Midway is 48.99 per 20.
That is $2.45 per round!!!
 

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