Thinking of reloading in autumn of 2022? Here’s some tips and warnings from a reloader and retired engineer. Kinda long, and it is no where near everything I know. If you are considering reloading to save money, know this, your first round may cost easily a thousand dollars for press, dies, scale, powder measure, book, caliper, trimmer, deburrer, reamer/swager, locking rings, cleaning equipment and materials, lighting, bench, powder, primers and bullets. And it can be very time consuming. With a single stage press I can make some nice cheap 9mm ammo at a rate of a hundred rounds in 1.5 hours with a material cost of under 20 cents a round. This time includes, time spent on set up, take down and clean up. It took me a few thousand rounds to pay off my equipment compared to buying ammo off the shelf. That's a lot of evenings sitting at the reloading bench. And if include the time scavenging brass, sorting brass and searching for in stock materials, add many more hours. For a while it was look online an hour a week for MONTHS at a time. If you are easily distracted, don't like to follow or read instructions, cut corners because you think you might get away with it, don't have time or space, reloading may not be for you. Reloading can be safe or it can be dangerous. It is your choice. NEVER eat, smoke, drink, or have distractions while reloading. Many powder manufacturers list their loads online. But get the book and read and understand all the introductory chapters. Shortages suck, and they will eventually happen AGAIN. Keep a minimum stockpile of 1 years worth of reloading components. More is better. It also counters inflation. ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES. Sooner or later we all need them. Some people even wear disposable gloves because nitroglycerine can affect blood pressure and cause big problems. Work in a comfortable well lit area; this minimizes the chance for mistakes. And a solid bench is good for consistency. ALWAYS wash up after handling any of this stuff. Lead doesn't have to be fast to mess you up. Primers contain a lead chemical. Powder contains nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose and other chemicals. There is a case length specification with minimum and maximum, a minimum cartridge length based on powder and bullet and a maximum cartridge length based on the caliber. Know them all, or at least have them written down. SAAMI website has great pdf’s for this info. Some reloading books do not contain the minimum case length. ALWAYS follow the instructions for die set up and the recipe for powder weight and overall length. Steel and aluminum cases are not reloadable, but can be recycled as metal. Nickel plated brass is reloadable. There's a couple types of primers, Boxer and Berdan. Boxer primers have once center hole on the inside of the case. These can be reloaded. Berdan has two holes inside the case and cannot be reloaded. If you run them through a sizing or decapping die you can break the decapping pin. There are different sizes and powers of primers, small pistol, large pistol, small rifle, large rifle, and then there's match, magnum, and so on. Know what you need and buy that. Clean up your equipment, dies, scale, caliper and bench when done. Then toss out the trash. Some of us deprime before cleaning, it gives a clean primer pocket. Lightly lube the press shaft and hinge points. In a big run, don’t wait to be done, but clean and lube once in a while. ALWAYS inspect your brass for cleaning media before reloading. If wet tumbling; make sure it is absolutely dry. Some of us swage/ream the primer pockets of all our 9mm, 40 S&W, 5.56 and other military/police cases unless we have done this to the case previously. Mashing a primer into a tight hole can set it off or give you a bad round. Some pistol brass has been bulged because of what firearm it was shot out of. (the dreaded Glock bulge for one) And because of the space between the shell holder bottom and the bottom of the die, not the entire brass gets resized. Lee has a bulge buster kit that's fairly cheap for eliminating this problem. (more costs, spend that money) NEVER mix different powders in a load or a powder feeder. If it happens accidentally, toss it. It is not worth the risk of blowing up a gun or getting injured. ALWAYS store your powder and primers in a cool dry location. Heat and humidity will damage them both. Some sizing dies have carbide inserts, this allows you to not have to lube your case before sizing. If you do not have carbide inserts you should lube the cases because they may get stuck in the dies. After resizing a lubed case you need to either wipe or wash off the lube. If you wash then you have to re-dry. If you lube cases, some of that lube will cake up in the die eventually. Clean it out. Legally unless you have a specific FFL you cannot legally sell your reloads. (just sayin') People will ask you to sell your reloads. If something goes wrong do you have a lawyer? Keep your loaded ammo identified by the recipe you used. If (when) you have a problem you want to be able to isolate it. Tossing multiple runs of ammo into an ammo can is just asking for a problem. Also, record all you loads in a separate log. This will give you recipes you can reuse, or starting places for future recipes. Some ammo can be loaded with cast lead or plated or coated ammo. It is cheaper. But if you are using mixed manufacturer brass to load it your case length and therefore crimp may vary. This crimp variation can lead to the coating coming off and your barrel being leaded or exceptionally high pressure which can cause damage or injury. Therefore, some of us trim our cases to a uniform length before loading these bullets. A great source of information is The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) You can find detailed cartridge drawings including tolerances, storage recommendations, and other good info there. Check it out. There's also questions like can I use this die for that load? 380 cannot be reloaded with 9mm dies. While they look close except for the length, they taper differently. Don't bother trying. 38 special can be reloaded with 357 magnum dies.
Nice video. Some people factor in the cost of their labor as well. I myself don't necessarily reload to save money but to enjoy as a hobby. God knows I have so much reloading crap that I'll never recoup my cost. Bullets, powder, primers, and brass out the wazoo and 4 different presses to boot. I'm in way too deep to think about saving money at this point. But again, I enjoy it and that's really the bottom line.
Yeah I completely agree. It definitely is a hobby for me as well and I know what you mean about going down the cost rabbit hole. Die sets and accessories and it gets really crazy. The one other major benefit though is when there is a run on ammo I can always make my own.
ive been reloading for nearly 40 years. you are being very conservative. brass will start to stack up. i had so many 9mm brass, before i got my happy switch gun, i filled up a large glass lamp with it. if you use a public range just ask people if they reload and if not ask to pick up their brass. i usually come home with 1 or 2 hundred once fired free 556/223 cases. when i shot IPSC for 8 years i was getting cast 45s for $20/1000, 9mm was $15/1000. now you might as well go with jacketed bullets and its cleaner anyway. i once found an ad for pulled green tip and 30 cal black tip and primed virgin 556 cases. the Canadian gov said it was "overruns". being 1999 they were cheap. check out Pats Reloading online. you might not want to go with it but you can get 8 lb bottles of "reclaimed" millitary powder, said to be H-335, for around $100. get a deal on the haz mat with 4 bottles i think it is. i only have a few vids so check them out. i love a mag dump. keep looking and loading, you will shoot more.
Davidautofull I completely agree. I find that being conservative gives people at least a point of reference, all mileage will vary. Not everyone is close to a public range where they can pickup brass and others are. It just all depends, I just wanted to manage an expectation for a baseline and even then I still get flamed on YT but eh, whatever. Thanks for the comment I agree, it can be huuuuuge savings especially if you have access to brass :)
I live 35 miles from Midway and about an hour from Graf and Sons where I have a dealer account. I don't even mess with Midway anymore, Grafs kills their prices, especially with the dealer discount (just need a 30 dollar curio and relic license!) I'm lucky to be so close, saves me a ton in shipping and I never pay hazmat fees.
Although , I agree there's saving , reloading rifle cartridge is not as cost effective as people think. Even if you don't take cost of press and dies , it's still not that significance saving (at least for me ), considering the time you need to spent . Even when you forget about cost of brass ( since you get 6-10 loads out of them ) , you have to factor in more time for brass prepping. You can always spent reloading time to make more money .:):) But then again , it's a great hobby. Cheaper then hookers and expensive cars :):):) Now pistol ammo , completely opposite. Nice vid.
I understand but completely disagree. I'm hard pressed to find brass ammo for less than .50 cents a round anywhere in Atlanta. I load for nearly half that. Half is a lot when you scale it to 1,2,3 thousand rounds over 3-6 months. Time? I have a Dillon 550, loading about 3-400 rounds per hour taking my sweet time.. What am I missing out on? American Idol?
Here in Missouri it's about the same exact cost to load it yourself as it would be to buy factory rounds. So if you find brass at public ranges it'll save you a lot. Otherwise you'll have to cast and coat your own bullets. Then you a higher starting cost. I recently purchased a Lyman turret press kit and that's my only cost effective option is casting my own. 23¢ a round for 5.56 is average factory round cost here.
Need to stay seated for just a bit ! And yes you were REAL conservative on those costs. 20.00 per lbs HP-38 21.00 per 250 115grn Bullets 4.50 per 100 primers. Free brass on all my 9mm reloads and my whole RCBS system 120.00. Trading for dies. I come in around 15 to 20 Cents per 9mm reload.
Was about to be like. Dang!!! 40 cents a round?! That sucks! I load for 17 cents a round. Then I saw the video's publish date. Haha! Stock up now fellas!
.223 is not economical to reload presently. You can buy great factory ammo for less money than you have in components. Buy it cheap and stack it deep.. save the reloading components for lean times.
i love buying bulk. theres no better way. I prefer to do military surp. bullets with brass from different distributers. i can load for about .17 a round. but i know the good times are not going to last
Great stuff man..Thanks for the math...I,m working my way up to bulk ..to add to your bulk idea,you can also build a custom round for your weapon....Thanks...I subbed ya
I would highly recommend starting out on a single stage press loading a pistol caliber. Learn the fundamentals and then scale up. Also it's easier to start out there from a cost perspective to know if this is something you really want to invest into. It's kind of addicting, so beware...
Looks like your gonna be busy for awhile..thanks for sharing,I always wondered what the break down was on reloading.On another note..thought I was having a flashback in the beginning..too many dead shows in my youth..lol
hahaha Well, I figured it would be a nice demo on what the cost per round is. Not many people cover it, they just cover costs of reloading equipment.. Of course it completely varies depending on what type of components, how much you buy and form where..
I know this is 3 yrs old but $450-500 for 16lbs of powder? thats really high, so is your PPR in general. My 223 PPR cost with H335 and a FMJ boat tail and CCI primers is 18cents...
Its not about cost its about quality . my hand loads are max loads h335 26.5 grains 223 and same for my 6.5 grendel h335 26.5 grains. Butter zone baby lol
MPGunther1 LOL. Back in 2013 when I made this video ammo prices were sky high and you couldn’t even find certain calibers in stock, so I was a bit giddy when getting this delivered 😭😂
MrVideoyoulike Sure no doubt, it really comes down to, how much do you want to shoot? Remember loading multiple calibers can save big money over time but it can be a rabbit hole for sure.
Nice video thanks for the break down A was wondering what your opinion on a newbie walking into reloading with money (budget) in mind what's a good starter press I've looked at the Lee turret (auto index) but is there better? Thanks man
Smitty Thanks for watching and the comment, much appreciated. With a budget setup it kind of depends. If in the beginning you are going to be doing mainly pistol calibers, I'd at least go with the turret press. That's going to get you in on budget but also increase your output for reloading. If you are going to start on rifle rounds, you could just go with a single stage Lee press and be pretty good to go there also. If you decide to spend a little more money the quality goes way up with Hornady, RCBS and Dillon. I think you get most bang for your buck with the Hornadly lock and load setup but the auto index for the Lee turret is decent. The difference is in things like the powder disks, and accuracy of your powder drops as well as the craftsmanship in the build really. Take a look on Craigslist too under the sporting goods section in your area. I see a lot of deals there sometimes and you can find a nice deal if you have some patience. Good luck with your new journey, it's a lot of fun and can be very rewarding and save you some money over time, especially if you like to shoot a lot. Feel free to hit me up with any questions too. Cheers! ~josh
Smitty my opinion if your on a budget your going to get a lee, For future and currant reloading if I were you I would get a LEE Load Master. If you never want to do rifle rounds of .308 and above then a LEE Pro will work. the dies from lee are great and definitely the lowest price. LEE PRO on ebay is from 75-175 with dies LEE Load Master from ebay or many other places is about 250 with dies the load master needs about 75-100 more for case collator auto powder measure and theirs more you can get bullet and case feeders which the lee pro comes with almost all of that but it is only for pistol and .223 300 black being the largest. The LEE Load Master runs allot smoother is more robust and a bit easier to learn but more than anything if you want to move to .308 or above it is easy with a die set purchase which is about 25-50 depending on caliber. vs up to 400 for dillion die sets. Also pistol calibers in lee dies have a choice of 3 die sets and 5-4 die sets their 3 dies sets in pistol are great the crimp and flare are part of one die instead of those 2 sets needing 2 more dies. For rifle their 4 and 5 dies sets are like all the others.
Awesome score bro.. I choot a lil bit so I also reload but geesh. Never have ordered that many bullets, That was sexay. Noticed you had a pound of hp-38 on your bench. Just picked up a couple of pounds of that and was wondering how you like it?
I've been using Hp-38 for loading 9mm FMJ rounds and love it. It shoots clean, and consistent. I usually use about 4.9-5.1 grains for 115 FMJ and works like a charm everytime. I also use Unique but I love the HP-38.
Thanks for the info brother. I been havin to use what I can find at gun shows lately cant find any of my old faithful powders anywhere. The guy at booth told me was a good powder and looking at the burn rate and cals. it loads think Im gona love it
Hey brother! There's a guy in fb selling 6k 9mm brass mixed head stamp for $200. If you're interested it's on the group Guns R' Us! Long time no talk man.
brandon welty Seriously, I leave this up as a reminder but I agree let’s hope we never get back here. Not a bad idea to have some inventory just in case though.
@@halfdollar86 depends how much effort you want to put in, prices are currently increased at the time. My go to is 24.7 grains of CFE 223 (7cents) Wolf 55 grain .223 bullets (6.8 cents) and an S&B primer which runs about 2 cents, so 15-17 cents a shot depending on pricing on items. Currently everywhere is out of kegs of CFE 223 so the charge is gonna cost just a hair more, primers are sparse, so they'll be running $35 per 1000 unless you want to go fancy with bench rest primers which are 60$ per 1000. Then bullets have stayed about the same. Also, yeah RIP on the ammo shortage, not even more than 2 months after that comment. OAL with those wolf bullets i'm using is 2.18-2.2 with a heavy crimp
brandon welty awesome. Thanks. How does that shoot for you? I’m running m193 projectiles I got for 7 cents. I bought a lot of reloading components from a guy that was retiring. It wasn’t the steal of the century but it was fair with this market. I got 7 cents In the new m193 projectiles, 2.5 cents In cci 400 primers (luckily bought 6000 of them about a day before the panic hit) and bought h335 from him for 20 a lb. I wish I could of got more H335 from him. I had to buy some more H335 locally. All of it averaged together I have about 8 cents a round in powder with H335. That is my cheapest load currently at about 17.5 cents per round. My favorite load that shoots lights out is 24 cents. So far I haven’t had to pay any more for reloading components. I did however just add a progressive press that cost me 450 bucks plus $35 for 9mm plate and $36 for a 223 plate. But I’m getting back a 150-160 bucks in projectiles. I wish Hornadys rebate offered more of a selection of projectiles. You get 500 but unless you get 308 or 6.5 hunting bullets you leave a lot of money on the table. So I guess I’ll get the 6.5 projectiles and use them for training loads at 500 rounds or less. I would love to get 9mm or 223 projectile but you can buy those for like a lot less.
@@halfdollar86 .8 MOA @100yds, unfortunately it took me a lot of trail and error to get it up to that good of shooting cause I got a cheap barrel awhile back and never upgraded it. Hornady AP presses are great but unfortunately I don't have the spare change for one at the moment so i'm stuck on a single stage, which takes a fair chunk of time. At this time Reloading even if it's costing 25 cents a round using hornady projectiles is a steal considering cheap 223 is going for like 40-60 cents a round
I buy ammo but then I don't want to shoot it. when I get more than 10,000 I will. I want to convert my 223 brass to 300 blackout brass to reload the 300. like that it is a pistol load and I can cast the bullet. I have not heard of anybody casting 223. no wait I have heard of that casting. nice video
hazman440 Couldn't have said it better myself :) On my dillon 550, I conservatively crank out around 4-500 rounds per hour. Doesn't take that much time. The time is more of a therapy for me, so since I don't pay for therapy I'm still ahead!
hazman440 sucking down a few Stella Artois :) as it fucking snows outside :( just had a storm blow through, 140 mph gusts and an average of 80 mph winds, its off to Englandshire to fuck things up down there
It was a deal that Palmetto State Armory had, it comes and goes a couple times a year. Gotta just keep an eye on their deals. If you go to their site, click on "reloading" then "bullets" then sort by "biggest savings" and thats where they usually are.
It might be off for 5000. Basically from PSA it was 538.99 shipped for 6k. So that's 11.13 cents a piece, so I was deducting 1k projectiles to make 5k... I also drink a lot :)
JinkxSoldga I use my down time so not really I sleep wake up and days off I bbq and make bullets, in 2 days I can make about 5-10 k rounds and in 2 days I can cast about 5-10K bullets so in 4 days I can have about 5-10k rounds. every third month I spend about 2 days doing one or the other casting and smelting or loading. everyone says time this and time that, but I have no time yet I find time to load, smelt, and shoot. even when im so busy I can still go out side for a hour or 2 a day and by the end of the month i have 5-10k ready I shoot both pistol and rifle and make my own 300 black cases and shot about 2k rounds a month and I pay more in gas to go out their a 30 min ride each time hour total in travel time. If I had a way to travel faster that would be even better. people spend down time watching tv or some crap like arguing or watching American idol my cable bill doesnt even have tv in it no more lol, I make it load it shoot it and thats just the shooting part of my life I do all kins of stuff on down time as well so time is what you do with it some work for money some work for pleasure.
I can only assume you're projectiles/ components, and cost analysis are .223 ? You did not mention caliber, only brand and grain and bullet type. Lots of talk about components and projectiles.
I actually loaded them over the course of about two years but kept acquiring more along the way. Nowadays it's probably just cheaper to buy bulk ammo but back then it was really expensive.
I rather buy m855 for 31 cents a round and save my time and money for a press and eveything else u need. Hand loading anymore only makes sense if you are trying to shoot accurate long range.
koskey06 Well, sound like you have it all figured out.. until another Newton happens.. then you are fooked. And 855 is steel core, so good luck shooting that at indoor ranges :)
240FP hey I appreciate the well explained answer! I'm new to owning an AR 15 and just was considering reloading but I'm not sure that I will be getting into it at this time since I don't own any 300BO or 308 ect..
That depends on the condition of the brass you are loading. Assuming you don't need to sift through all the head stamps and separate what needs to be swaged it would normally take me about 1 hour to load 3-400 rounds. I load a little slow because I'm just really cautious. But, if I needed to process all the brass for all 5k rounds then I would say it would be more like 2-3 hours per 300 rounds respectively. The case prep is wha tis most time consuming, once I hit the Dillon it's just one round after the other.
UrbanArmed obsession is hitting up every tire store every month or 2 to get their lead even when they keep telling you no, I got 250 pounds for free from someone who told me no for months. he finally said they dont come and get it and I need it out of here so their I was picking up a couple buckets of lead. 250 pounds is about 9k rounds that will be gone in about 3-6 months. I get primers in packs of 10 k now I got a local guy whos prices are about 30 a box no shipping for large primer. I get bulk too no less than 8 pounds of powder. I saw their is company offering 30 pounds at a time but I dont know that power.
Yeah, it's literally cheaper to buy my 9mm / 223 and even 300 blackout than it is to relaod right now. I've been using the time to just stock back up in case there is a run on reloading stuff again....
Hey man if you'll keep me in 5.56 I'll start wackin' and stackin' deer meat like it's my J-O-B son. I've got hunting season in the fall and deer damage permits the rest of the year.
I'm ex military, former Royal Marine. I've never had the opportunity to reload, so I want a good comprehensive explanation about the processes and costs. If you didn't want that why watch the video?
Thinking of reloading in autumn of 2022? Here’s some tips and warnings from a reloader and retired engineer. Kinda long, and it is no where near everything I know.
If you are considering reloading to save money, know this, your first round may cost easily a thousand dollars for press, dies, scale, powder measure, book, caliper, trimmer, deburrer, reamer/swager, locking rings, cleaning equipment and materials, lighting, bench, powder, primers and bullets. And it can be very time consuming. With a single stage press I can make some nice cheap 9mm ammo at a rate of a hundred rounds in 1.5 hours with a material cost of under 20 cents a round. This time includes, time spent on set up, take down and clean up. It took me a few thousand rounds to pay off my equipment compared to buying ammo off the shelf. That's a lot of evenings sitting at the reloading bench. And if include the time scavenging brass, sorting brass and searching for in stock materials, add many more hours. For a while it was look online an hour a week for MONTHS at a time.
If you are easily distracted, don't like to follow or read instructions, cut corners because you think you might get away with it, don't have time or space, reloading may not be for you. Reloading can be safe or it can be dangerous. It is your choice.
NEVER eat, smoke, drink, or have distractions while reloading.
Many powder manufacturers list their loads online. But get the book and read and understand all the introductory chapters.
Shortages suck, and they will eventually happen AGAIN. Keep a minimum stockpile of 1 years worth of reloading components. More is better. It also counters inflation.
ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES. Sooner or later we all need them. Some people even wear disposable gloves because nitroglycerine can affect blood pressure and cause big problems.
Work in a comfortable well lit area; this minimizes the chance for mistakes. And a solid bench is good for consistency.
ALWAYS wash up after handling any of this stuff. Lead doesn't have to be fast to mess you up. Primers contain a lead chemical. Powder contains nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose and other chemicals.
There is a case length specification with minimum and maximum, a minimum cartridge length based on powder and bullet and a maximum cartridge length based on the caliber. Know them all, or at least have them written down. SAAMI website has great pdf’s for this info. Some reloading books do not contain the minimum case length.
ALWAYS follow the instructions for die set up and the recipe for powder weight and overall length.
Steel and aluminum cases are not reloadable, but can be recycled as metal. Nickel plated brass is reloadable.
There's a couple types of primers, Boxer and Berdan. Boxer primers have once center hole on the inside of the case. These can be reloaded. Berdan has two holes inside the case and cannot be reloaded. If you run them through a sizing or decapping die you can break the decapping pin.
There are different sizes and powers of primers, small pistol, large pistol, small rifle, large rifle, and then there's match, magnum, and so on. Know what you need and buy that.
Clean up your equipment, dies, scale, caliper and bench when done. Then toss out the trash. Some of us deprime before cleaning, it gives a clean primer pocket. Lightly lube the press shaft and hinge points. In a big run, don’t wait to be done, but clean and lube once in a while.
ALWAYS inspect your brass for cleaning media before reloading. If wet tumbling; make sure it is absolutely dry.
Some of us swage/ream the primer pockets of all our 9mm, 40 S&W, 5.56 and other military/police cases unless we have done this to the case previously. Mashing a primer into a tight hole can set it off or give you a bad round.
Some pistol brass has been bulged because of what firearm it was shot out of. (the dreaded Glock bulge for one) And because of the space between the shell holder bottom and the bottom of the die, not the entire brass gets resized. Lee has a bulge buster kit that's fairly cheap for eliminating this problem. (more costs, spend that money)
NEVER mix different powders in a load or a powder feeder. If it happens accidentally, toss it. It is not worth the risk of blowing up a gun or getting injured.
ALWAYS store your powder and primers in a cool dry location. Heat and humidity will damage them both.
Some sizing dies have carbide inserts, this allows you to not have to lube your case before sizing. If you do not have carbide inserts you should lube the cases because they may get stuck in the dies. After resizing a lubed case you need to either wipe or wash off the lube. If you wash then you have to re-dry. If you lube cases, some of that lube will cake up in the die eventually. Clean it out.
Legally unless you have a specific FFL you cannot legally sell your reloads. (just sayin') People will ask you to sell your reloads. If something goes wrong do you have a lawyer?
Keep your loaded ammo identified by the recipe you used. If (when) you have a problem you want to be able to isolate it. Tossing multiple runs of ammo into an ammo can is just asking for a problem. Also, record all you loads in a separate log. This will give you recipes you can reuse, or starting places for future recipes.
Some ammo can be loaded with cast lead or plated or coated ammo. It is cheaper. But if you are using mixed manufacturer brass to load it your case length and therefore crimp may vary. This crimp variation can lead to the coating coming off and your barrel being leaded or exceptionally high pressure which can cause damage or injury. Therefore, some of us trim our cases to a uniform length before loading these bullets.
A great source of information is The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) You can find detailed cartridge drawings including tolerances, storage recommendations, and other good info there. Check it out.
There's also questions like can I use this die for that load? 380 cannot be reloaded with 9mm dies. While they look close except for the length, they taper differently. Don't bother trying. 38 special can be reloaded with 357 magnum dies.
May be one of my favorite channels now,This guy has a great sense of humor and super informative. Thanks!
Appreciate the kind words.. :) Thanks for the support, it's very appreciated.
I buy good factory ammo in bulk when there are good deals, then reload. Sometimes you can get a deal that's near the same price as brass.
Nice video. Some people factor in the cost of their labor as well. I myself don't necessarily reload to save money but to enjoy as a hobby. God knows I have so much reloading crap that I'll never recoup my cost. Bullets, powder, primers, and brass out the wazoo and 4 different presses to boot. I'm in way too deep to think about saving money at this point. But again, I enjoy it and that's really the bottom line.
Yeah I completely agree. It definitely is a hobby for me as well and I know what you mean about going down the cost rabbit hole. Die sets and accessories and it gets really crazy. The one other major benefit though is when there is a run on ammo I can
always make my own.
Watching this in 2022 and holy shit. I just got into reloading last year and these prices literally blows my mind
Wild times we are in right now….
ive been reloading for nearly 40 years. you are being very conservative.
brass will start to stack up. i had so many 9mm brass, before i got my happy switch gun, i filled up a large glass lamp with it. if you use a public range just ask people if they reload and if not ask to pick up their brass. i usually come home with 1 or 2 hundred once fired free 556/223 cases.
when i shot IPSC for 8 years i was getting cast 45s for $20/1000, 9mm was $15/1000. now you might as well go with jacketed bullets and its cleaner anyway.
i once found an ad for pulled green tip and 30 cal black tip and primed virgin 556 cases. the Canadian gov said it was "overruns". being 1999 they were cheap.
check out Pats Reloading online. you might not want to go with it but you can get 8 lb bottles of "reclaimed" millitary powder, said to be H-335, for around $100. get a deal on the haz mat with 4 bottles i think it is.
i only have a few vids so check them out. i love a mag dump.
keep looking and loading, you will shoot more.
Davidautofull I completely agree. I find that being conservative gives people at least a point of reference, all mileage will vary. Not everyone is close to a public range where they can pickup brass and others are. It just all depends, I just wanted to manage an expectation for a baseline and even then I still get flamed on YT but eh, whatever. Thanks for the comment I agree, it can be huuuuuge savings especially if you have access to brass :)
I live 35 miles from Midway and about an hour from Graf and Sons where I have a dealer account. I don't even mess with Midway anymore, Grafs kills their prices, especially with the dealer discount (just need a 30 dollar curio and relic license!) I'm lucky to be so close, saves me a ton in shipping and I never pay hazmat fees.
Yeah, true that for sure, this is almost three years old, a lot has changed since then, I have a whole new system, but good info.
Not only that,its so rewarding ,and theraputic to reload,and damm fun !! I dont even care about the savings,its a great hobby!
Couldn't agree more! Thanks for the comment, we love some reloading!
Agreed... my probem is forcing myself to shoot so i can reload again
Wow the prices in 2013! I can load 77-grains match ammo for less than .27 a round now
Although , I agree there's saving , reloading rifle cartridge is not as cost effective as people think. Even if you don't take cost of press and dies , it's still not that significance saving (at least for me ), considering the time you need to spent . Even when you forget about cost of brass ( since you get 6-10 loads out of them ) , you have to factor in more time for brass prepping. You can always spent reloading time to make more money .:):)
But then again , it's a great hobby. Cheaper then hookers and expensive cars :):):)
Now pistol ammo , completely opposite.
Nice vid.
I understand but completely disagree. I'm hard pressed to find brass ammo for less than .50 cents a round anywhere in Atlanta. I load for nearly half that. Half is a lot when you scale it to 1,2,3 thousand rounds over 3-6 months. Time? I have a Dillon 550, loading about 3-400 rounds per hour taking my sweet time.. What am I missing out on? American Idol?
Here in Missouri it's about the same exact cost to load it yourself as it would be to buy factory rounds. So if you find brass at public ranges it'll save you a lot. Otherwise you'll have to cast and coat your own bullets. Then you a higher starting cost. I recently purchased a Lyman turret press kit and that's my only cost effective option is casting my own. 23¢ a round for 5.56 is average factory round cost here.
Need to stay seated for just a bit !
And yes you were REAL conservative on those costs.
20.00 per lbs HP-38 21.00 per 250 115grn Bullets 4.50 per 100 primers.
Free brass on all my 9mm reloads and my whole RCBS system 120.00.
Trading for dies. I come in around 15 to 20 Cents per 9mm reload.
That's a fantastic price man. I haven't found 223 brass ammo in my area really for less than .50 a round...
Reminds me of the time i bought $1500 worth of bullets from x-treme and my wife was pissed because i told her i couldn't afford her a new car lmao
Josue Guzman Now that's a conversation we all try to avoid 😂😂😂
You can’t explain anything to women...
lol
Smart men dont do marriage.....js
I would love it if prices were this low today.
Oh the good ole days!!
That type of bulk numbers and you got to be on some agency watch list.. LOL
If you're not on a government watch list, you're not shouting loud enough :)
UrbanArmed That's OK we are all on it NOW !
Knowledge Zombie
Ohhh you've BEEN on that list sir. They had you at water filtration! :)
smilemoney naaa I order that much every while or so.
Was about to be like. Dang!!! 40 cents a round?! That sucks! I load for 17 cents a round. Then I saw the video's publish date. Haha! Stock up now fellas!
Yeah, no kidding a lot has changed since then but it's possible we could go back into a similar cycle again soon.
@ThisnThatPackRat Aint this true today
I wish brass was that cheap now. I just paid 200 bucks for 1000 pieces. Thats shipping and handling included.
.223 is not economical to reload presently. You can buy great factory ammo for less money than you have in components.
Buy it cheap and stack it deep.. save the reloading components for lean times.
Tom I 100 percent agree with you I’m that my guy. I’ve been buying ammo for a long time and just stacking reloading supplies.
2023 going price is around 28-35 cents a round. Hard to compete against the big dogs if you want to get in the game and start your own business
i love buying bulk. theres no better way. I prefer to do military surp. bullets with brass from different distributers. i can load for about .17 a round. but i know the good times are not going to last
Great stuff man..Thanks for the math...I,m working my way up to bulk ..to add to your bulk idea,you can also build a custom round for your weapon....Thanks...I subbed ya
Slow and steady, you don't get there overnight :) Thanks for the kind words, very much appreciated.
Fuckin genius! I would't expect any less from you brother to be quite honest to you. Your a fuckin BOSS bro!
hahahaha you crack me up man.. I'm just a man.. just a man. :)
I did a Lee setup. Broke even at 1000 rounds. Shot that in in the first month. That was 10 years ago.
Subbed to your channel. I'm wanting to start reloading but have no idea where to start.
I would highly recommend starting out on a single stage press loading a pistol caliber. Learn the fundamentals and then scale up. Also it's easier to start out there from a cost perspective to know if this is something you really want to invest into. It's kind of addicting, so beware...
Looks like your gonna be busy for awhile..thanks for sharing,I always wondered what the break down was on reloading.On another note..thought I was having a flashback in the beginning..too many dead shows in my youth..lol
hahaha Well, I figured it would be a nice demo on what the cost per round is. Not many people cover it, they just cover costs of reloading equipment.. Of course it completely varies depending on what type of components, how much you buy and form where..
is there an up to date version of this? cause those reloading cost are terrible in 2017
Risky Business I haven’t been reloading as much because prices are so low. But guarantee they’ll be again during another panic....
I know this is 3 yrs old but $450-500 for 16lbs of powder? thats really high, so is your PPR in general. My 223 PPR cost with H335 and a FMJ boat tail and CCI primers is 18cents...
Yeah, I've actually been buying it much cheaper myself these days from a few places. That's a killer price to be reloading 223 at!
Thats actually very cheap. Here in europe 1lb of powder is 50€ or about 60$. Yes 10lbs of powder is 600$! Crazy prices.
Its not about cost its about quality . my hand loads are max loads h335 26.5 grains 223 and same for my 6.5 grendel h335 26.5 grains. Butter zone baby lol
Love the shelf of Folgers cans
you should check out rocky mountain reloading. best bullet prices on the net.
+AR Jones American Reloading is cheaper and just as good after a tumble. I just picked up 20K 9mm which should last a month or so. lol.
yeah, I buy most of my 9mm from RMR these days. Great resource, thanks bro!
You sound like my wife after she's been shopping
MPGunther1 LOL. Back in 2013 when I made this video ammo prices were sky high and you couldn’t even find certain calibers in stock, so I was a bit giddy when getting this delivered 😭😂
@@UrbanArmed oh how similar a situation we've gotten into...
@@THEGIPPER34 It ebbs and flows with the political landscape, that's for sure :)
600 just covers the cost of the press alone it cost way more then that to be able to actually use it.
MrVideoyoulike Sure no doubt, it really comes down to, how much do you want to shoot? Remember loading multiple calibers can save big money over time but it can be a rabbit hole for sure.
I dunno man, in all that wordy video did you even say what bullet you were showing us? it looks like 223?
Yeah, sorry, this video is old AF.
poor mailman
Yeah, he hated coming to my house..
Just a tip: you cant get lead poisoning with copper coated. Lead shouldnt go thru skin too....
I love my hornady aps love to shot and love to prep 👍 thanks for your video
Those coffee tumblers are the best!
Nice video thanks for the break down
A was wondering what your opinion on a newbie walking into reloading with money (budget) in mind what's a good starter press
I've looked at the Lee turret (auto index) but is there better? Thanks man
Smitty Thanks for watching and the comment, much appreciated. With a budget setup it kind of depends. If in the beginning you are going to be doing mainly pistol calibers, I'd at least go with the turret press. That's going to get you in on budget but also increase your output for reloading. If you are going to start on rifle rounds, you could just go with a single stage Lee press and be pretty good to go there also. If you decide to spend a little more money the quality goes way up with Hornady, RCBS and Dillon. I think you get most bang for your buck with the Hornadly lock and load setup but the auto index for the Lee turret is decent. The difference is in things like the powder disks, and accuracy of your powder drops as well as the craftsmanship in the build really. Take a look on Craigslist too under the sporting goods section in your area. I see a lot of deals there sometimes and you can find a nice deal if you have some patience. Good luck with your new journey, it's a lot of fun and can be very rewarding and save you some money over time, especially if you like to shoot a lot. Feel free to hit me up with any questions too. Cheers! ~josh
Smitty my opinion if your on a budget your going to get a lee, For future and currant reloading if I were you I would get a LEE Load Master. If you never want to do rifle rounds of .308 and above then a LEE Pro will work. the dies from lee are great and definitely the lowest price. LEE PRO on ebay is from 75-175 with dies LEE Load Master from ebay or many other places is about 250 with dies the load master needs about 75-100 more for case collator auto powder measure and theirs more you can get bullet and case feeders which the lee pro comes with almost all of that but it is only for pistol and .223 300 black being the largest. The LEE Load Master runs allot smoother is more robust and a bit easier to learn but more than anything if you want to move to .308 or above it is easy with a die set purchase which is about 25-50 depending on caliber. vs up to 400 for dillion die sets. Also pistol calibers in lee dies have a choice of 3 die sets and 5-4 die sets their 3 dies sets in pistol are great the crimp and flare are part of one die instead of those 2 sets needing 2 more dies. For rifle their 4 and 5 dies sets are like all the others.
Yea caus getting led poisoning from touching coper actually happens to people.
I’m already dead, responding from the grave! 😂😂
@@UrbanArmed the Clinton's learned a new trick huh?
Is that a beer. Kinda looked like Elizabeth Warren for a second there. Lol😬
Elizabeth Warren? Never heard of him :) hahahahaha
Awesome score bro.. I choot a lil bit so I also reload but geesh. Never have ordered that many bullets, That was sexay. Noticed you had a pound of hp-38 on your bench. Just picked up a couple of pounds of that and was wondering how you like it?
I've been using Hp-38 for loading 9mm FMJ rounds and love it. It shoots clean, and consistent. I usually use about 4.9-5.1 grains for 115 FMJ and works like a charm everytime. I also use Unique but I love the HP-38.
Thanks for the info brother. I been havin to use what I can find at gun shows lately cant find any of my old faithful powders anywhere. The guy at booth told me was a good powder and looking at the burn rate and cals. it loads think Im gona love it
glockerbob
Oh, you'll enjoy the HP-38, it's a solid powder, most of the Hodgdon powders I love.
I buy Federal 55gr fmj all the time for 0.30/round. Ill stick to buying.
To each their own!
Save your brass, sell it if you don’t reload
Hey brother! There's a guy in fb selling 6k 9mm brass mixed head stamp for $200. If you're interested it's on the group Guns R' Us! Long time no talk man.
Oh snap! Looks like I need to get with that group!!
Man watching this now, Factory brass ammo is 28 cents a round, reloaded can cost 15 cents, a box of tula is like 4.97, lets not go back to these times
brandon welty Seriously, I leave this up as a reminder but I agree let’s hope we never get back here. Not a bad idea to have some inventory just in case though.
brandon welty ... well that didn’t take long.. back again lol
What’s your recipe for 15 cent 223?
@@halfdollar86 depends how much effort you want to put in, prices are currently increased at the time. My go to is 24.7 grains of CFE 223 (7cents) Wolf 55 grain .223 bullets (6.8 cents) and an S&B primer which runs about 2 cents, so 15-17 cents a shot depending on pricing on items. Currently everywhere is out of kegs of CFE 223 so the charge is gonna cost just a hair more, primers are sparse, so they'll be running $35 per 1000 unless you want to go fancy with bench rest primers which are 60$ per 1000. Then bullets have stayed about the same. Also, yeah RIP on the ammo shortage, not even more than 2 months after that comment. OAL with those wolf bullets i'm using is 2.18-2.2 with a heavy crimp
brandon welty awesome. Thanks. How does that shoot for you? I’m running m193 projectiles I got for 7 cents. I bought a lot of reloading components from a guy that was retiring. It wasn’t the steal of the century but it was fair with this market. I got 7 cents In the new m193 projectiles, 2.5 cents In cci 400 primers (luckily bought 6000 of them about a day before the panic hit) and bought h335 from him for 20 a lb. I wish I could of got more H335 from him. I had to buy some more H335 locally. All of it averaged together I have about 8 cents a round in powder with H335. That is my cheapest load currently at about 17.5 cents per round. My favorite load that shoots lights out is 24 cents. So far I haven’t had to pay any more for reloading components. I did however just add a progressive press that cost me 450 bucks plus $35 for 9mm plate and $36 for a 223 plate. But I’m getting back a 150-160 bucks in projectiles. I wish Hornadys rebate offered more of a selection of projectiles. You get 500 but unless you get 308 or 6.5 hunting bullets you leave a lot of money on the table. So I guess I’ll get the 6.5 projectiles and use them for training loads at 500 rounds or less. I would love to get 9mm or 223 projectile but you can buy those for like a lot less.
@@halfdollar86 .8 MOA @100yds, unfortunately it took me a lot of trail and error to get it up to that good of shooting cause I got a cheap barrel awhile back and never upgraded it. Hornady AP presses are great but unfortunately I don't have the spare change for one at the moment so i'm stuck on a single stage, which takes a fair chunk of time. At this time Reloading even if it's costing 25 cents a round using hornady projectiles is a steal considering cheap 223 is going for like 40-60 cents a round
I buy ammo but then I don't want to shoot it. when I get more than 10,000 I will. I want to convert my 223 brass to 300 blackout brass to reload the 300. like that it is a pistol load and I can cast the bullet. I have not heard of anybody casting 223. no wait I have heard of that casting. nice video
Thanks Matt, much appreciated. Yeah, I haven't seen anyone casting 223 but I'm sure there are some?
UrbanArmed Country boy prepper did it.
thanks for sharing your thoughts brother
No prob, thanks for the comment!
Ammo is 18 cents a round now
heh, yeah for sure, interesting how things change so drastically overtime.
How do you equate your time ( $ per hour ) reloading to the savings made on retail prices?
just pack a bowl , drink beer while sitting there loading ... life is good !
hazman440
Couldn't have said it better myself :) On my dillon 550, I conservatively crank out around 4-500 rounds per hour. Doesn't take that much time. The time is more of a therapy for me, so since I don't pay for therapy I'm still ahead!
Ok, cheers for the reply
***** Burp !
hazman440 sucking down a few Stella Artois :) as it fucking snows outside :( just had a storm blow through, 140 mph gusts and an average of 80 mph winds, its off to Englandshire to fuck things up down there
um where did you buy the components???
It was a deal that Palmetto State Armory had, it comes and goes a couple times a year. Gotta just keep an eye on their deals. If you go to their site, click on "reloading" then "bullets" then sort by "biggest savings" and thats where they usually are.
with those kinds of numbers you might as well get an ffl and start selling reloaded ammo
Looking at this in 2024, and am disgusted how hard it is to buy the same components now. FJB.
do you have machinery for drawing your own brass
good video...and ideas...
thanks :)
Your math is off for the price of your projectiles. 5,000 pieces at $449.15 is 8.983 cents a round.
It might be off for 5000. Basically from PSA it was 538.99 shipped for 6k. So that's 11.13 cents a piece, so I was deducting 1k projectiles to make 5k... I also drink a lot :)
That's some savings!! Only aspect you didn't account for is time spent... time is $$$!!!
JinkxSoldga Yes.. that's quite true... I get my kids to load a lot of it..
JinkxSoldga I use my down time so not really I sleep wake up and days off I bbq and make bullets, in 2 days I can make about 5-10 k rounds and in 2 days I can cast about 5-10K bullets so in 4 days I can have about 5-10k rounds. every third month I spend about 2 days doing one or the other casting and smelting or loading. everyone says time this and time that, but I have no time yet I find time to load, smelt, and shoot. even when im so busy I can still go out side for a hour or 2 a day and by the end of the month i have 5-10k ready I shoot both pistol and rifle and make my own 300 black cases and shot about 2k rounds a month and I pay more in gas to go out their a 30 min ride each time hour total in travel time. If I had a way to travel faster that would be even better. people spend down time watching tv or some crap like arguing or watching American idol my cable bill doesnt even have tv in it no more lol, I make it load it shoot it and thats just the shooting part of my life I do all kins of stuff on down time as well so time is what you do with it some work for money some work for pleasure.
I can only assume you're projectiles/ components, and cost analysis are .223 ? You did not mention caliber, only brand and grain and bullet type. Lots of talk about components and projectiles.
Justan Observer it’s obviously 223 and they’re 55 grain. This video is five years old bro might be a bit outdated.
it's cheaper to buy ammo, now
Perhaps, this video is three years old..
Ammo today is .28 cents per round all day long.
not 6 years ago when the video was posted
Just now getting my reloading room together or should I say closet
I wanna see it!
How much time to load the 5k rounds?
I actually loaded them over the course of about two years but kept acquiring more along the way. Nowadays it's probably just cheaper to buy bulk ammo but back then it was really expensive.
I'm trying to gage how long it would take to reload
I figured I'd just do a ninja run to your house and um...borrow some when you were at work. I'll leave twinkies :-)
Now that sir is a fair trade!
Found perfecta at 30 cents a round, the best price for new loaded brass I have found
Yeah, prices have equalized a bit more since I made this video three years ago.
The only way to go if you shoot a lot.
Yes siiir I agree. Thanks!
Too many "ahhh" and "ummm" for me. I stopped three mins in.
Cool.
I rather buy m855 for 31 cents a round and save my time and money for a press and eveything else u need. Hand loading anymore only makes sense if you are trying to shoot accurate long range.
koskey06 Well, sound like you have it all figured out.. until another Newton happens.. then you are fooked. And 855 is steel core, so good luck shooting that at indoor ranges :)
UrbanArmed also when casting your own the price is now, .05-.08 a round and the round is far better than any commercial round.
koskey06 watch my vids and ill show you why reloading is a must.
Where did u get that xdm pad I want one
Oh, I picked it up at the Gun Show for like 15 bucks I think. I love those things. PLus they just look cool on my bench, make me look more tactical :)
how long would it realisticly take you to reload 5k rounds from very begening to end?
240FP hey I appreciate the well explained answer! I'm new to owning an AR 15 and just was considering reloading but I'm not sure that I will be getting into it at this time since I don't own any 300BO or 308 ect..
That depends on the condition of the brass you are loading. Assuming you don't need to sift through all the head stamps and separate what needs to be swaged it would normally take me about 1 hour to load 3-400 rounds. I load a little slow because I'm just really cautious. But, if I needed to process all the brass for all 5k rounds then I would say it would be more like 2-3 hours per 300 rounds respectively. The case prep is wha tis most time consuming, once I hit the Dillon it's just one round after the other.
Sick intro 👌🏻
Thanks Matt, I appreciate it!
UrbanArmed new subscriber😃 I like your videos a lot
You could possibly have a problem oh well see you at the meeting of freeloaders anonymous
dude.. problem doesn't even explain it anymore.. obsession maybe..
UrbanArmed obsession is hitting up every tire store every month or 2 to get their lead even when they keep telling you no, I got 250 pounds for free from someone who told me no for months. he finally said they dont come and get it and I need it out of here so their I was picking up a couple buckets of lead. 250 pounds is about 9k rounds that will be gone in about 3-6 months. I get primers in packs of 10 k now I got a local guy whos prices are about 30 a box no shipping for large primer. I get bulk too no less than 8 pounds of powder. I saw their is company offering 30 pounds at a time but I dont know that power.
Nice looking
Trade me for silver :)
$600 saved for 5k isn't worth it really. For me. But nice vid.
Sorry old video. It's even less saved now a days.
I need to get my disposable income on your level!
Please
11 cents a piece for primers?!?! That's $110 a box!
will shoemaker This video is five years old....
@@UrbanArmed damn, I'm lucky I had a good but of shit around that time. Hell I think I still have some laying around I paid $23/1000
@@UrbanArmed damn, I'm lucky I had a good but of shit around that time. Hell I think I still have some laying around I paid $23/1000
Yeah, it's literally cheaper to buy my 9mm / 223 and even 300 blackout than it is to relaod right now. I've been using the time to just stock back up in case there is a run on reloading stuff again....
Sweet freaking set up Bro! Thumbs down unsubbed.GTFOH!!
bluetunder40 hahaha Thanks bruddah! :) Resub me immediately or suffer the wrath! now GTFOH! Strikfire crew..out!
Oooo behbeh..me so hooooorny...I'll send you my address and you can just kick the first 1k my way big man ;)
hahahahhaa hell yeeeaahh bruh, trade me for some of your hunting meat!
Hey man if you'll keep me in 5.56 I'll start wackin' and stackin' deer meat like it's my J-O-B son. I've got hunting season in the fall and deer damage permits the rest of the year.
WAYYYYY TOO EXPENSIVE.....Unless you cast your projectiles from lead...reloading will cost just about the same as rounds you can buy on sale.
Makes sense to me , as reloading is a great stoner gig ;) ... get a haircut !
hahahahaha you ass! You know I'm jealous of your hair, and you had to say that! LOL
fancy editing....didnt see the PrOn though....lol
Thanks bruha! Ahhh you missed the money shot? :)
oh i saw the gun porn but didnt see any pron shrimp...LOL
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Indeeeed.
How do you know the count is right?..lol
+tom a Weigh it.
+GovG33k it was a joke..3 years ago
+tom a You have 9 more months before you can claim 3 years. lol
Now it's about 3 months :)
LOL. You're getting there!
BOOZE.................... REALLY................... DIP STICK
Thanks for the comment :)
You spent WAY WAY WAY too much!
Nick Rockwell This video was from five years ago.....
Damn you talk ALLOT. less talky more loady. Thumbs down unsubbed.
this fucking GUY! jeebus, I can never please you.. it's just never enough is it!? !! why dont you go make another Binelli video or something! :)
I'm ex military, former Royal Marine. I've never had the opportunity to reload, so I want a good comprehensive explanation about the processes and costs. If you didn't want that why watch the video?