Dale Gribble
Can't starve us out; Can't make us run
Charter Member
Supporting Member
Multi-Factor Enabled
I know reloading has its own subforum, but for the benefit of those forum members here who do not reload / do not visit the reloading section, I wanted to start a thread here in "News and Views".
With the current high demand for ammunition, short supply and increase in prices, I thought this would be a good time to post up why some of us reload and the perks of "rolling your own", whether it is performance, costs savings or both. I'm hoping this will encourage more folks to get into reloading; whether they've entertained the idea of doing it or maybe haven't given much thought to it at all, there are exponential positives in becoming your own ammunition supplier...for the shooter, it's the ultimate in self-sufficiency. Live-fire practice is necessary to maintain and improve skills. Being short on ammo cuts into that practice and in times like we're currently in, a lot of folks are choosing to conserve their on-hand supply of ammo and curtail their range time. Reloading provides you with a way to supply your own ammo, oftentimes cheaper than what you'd pay for factory ammunition and could give you the opportunity to continue working your skills at the range. The times we are in will pass...supply will catch up and demand will decrease (along with prices). I assure you; even when things do eventually level off, it will not be long before another spike in demand hits. In the interim, if you are able, it would be a great time to consider reloading.
Initially, you'll have the up-front costs of equipment (press, scale, dies, calipers, etc), but unless you decide to upgrade later, that's a one-time deal. You'll also have the cost of components (brass, bullets, powder, primers), but the brass is reusable and you'll get multiple loadings out of one case. There's a good selection of reasonably priced single-stage kits out there that'll have everything you need to get started except dies/components. It's worth noting that you can never have "too many" reloading manuals and many of these kits will come with one included. Additionally, the good folks here have proven time and time again their willingness to help other members here. Whether it's questions about reloading or assistance with getting things set up, I guarantee there's someone on here, likely close by, that'd help you out.
With the hope of motivating some of you into taking the plunge into reloading or at least consider it, I thought some of us on here who do reload could post why they reload and maybe even give examples of how reloading vs purchasing factory ammo has saved money and/or provided increased performance. I'll kick it off...
Speer .223 Gold Dot 75gr factory ammunition:
I'd pay anywhere from $0.60-$0.65 per round for this ammunition (if I can find it) which works out to around $600-$650 per 1000 rounds. The cartridge is factory loaded to .223 Remington pressures and will give a muzzle velocity of around 2050 FPS from my 10.3 barreled AR pistol.
Reloads:
I can reload this ammunition for around $0.32 per round, or $320 per 1000 rounds. That's a cost savings of $280-$330 per 1000/rounds. Additionally, I can load this round to 5.56 pressures vs the factory .223 pressures and have gotten average muzzle velocities between 2350-2400 FPS from my 10.3 bbl pistol. Better performance for 1/2 the price over factory ammunition.
With the current high demand for ammunition, short supply and increase in prices, I thought this would be a good time to post up why some of us reload and the perks of "rolling your own", whether it is performance, costs savings or both. I'm hoping this will encourage more folks to get into reloading; whether they've entertained the idea of doing it or maybe haven't given much thought to it at all, there are exponential positives in becoming your own ammunition supplier...for the shooter, it's the ultimate in self-sufficiency. Live-fire practice is necessary to maintain and improve skills. Being short on ammo cuts into that practice and in times like we're currently in, a lot of folks are choosing to conserve their on-hand supply of ammo and curtail their range time. Reloading provides you with a way to supply your own ammo, oftentimes cheaper than what you'd pay for factory ammunition and could give you the opportunity to continue working your skills at the range. The times we are in will pass...supply will catch up and demand will decrease (along with prices). I assure you; even when things do eventually level off, it will not be long before another spike in demand hits. In the interim, if you are able, it would be a great time to consider reloading.
Initially, you'll have the up-front costs of equipment (press, scale, dies, calipers, etc), but unless you decide to upgrade later, that's a one-time deal. You'll also have the cost of components (brass, bullets, powder, primers), but the brass is reusable and you'll get multiple loadings out of one case. There's a good selection of reasonably priced single-stage kits out there that'll have everything you need to get started except dies/components. It's worth noting that you can never have "too many" reloading manuals and many of these kits will come with one included. Additionally, the good folks here have proven time and time again their willingness to help other members here. Whether it's questions about reloading or assistance with getting things set up, I guarantee there's someone on here, likely close by, that'd help you out.
With the hope of motivating some of you into taking the plunge into reloading or at least consider it, I thought some of us on here who do reload could post why they reload and maybe even give examples of how reloading vs purchasing factory ammo has saved money and/or provided increased performance. I'll kick it off...
Speer .223 Gold Dot 75gr factory ammunition:
I'd pay anywhere from $0.60-$0.65 per round for this ammunition (if I can find it) which works out to around $600-$650 per 1000 rounds. The cartridge is factory loaded to .223 Remington pressures and will give a muzzle velocity of around 2050 FPS from my 10.3 barreled AR pistol.
Reloads:
I can reload this ammunition for around $0.32 per round, or $320 per 1000 rounds. That's a cost savings of $280-$330 per 1000/rounds. Additionally, I can load this round to 5.56 pressures vs the factory .223 pressures and have gotten average muzzle velocities between 2350-2400 FPS from my 10.3 bbl pistol. Better performance for 1/2 the price over factory ammunition.
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