They weren't joking when they said "It won't take long to surpass the initial cost of your rifle with ammo"

14

u/CryptidWorks CryptidWorks May 25 '26

Yeah, you should look at reloading.

178gr ELD-X precision target/hunting rounds (they're dead nuts accurate out of my Tikka CTR so I use them for both out to 600) cost me about $1.30/Rd. Rather than 3.50/rd, and that's without components being on sale. My end result is 1/2MOA ammo with a standard deviation of 6.2FPS that doesn't break the bank.

Brass is the highest cost component (I use Lapua, about $178/100) but that's spread over 10+ uses.

If you're going to be a volume precision shooter in .308, saving about 60% of your ammo costs is going to add up quick, and the equipment will pay itself off fast.

4

u/ProtoJazz May 25 '26

I'm a big fan of straight wall lever action stuff. Now of course everyone's market and usage is different, but depending on what you reload it pays off pretty fast.

Smaller stuff is maybe $0.20-0.50 a round saved, but you get up to 45-70 and you can be saving over $1/ round.

Now I guess to actually save money you do have to shoot a fair amount. Which isn't free on its own either. So if you were never likely to fire 2000 rounds in a specific caliber otherwise, yeah maybe better off just buying the occasional box

4

u/CryptidWorks CryptidWorks May 25 '26

Smaller stuff benefits from progressive presses - 0.20/Rd saved doesn't sound like much, until you do a big batch of 500 on a progressive press in about an hour and a half, and then you've saved $100. If you were doing .357, .44, 45-70 or similar... It scales.

So yeah, for sure - if you're a occasionally shooter, a box as needed is the way. But if you're neck deep in burned powder and lost in the sauce, it's time to get loadin'

1

u/ProtoJazz May 25 '26

The downside of course is that a progressive press costs even more, and you have to shoot even more to see the savings.

If I owned any handguns I might have more need for a progressive

1

u/CryptidWorks CryptidWorks May 25 '26

Sometimes! But sometimes you get lucky.

I picked up a used RCBS rockchucker for $150 a little while ago and happened on a new in box piggyback progressive conversation kit with the 9mm shellplate for it today at a gun show for $180. $330 for a progressive, basically. Going to grab the 7.62x39 shellplate too and the case actuated powder linkage for it and then I'm off to the races.

1

u/Q-Ball7 In the end, it's taxes all the way down May 25 '26

and then you've saved $100

Which is fine until you notice that the press and associated equipment cost you 1500 dollars, at which point you notice that you'll have to reload 15,000 rounds to break even. Which is the calculus for 9mm and bulk 5.56; bulk .308 requires loading something like 8000 rounds.

This is assuming you buy a press capable of those volumes, of course, not a single-stage or any other machine that doesn't auto-index.

As a general rule, you're not going to see any significant financial benefit from reloading unless you:

Are loading a revolver caliber (which are extremely overpriced in relation to their components, but still require you to load a few thousand rounds to break even on a good progressive, or between 1000 and 2000 on a single-stage)

Need a significant quantity of match/hunting ammunition, doubly so for obsolete calibers

Need a significant quantity of an ammunition variety that is technically possible but not manufactured

1

u/CryptidWorks CryptidWorks May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

A secondhand rockchucker is $150, I picked up a new in box piggyback unit for progressive loading yesterday for $180. Dies and powder throwers are frequently found secondhand for cheap, add a case activated powder linkage for $150. Much less than $1500. All in probably $600 or less. Maybe $900 if you want an electronic powder thrower for precision rounds. Not everything needs to be a top of the line Dillion. A lee six pack pro or RCBS piggyback works fine.

I save about $1.70/Rd loading my .308. that's 529 rounds.

Iooking at a other rifle I shoot a lot, 7.62x39, bulk noncorrosive is about 60cpr. I can reload for 40cpr. I go through about 200-300 rounds per range trip. That saves me $40-$60 per trip, and takes 3000 rounds to fully pay off the press assuming the $600 estimate as you're not running an electronic thrower for bulk. If I find a good deal on powder, it's even quicker.

That's about ten trips, though.That's pretty quick. Even running my single stage rockchucker over the last few years just for .308 has already put me well into the green and that's before getting into stuff like 7.62x39 soft points.

1

u/Q-Ball7 In the end, it's taxes all the way down May 25 '26

The Dillon gear isn't actually that much more expensive than the Lee gear, which is itself about 650 new.

Then add another hundred for dies (used isn't actually that much of a discount), another hundred for a tumbler, another hundred for a scale sufficiently accurate for pistol or precision work, and you're already a thousand bucks in for what I'd consider the bare minimum for volume reloading.

There's a tendency for reloaders to intentionally underrate what it actually takes and overrate the return on investment somewhat; the IKEA effect also applies to ammunition.

1

u/CryptidWorks CryptidWorks May 25 '26

Used can absolutely be a hefty discount - gun show dies here are about twenty bucks. Picked up a barely used set of RCBS .308 dies last time for that much to have a spare on hand. You can find good scales secondhand or on sale as well. If you're going to reload, you should be looking for good deals.

The only thing I have ever paid full price for on my bench is my matchmaster seating die for my .308 precision loads. Everything else I pieced together as it was on sale or from gun shows. Heck, one of my vibratory tumblers was free because the previous owner stripped the rod threads. Fixed it with a helicoil. Took five minutes.

If you're paying MRSP, yeah, you're going to be swimming upriver. So just, y'know, have patience and don't do that.

3

u/dgod40 May 25 '26

What gun do you have? This is one of the reasons I've stayed away from 308. The price of 308 is Too Damn High!

5

u/archSkeptic May 25 '26

More than $1/round sucks but I've never had a better deer rifle

4

u/CurlyWurly61 May 25 '26

Yeah after taxes and shipping I am shooting roughly $1.80 per round - so my 10 shot groups are worth almost $20 haha

I ordered 5 boxes of 175gr S&B @ $32.99 each + 13% tax + $20 shipping (I bought more .22lr ammo to justify the shipping cost)

I'm shooting a Tikka T3x Varmint sitting in a MDT ACC Premier Gen 2 Chassis - so it isn't a cheap setup 😅 this hobby got a litttttle out of control lmao

1

u/dgod40 May 25 '26

this hobby got a litttttle out of control

I feel you, buddy but it is a blast!

1

u/__WayDown May 25 '26

I bought some of that S&B HPBT and every hollow point looks like it was done after the fact by a kindergartener. I guess it's to be expected of "precision" ammo at $1.65 a round.

1

u/alexorange178 May 25 '26

I shoot 6.5cm and I shot out the barrel before the ammo cost just surpassed the price of the scope. 2500 rounds of 147eldm at $1.6 per shot. At this rate the ammo cost will surplus the price of the rifle after about 3 barrel changes

1

u/GinnAdvent Jun 03 '26

Me looking at my Enfield, Mosin, and K31.

Shooting those 3 is like shooting money away, but very so satisfying.

Interestingly, .308 is the cheapest since I just use PMC stuff.

1

u/Relevant_Diver_3228 May 25 '26

Oh ya I started to reload my 44 magnum and the price went way down lol do you reload 308 or no

1

u/CurlyWurly61 May 25 '26

I am currently looking into it. At this point I will benefit from it tremendously

1

u/Relevant_Diver_3228 May 25 '26

Ya and you get to make cool rounds with different bullets and find out what powder loads are the best reloading is almost as fun as shooting lol

Misc They weren't joking when they said "It won't take long to surpass the initial cost of your rifle with ammo"

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