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<  16ga. Ammunition & Reloading  ~  The cost of reloading vs factory ammo
WyoChukar
PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2021 12:42 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

I've long had a burr under my saddle on this subject, so here goes. Every time somebody asks if reloading saves money, plenty of people say "no", inevitably comparing the cost of reloading target ammunition to the cheapest promotional junk on the market.

Well...that is a mighty short sighted take on the subject the instant we consider the quality of the ammunition/ shot, let alone hunting loads. In my experience, it costs about $1 more per box to load hunting ammunition vs. target ammunition, in terms of material cost. That sure isn't the mark up we see when we look at factory hunting ammo, especially the good stuff. Or non toxic ammo.

I find that my savings are enormous when it comes to my hunting loads, and that's what I burn the most of. My cost of loading hunting ammunition is 1/4- 1/2 what the factory equivalent costs depending on load and gauge. No, I don't count my time or labor because it's an enjoyable hobby and I don't pay myself to do it. The money I save by loading my own, considering I usually hunt over 100 days per year, actually pays for an awful lot of my gasoline used to go hunting.

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hoashooter
PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2021 2:00 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 08 Nov 2005
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Location: Illinois

A year ago is different than today.How can you figure components price when some are impossible to get????(primers)If you have components oh hand --great!!!If not locally Winny promos are 6 bucks a box.
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skeettx
PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2021 2:13 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 15 Apr 2007
Posts: 9455
Location: Amarillo, Texas

I have been selling off a friends estate

Premium 12 gauge ammo $100 a flat (AA, Premier, Gold Medal)
Promo 12 gauge ammo $75.00 a flat (Federal, RIO, Game Club, etc)
Reloaded 12 gauge ammo $50.00 a flat. (Very well done and each box marked)

Surprisingly enough the Premium ammo is sold soonest and then the reloads.

No limit, going fast in the Amarillo Area.

Mike

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df
PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2021 3:27 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 962
Location: Minnesota

Wyochuker, I’m with you on this topic. I stocked up on components when obummer was elected. I’m shooting $30 per bag shot and $30/1000 win209s.
I also bought a bunch of Herters loads from cabelas $59 a flat on sale, and can live off those empties for years.
My light loads are as good or better than the promo loads and in my view, so are my
1 1/8 ounce hunting loads. Plus, like you, I enjoy loading shells.
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AmericanMeet
PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2021 8:25 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 26 Apr 2010
Posts: 3172
Location: NCWa

I just can't stand to throw something good (brass cases or shotshell hull) away. So I reload them. the reason was never to save money. Back in the day when Nosler Partitions were the only available premium bullet they were factory loaded (by Norma) in only a few cartridges. So unless you were satisfied with W,R,F loads your only option was to load them. In those days there wasn't a great advantage to loading shotshells because AA,GM, Blue Magic factory loads were great for targets and upland birds and there were heavy loads for waterfowl.

Moving ahead 50 years we no longer have the quality shotshell hulls. the hulls are now polyform and the plastic is some lower grade stuff that wouldn't have been considered suitable a few years back Additionally regulations limiting use of lead shot have caused problems with supply. the only way to have no-tox load of suitable weight and velocity and one that won't damage the vintage double and readily available is to load your own. This is particularly true for the 16 ga.

Without regard to cost, the only way someone is able to shoot super-premium bullets (Woodleigh, North Fork, BBC) or No-Tox loads of soft tungsten at desired velocity in old Win CF hulls or even older 16 ga paper hulls is to load them.

So for me, while the investment in equipment and components does result in a reduction of cost per shot, the primary reason is ammunition that is unavailable from any other source.
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Hammer bill
PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:08 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 09 Feb 2015
Posts: 815

One thing for sure is the hulls are not near the quality of yesteryear. Friend shooter and I were shooting couple rounds of practice trap one Saturday morning while at the club buying components. He had some factory gun clubs he bought the day before. He shot two rounds of 25 each. His scores were piss poor from the 20 yard line using factory gun clubs. He's a good shooter. I suggest to him to try his reloads. He went 25 straight from the 20. So we backed up to the 25. Another 25 straight.. when we got back home we took couple gun clubs apart. The shot was so soft you could put flats on the shot between too thumb nails. We looked at the cardboard flat and said produced in Mexico. That whole flat was not worthy for 16 yard. But that was the only time that happened. Others he bought of gun clubs did the job just fine. We figures it was just the end of the run.

But today's cost if I had to buy shot, powder, primers I would be out of the game. Mainly because I refuse to pay for over priced gouging to the control of the big boys. Their used to be a law on a monopoly. Ignored now days and no one sees it and authorities don't do a darn thing about it. And we wonder why the young play with their IPhone all day.
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double vision
PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2021 4:42 am  Reply with quote
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Lately I've been spending more time developing hunting handholds for my AyA, a gun I tend to baby a little. I also have a good stash of factory B&P F2's in 5, 6, and 7. They were bought when you could get them for $9/box, based on their performance, a bargain as far as I'm concerned. They are a little hot, but my Iside handles them easily.

For the last 25 years or so my main reloading activity has been making 7/8 oz target loads for my 16 and 12 gauge guns. They will break every target on the course and they run my guns at low rpms vs. redline. Even now they are less than half the cost of factory RST's to load, and I always pay the couple dollars extra for hard shot.

My main concern now is the primer supply, and I have no idea when Winchester or Federal primers will be available again. Cheddites work, but I see too many getting pierced, and factory Herter's (Cheddite primed) have already made a mess of my new B Rizzini OU. They seem to be fine in my SxS's, but I'm still leery of them. I recently sold my last 6 flats of Herter's, reasonably priced, to an auto shooting friend under the condition that I get all the hulls back.

I don't let internet idiots get under my skin regarding their "reloading isn't worth it comments." I think a big part of their talk is that they are either too lazy to reload, or they never had the wherewithal to learn how. I doubt if many of them even hunt, or if they do it's all game farm stuff. I've met some of them.
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1stgun
PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2021 10:31 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 10 Jul 2010
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Location: Ponchatoula, Louisiana

For the little bit of shooting I do anymore, plus damage from hurricane Ida to my shop I am getting out of the reloading business. Between RST, Boss and others I can get what I need for hunting and the "cheap stuff" will suffice for clays.

Given age and abilities, downsizing makes sense at this point.

Regards,
Chuck

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castnblast
PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2021 2:28 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 28 May 2008
Posts: 84

I'm with Wyo on this one. Granted, I can't load as cheap as the promos, but I would never load that poor of quality shell in the first place. I can load a target quality round for about a $1 a box more than what I used to pay for the promos. Nickel plated hunting loads were about $11/box, and that was with Precision nickel shot. Of course everything is little different now but a least I will have ammo this fall!
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BWW
PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:15 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 14 Apr 2020
Posts: 144
Location: Boise,Idaho

1stgun wrote:
For the little bit of shooting I do anymore, plus damage from hurricane Ida to my shop I am getting out of the reloading business. Between RST, Boss and others I can get what I need for hunting and the "cheap stuff" will suffice for clays.

Given age and abilities, downsizing makes sense at this point.

Regards,
Chuck

After downsizing in home and garage space, I couldn't be happier!
I have been shooting Boss shells for 2 years and could not be happier with the performance. My CZ SxS with I/C and Mod took 45 pheasants and many chukar, quail and Huns last year. Used the Boss 5 and 7's all year. Even jump shot a few ducks. Legal because of non-fox on WMA properties.
I hunted 60 days last season so I don't hunt or shoot as much as WyoCuk
I am happy as of now.
In the future, all things considered, I may change my mind.
How's that for a cop out!

Thanks, Bob
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4setters
PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2021 6:07 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 19 Nov 2013
Posts: 381
Location: NW Arkansas

Well, WyoC, I ain't one of them that has said there is no cost savings. I have always answered the question--oft posed on this site and other upland sites by folks contemplating reloading--in terms of there is not a whole lot of savings relative to low velocity shells (except in 16 and other small gauges), but there is a tremendous savings for high velocity (any gauge) or steel 16 gauge loads. Take a look at the suggested retail prices of the new Remington 16 gauge shells now (https://www.remington.com/shotshell/) : Game loads at $17, Express loads at $29 and Steel Loads at $38 a box, suggested retail. I've cut open a Remington Steel load, which uses the PT1680 wad and a powder that sure appears to be Alliant Steel--I can load this exact shell with my current stash of components for about $7 a box. Savings? You bet. (Admittedly, buying internet primers at $100/1000 and paying crazy prices for other components would raise my costs a bunch, but still way below $38--and I ain't paying those prices as I have enough components on hand to make my eventual beneficiary a happy person).

And customizing loads in 16 gauge is a benefit. My go to pheasant load is a Win CF case with Win 209 primer and 27.5 grains of HS-6 (Win 540) with a SP-16 wad. Except for the wad, this is the same shell that I started shooting at ducks in the late 60s (pheasants in the 80s). It was a perfect high velocity 16 gauge lead load in the 60s, and it is a perfect 16 gauge high velocity (re) load in 2021.

Beside, I enjoy reloading. Others, not so much. To each his/her own.

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Old colonel2
PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:21 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 07 Jun 2020
Posts: 224

Never reloaded to save money, I reloaded to get nickel silver hard shot in game loads. I loaded stuff I could not get at a local store. I reloaded RMC for the fun of it.

Lately I have started pistol reloading again after a 35 yr hiatus as I can’t find 38 Special without paying ridiculous prices on gunbroker. I like my old revolvers, so now I load to play.
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Brewster11
PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 12:47 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 1301
Location: Western WA

Comparing the cost of factory vs reloads today is like comparing apples to motor oil. Under current circumstances, it’s impossible to establish a valid economic comparison using the principle of marginal cost of acquiring one additional box of shells. There are simply too many differences in the underlying assumptions. Shooters will use whatever combination of factory and reloads that best suits their individual preferences.

B.
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Jagdhund
PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:22 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 29 Jan 2010
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Location: McPherson, KS

I just like the satisfaction of turning out my own ammo, so I don't really pay much attention to the cost of components. Not that I wouldn't buy stuff when its on sale. Smile

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Emtymag
PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:22 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 05 Oct 2017
Posts: 284
Location: Central MN

I still don’t know if I shoot to reload or reload to shoot.

Either way ammo is down there on the list of cost on the hunting budget.

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