Being new to reloading, but not shooting or hunting, I've learned in the last few weeks that there is a much higher cost for hunting bullets or self defense bullets than there is for target bullets? Is there really that much more of a cost to manufacture a terminal bullet? Does it not take about or the same amount of time to produce? Why the higher cost?

Because the designs, and the materials are often quite different.

Target bullets are most often a simple brass alloy cup (jacket) into which a lead core is placed, then the whole affair pushed in to a die which gives it its final shape.

Hunting bullets are commonly made that way too, and cost no more than target bullets, sometimes even less.

Premium hunting bullets must both penetrate deeply and expand widely without exploding, at any distance.

That requires a much more complex design, sometimes with two or moré jackets, two or even three different cores, metal or plastic tips designed to force the bullet to expand, bonding of the cores to inside of the jackets, and a bunch of other things. So naturally, the premium hunting bullets cost a good deal more than regular hunting bullerts or target bullets.

If you are just hunting deer, regular hunting bullets work fine and you needn't pay for the premium ones, unless you are also hunting much larger, tougher, other game at the same time.

A lot of it is cost of material, additional steps during production and supply and demand. Far more target bullets are sold than hunting or self defense. So more production lines more supply cheaper cost.

Varmints and deer have been killed for 100 yrs with basic cup core bullets. No need to buy the super high $$. Find blems and seconds and get the best of both worlds.

Hornady and sierra cup and core bullets cost about the same as target bullets. Works great then heavy for caliber bullets are used.

The price of any good is determined by demand, not cost of manufacture. I know this seems counter-intuitive. It is a very common misconception. Most of us are not well informed on the basics of economics and price theory.

Unless you are shooting hundreds or thousands of rounds does the cost of bullets really make that much difference? The average hunting rifle gets shot maybe 10 times a year counting checking sights and shooting a few game animals. A target rifle is probably shot 100 rounds per week with 50 rounds of practice and 50 for record so you can imagine the difference in demand for target bullets over hunting bullets.
I agree that for deer premium bullets are not really required but the cost difference is inconsequential IMHO.

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A lot of it is cost of materia

Yup....and hunting bullets have a thicker jacket as it's easier to make concentric jackets when they are thin as desired for target bullets. Copper is quite expensive compared to lead so the target bullets cost more to produce.

Of the major producers of hunting bullets (Hornady, Sierra, Speer, and Noisler) onlt Hornady makes an attempt to lock the core to the jacket. This is important for a hunting bullet but not for a target bullet. Hornady does two things to achieve this....namely the cannelure (whick also aids in providing a place to crimp) and their innerlock process. Even then (especially when one shoots boattail bullets) the core separates from the jacket and terminal perfornmance is diminished somewhat.

For deer this might not be a serious issue as they are small and actually not hard to put down. In fact, most any target bullet in the rib cage from a typical broadside position will suffice quite well. Howerver when one must find the vitals from a quartering angle, it's more important to insure against the core separation and against "too fast" mushrooming which a target bullet will provide because of the thin jacket.

Actual time to make a bullet in a modern press is about one second regardless of the type of bullet being produced.....but the hunting bullet may include more steps in the progressive tooling.....this increases the tooling cost.

If one goers further to partition bullets or bonded bullets or even machined jackets such as used in Swift A-Frames (and North Forks) which are also bonded on the front core, he runs into a considerable extra steps and tooling but can rest assured that there will be no jacket separation from the core.

There are a lot of good reasons why hunting bullets cost more to produce and IMO they are darn well worth it.......when one spends the kind of moola on a guided horseback elk trip into the Rockies, it is just good practice to spend the insurance money on a quality hunting bullet.

As a general rule, I buy Hornady bullets for deer as they go the extra steps to help insure against bullet separation in their cup and core products and they aren't especially expensive. When I want something for much larger game, I like Nosler's partitions and accubonds and in some cases I'll spring for the A-Frames. The extra cost is insignificant campared to the non resident tags and hunts.

There is another reason that hunting bullets cost more and that's the compounding of price caused by the distribution channels. Everyone works on a percent margin and if it costs the distributor more they must compound it in their sales....it's a simple law of economics.

By all means it's not a rip off.....it's sound economics and well worth the extra for hunting bullets.

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I like Nosler's partitions and accubonds

For years I used Partitions for hunting deer and up. Used BTs for targets and varmints. Now days I have a nice accubond load and use it for about everything. Serious varmint I grab a lighter rifle deer and larger heavier one. Most of my rifles now have one load. Yep I'm getting boring in my old age.

I agree with all the above, but the bottom line is supply and demand, and the almighty dollar has to play a hand in this.

With the exception of deer and antelope, I buy premium high dollar bullets to hunt with knowing a corelokt, Hornady, and others put elk and bear down just fine. The bullet makers know about guys like me! God Bless'em.

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Originally posted by Atkinson:
I agree with all the above, but the bottom line is supply and demand, and the almighty dollar has to play a hand in this.

With the exception of deer and antelope, I buy premium high dollar bullets to hunt with knowing a corelokt, Hornady, and others put elk and bear down just fine. The bullet makers know about guys like me! God Bless'em.

LOL. That's so true and perfectly sums up my thinking. Although I even use a "cheaper" bonded bullet for deer and pronghorn too.
The bullet guys make a great premium product which is well worth the money but they have "our number" too.

Zeke

As far as hunting bullets go, you can buy Nosler blems and with the flat rate shipping of $12 plus the 10% off for first responders (and even retired military) you can usually end up buying Partitions or Accubonds for about the same price you pay for cup and cores.
Just be patient and wait for the bullet you want to show up on Noslers web site. I been using Nosler blems for many years and never noticed any difference in quality between a blem and a "regular" bullet. Personally I think they are just overruns or excess inventory.

What Snowwolfe said. When I can buy a 100 180 grain 30 cal Partitions for $35 plus shipping, I will do that all day long. The B-T is $28. That is the same as many C&C bullets.

you can make your own cup and core bullets for about 10 bucks a hundred.
after paying for the die set of course.

you'll sure learn how a bullet works quick by changing jacket anneal, exposed lead, canellure, and core alloy.

you'd be surprised how much you can change a bullets characteristics without ever changing the jacket.

I can make a 152/175 gr 30 cal, or 50-65gr 22 cal, or whatever you chose bullet act like a fmj, a nosler partition, or even a varmint bullet just by manipulating the above.

of course you can design a jacket shape that will 'open quickly' by making It thinner at the nose.
but you can hide the expansion and slow it back down by not having any lead for a mm or so in the case
a harder core alloy will surely slow down that expansion too especially if you work harden that copper/zinc alloy of the jacket where the expansion would initiate.