Is it worth it to reload for the 223 auto's?How much can be saved vs just buying 1000 rounds?Anyone recommend it?

The only reason I would use a cost justification for reloading is to show my wife how much money I am "saving".

For a Sierra 77 grain match load it is in the neighbor hood of 1400 to break even on a supplies and equipment. About 35 cents a round to reload and $52 for 50 from Black Hills. Depending on equipment purchased you might get it down below that. I estimated $650 bucks for equipment using mostly Redding equipment. For me I shoot that in a year to a year and a half, 60 to 120 rounds a month with an ocassional practice. For a comparrison to XM193 which I paid $10 for 30 last time I bought it I was shooting in the 440's on 100 yard Reduced Targets, shooting my loads I'm in the 460's. That's a lot of 7's and 8's moving into the 9 ring.

Any round where you reload brass you already have will saved money but it will cost time. It depends on what you do there, I prep most of my brass in front of the one-eyed bandit, so at least I'm being a little productive a few weeks a year in front of the TV. If you are happy with ball ammo for targets out to 150 yards or three gun stuff it might be better to find some one to trade brass to.

With costs as of today $34/1000 primers, $140/8lbs H335, $40-50gr nosler BT/250 (price includes tax and ship). That is what I load.

It costs me (not including labor) ~$230 per 1000 if I have the brass (which I do). Add another $250 for brass per 1000 if you don't for ~ $480 per 1000.

I shoot the bulk Horady 55 FMJ's at $450 per 6,000 or $.075 primers thru Powder Valley (Tula) as low as $.02 deleivered includes hazmat! Using TAC powder 8 lb $118 or $.11 per round @25 grains... brass is too available and used too many times to figure at more than $.05

So at most 25 cents a round plinkers.

quote:

The only reason I would use a cost justification for reloading is to show my wife how much money I am "saving".

Savings ?. I'll have to remember that one

Simple answer for hand loading any cartridge is Accuracy Gain or unavailability of historic cartridges .

Approximately as math is precise loading isn't , Slippage Spillage load density plus charge weights vary .

1 lb. powder = 7K grains for my .223 loads 270-285 rounds per lb. average # 277 rounds X 8 lb of powder equals 2,216 rounds .

Powder runs $127.00 8 lb. Primers run $20.00 - $35.00 for small rifle , in quantity slightly less say $ 25.00 per K
Projectiles or Bullets vary GREATLY !. $8-12 for # 100 55 grain bulk projectiles to $22.00 per hundred for some match grade stuff .

For simple shooting no real accuracy issues or bullet demands Now add $63.50. Powder ,$25.00 primers , $100.00 bullets

Grand total $ 188.50 Per K less than $0.19 per round ,if you have the brass again Brass prices vary with manufactures !.

YES you save MONEY !. More importantly you have the ability to GAIN on ACCURACY or Change components for Multiple purposes Target Hunting and general spit an spray if that's too your liking .

with the cost of ammo these days, you can reload for about 1/3 of the cost of even surplus ammo .. just did this cost analysis for a friend wednesday ...

loading 223, with commerical commopnents, for about 22-25 cents ...

last time i saw some it was what, 15 bucks for junk commerical ammo .. 20 rounds can be reloaded for 5 bucks ...

I'm a newbie so you can take what I say with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, I'm a CPA and know a lot about costs. In my opinion it comes down to how many times can you use your brass, plus how much does it cost to buy brass. I bought some Lapua brass for about $.50 each. My friends said I was nuts and, well the jury is still out. If I can get the 10 firings out of them that some people claim, they will have proved worth the cost. Also, if you can get the accuracy and distance you want with a minimum load, that's a double bonus as you save a lot of powder. The same would hold true for any other type of brass but what I like about the Lapua is I don't even have to size them. I've used their 30.06 and .223's now and the worst case was off about 5/10,000 from the 2.484" and 1.75" I want to start at. There's not much you can do about bullets as you'll probably need the copper coating with .223 speeds (molders feel free to correct me here, but I believe the fastest non-jacketed bullet, assuming tin and antimony will go about 2000 fps without disintegrating and although doable, that's pretty darned slow in .223).

Free brass of course is best so if you can re-use the Black Hills stuff it's great. I have had some trouble with the Lake City brass from EITHER Black Hills or Ultramax. I say "either" because like an idiot I mixed them after shooting them because they were of the same original make (Lake City). That was foolish because they were not of the same REMAKE. They both fired fine in my AR, but what happened is the primer pockets are loose on a lot of them and odder still, the brass won't fit in the Lee Auto primer shell holder (after going through the short-based RCBS die) because it's been fattened at the base. I'll know come spring which one (or both) is the culprit but it needs to warm up here before I get out. I suspect these are loaded a bit too hot in the remanufacturing process as I've heard very good things about Lake City brass.

I have had great luck reloading the Fiocchi 40-grain V-Max bullets so these are a good candidate in the free or near free brass. My pals, whose opinions I really respect swear by Remington and Winchester so you're probably good there too. Still my bias is on the Lapua because I love TOP quality.

Cost savings are elusive for most reloaders. How much is that space for your bench, equipment, and supplies worth in your garage? How much is the time worth that you could otherwise be doing chores around the house, working, or doing whatever else comes to mind. How much experimentation is done with various bullets, powders, and primers that you wouldn't otherwise try if you were simply using factory ammo? How much more do you shoot than if you were shooting factory ammo? Cost goes well beyond the simple component costs of brass, bullets, primers, and powder. How much did you spend building the bench, etc.

There are many reasons to reload, but "saving" money usually isn't one of them. If you already have sunk the money on the reloading equipment and reloading space and don't mind the time it takes, then the marginal cost is cheaper than factory.

If you'r wanting 55 gr fmj"s The only thing reloading will get you is much more accurate.But no cheaper. If you'r wanting 50-80 grain varmint or match loads thats when you see the savings.
As for the loose primer pockets. I bought 1000 1'ce fired rp 223. On the first reload some had loose primer pockets. If they wont fit in a lee primer shell holder I throw them away!! That solved 99 % of my loose primer pockets.Out of 1500 I threw away 400. So now I only buy LC crimped brass. That way I know they have only been fired 1 time. I have never had a loose primer pocket with LC or wcc

duckboat
Unlike you my time is free- do you charge your wife to talk to her? Charge your neighbor to talk to him, charge your wife for the chores you do? etc.

OP I can and do load for .223/5.56mm $.15-.20 per round depending on the bullet used! I don't shoot the cheap steel ammo -nothing but brass!
So far getting 10 plus loading per case! I have 2000 rounds of XM193 so that will be 20000 plus reloads eventually!

I suppose it depends on your goal....

If I load the ammo, I can tailor it to what works in my guns, what bullets I want, intended uses, etc. That can be done to some extent buying quality ammo off the shelf, but it will be expensive.....

I would be careful with the bulk surplus ammo deals. Owning a large lot of rifle ammo that shot 4MOA or worse would piss me off!

Cheers,

Dan