View Full Version : Is it still worth reloading?
I wasn't too sure whether to put this in GD or reloading, so mods please move it if it doesn't belong here.
I've been selling off a lot of things to come up with money recently. I'm planning on buying some land hopefully sometime this summer. I'm currently military, so I wouldn't be using it for another 4 years when I build a house on it. The plan is to just lock something in while it's available at current prices, and then focus on building the house when I get out.
Something I came across was my reloading components that I've bought years ago as a "just to have one day when I start reloading". It's mostly rifle and pistol powder and primers, all still sealed/unopened. I don't have a press or projectiles. Reloading was something I always wanted to get into eventually, and the main reason for that was if ammo became too expensive or restricted one day.
Ammo prices are still pretty crazy right now compared to before the election. I do still have a decent stash of ammo. Being that I'm away from home, I can't shoot it and I wouldn't be able to start reloading till I ETS anyway.
I did the math on selling the reloading components, and at current market prices I think I can safely say there'd be $4 - $5k if not more. I'd sell locally in CA when I go back to visit in the summer to avoid shipping/hazmat.
So my question is: in your opinion/experience, would it be wise to just dump the reloading components for the few $k to put towards buying some land? I have a rule about not selling ammo, and I told myself I wouldn't ever sell the reloading components. I've read multiple threads on opinions about getting into reloading and the common theme was that it was more of a separate hobby from shooting, and that "you won't save any money on shooting, but you'll be able to shoot more." However, that was from a time where ammo was almost half as expensive. Things have changed, and now I'm trying to figure out if selling it would be something I'd regret later.
I'm sure in the near future I'll start a family as well, and I just don't know if I'll have so much time for extra hobbies. If reloading is still more of *just a hobby* then I can let it go, but if you guys think that's changed with the current environment, then I'd probably hang on to it.
Again, I don't have a press or projectiles. I won't be able to start reloading for another few years. I do have a somewhat ok stash of ammo - not close to a lifetime supply, but it would last a few years. $5k is $5k, I wouldn't say that I make a lot of money, but I'm not on the verge of being homeless or eating ramen for the next 5 years. All of my bills still get paid on time, and I'll be able to make monthly payments on the land. I'm just trying to get some opinions on what to do, I've never reloaded a single bullet so I really don't know if it's something I'd fall in love with - reloading has always just been a backup plan to getting around ammo shortages.
In my opinion; I would hang on to the reloading components.
With the way things are going, no telling if they will be available, legal or affordable in the future.
^^^^^^^agreed especially here in Kalifornia
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Keep the components for a rainy day in a secure and environmentally controlled location. Having the ability to generate your own ammunition is peace of mind! There is no garuntee regarding your ability to restock your current holdings once you have liquidated it.
For an aside, I shoot obscure cartridges that mandate reloading. So yes, it is worth it to me. I also have coworkers who don't shoot any more due to ammunition cost/availability. I have not slowed down as I have the material on hand to maintain production.
Again, I don't have a press or projectiles.
Bullets are fairly "gettable" right now. Powder and primers are overpriced and hard to find. Building your equipment up is a long process of figuring out how you want to load and what you need to make it happen. Hang on to what you have.
I would take your time and find a good deal on a press, and start looking for bullets at a good price. Most likely powder and primers will come back down. I think everybody should should be set up to load just in case.
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By summer, the prices will be down and being second-hand, some would have reservations about buying from you based on the fact that there is no guarantee how it was stored. Whatever you believe it is worth, it may be a bit less and by summer it will continue to fall.
Remember, this time last year, you couldn’t buy primers. Now you can buy them at will for an elevated price. They are starting to sit around a few days now.
Hang on to them and have the peace of mind that you’ll be able to keep your rifles and pistols fed during the next inevitable shortage.
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gunnerblue
01-19-22, 11:15
What kind of land can you get for $5k in a spot where you'd want to live?
By summer, the prices will be down
I hope you're right. This panic has lasted too long.
What kind of land can you get for $5k in a spot where you'd want to live?
I don't know of anywhere that I could buy a piece of land for only $5k. The places I was looking at in the area were anything from $100k - $300k. What I was getting at with the $5k was that it would just go towards downpayment and/or monthly payments.
Thanks for answers everyone. I think I'll hang to everything for now. It's all kept in a safe climate controlled environment at my father's house.
It's mostly rifle and pistol powder and primers, all still sealed/unopened. I don't have a press or projectiles. Reloading was something I always wanted to get into eventually, and the main reason for that was if ammo became too expensive or restricted one day.
If that stuff is half way stored properly it will last a lifetime or more...
And thanks to inflation it will not become 'cheaper' to buy the same stuff ten years from now.
9mm, probably not worth your time unless you have a good progressive loading setup.
Anything else, yes.
i cast bullets for my pistols and rifles. This is where you can sav a lot of $$$$. For 9mm right now with the supplies i have it is costing me about $40/1Kbut that will change when i have to buy new primers. It will double at today prices. But that will be several years before i have to do that
Do not sell that jewelry called reloading. It may be best to hold on until you can reload.
PB
I think I'll hang to everything for now. It's all kept in a safe climate controlled environment at my father's house.
You have chosen wisely.
i cast bullets for my pistols and rifles. This is where you can sav a lot of $$$$. For 9mm right now with the supplies i have it is costing me about $40/1Kbut that will change when i have to buy new primers. It will double at today prices. But that will be several years before i have to do that
How old is your primer stock? Primers had been $3.99/100 for five years or so before the shortage.
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They were $26/1K before this bs started here. I still have 8K wolf sp left. They were like $18/1K. Have 3 full cases of 5K SR wolf left also. Then 5 full cases cci #41. at least 3K cci SP and 2K Win SP and 4K Win SR. I have been reloading since the early 90's I learned my lessons back then to not get caught without. I had my C&R license back then and All the catalog retailers would give dealer discounts with it. Hardly none of them do now so I let it lapse around 2007 or so. The prices are with the gas factored into processing the lead to cast the bullets and the powder coat to coat the bullets.
They were $26/1K before this bs started here. I still have 8K wolf sp left. They were like $18/1K. Have 3 full cases of 5K SR wolf left also. Then 5 full cases cci #41. at least 3K cci SP and 2K Win SP and 4K Win SR. I have been reloading since the early 90's I learned my lessons back then to not get caught without. I had my C&R license back then and All the catalog retailers would give dealer discounts with it. Hardly none of them do now so I let it lapse around 2007 or so. The prices are with the gas factored into processing the lead to cast the bullets and the powder coat to coat the bullets.
Used to I got the C&R discounts. I don’t think I saw 2.99 in about seven years or better except when you’d catch sales. Good on you got stocking up. A friend of mine and I split a pallet load about fifteen years or so of CCI #41s. Ended up being less than $2/100. I don’t even remember how many I had but I’ve shot a ton of rounds and still have about 20k of them to work from. I just wish I’d bought more small pistol primers back in the day.
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Used to I got the C&R discounts. I don’t think I saw 2.99 in about seven years or better except when you’d catch sales. Good on you got stocking up. A friend of mine and I split a pallet load about fifteen years or so of CCI #41s. Ended up being less than $2/100. I don’t even remember how many I had but I’ve shot a ton of rounds and still have about 20k of them to work from. I just wish I’d bought more small pistol primers back in the day.
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Do you have pistols that will not light off the 41's?
Do you have pistols that will not light off the 41's?
My USPSA pistols won’t ignite CCI small pistol primers all the time. Federal small pistols work consistently with it. Part of having that nice trigger in a competition gun though.
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I just wish I’d bought more small pistol primers back in the day.
Same here. I don't load pistol very often, but sometimes getting off the rifle ammo and changing it up keeps me from going nuts.
I have a 10 year supply of everything (due to Pappabear buying like crazy) pistol except the primers.
The_War_Wagon
01-21-22, 12:14
Is it still worth reloading?
If you owned all the gear prior to the slowjoe insurrection, sure!
My USPSA pistols won’t ignite CCI small pistol primers all the time. Federal small pistols work consistently with it. Part of having that nice trigger in a competition gun though.
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I did some playing around one time with my Beretta hammer springs to see how light I could go before primers would not light off properly and got to the bottom (lowest weight) of my calibration pack and still had no issues with CCI 400 SRPrimed brass. Want to say that was an 11 or 12lb spring weight. Normal being a 20lb spring and 'D' spring being 16lbs.
Have not tried with 41's to see how much harder they were (hammer spring wise) than the regular 400's which is why I asked...
I thought my Beretta trigger was ungodly light with the 12lb spring and went back up to the 'D' weight (16lb) but it for sure would light off any SPPrimers with the 12 in there. I was doing my testing with SRP's...
Your pistol has got to be light as heck if not lighting the CCI pistol primers.
41's being SR and hard, 400's being SR and less hard than 41's, CCI small pistol primers being softer than that even, and then the Federal primers being well known to be some of the (more like THE softest) softest around.
9mm, probably not worth your time unless you have a good progressive loading setup.
Anything else, yes.
If loading premium bullets (Gold Dots, XTP's, etc.) the cost savings are definitely there.
If loading elcheapo plinking fodder in 9mm you would be correct.
I did some playing around one time with my Beretta hammer springs to see how light I could go before primers would not light off properly and got to the bottom (lowest weight) of my calibration pack and still had no issues with CCI 400 SRPrimed brass. Want to say that was an 11 or 12lb spring weight. Normal being a 20lb spring and 'D' spring being 16lbs.
Have not tried with 41's to see how much harder they were (hammer spring wise) than the regular 400's which is why I asked...
I thought my Beretta trigger was ungodly light with the 12lb spring and went back up to the 'D' weight (16lb) but it for sure would light off any SPPrimers with the 12 in there. I was doing my testing with SRP's...
Your pistol has got to be light as heck if not lighting the CCI pistol primers.
41's being SR and hard, 400's being SR and less hard than 41's, CCI small pistol primers being softer than that even, and then the Federal primers being well known to be some of the (more like THE softest) softest around.
It’s a CZ. One has the Cajun kit and the other CZ Custom. They will light off most of them, but there are enough times it won’t that I wouldn’t run them in a match. I’m getting about 1.5 lbs-2 lbs in SA and about 4.5 lbs in DA.
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It’s a CZ. One has the Cajun kit and the other CZ Custom. They will light off most of them, but there are enough times it won’t that I wouldn’t run them in a match. I’m getting about 1.5 lbs-2 lbs in SA and about 4.5 lbs in DA.
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Guessing that is trigger pull weight?
Numbers I gave before were hammer spring weights.
The corresponding trigger 'pull' weights that I 'averaged' between a few different 92's I have with the different hammer springs were:
About 10.5lbs DA and 5lbs SA with an 'F' spring of 20lbs.
About 9lbs DA and 4lbs SA with a 'D' spring of 16lbs.
And about 7.5lbs DA and 3lbs SA with the lightest hammer springs in my kit of IIRC 12lbs.
Appreciate your data points here with respect to 'what will light off what' for you in your firearm.
Guessing that is trigger pull weight?
Numbers I gave before were hammer spring weights.
The corresponding trigger 'pull' weights that I 'averaged' between a few different 92's I have with the different hammer springs were:
About 10.5lbs DA and 5lbs SA with an 'F' spring of 20lbs.
About 9lbs DA and 4lbs SA with a 'D' spring of 16lbs.
And about 7.5lbs DA and 3lbs SA with the lightest hammer springs in my kit of IIRC 12lbs.
Appreciate your data points here with respect to 'what will light off what' for you in your firearm.
Yes those are trigger pull weights. I didn’t do spring weights because main, firing pin, etc are all changed and each contributed. Also they are shadows so not relevant to any other gun. The mods are pretty common on these and it’s almost universal that nobody has problems with Federal SP primers. I do run CCI for my defensive guns’ practice ammo and even my Sig Legion for Carry Optics with no problems if that’s all I can find. But When I can find Feds it works for everything. Thanks for the info on the Beretta as well. I’ve been eyeing the LTT, but I’m so deep in these guns not sure I want to add a new platform for mags and holsters. But something special about them…
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Yes those are trigger pull weights. I didn’t do spring weights because main, firing pin, etc are all changed and each contributed.
Beretta is similar in the respect that there are a few different springs that 'contribute' to the overall pull weight (trigger return springs can be had in several different weights for example) but...
The reality is that (at least in the case of 92's) you better have a very, very good quality scale to be able to tell a difference in trigger pull weight going back and forth between a reduced power trigger return spring and an extra power trigger return spring.
The difference in trigger pull weights with changes like that are measured in ounces and not in lbs.
The hammer spring is the biggie here. :)
If loading premium bullets (Gold Dots, XTP's, etc.) the cost savings are definitely there.
If loading elcheapo plinking fodder in 9mm you would be correct.
Is that still the case with cheap brass cased 9 mm at $0.30/rd?
I haven't looked at ammo prices recently but I don't think I remember seeing anything under $300 a case. I am talking about brass though.
If loading premium bullets (Gold Dots, XTP's, etc.) the cost savings are definitely there.
If loading elcheapo plinking fodder in 9mm you would be correct.
That's a good point.
ViniVidivici
01-29-22, 14:21
In my opinion; I would hang on to the reloading components.
With the way things are going, no telling if they will be available, legal or affordable in the future.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
There may be some relief in sight. A new primer factory is in the works.
https://onlygunsandmoney.com/2022/01/23/new-us-primer-manufacturer-coming.html
There may be some relief in sight. A new primer factory is in the works.
https://onlygunsandmoney.com/2022/01/23/new-us-primer-manufacturer-coming.html
That makes perfect sense while primers are retailing for 10¢ each, or more...
What happens when the price goes back to 2¢ each, as it was before COVID?
What if it only goes back to 3¢ each (50% more than the pre-panic price)?
That makes perfect sense while primers are retailing for 10¢ each, or more...
What happens when the price goes back to 2¢ each, as it was before COVID?
What if it only goes back to 3¢ each (50% more than the pre-panic price)?
You keep citing that they were 2cents each recently but they were not.
More like 3.5 unless you want to go back what 20 years or so?
Either your memory is failing or you were buying pallets at a time. 'Normal' retail has not been close to 2 cents for many, many years friend.
Post a picture of a retail receipt at that price level from this decade...
You keep citing that they were 2cents each recently but they were not.
More like 3.5 unless you want to go back what 20 years or so?
Either your memory is failing or you were buying pallets at a time. 'Normal' retail has not been close to 2 cents for many, many years friend.
Post a picture of a retail receipt at that price level from this decade...
I don't have the receipt handy, but my local Sportsman's Whorehouse had CCI primers on sale in February/March 2020, for $21.99/1,000, plus tax. I walked out with 17,000...
Further back (but not 20 years) I bought Wolf primers (15,000 SPPs and 10,000 LRPs) from Brownells for 2¢ each in 2015, after the 2013 Newtown panic finally ended.
And yeah, I keep track of all of this on an Excel spreadsheet...
I don't have the receipt handy, but my local Sportsman's Whorehouse had CCI primers on sale in February/March 2020, for $21.99/1,000, plus tax. I walked out with 17,000...
Further back (but not 20 years) I bought Wolf primers (15,000 SPPs and 10,000 LRPs) from Brownells for 2¢ each in 2015, after the 2013 Newtown panic finally ended.
And yeah, I keep track of all of this on an Excel spreadsheet...
Have not even seen prices like that online in the last ten years or more. (with the exception of the cheap wolf primers when they were around) Pretty sure you had a typing error when you entered your info into your spreadsheet...
Online from the big places is usually always cheaper than in a local SW price but nowhere near the price you are stating for a very long time.
In 2020, my dealer’s COST was $0.03.
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Have not even seen prices like that online in the last ten years or more. (with the exception of the cheap wolf primers when they were around) Pretty sure you had a typing error when you entered your info into your spreadsheet...
No error...
I buy primers every 5-10 years, but I'm watching prices constantly. When prices are low, then I stock up. Before the COVID panic, prices were rock bottom.
FWIW, I decided last month that I don't even need/want 10,000 of those Wolf SPPs, and I passed them on to a friend, who traded me 4,000 cast bullets.
Win-win: I calculate that I paid 5¢/bullet, and he calculates that I paid 60¢/bullet, because he can't find primers for less than 12¢ each.
My point is that when things were normal SW or Brownells were selling primers for ≈2¢ each, and presumably still making at least a marginal profit, then the wholesale price for primers must be significantly lower.
Even if materials and labor are now more expensive, they're not 50% more expensive... (Not yet, anyway.)
Reloading has never been about saving money.
I reload so I have options when ammo is scarce or not available and to tune loads for my rifles for accuracy that typically beats production match ammo, when I do my part correctly.
I also find it a challenge to do consistently and properly. Experimenting with different powders can be fun as well.
Bottom line, it is good to have options.
Reloading has never been about saving money.
Agreed...
1. I enjoy the ritual. I find it relaxing. I'm not quite at the shooting-to-reload point, but I do enjoy it as its own activity.
2. Options, flexibility: yes. I can load mouse-fart loads, or oddballs like 10mm magnum (not auto).
Agreed...
I'm not quite at the shooting-to-reload point, but I do enjoy it as its own activity.
Yeah, I'm not there yet either, but I do find it relaxing as well. Especially after dealing with increasingly retarded people every day for 10-12 hours.
It is also supremely rewarding to shoot reliable, good groups with stuff you've produced yourself.
No error...
I buy primers every 5-10 years, but I'm watching prices constantly. When prices are low, then I stock up. Before the COVID panic, prices were rock bottom.
FWIW, I decided last month that I don't even need/want 10,000 of those Wolf SPPs, and I passed them on to a friend, who traded me 4,000 cast bullets.
Win-win: I calculate that I paid 5¢/bullet, and he calculates that I paid 60¢/bullet, because he can't find primers for less than 12¢ each.
My point is that when things were normal SW or Brownells were selling primers for ≈2¢ each, and presumably still making at least a marginal profit, then the wholesale price for primers must be significantly lower.
Even if materials and labor are now more expensive, they're not 50% more expensive... (Not yet, anyway.)
Brownells hasn’t sold any primers for $0.02 in the last two or three years that I can recall. I’d have bought them if they did.
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In 2020, my dealer’s COST was $0.03.
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And rest assured SW would be charging more than that.
In 2020, my dealer’s COST was $0.03.
I'm guessing that was after March, once the panic had begun...
And rest assured SW would be charging more than that.
One would think so, but I'm guessing that SW was selling stock for which they'd paid (much) less.
Alternatively, perhaps I simply got lucky, and as SW was blowing out their reloading gear, they sold those primers at a loss. (The same store now has virtually no reloading components or equipment.)
Brownells hasn’t sold any primers for $0.02 in the last two or three years...
I bought from them in 2016...
I'm guessing that was after March, once the panic had begun...
One would think so, but I'm guessing that SW was selling stock for which they'd paid (much) less.
Alternatively, perhaps I simply got lucky, and as SW was blowing out their reloading gear, they sold those primers at a loss. (The same store now has virtually no reloading components or equipment.)
I bought from them in 2016...
No, that’s before the craziness when cost was slight over two cents. Hell, I think they haven’t been below two cents since about 2014 or 2015.
You getting a deal six years ago is more likely than in 2020.
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Alternatively, perhaps I simply got lucky, and as SW was blowing out their reloading gear, they sold those primers at a loss. (The same store now has virtually no reloading components or equipment.)
YOUR SW may have been discontinuing those items and dumping them at a loss but mine was definitely not.
I keep receipts for that sort of stuff and know what MY SW was selling that sort of stuff for around that time. Was not near 2 cents per (for any brand - let alone CCI) as you suggest...
I have scored powder locally in the past for cheaper than 'expected' (different gun store) because that store did not usually sell a lot of reloading stuff and just wanted it all gone from their shelves so they could have room for other stuff that they actually were selling at the time.
Would not be uncommon to see a particular store in a particular area decide to clearance items that might 'sit around a while' to make room for other stuff that they were moving more of and want to stock and keep on their shelves. They don't make much money if product just sits there collecting dust.
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