Pete D.

Of course it's worthwhile. On a round to round basis, the price per shot is wildly cheaper. The only real question is how long it will take to amortize the cost of the equipment. Shoot a lot and it happens faster.
I load and reload for more than 30 different cartridges and shotshells. Just considering the .45 ACP, I've loaded more than 60,000 rounds of it over the past bunch of years. I also cast my own bullets and so the cost per box is very low, down about $2.00 to $2.50 a box of 50. (I don't consider the cost of brass since with target ammo the cases can be used so many times that it's silly - and I keep finding the stuff that those "box from Walmart" shooters leave behind). Same thing, essentially, with .30-06 and .223 - though the powder costs more and jacketed bullets also. Maybe at this point they are about .25 a piece for .30-06 ($5 a box for ammo as good or better than the factory. And it's in stock. My actual cost is lower because people that I know who don't want to reload any longer keep giving me components - like .30 cal. bullets and powder and primers.).
What do shotgun slugs cost? About a buck a piece for your basic smoothbore punkin ball. I reload slugs that work as well as the factory stuff for the cost of the primer and powder (about 12-15 cents per shell). Cast the slugs.
Some things that I load for - a couple of wildcats and antique cartridges - cannot be purchased anywhere.
Is it worth it? You bet.
Pete

rhans53

I myself load for more than a few rifle calibers. Try finding 338 fed, 358 win at all let alone what you can afford. But I started reloading to save a few bucks on a 308 and I'm sure over the years I've paid for the equip just in that caliber. You sound like you don't really what to take the time to sit down and do this, my recomendation is to find a friend who reloads, buy a pound of powder, a box of bullets, 100 primers and see if it's your cup of tea. If so buy the stuff and join the ranks of us that roll our own. If not throw your brass in the brass bin and I'll gladly dig it out

driftrider

While I "learn to shoot" you should learn to read, but I'm guessing that I'll be more successful than you will at our respective tasks.

I said that 2" groups are unacceptable TO ME (if you can live with that level of accuracy, that's fine with me), and with handloads I can always do much better for less money. Some factory ammo might do fine, but for what it costs, I'll spend less time and money working up a load than I would trying to find a suitable factory load. I also specifically mentioned my 257 Weatherby. If you can afford $80 a box ammo, great. I would not have bought the rifle had I not already had a handloading setup, and that rifle has not seen a factory load, and likely never will. $20/box vs. $80/box for ammo that will perform better... seems like a no brainer to me, so if you can't understand the economics of it, there can be only one reason. I also clearly stated (again, addressing the OP, not you), that he wouldn't see that level of savings loading for the more common cartridges. I load, or have loaded, for the following cartridges, so I, too, have a clue what I'm talking about (since you're obviously so hung up on credentials): 9mm Luger, .45 Colt, .454 Casull, 45 ACP, 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum, 22-250 Rem, 243 Win, .30-06 Springfield, 257 Weatherby Mag, 7mm STW, 300 WSM, 20 gauge and 12 gauge. I've been handloading since I was a young teenager, and I've never bothered to keep track of how many rounds I've loaded in total, but it's been a bunch.

What really gets me is that I ultimately agree with your recommendation for the OP NOT to handload, but for different reasons. Yet you decided to argue with me because, due in no small part to your lack of reading comprehension skills, you thought that just because my post followed yours I must have been addressing you. To give you a little clue, sequential threading is just how forums work. If I was talking to you, I'd have explicitly (or very clearly implicitly) made it known by either quoting your post, or by addressing my comments to you (e.g. vabyrd, ...). I'm sorry you can't understand.

Oh, and wait, looks like I do know how to shoot:
Savage 111 30-06 (this was actually a rare group shot with factory loads since I didn't have time to do a load workup before a hunting trip with this rifle):

Remington 700 LSS 257 Wby (load workup):

Tikka T3 300 WSM (workup):

Rem 700 LSS 257 Wby (this was a s**t's and giggles ladder test with some RL-19 I had laying around, the outliers are the midlevel load that opened up before the load tightened up toward the top):


I have a bunch more target pictures on a CD-Rom somewhere that never got transferred over to my iMac, and others that were lost when my laptop got fried. But these should be sufficient to prove my point. If you still don't understand, I can use smaller words.

Mike

Pygmy

Dont'cha just LOVE a spirited discussion........??...

Actually, one advantage of handloading that I neglected to mention has been mentioned by a couple of the previous posters...

Variety in factory loads IS very limited in many very useful cartridges.. Some of us enjoy using " something different"...The three chamberings that I use the most for hunting are 7MM08, .280 Rem and 9.3 x 62... When I first started loading for the 7MM08 and .280, they were both still fairly obscure, and there still is not a great variety of factory loads for either cartridge..
The 9.3 x 62 is still a relatively unusual caliber here in the states, although it is very popular in Europe and Africa.. Ammo here is tough to find , expensive, and very limited, but loading components are readily available... Handloading allows me to develop all three of these calibers to thier true potential...
Many other cartridges ( like driftrider's .257 Roy) fall into the same category..

Ruger-Redhawk

That maybe the only way you'll get to shoot the way finding factory ammo has gotten. I haven't rolled my own it years. Finally after a couple moves I recently got it all set back up.One day when the urge hits me, I'll crank them back out.I have stuff loaded from the early 80's still sitting here.So I'm in no hurry.

DeerandbearhoG

I bought a cheap lee press , 80$ digital scale and some misc. other tools when i started handloading in 06'. I also buy fired brass and I dont tumble it, cause I dont really care how shiney it is. Im pretty sure Im saving money handloading opposed to buying factory ammo. Also, w/ at least 300 pieces of brass, 1000 bullets and a bunch of other components on hand, it will be a long time till I have to worry about having ammo to hunt with. That, and like others have said, its very satisfing to kill a deer w/ a cartidge you loaded yourself.

skb2706

Those of us who handload and have for many years might find this to be an odd question.

Does one take up golf to save money ? Do you learn tennis to save money ?

Its a hobby....since when do hobbies have to be "worth it"?

Handloading to save money is like draining the lake with a teaspoon.

DeerandbearhoG

Whats wrong w/ saving money, or wanting to save money? Take just the brass alone, i can buy 1X fired brass on GB for a fraction of what new brass costs, and load it 5 more Xs at least! A bullet, a primer, and a charge of powder cost me about 40 cents, a 7mm08 factory loaded cartridge cost about 1.20. Im saving 80cents, not figuring in the equipment cost, which I figure ive already long paid for. Id hardley call that a "teaspoon".

Beside handloading is not my hobby, hunting is my hobby, handloading is just a small part of it.

Pete D.

Well, no. I didn't take up shooting in order to save money. I did, however, take up reloading/handloading so that I could shoot more for the same dollar.

Pete

statjunk

I'm thinking it isn't worth the risk to you rifle to shoot used brass unless you see the guy at the range actually fire it all and then put it back in the box. Brass has lots of life and I wonder if you're considering the risks of a case rupture.

Tom