Expensive Hobby
 

Here is my most recent order:

Item No.

Description

Unit Price

Qty

Cost

Y30150M1

Y30150M1 NEW YUGOSLAVIAN M1 BULLET $20.00 PER 250 / $72.00 PER 1000

19.00

3

57.00

WSC284WU

WSC284WU WINCHESTER 284 UNPRIMED BRASS $17.70 PER 50

17.50

2

35.00

90767

90767 LEE PACESETTER 7.5x55 SWISS DIES $21.20

21.20

1

21.20

RR11002

RR11002 Redding "E-Z Feed" Shellholder #2 $5.50 Each

5.50

1

5.50

WSC300WMU

WSC300WMU WINCHESTER 300 WIN MAG UNPRIMED BRASS $16.90 PER 50

16.60

2

33.20

N51160

N51160 30cal(.308) 168gr (Ballistic Silvertip) $14.50 Box of 50

14.50

1

14.50

N16331

N16331 30cal{.308}180gr Spitzer {Partition} $21.30 Box of 50

21.30

1

21.30

N30150

N30150 30cal {.308} 150gr Spitzer {Ballistic Tip Hunting} $10.90 Box of 50

10.90

1

10.90



I still don't have powder or primers because they charge a hazard fee. So I'll have to go pick that up at a local place.

I would say that by the time I am able to reload for two cartridges and have the dies for another cartridge that I have I'll end up having about $800-$850 in this. I wasn't expecting this.

I'm glad that I like shooting because otherwise this is definetly not a cost cutting measure.

Tom

RE: Expensive Hobby
 

Yes, it can be expensive. But there are a lot worse things you could spend the money on.

RE: Expensive Hobby
 

It certainly is NOT NECESSARY to spend that much to get into reloading. It is ill-advised to buy NEW equipment when you can get ANYTHiNG you need off of internet auction sites, usually for less than half of retail price, and a lot of that stuff is new or used very little. This includes reloading dies for many oddball calibers that would cost a small fortune if you bought them new!

Over the last two years, I've been able to buy an RCBS Rockchucker in near-new condition off e-bay for $50.00, several die sets for under $20.00 apiece including.38/55 Win. and6.5X54mm Mann-Schoen. sets, plus several Lyman-Ohaus M5 scales for under $30.00 each (just for parts).

A pound of powder costs $17.00, 1000 primers is $20.00, and 100 cup-and-draw bullets, like Speer or Sierras, can be purchased for under $20.00, sometimes under $10.00 for smaller calibers.

Later on, one needs a case trimmer and a case-mouth chamfering tool. But even adding these on, you can reload your first 100 empties for under $250.00.

I started out reloading with a Lyman 310 tool and a cheap Pacific powder scale for loading .30/'06 ammo. This outfit worked for three years before I started buying other tools. You can still get these tools off of e-bay, and they still work!

RE: Expensive Hobby
 

Purchasing brass falls under loading, not reloading.

;););)

Shooting ballistic silvertips and partitions definitely takes the money-saving out of reloading, that's why I use Hornady SST's. I can get 100 for about $20. I get 115.7 cartridges out of my $20 can of RL-22. Primers are dirt cheap. The brass I got from factory winchester and federal rounds. ($40). If I get 6 uses out of them, thats $.16 per case.

My cartridges come out around $.59.

Plus about $500 for the equipment.

I should break even after 1,219 rounds.

What the heck, it's alot of fun!

:D:D:D

RE: Expensive Hobby
 

Not only is it fun, but you can load any kind of ammo you want to try - different bullets, different powders, etc., etc. Something you can't even begin to contemplate doing whenusing factory ammo!

RE: Expensive Hobby
 

Statjunk,

From what I see you are really messing up, all your stuff is for rifle reloading. It's been mentioned here that you have to shoot over a thousand rounds to break even, maybe more in your case. What you need to do is buy a few handguns in various calibers, like 44-40, .45colt & etc., and start reloading for them. For instance, I can load a box of 50, 44-40's in smokless for under 5 bucks and they retail around here for over 20. Since you can normally shoot alot more pistol bullets than rifle, it won't take long to pay for your rifle stuff at those savings. It gets better, once you start loading for pistol you will "need" a nice progressive press to cut down on your loading time and save even more money, and we all know that buying in bulk will save you money as well. You will soonhave large/heavy boxes of bullets arriving at your door, delivered by a nasty UPS guy who has to lug them up your steps every few weeks. You should be all set now, except that since you have more tools and stuff, you might need a better bench to mount them on, strong shelves to hold all your stuff, a separate tumbler for you pistol brass, better lighting, someplace to store 8lb jugs of powder, of course you will need a real nice chair to sit your butt down for hours of reloading fun.With a reloading setup like yours, who doesn't need a PC there to keep track of all your loading data-(and chat with us). Don't worry, divorse does not cost as much as everone says and with her gone, you'll have alot more space to expand your loading stuff....Do you own a shotgun...:D

Welcome to reloading, it's all about makingquality ammo and getting good results at the range and in the field. If you are looking to save money, sell your guns.

Doug

RE: Expensive Hobby
 

I literally laughed out loud at the office. Along with the divorce does reloading cause you to lose your job?

Tom

RE: Expensive Hobby
 

Not unless your boss objects to the way you use the computers at work.........

RE: Expensive Hobby
 

Eldequello brings up a very good point. I'm in IT and we have a small server that handles our firewall and filter, it also has internet logging software. In a blink of an eye I can tell you where you have been, when, how long, anything you want to know about your web surfing habits. And as he mentioned, your boss may be very interested in this information.

I do not surf anything at work, even though I could get away with it in my position. There are certain people out there that take a very dimm view of guns in general and associate people who use them in the the same dimm way.I work in a government situation and right now the Democrats are in power...I'm not giving them any ammunition so to speak, in reguards to my employment. About a month ago we got a porn complaint from another agency, some lady I've known to be a good person for 20+years emailed a pic of her granson to someone in another agency, he wassitting on the pot-(some exposure). It was obviously not porn, especially when you read the mail but our HR dept. went nuts, she was lucky that my boss had a heart-(and a brain)- and stuck up for her. Don't for a moment think your email is safe, even if you delete it, backups and off site replicators keep everything and any domain admin can read it all.

A word to the wise...

Doug

RE: Expensive Hobby
 

Ain't BIG BROTHER great.....