The most expensive component of a round of ammunition is the brass case! It's initial cost represents about 75% of the total cost of the cartridge. To throw it away after firing is just plain wasteful.

However, to answer your inquiry, whether you are going to save money by reloading those cases depends on several factors:

The most important of these is "How much shooting will you do?" If the answer is "a box or two every year", it will NOT save you any money if you don't already have the press, loading dies, and a powder scale. However, if you DO already have the equipment, or free access to it, even if you only reload 100 rounds, you can save money by buying powder, primers, and bullets separately.

If you have to buy a press, powder scale, and a set of dies as well as bullets, primers, and powder, you will have to load 500 rounds or more before you break even - this depends on the CARTRIDGE. For example, a box of 20 .416 Rigby cases costs me $40.00. But if I buynew LOADED rounds, it's going to be in the vicinity of $100.00 or more for just one box!

I started (in 1954) reloading .30/'06 ammo so I could shoot more (ie., save money). But I soon found that the handloading of ammunition was so fascinating, and had so much potential for various things, that I quickly gave up on saving money! I'm still spending money on exotic tools, strange calibers, bullet moulds and other bullet-making equipment, Berdan primers, etc., etc., that I have completely forgotten about the idea of saving money. Today, I own a great many arms which have never been sullied with one round of factory ammunition!

But, you can save money! To START reloading, all you need is a single-stage press, a powder scale, a set of dies, and one box of bullets, a can of powder, and 100 primers of the correct type.

You can get the toolsoff of e-Bay for very little, usually no more than half the retail price. I bought a "used" RCBS Rockchucker off e-Bat last year for $50.00. When it arrived, I could not tell that it was not brand-new

I usually buy my powder, primers and bullets from GRAF's orMidway, and some locally.

I startred reloading .30/'06 ammo with a Lyman 310 tool + dies for itand a simple Pacific powder scale. That's all that's REQUIRED! Later on, you might add a case trimmer, BUT you can do without that at least for awhile!

I guess I'm with just about everyone else in this thread,.... No, you won't save money. I've only been reloading for a couple of years and find myself always picking up a new powder or another box of primers (just in case), or maybe some brass that you just can't pass up when Midway has some special going on.

I started out with the bare minimum stuff (Lee Anniversary set), and while it was fine for loading my 45LC, it wasn't quite up to snuff for the 30-06. I kept feeling like I was going to break the press. So, I started upgrading about a year ago and haven't stopped.

Reloading for me is worthwhile because I really enjoy it. I enjoy shooting my own product and getting the satisfaction of knowing EXACTLY what's in that particular cartridge.

You can also come up with variations that aren't available in stores.I likeshooting remington Core-Lokt 165 gr in my 30-06 (deadly on them Hogs) but have yet to find them in stores. 150 and 180 gr are common, but not the 165. There, see,...I have to reload. Ha! THEY just don't make what I use. Justification and gratification in one fell swoop.
I dig doing it and it keeps me off the street.

P.S. Semper Fi, brother.
2d SRIG
24th MEU/SOC

You just get to shoot a lot more for the same money. Going and buying 20 rounds for my .270 cost me $20+ and reloading I get to shoot those shells about 3-5 times depending on the components that I use for the same money. But you must remember that you generally buy your components in some type of bulk, boxes of 100 or more or by the pound and the up front costs can be quite expensive. So if you dont plan to shoot, dont reload. But if you do plan to get the most out of your rifle and want to get friendly with it by shooting the daylights out of it then there is no better hobby to start than reloading. Have fun man, I know that for the past 2 months I sure have enjoyed reloading. [:-]

To answer the question at hand, I couldn't save any money reloading. I went the Lee Loader route for my 375 H&H, and for what I spent on different powders, different grain bullets, digital scales, etc, etc,... I could have bought SEVERAL boxes of factory ammo. In my case with the 375 H&H, I don't shoot it that much, so it might have been different with a caliber that I shoot volume rounds with.

NO! We all just tell our wives that so we can shoot more and load more. Don't let you wife catch wind of this secret. She might spread the word then we would all be in trouble.

Dude I am an accountant and YES YES YES it DOES TOO save money. IF you shoot enough to justify it.

When I started shooting 375 H&H I was paying $1 per cartridge $20 per box of 20 factory loaded cartridges.That's 5 boxes at $20 = $100 for $100 cartridges. Powder costs $20 per pound and loads 100 cartridges. Projectiles cost $30 per 100. Primers = $2 per 100. So the cost of loading 100 cartridgesmyself =$52. I save $48 per 100 cartridges. Shoot and reload $500 cartridges = save $240 which is about what my RCBS kit cost me at the time. Every time I shoot past that I'm saving money. I figure I'm about $500 ahead by now

BUT!! Being able to shoot more is a type of saving money! Yes, you may spend more than the cost of a couple of boxes of factory ammo, BUT you will end up with a lot more shots that you can fire for the same amount of money - in other words, the cost of firing each round of handloaded ammo is a lot lower than the cost of firing a round of factory stuff...... and in addition, you get the pleasure of shooting a round that is exactly what you want, not what some company sees fit to provide..... (not to mention the fun of doing the work, and being able to experiment with bullets, powder types, primers, etc., etc., that are just not avaliable any other way! For example, where can you buy 20 rounds of .416 Rigby ammo that's loaded to 2100 FPS with 350-grain cast gascheck flatnose bullets for target shooting and deer hunting??)