Is it worth getting into reloading still?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JEVapa

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Banned Supporter
Joined
Aug 13, 2016
Messages
6,921
Reaction score
12,230
Location
Elgin/Cyril
Hey everyone,

I recently picked up a 300 Weatherby Mag here in a trade and plan to use it for hunting over the next many years. It came with one box of Weatherby Select Plus ammo. I knew the ammo was pricey before picking up the rifle, but man, I didn't expect $100 a box.

While I am happy to pay $100 once or twice, I would like to be able to reload the same brass after that as I don't expect to shoot more than 20 rounds a year on this rifle once I have it dialed in.

Would it be more cost effective to buy the equipment needed to reload 300 Wby Mag right now? Also very interested in loading for 7mm Rem Mag and 243. What would it take to get started?

I figure that the stuff I shoot a lot of, 9mm, 223, and 308 all are readily available and relatively cheap so I am fine with buying boxes of that pre-loaded.
H&H has reloading classes or as suggested, get up with a friend and check it out. All the cheap ammo - 9mm, 45 acp, 5.56, etc I just buy. Revolver ammo and all my hunting loads, I reload. It's still cheaper for me by a factor of 2 or more in the long run even with primers at $75-$100 per 1k.

It may not be for you if you don't shoot enough though. Just assess what you want to do. I can say that it's paid for itself two or three times for the amount that I shoot and I can tailor whatever cartridge I want to use that won't be available commercially.
 

scott024

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Sep 19, 2014
Messages
645
Reaction score
1,142
Location
Norman
If you plan on hunting/shooting for a long period of time, go ahead and buy the equipment. It's like a lifetime hunting license. It's a lot up front, but is dirt cheap when you think long term. I guess I'm saying if you are a younger fella, go for it. If you are 70, it might be cheaper to just buy loaded ammo.
 

MilitantBEEMER

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Mar 9, 2019
Messages
3,930
Reaction score
7,442
Location
Tulsa Oklahoma
Inventory is slowly coming back and prices seem to have plateaued.
If I were a betting man, we will see another run on reloading supplies and ammo sometime soon.
I recommend you consider investing in reloading gear and components. If not stock up on ammo. Just my .02
 

Shinneryfarmer

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Oct 10, 2020
Messages
2,574
Reaction score
10,638
Location
Western Oklahoma
Inventory is slowly coming back and prices seem to have plateaued.
If I were a betting man, we will see another run on reloading supplies and ammo sometime soon.
I recommend you consider investing in reloading gear and components. If not stock up on ammo. Just my .02
So just how much is enough? Ammo? Reloading components?
 

rockchalk06

ʞlɒʜƆʞɔoЯ
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Apr 22, 2016
Messages
4,873
Reaction score
10,001
Location
Edmond
I never got into reloading to save money. Even when supply cost was super low and brass was free, I don't think I ever saved much. Maybe with 40S&W when I was shooting USPSA, but never with Bolt Action.

I was dissatisfied with factory ammo's performance. I could get nothing to group under 3/4 MOA in my Bergara. After modifying my feedramp and developing a load for my barrel, I'm shooting barely over 1/4 MOA. That was just one example.

So to answer your question, yes. I believe it will always be worth it. In your case, most definitely. That's some spensive ammo.
 

rj ︈

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Jul 26, 2020
Messages
628
Reaction score
465
Location
Blanchard
I never got into reloading to save money. Even when supply cost was super low and brass was free, I don't think I ever saved much. Maybe with 40S&W when I was shooting USPSA, but never with Bolt Action.

I was dissatisfied with factory ammo's performance. I could get nothing to group under 3/4 MOA in my Bergara. After modifying my feedramp and developing a load for my barrel, I'm shooting barely over 1/4 MOA. That was just one example.

So to answer your question, yes. I believe it will always be worth it. In your case, most definitely. That's some spensive ammo.

It's also about availability for me. I want to be able to buy $300 worth of ammo for this rifle and hopefully never have to buy brass again.

Currently, if ammo were readily available, I could just sell my brass for $50 per 20 and then buy a box of ammo for $80. That would be convenient but obviously isn't happening anytime soon.
 

rickm

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Aug 14, 2012
Messages
2,974
Reaction score
3,814
Location
Durant
I got into it back when things were somewhat cheaper, traded some brass for a BNIB lee single stage kit and a set of dies, bought primers for $15 per k, and still use the Lee press but have added many things since then and cast most of my own bullets, and load 28 different calibers much cheaper than store bought for shooting paper most pistol rounds run me around 5 cpr and rifle around 15 cpr, but i bought components in large quanities back then and still using them today.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom