The closest equivalent factory load to the custom load I’m shooting in my main rifle is $2.15 a round right now. IF you can find it in stock anywhere.

And it’s just a generic load.

I can reload it for a touch over $.90 a round.

And it’s a tailored round capable of sub 1/2 MOA accuracy in my rifle. At distance.

If you shoot a lot, there’s still some significant savings in reloading.

And this is coming from a guy that really doesn’t enjoy reloading. I love load development and seeing it all come together. But I find reloading itself tedious.

My CZ 550 in 9.3x62 gets 1 inch 5 shot groups at 100 yards with factory Hornady Dangerous Game (Was the model used by Hornady to test their ammo to get the ballistics chart on the ammo box), my made for snowmachining (Very light, very reliable in extreme cold) ar15 shoots 1 1/2 inch 5 shot groups at 100 yards with factory 55gr. fmj 5.56. Loose powder and primers have to be flown as cargo to a bush village paying hazmat fees, it's cheaper to fly factory loaded ammo in your checked bags.

I started reloading in the late 70's. Was pretty easy to produce more accurate ammo than factory and much cheaper. Collecting stuff a little at a time. I A LOT of quality ammo available ammo at stores now. Not cheap to find something you really like then when you do you really need to buy a lot of it. You can order almost anything from sites like ammoseek today. The biggest advantage if your not a competition shooter is in shot shells. Keep a variety of shot sizes and a couple 3 different powders on hand and you can load any kind of shell you want. Dove to deer. Never hunted with them but a 69 caliber round ball mould throws a ball that fits nicely into most any wad and works with whatever 1 1/8 powder charge in your data. Shoots good to 50 + yards out of my smooth bore slug barrel.

Same with rifle bullets. If you want a light low recoil load for say a big magnum, thats very doable. Sure you need to shoot a few and fine tune your scope setting switching from one to the other but makes the one rifle guy more versatile.

Its also fun.

So yes, I like to hand load.

Factory ammo nowadays is pretty dang good. A lot of the new rounds are pretty hot too.
When I started with a single stage, it just got me out shooting waaaay more, with all the shooting, I got to be a way better shot too. Then I started compitition shooting, pistol mostly. A Dillon 550 paid for itself on a Sunday afternoon of reloading. I’m not even sure what a box on cheap ball 40S&W goes for now, but it was stupid expensive 15 years ago. Shooting 6-800 rounds at a shoot, hotels, meals, plus practicing during the week…….. if not reloading it’s a rich man’s game.
Then I got into long range. Now you need a good single stage, and you’ll add to your reloading gadgets from there. There’s a lot of variables that a guy can play with.
Having said that, my old 270 still liked the cheap Winchester 130g Power Points. I tried the premium bullets, but the groups opened up.
I should look into reloading shotshells for goose hunting. I throw a lot of steel in the air…….and they certainly ain’t cheap……lol

Back before Covid, I began to steward for a 308 Win and needed some ammo to sight it in and to see how it shot. Went to a Bass Pro and walked down a 30 foot isle......ammo piled from floor to about eye height, both sides. Anything you wanted and in abundance. Shelves looked like Wolfie's picture above. Went back 6 months later and the only ammo on that isle was a few boxes of 22 long rifle bird shot. Not anything else......and no reloading components. A relative had just bought a new 6.5 CM and one box of ammo, which he shot sighting rifle in. He went back for more and shelves were bare. They stayed that way for about 8 to 10 months. It was about that time I woke up to realize that 3 of the 4 primer brands made in US were all under VISTA Group.......and if wrong sort ever got control of that, those ammo shortages could easily become permanent. So I began reloading and am now my own ammo factory.

The VISTA Group has since sold all that to a foreign Czech company. That is who now controls most of your ammo supply.

If you rely on factory ammo, my suggestion is to not live hand to mouth. While you can, lay in enough supply to last at least 10 years for any weapon you care about.. Then if day comes when shelves go bare, and stay that way, you can last a bit longer than you can now. When it's gone, it's gone.....you don't get to go back in time after it's too late.

BTW, one of those rifles I load for was once a popular caliber and now it's not. If you can find factory ammo for it at all it's $40 to $45 per box. My cost of about $15 per box.....and have enough components for it to burn out the barrel. That seems like a better position to be in than an empty shelf.

HayDay, I hear ya.

My 4 main rifles are:

.222 Rem
7x57
.243 AI
.35 Whelen

I've never even looked for factory ammo other than .243 way back when I needed it to fire form brass.

To elaborate, for any rifle, handgun or shotgun you care about, my suggestion is if you have a favorite load........at the minimum........lay in one case of ammo for it now while you can. Ammo that you don't touch, or if you do shoot it, replace it as you go. Then as you shoot it, save the brass and empty hulls. When the chips are down, you might find someone like me willing to help you reload something, but you can't reload empty air. You need the brass or hulls.....and if you save them when you shoot them, they are free to you........and could become priceless someday down the road.

for some things I definitely just buy factory. I just buy 300blk 150gr deer season XP I shoot maybe a couple deer a year and that is all that gun is getting used for. they don't even sell that projectile for reloading.

for me reloading is about volume and availability I get around 1moa and I am done chasing groups.

I also don't stay at the bench much , benches are for getting and confirming zero.
then it is time for position shooting and skills.
we reload some really boring stuff like 308, 30-06 , 9mm , 38spl , 223
very common stuff , also makes brass available
all of the 30-06 is reloaded to be M1 safe

reloading is a hobby , a way to spend your time doing what you enjoy

some people think of reloading as a chore and others don't.
if it is a chore for you, don't reload.

there are so many facets to reloading you can keep learning and applying knowledge without finding an end to it for a very long time.

some people watch ball games many hours a week , If I get watching ball games hours a year that is a lot and I was probably with someone who wanted to watch a game. I Like a packer party I'll bring food , I will put a Packer game on the radio while I am diving but zero ball games have been on my home TV in years. my son watched the superbowl a couple times to see what it was about.

Probably watched more baseball in one week visiting my dad this year than the previous 5 years and we still got a bunch of fishing in.

reloading is definitely not something you have to do , it is something you want to do.


that said

you should have a supply of ammo , because it becomes difficult to find at times , your favorite load changes or gets discontinued.
you decide what that supply should be I would start at if I deer hunted every year till I was 100 I would have 5 rounds to confirm zero and 5 to hunt with. so if your 50 have 500 rounds set aside that should be a lifetime supply for your deer gun. if you stop hunting before 100 it is a good start for a grandkid or great grandkid

some people build lures and cast jigs , melt and pour soft plastic , it is really the same thing , I buy that stuff and spend the time on the water , but many fill their fishing off season making tackle.

Thanks for all the great replies. I've learned a lot about why people re-load and why some don't.

I was never complaining about people who do, but I did learn that many here are happy with a rifle that just shoots well enough to kill a deer/elk/moose/red fox at 150-200 yards

My friend who was an avid re-loader shot a couple rifles that you couldn't buy factory ammo for, and he also loved an old bullet that was made by a guy in Montana, Bitterroot Bullets, and he hoards those to this day.

I wish everybody a nice weekend.

Pete

When I grew up indiana was a bow, shotgun, hand gun or muzzleloader only state. When you chose between a smooth bore Foster slug or muzzleloader the accuracy difference was large. I would not even hint with a gun that grouped like my first old 12 did at 75 yards now. My standards have been progressive as avaliable equipment ( rules ) have changed. I have always been value focused so hunted with black powder. It was cheaper more accurately and I could hunt firearms season and muzzleloader with the same gun I could afford to shoot more often .

For a time I wanted as small of a group as I could get. Then one day I decided there was a difference between accuracy and practical accuracy.

For example one of my loads for an ar I could shoot inside of dimes with at 100. But the bullets were 2x more expensive than soft points from mid south that I could keep inside of quarters. Big difference in group size BUT was it necessary vs the added cost. I was shooting coyotes with that gun and seldom over 300 yards. So the cheaper load was perfectly acceptable for the purpose . A few years before I would not have been happy if not shooting tha absolutely tightest shooting combo.

I found Its relaxing and also satisfying to work up a load cheaper and better preforming than factory then fill up the ammo cans with that load. Looking at thw full stacked ammo cans is very satisfying. For me its a similar feeling to looking at the barn full of fresh cut hay, over flowing firewood supply, full freezer and shells packed with canned garden produce.

The price of powder has gotten ridiculous. I was in a local gun store today and a pound of H4198 was $81 and others were $60+. It wasn't all that long ago that I could get a pound of any kind that I wanted for about $35 tops. This mess is never going to get better.

Hey, Pete. Just took a reloading class from Hornady. I feel a new obsession coming on. It will take me years to catch up with Zim.