Let’s face it, with the exception of certain new technology products, most things generally get more expensive every year. Ammunition is no different. Over the past few years, the cost of both factory loaded ammunition as well as reloading components has skyrocketed due to increased commodity prices and increased demand. While I knew that prices have rising the past few years, I didn’t really realize how much they’ve gone up until I found Cabela’s 2005 Master Catalog while cleaning out a closet the other day.

Looking through the catalog made me long for the “good old days” of 2005! I went through and compared the pricing on a couple of common calibers and loads from 2005 to what was on Cabela’s website today.

As you can see, the price of ammunition has gone through the roof. It makes me glad that I handload all of my centerfire ammo. Everyone knows that you can handload centerfire ammo for pennies, right?

I paged forward in the catalog to the reloading components section and priced out the components I’d need to load the same ammo. When I did the same comparison, I found that reloading components have actually increased in cost (from a percentage basis) more than factory ammo.

In 2005, assuming that a person already had reloading equipment, the cost to load 100 rounds of 30/06 ammo that would be similar to Remington’s Express product would have been around $50.89 or $10.17/box. Use your own brass instead of buying it new and your price drops to $31.40 or $6.28/box. Since you could buy it loaded for $11.99, taking the time to load it yourself wasn’t putting much of a value on your own time.

Today, to load that same ammo would cost you $77.62 ($15.52/box) if you had to buy the brass or $45.63 ($9.13/box) if you have your own brass. That’s still not much of a cost savings. So does it still make sense to load your own ammo?

With a single-stage press and weighing out each charge individually, it takes me about three hours to load 100 rounds of centerfire ammunition. So, taking the time to load standard, non-premium ammo doesn’t make a lot of sense unless you’re doing it because you enjoy it. Where handloading can provide a significant cost savings is when you want to use premium bullets. This is especially the case in magnum cartridges and when you have your own supply of used brass.

For example, one box of Winchester Supreme .300 Winchester Magnum cartridges loaded with 180 grain Nosler Accubond bullets will cost around $39.99. Those same cartridges can be loaded for $15.87 a box if you have your own brass, or $25.06 a box if you buy it new. Either way, this is a significant cost savings.

So when does it make sense to load your own? From a pure cost standpoint, most people will be better off just buying ammunition off the shelf. Here’s my reasoning:

1. The average hunter probably shoots less than two boxes of centerfire ammo a year.
2. You can buy ammo for the most commonly used centerfire cartridges (30/06, 270 Win, 308 Win, 30-30, 243) just about anywhere. If you watch, you’ll probably find it on sale
somewhere for less money than you can load it yourself.
3. The most commonly hunted big game animal in the United States is the whitetail deer. The average whitetail weighs about 150 pounds and is typically taken at ranges under 100
yards in most places. They aren’t bullet-proof and do not require premium, heavily constructed bullets to kill them. Ammunition manufacturers know that most of their centerfire
sporting ammo is going to be used to hunt deer, and they construct their bullets for optimum performance on deer-sized animals. When was the last time you heard about
somebody experiencing bullet failure using a 30-30 with factory ammo on deer? Cup and core bullets have been killing deer for a long time. They work just fine at non-magnum
velocities.
4. The quality and variety of factory ammunition available today is much higher than even ten years ago. While it’s hard to beat a finely tuned handload in accuracy, I’ve seen a lot of
people shoot very respectable groups with even the non-premium lines of ammunition available today.

So when does it make sense to handload?

1. You shoot more than a couple of boxes of centerfire ammunition a year and:
a. If the cartridges you shoot are anything “magnum” or require the use of premium (match, bonded or mono-metal) bullets to perform properly
OR
b. You shoot an uncommon caliber for which commercial ammunition is not commonly available.
2. You enjoy handloading.

If you don’t fit into either of the categories above, watch for sales on ammunition, as that’s going to be the cheapest way to keep shooting.

Tags: Centerfire Rifle Reloading, Handloading