Reloading in 2020

[Holland&Holland]

Gotta love math.

[nhluke]

But that equipment still has value... so if you say it's still worth 900 dollars....keep track of your time spent selling it....

All this has inspired me to reload during the imminent quarantine.

[Erud]

Gotta love math.

Gotta. At your regular hourly rate, how much have your contributions to this thread cost you financially thus far? Has it been worth it?

[Jackpine Savage]

Rounding out to 20k rounds, your equipment has cost you $0.0215 per round.

Did you include opportunity cost?

[DrewTea]

Gotta love math.

Gotta. At your regular hourly rate, how much have your contributions to this thread cost you financially thus far? Has it been worth it?

Gotta figure in reading time too
Of course that's offset by entertainment value.

[Erud]

Gotta love math.

Gotta. At your regular hourly rate, how much have your contributions to this thread cost you financially thus far? Has it been worth it?

Gotta figure in reading time too
Of course that's offset by entertainment value.

If I've learned anything from this thread, it's that there is no offset for entertainment value. Time = money, no exceptions.

[DrewTea]

Gotta. At your regular hourly rate, how much have your contributions to this thread cost you financially thus far? Has it been worth it?

Gotta figure in reading time too
Of course that's offset by entertainment value.

If I've learned anything from this thread, it's that there is no offset for entertainment value. Time = money, no exceptions.

You have to calculate your hourly entertainment rate - Hours/costs. A movie at the theater costs $25 for 2 hours (movie plus popcorn plus drink) so that's $12.5/hr. Netflix is cheaper.

[BigDog58]

How much do those of us that are retired, figure into the cost of our time?

I also consider my reloading time, as entertainment and relaxation. Shooting/Reloading are my hobby, that I thoroughly enjoy. I chose reloading, because I needed a hobby that kept my hands busy, and my mind utilized. I know we were talking about reloading 9 mm, but I also load Match Quality 50 BMG Rounds. Those cost me approx. $3.15 per round because I get a very good discount on the solid brass projectiles. I also bought my other supplies (powder & primers) at substantial discounts. If I had to buy my match ammo, they would cost me around $10 per round, and that wouldn't take into account my exacting specifications.


Also: The more 9mm ammo I load, the lower my "per round" costs go. Also, if I chose to, I could sell my press (I still have other semi-progressive & single stage presses) for more than I have in it.

I can't put a price on my enjoyment and fun shooting/reloading, because if I were doing the Other Hobby I love, competition Bass Tournaments, the costs of the equipment, gas etc... would be quite high. And, if I were to get back into this sport, I'd have to live in the boat, because my wife, would disown me But, that's another discussion.

[Holland&Holland]

How much do those of us that are retired, figure into the cost of our time?

I also consider my reloading time, as entertainment and relaxation. Shooting/Reloading are my hobby, that I thoroughly enjoy. I chose reloading, because I needed a hobby that kept my hands busy, and my mind utilized. I know we were talking about reloading 9 mm, but I also load Match Quality 50 BMG Rounds. Those cost me approx. $3.15 per round because I get a very good discount on the solid brass projectiles. I also bought my other supplies (powder & primers) at substantial discounts. If I had to buy my match ammo, they would cost me around $10 per round, and that wouldn't take into account my exacting specifications.


Also: The more 9mm ammo I load, the lower my "per round" costs go. Also, if I chose to, I could sell my press (I still have other semi-progressive & single stage presses) for more than I have in it.

I can't put a price on my enjoyment and fun shooting/reloading, because if I were doing the Other Hobby I love, competition Bass Tournaments, the costs of the equipment, gas etc... would be quite high. And, if I were to get back into this sport, I'd have to live in the boat, because my wife, would disown me But, that's another discussion.

Just look at the discussions we can get into while social distancing?

[DrewTea]

How much do those of us that are retired, figure into the cost of our time?

I also consider my reloading time, as entertainment and relaxation. Shooting/Reloading are my hobby, that I thoroughly enjoy. I chose reloading, because I needed a hobby that kept my hands busy, and my mind utilized. I know we were talking about reloading 9 mm, but I also load Match Quality 50 BMG Rounds. Those cost me approx. $3.15 per round because I get a very good discount on the solid brass projectiles. I also bought my other supplies (powder & primers) at substantial discounts. If I had to buy my match ammo, they would cost me around $10 per round, and that wouldn't take into account my exacting specifications.


Also: The more 9mm ammo I load, the lower my "per round" costs go. Also, if I chose to, I could sell my press (I still have other semi-progressive & single stage presses) for more than I have in it.

I can't put a price on my enjoyment and fun shooting/reloading, because if I were doing the Other Hobby I love, competition Bass Tournaments, the costs of the equipment, gas etc... would be quite high. And, if I were to get back into this sport, I'd have to live in the boat, because my wife, would disown me But, that's another discussion.

As the person who kicked off the 'value' aspect of this dicussion, I said upfront that if reloading is hobby you enjoy, that changes the equation considerably. Personally I like shooting, but the reloading aspect is not enjoyable to me. And the minimal savings there is in reloading (after investing hundreds of dollars and then reloading tens of thousands of rounds to break even) just can't justify the time for me.

[crbutler]

A lot depends on what you are shooting as well.

Try pricing more unusual rounds (like the .50 BMG or some of the african ammo) and in quantity.

As to the better shooting ammo- you can find whatever you want out there on the market, but sometimes to get what you want it becomes so prohibitively expensive to buy that doing it yourself becomes more economically viable. I'm sure you can buy Erud's level of ammo from a custom loading shop- if you have the willingness to spend what it would take to get it.

I get the enjoyment of the hobby.

I also feel that I am paying less for my ammo than I would be spending by reloading it- and it really buffers my ammo availability in times of scarcity.

But if one is all about figuring your values based on your time, I really shouldn't be hunting (my duck dinners run well over $1000/lb for the bird, and the Mountain Nyala tenderloin was well more than that!) Yes, my time is valuable, but frankly, I can chose when I want to plop down and reload ammo- if I wanted to work extra hours to make money, I would have to preplan on taking extra shifts/ second job.

[DrewTea]

A lot depends on what you are shooting as well.

Try pricing more unusual rounds (like the .50 BMG or some of the african ammo) and in quantity.

As to the better shooting ammo- you can find whatever you want out there on the market, but sometimes to get what you want it becomes so prohibitively expensive to buy that doing it yourself becomes more economically viable. I'm sure you can buy Erud's level of ammo from a custom loading shop- if you have the willingness to spend what it would take to get it.

I get the enjoyment of the hobby.

I also feel that I am paying less for my ammo than I would be spending by reloading it- and it really buffers my ammo availability in times of scarcity.

But if one is all about figuring your values based on your time, I really shouldn't be hunting (my duck dinners run well over $1000/lb for the bird, and the Mountain Nyala tenderloin was well more than that!) Yes, my time is valuable, but frankly, I can chose when I want to plop down and reload ammo- if I wanted to work extra hours to make money, I would have to preplan on taking extra shifts/ second job.

For me hunting time is family time, and that's priceless.

[Erud]

For me hunting time is family time, and that's priceless.

Nonsense, everything has a price. You need to be billing someone for your hourly wage, unless you are some kind of sucker.

[Holland&Holland]

For me hunting time is family time, and that's priceless.

Nonsense, everything has a price. You need to be billing someone for your hourly wage, unless you are some kind of sucker.

That wasn’t the point.

[crbutler]

For me hunting time is family time, and that's priceless.

Nonsense, everything has a price. You need to be billing someone for your hourly wage, unless you are some kind of sucker.

Yeah but the cheap SOB’s at .gov refuse to pay the bill!