let's try this:
Powder, $50/4 lbs (plus I'm adding half the hazmat fee, because I ordered a case of 777 at the same time) so $60/4 lbs, or $15/lb Using a 4.3 grain load, the powder costs me 0.92 CENTS per round, or 46 cents per box of 50
Primers bought from an FFL at a shoot, $25/1000 = $1.25/box of 50
Brass at $180/1000, lasts at least 10 firings, adds 90 cents a box to ammo cost.
Bullets cast from the most recent alloy I have, WW I paid .50/lb for, figure an added 30% to cover waste is 66 cents a pound. Casting 152 grain bullets, I get 46 per lb, comes out to 72 cents per fifty. Add a quarter for lube (and that's high), gives me 97 cents for bullets.
Powder, 0.92
primers 1.25
brass 0.90
bullets 0.97
total cost of CAS smokeless .45 caliber ammo, $4.04 per box.
If I bought primers locally at a gun shop, add fifty cents per box. Buy powder in one pound jugs, locally, add .15 per box. BUY bullets, you might need to add as much as EIGHT DOLLARS more per box. or a total of $12.69/box. So bargain hunting helps, buying in bulk helps, but the real cost these days is bullets. Ya gotta cast to save any real money.
Lotta pards are figuring this out. Lee Preceision reports they absolutely can't keep up with demand for molds.