price of .45 colt ammo

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Anybody who has ever run new Starline brass through a resizer will know exactly what I'm talking about.

I always tumble my new brass for 15 or 20 minutes to get a slight coating of polishing compound on it. That acts a little like a lube so they go through the sizing die somewhat easier.

[Adirondack Jack]

I always tumble my new brass for 15 or 20 minutes to get a slight coating of polishing compound on it. That acts a little like a lube so they go through the sizing die somewhat easier.

I dump new brass in an old bath towel sprayed with case lube  (a bowling ball polishing sock would work better), shake em around some, then dump em in the feeder.  That faint hint of lube is a huge difference.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I dump new brass in an old bath towel sprayed with case lube  (a bowling ball polishing sock would work better), shake em around some, then dump em in the feeder.  That faint hint of lube is a huge difference.

I like this even better. Good tip, thanks.

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[Tommy tornado]

If you don't want to go the dillion route (high quality), then you can find either used presses, etc. on e-bay, gunbroker, bulletin boards, etc.  A cheaper new reloading equipment route would be Lee presses or even the 310 Lyman Loading tool.

[will52100]

I mainly got into reloading because at the time black powder rounds were not redily availible.  I was using a lyman 310 hand tool.  I later upgraded to a Lee O-frame single stage, then to a Lee 1000 progressive that I still use now.

I cast my own, usualy big lube bullets for everything except for the few smokless rounds I load, and make my own lube.  The lead is free, the brass I have to buy, and on occasion manage to get some extra at shoots where some of the pards don't bother picking up spent 45's?!!! 

I don't realy spend any less money, but I do do a whole lot more shooting!

[GA Joe Tyke]

It is pure economics   for 45 Colt loads 250 grain bullets

$8.50 for box of 50  25 grains Black powder @ $12.00/lb  (Add 11.00 for new brass) = $19.50

$5.25 for box of 50 using 2.4 cents of smokeless ( 770 loads per pound @ $18.00/lb) ( Add 11.00 for new brass ) = $16.25

You can't include your time in the cost, after all it is a hobby....
Save $8 per box of 50,  $16.00 per match, 2 matches per month = $32.00.
Lee Pro100 setup = $150, pays for itself in 5 months, using new brass.  2 months using old brass.

Buy in bulk keep a minimum on hand: 15 lb powder,  2000 bullets,  5000 primers, 500+ clean & ready to load brass, 500 loaded in the box

[Pappy Myles]

After all, It is just a hobby.

I'm on the road alot in the business that I'm in.  Usually out for 6 to 8 weeks then in for 1.    I have an older RCBS piggy back two that has gone through a lot of work to make it work.  When I'm at home I spent some time on brass prep.  eg, tumbling to make it clean, sizing, neck expanding and some reloading.      I cast my own lyman 452668,   its the 250 grain with the wide lube goove and a star sizer.

In the evenings either in the trailer or the hotel, I keep my portable kit with me. eg  Lee hand loader, RCBS hand primer, RCBS cowboy dies ( yeah yeah, regular dies work also but just because of the color and it says cowboy, ok.) and a little dandy thrower.  The evenings go by pretty quick and I can keep fresh loads with me all the time.  Its a pretty inexpensive solution for one the road.   Not real fast and not a high volumn. But for someone just getting into it, its all less than $125.00 to get quality reloads.
You can pick out the rotor for your powder/bullet combination, or even use a set of lee scoops.  Bullets are usually available in larger cities, along with powder and primers.

I even fly with the stuff ( well except for the powder and primers)

[Curley Cole]

I have been reloading since 1970, started with the Lee Loaders (pound em in pound em out) Got me a Lee Turret Press in 1978, and am still using it. When I started loading Shotshell got me a LeeLoadAll. Does what I need quite handly, for only #35 I use the Lee hand primer and seat them and check them. then use the Lee Auto Disk powder measure, and put powder in 50 at a time, then check with a flashlite to be sure they all have powder. I take my time loading .I will deprime and bell at one setting, prime at another setting, then powder and bullets the last setting. Have presses mounted on a small folding sawhorse, so can load anyplace I want. It probably would take me 20 minutes to do 50 rounds at one sitting. and I DON'T rush...

I have been loading the same 45lc for 3 years and now just starting to get a few split cases. Brass is cheap cuz you use it so long.

I say your first expense should be Dr Richard Lee's book "MOdern Reloading. Will walk you thru the process with pictures. AND tell you why you are doing what you are doing.

I load with pretty expensive bullets. I use BearCreek moly coated. Me Top and Cole Harbour buy in bulk. (got 8# Clays and 8# Unique for $203 including shipping and hazmat. My loads cost the following

45lc 205gr rnfp.....$5.20/50 (I had to adjust this after using the calc. my lead has gone up since last figgering. Still pretty cheap for perfect rounds, I have NEVER had a squib..)

38sp 158gr rnfp....$3.25/50

FeatherLite 12ga clone....$3.35/25

Here are a couple of load estimaters for you folks so you can see how much ya are savin:

http://www.trapshooters.com/reloadcalc.htm
shotshell calculator

http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp
metallic cartridge calculator

Curley

[fourfingersofdeath]

You guys think you are doing it tough with ammo prices. I recently paid $82 a box of 50 for John Wayne 45Colts and then $54 for Winchester Cowboy 45s and last week paid $57 per 50 round box for some 44/40s. Personal issues (nursing ill wife and busy travelling all over the state with work, etc) have prevented me reloading for the past year or so (Boyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! I got plenty of brass now though!).

I have mostly used a Rockchucker which I bought in 1981, but as well as that I had a Hornady progressive (boy that was a lemon), a Dillon 550 (OK) and a range of Lee 1000s (also OK, just gotta watch the primer feed). Lee dies are my preference as they are good value, quality and come with everything you need.

I am considering buying a big lock and load progressive set up. Because I load a huge range of calibres (when i am actually reloading, that is) I feel it would be better than the Dillon, allowing me to change just a die and the powder measure insert for example to change from 38 to 357, etc. the Dillon loses out after a few calibres as setting all of the tool heads becomes expensive. The lock and load allows you to use just one powder measure with quick change inserts, etc. Trougble is, as soon as I get the money together I buy another gun, D'oh!

[Deadeye Don]

Fourfingers,   You are paying way too much for factory ammo pard.  There are much less expensive places to buy quality ammo out there.

[Cyrille]

Ditto Deadeye Don, my last box of Winchester .45 LCs ran $30.00 or thereabouts if you add taxes to the price.
 I don't think I'd pay $54.00 for John Wayne commemrotive bullets in .45 LC if I could find them. Maybe $35.00.

[Travis Morgan]

$14.99 for 45 Colt?

Pard, that's a fantastic price. Are you sure that wasn't a special? I've never seen them that cheap anywhere. I'm not surprised they cost you more now. No, I doubt if the price will ever go back down. Why would it? The price of all metals, including brass and lead is up. You can blame that on a little thing called Supply and Demand. China is buying huge amounts of lead and copper. When demand goes up, so does price. That's the Law of Supply and Demand. Smokeless powder is made from petroleum. We all know what the price of that is doing these days.

When I started shooting CAS around 2000 I was paying anywhere between $18.00-$25.50 for 45 Colt and 44-40. That's per box of 50. I knew that shooting 45 Colt and 44-40 at those prices I would be starting to reload real soon. I did.

The only .45 Colt ammo I've seen that cheap was from American ammo corp.. The velocity was all over the place, from shot to shot, and the flash holes were all off center so bad that my decapping die was punching new holes! Around here, .45 Colt ammo STARTS at about $30. Lead bullets (not ammo) were selling for $35/500, and jumped to $47. I started casting. For the price of 500 bullets, you can just buy a mold, and for the price of another 500, I can buy a 5 lb. bucket of range lead to melt down from the indoor range. That'll cast several thousand bullets pretty cheap. You can get Lee sizer dies that work in a single stage press for $15, and the lube comes with them.

[Ramblin Ron]

For those thinking about reloading, I figure that my .45 ACP reloads cost about $9.25 per 50 average 3 reloads per purchased brass cartridge. For my .44 Magnums, the cost is only about 25 cents more for a box and I've reloaded the same brass 6-8 times. I bought my reloading press and dies about 10 years ago and they have long paid for themselves even before I got into Cowboy Action Shooting…… unless you talk to my wife who thinks I should average the cost of the air conditioner I had installed in the garage so that I could spend more time reloading with working up a sweat.

[Adirondack Jack]

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.