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If you want to cast your own bullets please contact me off line.

tomneal@houston.rr.com

I have some Lyman casting tools that are available to someone that will use them.

If you are only going to plink a little with your .45 then
you would come out ahead financially to just buy factory ammo.

If you plan to shoot competitions and practice a little then
you will come out ahead to reload.

$200 per 1000 rounds of .45 FMJ Factory
$70 per 1000 rounds of .45 200 Gr. Lead reloads
===============================
$130 per 1000 in savings

Times
5000 rounds per year (I shoot a 100 round match nearly every weekend and practice a little. I consider 5000 rounds a year pretty normal.)

That gives you about $650 in savings per year to "play with".

For that kind of money you can buy a Dillon 650 with a case feeder. Which is the top of the line reloaded for individuals. With the Dillon no bull guarantee, you won't take a big hit if you decide to sell it after a few years.

Here is the .45 ACP Cost break down from memory

Brass - Free (just scrounge it up from the range)
Primers - 5000 Sleave is around $73
Powder - I was using Winchester 231 Powder Valley has it for $98 for 8 pounds. There are 7000 grans in a pound. That would build around 10,000 +/- rounds using my old load.
Bullets - $45 per 1000 Lead 200 grain Semi wad cutter

So...
cost per round
$0.0146 - Primer
$0.0098 - Powder
$0.0450 - Bullet
$0.0000 - Brass
=============
$0.0694 - Total per round

or
$3.47 per 50 round box


That doesn't include tax and shipping.
I didn't do FMJ because I don't reload them.


Does that help?

BG, Bad Guy

COM, Center of Mass

OWB, Outside Waist Band

IWB Inside Waist Band

OAL

is a TLA for Over All Length


TLA means Three Letter Acronym :)

I reload for two reasons.

1) I can reload cheaper than factory prices. (This allows me to shoot more.)
2) I can build a more perfect round.



.45 - When I first bought my Dillion 650 with case feed, I calculated that I could buy a box of .45's for around $13. I could reload a box for around $3.00. At $10 a box it doesn't take long for the savings to pay for a reloader. Prices for factory .45's have dropped. A few years ago, I bought 1000 rounds at a gun show for around $200. I have seen better prices since.

.38 Super - You can't hardly find this ammo in stores. You can buy it on the internet. I am well above 20,000 rounds of Supers. Price is not a consideration. I am only concerned about building a more perfect round.
The EGW undersized resizing die makes brass scrounging worth while.

.40 S&W - My Para P16 prefers handloads. They are a different OAL than my daughters Glock. .40 Brass is getting so cheap ($8 per 1000) that it's not worth picking up the brass. This is a problem because it clutters up the range. For resizing Glock brass, use an EGW undersized resizing die. It has taken my reject rate down to nearly none.


9MM - Factory ammo is so cheap that it's now a mistake to reload.


12 Gauge - Mistake. I bought a top of the line MEC. (Ok, it's near the top of the line.) This spring I bought my first set of componants. Did some figuring and discovered that I wasn't saving any money. AND, I am not good enough with the reloader to build reliable rounds for my Rem. 1100. Other Gauges may be better canidates for reloading. I am going to run through the componants that I have then go back to factory rounds.


.243 - Used for deer hunting. 25 years ago you couldn't buy perfect rounds. Now, I think you can. My son and I both have .243's. They like different OAL's.


.223 - Factory ammo is cheap but I have only found a couple of brands that my rifle likes. I haven't bought the tools to reload. I will consider my options in the future.