.45ACP Reloaders: I have $500 and know nothing

[Billy Bob Chubb]

I just ordered the ABC's of Reloading because I'm intrigued and haven't the first clue what any item in the sticky is referring to. I'm very mechanical and meticulous and think I'd enjoy the process. I've limited myself to $500 for equipment (not components) to get started.

I have no idea if $500 is enough for a whole set of solid equipment, but assuming it is, how long will it take to pay for itself?

In other words, how much can I expect a single reloaded .45ACP round to cost me?

 

[SSGSAD]

Where are you located... lots of good help here ...

 

[Billy Bob Chubb]

Where are you located... lots of good help here ...

Fishers

 

[sloughfoot]

Here you go. Mine in 45 ACP has been in continuous use for over 20 years. I really don't know how many tens of thousands of rounds I have loaded with it. Under 200 bucks. Be sure to get Lee's reloading book too.


Pro 1000 Progressive Press Kit 45 ACP

 

[SSGSAD]

Fishers

I am in Greenfield, and willing to help ...

 

[spitfire51]

You can definitely get going for that amount. Several of the items you'll need can be found on Amazon and many of those can qualify for free shipping. In terms of learning what to do, you can learn a fair amount from watching youtube videos, I also highly recommend the basic reloading class from Andrew at Profire Arms.

 

[Prometheus]

Dillon Square Deal B. Hands down the winner IMO.

 

[Billy Bob Chubb]

I am in Greenfield, and willing to help ...

Thanks...and also to everyone else for your help. So my first question hasn't been answered...once I have a setup, how much is the average per round cost? I think my best bet is to first read a book and see what it involves, learn what all the terms mean, etc.

Right? The class offered by Andrew at Profile Arms might be a good start too. I guess I kinda want to see the process in action. Off to youtube.

 

[jblomenberg16]

You should be able to load 45ACP around 25 cents each +/- a bit depending on the bullet you use and if you already have brass.

• Primers will run around 30/thousand, so $.03 per round
• I like to use Titegroup powder, and with 5 grains for your load you're looking at around $.02 of powder (figuring a pound of powder is about $25).
• Bullets are all over the place, but if you buy in bulk you can get them for probably $.15-.20 each.

Those three components give you a loaded cost of $.20 to $.25 per round assuming the brass you already have (either range pick up or once fired new).

Add a nickle or so more if you buy brass from somebody the first time through, then consider it a "free" component since you can reload it many times.

 

[Billy Bob Chubb]

Dillon Square Deal B. Hands down the winner IMO.

Holy crap! 300-500 rounds per hour!?! That is bad ass. How much do the materials cost for 500 rounds of .45ACP?

 

[Billy Bob Chubb]

You should be able to load 45ACP around 25 cents each +/- a bit depending on the bullet you use and if you already have brass.

• Primers will run around 30/thousand, so $.03 per round
• I like to use Titegroup powder, and with 5 grains for your load you're looking at around $.02 of powder (figuring a pound of powder is about $25).
• Bullets are all over the place, but if you buy in bulk you can get them for probably $.15-.20 each.

Those three components give you a loaded cost of $.20 to $.25 per round assuming the brass you already have (either range pick up or once fired new).

Perfect! So...the cheapest I have been able to find is about $340 for 1000 rounds. As a conservative estimate, I'll go with your $0.25, or $0.09 per round savings. That would be about 4,500 rounds until I recover my cost if I go with the Dillon Square Deal 'B'. I guess it is more of a hobby than a mass savings vehicle.

But wait...that item doesn't have a .45ACP option on the website?!

 

[Billy Bob Chubb]

But wait...that item doesn't have a .45ACP option on the website?!

Oh wait...it looks like it does.

 

[jblomenberg16]

Perfect! So...the cheapest I have been able to find is about $340 for 1000 rounds. As a conservative estimate, I'll go with your $0.25, or $0.09 per round savings. That would be about 4,500 rounds until I recover my cost if I go with the Dillon Square Deal 'B'. I guess it is more of a hobby than a mass savings vehicle.

But wait...that item doesn't have a .45ACP option on the website?!

What you will find is that you probably won't every completely break even or save money. Most of us that reload have found that we often shoot a lot more then we did when we were buying factory made ammo. In the end it probably helps you feel a bit less guilty about it though.

Also, when you figure in the cost of the press, you need to factor that most presses allow for caliber conversions, so you can load just about any cartrige you shoot on your equipment.

I'm set up with a Lee Pro 1000 right now and load .38spl, 9mm, .45ACP, and .223 on it. Might not be too long before I'm loading my .300BLK on it as well.


If you do go with a progressive style press, it is always a good idea to have an inexpesive single stange on hand, as well as a powder dispenser that you can use to hand load single rounds at a time. It is much easier to do load development that way, and also allows you the flexibility to use that single stage for special loads, or larger rifle loads (example is 30-06) in the future that aren't as easy to do on a progressive.

 

[Prometheus]

Holy crap! 300-500 rounds per hour!?! That is bad ass. How much do the materials cost for 500 rounds of .45ACP?

Jblomenberg is pretty close ont he cost of primers and powders, you can save a few bucks buying the 8pound jug. That will last you for many thousands of rounds. Likewise I buy primers by the 5k and save a penny or so on primers.

The biggest costs are bullets and brass. Scrounge brass or buy winchester whitebox from walmart and save that brass once you shoot it.

Bullets. Lead bullets will run about 10 cents each, you can save a lot if you are willing to use lead. Lead is also very easy on the barrel when compared to brass. Just clean the barrel good after every few hundred rounds.

My last cost using bullseye powder (4.5 grains IIRC), magtech primers and 230gr lead round nose bullets and free brass was 13.5 cents per round.

300-500rounds per hour....

I can load 100 rounds in 10 minutes flat on my square deal B. That is pretty much as fast as humanly possible.

You have to stop to reload primers every 100 rounds which takes about 30 seconds (add 90 seconds if you have to load the pickup tube first).

I can't keep up 100 per 10 minutes. I can comfortably load about 100 rounds every 15 minutes including picking up primers.

13.50 for 100 rounds vs WW at walmart for 37.99 per 100. I make $24.49 per every 15 minutes I spend at my square deal B.

It pays for itself VERY quickly.

One thing that time isn't including is the time it takes to pick up spent brass and then sort it. I have a sorter slotted sifter which helps a lot.

Tumbling the brass takes 30-60minutes but you can walk away from the tumbler, just plan ahead so you aren't waiting on the tumbler to finish before you load.

I got in a habit of spending 15 minutes at the reloading press every night before or after dinner. That's a easy way to build up your stash of loaded ammo without having to sit down and spend an entire evening reloading.

Also, you shouldn't even think about loading 100 rounds every 15 minutes until you have yourself and you press 100% dialed in. It probably took me 4 hours to load my first 100 rounds.

I was very careful, measured and remeasured powder charges, OAL, crimps ect. ect.

Speed comes later but once it's dialed in and after a few hundred rounds of not changing a bit, you're good to go.

I still check my rounds and charges every couple hundred rounds just because. It hasn't changed a 1/10 of grain since that initial break in, if you can even call it that.

 

[Billy Bob Chubb]

Wow. Thanks Prometheus. Can you compare the Dillon Square B to the Lee Load Master? The Dillon is a 4 stage and the Lee is 5 stage...I just watched a youtube video one the Lee Load Master...it looked pretty awesome and I was amazed how fast it went.

 

[IndianaGTI]

What he said. The other day, I was preparing to go shooting with some buddies and didn't realize that I had no .45 ammo. I loaded 200 rounds in an hour even though my press was set up for .308 and hadn't been used in months. I didn't have to find a store or hope that ammo was in stock, I just started cranking out rounds.

 

[shooter1054]

Look into a class with Andrew. It is time and money well spent.

 

[Delmar]

I am always amazed when the hand loading question comes up, that people tend to give recommendations without first finding out about you. Though I do think I see, from the fact that you are impressed by the speed of the progressive presses, that their recommendations may have been on target.

I always start by asking how much you shoot, what your goals are and what kind of person you are. Do you just want to churn out a bunch of rounds quickly, that are as good as factory ammo? Or is it about learning hew things, experimenting and developing hand loads that are just right for your weapon and you purposes.
If the later is you, I would point you to starting with a single stage press, or perhaps a turret press with a single stage mode. If fact I have put together many hundreds of rounds of .45 ACP with a Classic (hit it with a hammer) Lee Loader! This video is not .45 ACP but I love the video cause it Features Richard Lee and because he doesn't waste any steps!
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeEl9wZyabc[/ame]

 

[Broom_jm]

Delmar has given you the first unbiased advice on the subject. Folks who have never loaded before should at least be presented with the options that are available. In fact, conventional wisdom on the topic is that all new reloaders should start out with a single-stage press, or a turret-style press with any indexing feature turned off, so it behaves as a single stage.

The reason for this is simple: It allows you to learn how to reload...before learning how to run a progressive reloader. The two skill sets are not the same. If a guy I really didn't like said he wanted to get into reloading and asked what press to buy, I'd tell him to get a progressive...if a friend or a stranger asks, there are only two models I would mention.

The RCBS RockChucker is quite possibly the most common and successful reloading press of all time...and for good reason. It will do absolutely everything you are asking of a press, it just won't do it as fast. With reasonable care, it will last your entire lifetime and work just as well for your heirs as it did the day you bought it. The quality and accuracy of the ammo it produces will be limited only by your knowledge, skill and effort. Still, it's not what I'd recommend for someone shooting mostly pistol ammo...the RockChucker shines at loading rifle cases!

For guys who are shooting more pistol rounds than anything else, I would start them out with a Lee Classic Turret. It is somewhere in-between a single-stage and progressive, in terms of how many rounds it will kick out per hour. This press offers several advantages, like a shell plate where your dies remain set up and an auto-indexing feature that allows you to only handle a case one time during the entire reloading process. I will go on record as saying: Any reloader that is not shooting in pistol competitions, or shoots an average of 100 rounds per month, is just as well served with a turret-style press as they would be a full-on progressive!

For your original budget of $500, you could basically be set up with a RockChucker AND a Classic Turret, with several shell plates, and enough components to crank out your first 100 rounds. So, before you drop half a G on just the press, consider how much you'll be shooting, how much time you have to enjoy a cool new hobby, and whether or not you'll have a desire to create precision rifle loads in the future. There is FAR MORE to reloading than cranking out "x" loads per hour. Some of us who've been doing this for decades have no idea how fast we reload...we just know we're bummed when we run out of stuff to do.

 

[Delmar]

...Some of us who've been doing this for decades have no idea how fast we reload...we just know we're bummed when we run out of stuff to do.

I have only been reloading for a few years but