First off I would like to say I have no knowlege whatsoever on reloading.

I shoot 30-30 .40S&W .38spl and 9mm. quite a bit.

Does it really save money to load your own ammunition?

How hard is the learning curve to reloading your own ammo.
How much is it going to cost me to start off?

Also I am computer savvy, are there any re-loading guides online with pictures to help me out if I decide to pursue loading my own ammunition?

Any information for a Newb would be great, thank you.

Reloading is really as simple as dirt.

1. Resize and deprime an empty case
2. put in a primer
3. Put in The powder
4. Put in a bullet

There are some small steps to each one of the above, but that is the basics of reloading and it is really that simple.

You can buy a Lee anniversery kit with a loading manual for around a hundred dollars. That and dies for your calibres is about all you need to get started. If you want to move on to more expensive equipment you can, though I've been using the Lee stuff now for about 15 years and it is as good as the most expensive on the market. If it is not your cup of tea your not out much dollars.

I've been doing this for 45 years and it won't save you any money. What it does do is

1. allow you to shoot a lot more for the same money
2. Tayler your loads for your guns.
3. Let you make more accurate ammo than most factory ammo.

Look in Cabelas catalog, Midway's or their web sites for books or dvd's on reloading. They both have several that lets you watch and get a better idea than reading about it. Buy a couple of good reloading manuals and read about it. Lee, Lyman, Spear, RCBS and Seirra all are good ones.

This is a great hobby in itself and after thousands and thousands of reloads I am a much better shooter than I possible have been trying to shoot with factory ammo.

It's a very rare occasion that any of my guns ever see a factory round. The pix is of my 11 and 12 year old grandbabies. They are loading 41 and 44 magnum rounds and with supervision have been since they were 8 and 9. Can't be to hard.



243 Winchester
280 Remington
308 Winchester
8mm Remington Mag
41 Remington Mag
44 Remington Mag

For my hunting buddy
270 Winchester
7mm Remington Mag
45 Long Colt

As Bob said, it's not really difficult to handload. One thing I'll point out about the list or cartridges you shoot is that they are among the least expensive cartridges to purchase factory loaded. You might want to weigh your time vs money savings based on that. It costs about $22/100 and up to load the 30-30 with loading materials purchased in standard (not bulk) quantities. So you would be saving some money there if you shoot it a bit. The 9mm is not worth handloading, in my opinion, unless you want to do something special with it, $10-12/100 for good US made ammo is not uncommon for that cartridge..no real savings to be had unless you load them en masse on a progressive press and buy your components in large lots. .38 Special cost about $6-7/100 to reload with a swaged lead bullet for target loads, if you like the hotter +p type .38 loads with a jacketed hollow point they will run $10+/100 so there is good money to be saved there depending on what you like to shoot. 40 S&W costs about $10/100 to reload with a plated bullet, so you could save decent money there. If you buy your bullets, which are the most expensive part of the equation once you have your brass (hope you've been saving it), in bulk you can stand to save quite a bit more. The more you shoot the more you save! That is the fallacy of saving money by reloading...you dont...you just shoot more. It is an entirely worthwhile hobby...but it does take time...something which always is scarce for me.

If you have a desire to shoot any large bore magnum handguns you can recoup the cost of a basic loading setup in your first 200 rounds if you already have the brass. My .480 Ruger costs about $80-100/100 to shoot factory ammo. I can reload the same ammo for $30/100. So that would pay for a basic reloading setup in 200 rounds,not taking into account for your time. If I loaded 1000 rounds at $55/100 to take into account for new brass, I just paid for a progressive press and a digital powder scale...but it still cost $1000.


The prices I stated above are general, it can cost a lot more if you purchase components somewhere that does not price their items competitively. If you take a look at www.midwayusa.com you'll get a fair idea what components can be had for. Some places are less, some more. Primers and powder are best bought locally as they incur hazardous materials charges when shipped. If you've got a good gun shop locally, with decent pricing, I would buy it all locally. If your local dealer is very expensive, guns shows can be a good place to get competitive pricing on powder and primers. Problem with guns shows is that guns always seem to follow me home from them..another way not to save money...unless you consider guns in the safe like money in the bank.

Handloading allows you to do lots of things that you wouldn't otherwise be able to do just buying factory ammunition. You can use different loading levels and bullets, tailor loads to a certain firearm, and several other worthwhile things. If you look at it strictly from a money standpoint it really boils down to what your time is worth. You can produce a lot of factory quality ammo in a short amount of time with the right equipment, but the investment becomes much greater when you go that route. I feel it is best to start out like, like Bob said, with an inexpensive kit...and go from there if you like it.

I can't add anything to what the other two have said so I'll give you a few links I had in my favorites list:

http://www.reloadbench.com/
http://stevespages.com/page8.htm

SirGuy...

It will add to the pleasure of firearm ownership and you will only wonder why you did not jump into it earlier. Forum member VTDW just recently took the plunge and now he is leading the Postal Match as top shooter with a scoped leveraction... very impressive for his first batch of home brewed! May be he will see this post and add some comments about the venture.

Go down to a gunstore and pick up a reloading manual. RCBS is a good one (if you buy a reloading kit (press, scale trimmer etc) it will come with a manual. Read the manual and it will teach you how to and trouble shooting etc. Some rounds won't save you much, 9mm, 223, 45acp etc. But if you shoot anything that says magnum you can save 20-30 dollars box for the ammo. Like the 500 mag is around $3.75 per round (Corbon). I reload for.75 cents each. Same goes for 44 mags and 357's. Reloading will make you a better shot, as you tend to shoot more.

First off I would like to say I have no knowlege whatsoever on reloading.

I shoot 30-30 .40S&W .38spl and 9mm. quite a bit.

Does it really save money to load your own ammunition?

How hard is the learning curve to reloading your own ammo.
How much is it going to cost me to start off?

Also I am computer savvy, are there any re-loading guides online with pictures to help me out if I decide to pursue loading my own ammunition?

Any information for a Newb would be great, thank you.

First off, none of us saves a cent...we don't have a cookie jar on top of the bench to toss in the price difference between out reload and factory loads. What savings we gather are spend shooting 5X more than we otherwise would.

Doesn't take a fortune to get completely set up...every major maker of equipment has a complete kit package of some sort that will cover all the bases...just adding a few items (dies, shell holder, etc.) for each calbier change.

Get a manual first...can be anyone's good manual...Speer/Hornady/Sierra/Lyman all do a good job of describing therelaoding process (not just the "how" but the "why" as well). Before you even take a look at the loading data, read the frist chapters over...read them again.

Really isn't a complicated process...its attention to detail.

Can get a "HOW TO" video (on DVD or on tape) if you're more a visual learner. Some of the relodding kits include this set up video....if not, can usually find one by emailing the maker.
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Did a quick look on-line. Most of the standard kits are lacking case trimmers. The inexpensive Lee kit does have that single caliber case trimmer included....and looking at your list of calibers, would think that the 30-30 would be the moste likely to need case trimming.

Haven't met a 9mm case or a .40SW case that was over long...would be nice to trimm the .38's to a standard length so you cold achieve a uniform crimp.

SO...would either need to buy a universal case trimmer sepeartely (and the pilots to fit the 30-30 and 38spec.)..or buy a second set of parts for the little Lee unit (as you'd get the first set with the kit in whatever caliber you ordered).
---------
OK...good time to add...Lyman, RCBS, Redding, CH, Lee dies all interchange...you can use them on whatever modern press you get.
------
Took this as a challenge...pretending I had to start out today with a basic set. Just used Cabela's as the sourse..they are in the ball-park, can proably find things a dollor or two cheaper here or a dollar or two more expensive there.

BOttom line:
Lee Anniv. Kit
Lee dies X3 (they come with a shell holder)
Lyman universal trimmer
Better Reloading manual (I dislike Lee's)
Case holding tray (better if you have two)
basic caliper
About $240

Preference on past experinece:
RCBS RC Supream Kit
Lee dies X3
Lyman Universal case trimmer
basic caliper
2nd plastic case holding tray
About $390

Thanks for the Great Info.

Well, I beg to differ. I'm an accountant, and if I wasn't saving money, I wouldn't do it, you know that! It's a big time cost savings per round. Do you shoot more? Sure, but so what? That has nothing to do with cost per round. Yes, you may have a $200 initial investment in equipment and such, and you'll add some more stuff later on. But you'll pay for that so quickly...For rifle rounds, we're talking about .15-.25 each, far less than the $1-2+ for store bought. And you get to customize it for your own gun.

For pistol, it all depends. Yes, you can buy surplus ammo cheap, but you're getting surplus ammo. For the same money, you can load quality ammo that shoots well in your gun.

As to time, well, that's the biggest investment frankly. If you want a new hobby, this is a fun one. But I wouldn't take my hourly billing rate for accounting and apply it to reloading.

SirGuy
right here on Beartooth, there is
http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/51
'handloading on a shoestring'.

It has a nice summary of a minimalist set up. The suggested components won't turn out thousands of reloads an hour, but it will get you started.
Frank Sauer

WOW, now that was really helpful.

I concur with the others pretty much. The accountant is right as well that you can save money however, most of us who have been doing it say 30 yrs or so do not. Instead we tweak our loads and our rifles and pistols to shoot to the limit of our guns and our steadiness as well as our nerves and our shoulders just to get the last bit of thrill we can...basically...we have fun. You will enjoy this a great deal but what you gain in accuracy and money savings will put a little dent in the time you might spend on other things...I spend at least two hours each week on the reload bench on average between tumblings and sizing and all. Also, get you a bunch of the plastic Folgers coffee cans with the hand grip indentions in the side. These are great for keeping up with the progressive stages of the shells you're loading. They don't scar the cases up or make noise like the old ones either. Get one of those media separators that you crank when you get your tumbler too. I always wish i didn't have to bounce that media around and never forked out the money to get it after I bought the other. You will have a lot of fun and learn a lot in the process...welcome...I reload currently
for myself:
.308 win
30-30 win
.30-06 springfield
.303 british
.243 win
.375 Hawk/Scovill
.40 s & w
.45 acp
9mm
for my buds:
.45-70 gov
35 whelen
35 rem
32 special
.270 win
.223 rem
.44 rem mag
Hope I didn't leave one out, sorry to do so if I did...shoot well, load better.

fds5116 had a great article link in his response above about the Lee Classic Loader. I too used it for many years and the only thing I did differently was to get the Lee perfect primer so not to prime the cases still in the die. Otherwise, that little Lee classic handloader made some great cartridges that I still have a few of today. They still shoot great too!!! Good write up and link on that fds5116!!!

Shoot Well, Load Better.

If you are going to load mainly pistols and you want to crank out a bunch of ammo, check out www.dillonprecision.com

"First off, none of us saves a cent...we don't have a cookie jar on top of the bench to toss in the price difference between out reload and factory loads. What savings we gather are spend shooting 5X more than we otherwise would." Ribbonstone

Right On!

I have been loading since 1960. Haven't saved a cent. Spent in all in doing more shooting than I could have otherwise. The only way to save money shooting is to not get involved in the first place. The object is not cost savings. It is getting the most enjoyment from what money you can afford to spend.

I currently load for the...


.25 ACP
.32 ACP
.32 S&W
.32 S&W Long
.32 H&R Magnum
.380 ACP
9mm
.38 S&W
.38 Special
.357 Magnum
.357 Maximum
.40 S&W
.41 Magnum
.414 Super Magnum
.44 Special
.44 Magnum
.445 Super Magnum
.45 ACP
.45 Auto Rim
.45 Colt

.22 Hornet
.22 K-Hornet
.222 Remington
.223 Remington
.27 Hornet (wildcat)
7x57 Ackley Improved
.280 Remington
.30-30
.30-30 AckleyImproved
.308 Winchester
.307 Winchester
.358 Winchester
.356 Winchester
.375 Winchester
.38/55
.40-30 (wildcat)
,41 GNR
.444 Marlin
.45/70
.50 Alaska

P.S.,

Get a little hand priming toold like the Lee or RCBS [ I have acquired both over the years]. They both work fine and are a GREAT improvement over the post or ram type primers on most presses. You'll never regret it.