I'm the proud owner of a new 1894CBC in the 45 colt. I've been toying with the idea of hand loading for a little while (after picking up a new 7mm) and was wondering who out there knows what I can expect to be my per round price when handloading. Something roundabout... I'm looking at .85 - 1.05 a round for quality ammo and have seen some specials where if I buy 1000 rounds I can get them between .35 - .40 a round. But of course that means I'm stuck to certain grains and bullet combinations.

Excluding intial equipment purchase, what are you guys who reload or hand load 45 colt looking at for cost per round?

Thanks in advance for your input.

As they say, "It all depends." As you know, bullets, brass and powder certainly varies in cost and amounts. But I'll list one of my typical loads for the .45 Colt.

I've found that for the 272gr. gas checked bullet I buy locally from a "casts in his basement in the winter" friend, 13.0 grs. of HS 6 is my most accurate load and gives me over 1000 fps.

1. Brass: $114 per 1,000 from Starline. Assuming 10 reloads per brass: 1.14 cents per brass
2. Powder: $16:95 per lb. for HS 6 and 13.0 grs. is 3 cents for powder. (7000 grains to the pound)
3. Primer: Winchester WLP primer for $16.95 per 1,000 is 1.17 cents per primer.
4. Bullet: $7.95 per 100 for semi-wadcutter with gas check so bullet is .08 each. Higher grade bullets such Beartooth will run higher, but you can easily figure that depending on the bullet you select.

So, .0114 brass, .03 powder, .0117 primer, .08 bullet = a little over 12 cents per round. If you don't reload the brass 10 times and/or you purchase a more expensive bullet the cost obviously increases. I load my brass three times with full loads and then use five more times for plinking/target and then pitch, but that's probably a little on the low usage side.

Dan

Wow, awesome info DOK. Thanks tons. I definatley would be interested in getting down under 20 cents a load and for the general plinking/target practice it sounds like that would be pretty easy to do. I'll need to start cruising the forum and looking at the different manufacturers to see what people think is good out there in the way of bullets and such.

Thanks again.

Wow, awesome info DOK. Thanks tons. I definatley would be interested in getting down under 20 cents a load and for the general plinking/target practice it sounds like that would be pretty easy to do. I'll need to start cruising the forum and looking at the different manufacturers to see what people think is good out there in the way of bullets and such.

Thanks again.

Got the up-front cost of the mechanics to load them (press, dies, scale, etc.) but you can spread that cost out over 40 years or more (with care, call it a life time). So while the up-front costs can look large, it you take care of your gear you wan't be buying it again for a long-long time. LEts be generous and call it 1/4 cent per load.

I doubt I've saved a cent over the years...probably shot 10X more than i would have buying factory loads, but whatever the savings the $ certainly didn't apear in my pocket.

Realizing costs is the primary question, I can't emphasize how much difference handloading makes in the accuracy department. Each of my handguns seems to like different loads. Also, it's pretty nice to load for hunting and target and plinking as your needs change during the seasons.

Dan

The biggest reason to load for the .45colt is flexibility. factory loads, except for the custom/+p are pretty tame. in the rifle the colt can be loaded from mild to wild and everywhere in between. you don't need to spend a ton of money to load good (and safe) ammo. Jim.

Elkloco
Been loading my own for 20+ hardly buy any factory ammo any more. It's just more fun and rewarding when you roll your own. I roll 45LC's for about .10 since I cast my bullets as well. Got a Rockchucker (RCBS) Hornady dies reloading manuals -powders and such for about $250 and they've paid for themselves in the savings over store bought ammo a long time ago!! Oh and I'm still reloading my first two boxes of PMC cowboy brass I bought with my first 45LC BH back in the early 90's !! Real heavy loads will shorten the brass life some but not much. God I love 45LC.

Buying a bowling ball when you first take up bowling or scuba gear when you first start diving,you have to initially put out the moola----BUT. Then you start saving/getting your money back and the wife kinda(says) that she understands and things get better. Or like me you don't save a darn thing cuz you start shooting ALLOT more. But then you start to get better(like bowling or golf) and the self satisfaction sets in and your hooked. I don't (haven't) bought factory ammo for as long as I can remember. I load for every caliber that i shoot(12)plus 12 and 20 gauge shotgun. Is is cheaper to reload??? Not for me but I quickly got so I DON'T CARE !!----pruhdlr

Elkloco,

It doesn't have to cost a ton to get your feet wet handloading! Here's an article that you might find interesting:

Handloading On A Shoestring (http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/51)

Too, calculation of the price per box or round of ammo is simple when using this calculator:

Cost per Load/Box Calculator (http://www.beartoothbullets.com/rescources/calculators/php/cost.htm)

As already mentioned, you probably won't save any money, but you'll shoot a whole lot more! :D

God bless,

My opinion is that to get the most out of the .45LC, a fella HAS to reload. Once you are set up there just isn't much that you cannot use one for.

Reloading sure beats watching the boob tube or trying the convince the wife that you really do have a sure cure for a headace ;*)

The "handloading on a shoestring" article is great and I used that recipie for getting my boys set up. They are now both firmly hooked on making ammo for their firearms.

Go for it

Hey, I'm with Coldfingers, if you got a 45LC you just gotta load for it. Most of the other calibers you can find plenty of all kind of loads for but the 45LC has soooo much potential if you "roll yer own"-----pruhdlr

Hey, I'm with Coldfingers, if you got a 45LC you just gotta load for it. Most of the other calibers you can find plenty of all kind of loads for but the 45LC has soooo much potential if you "roll yer own"-----pruhdlr

Amen!!

The .45 Colt is so under rated. You can load down for plinking or load up to out do a .44 Mag.

Jim

$0.0.06971428571428571/bullet, not including the brass, tools and time...


Thanks for the bullet calc.., got one for BP loads???, or I can just weigh one of my charges and use this one.

60

.45 Colt is my FAVORITE caliber and yes, you can load it from mild to wild with a nice lever rifle as a launcher. I have estimated that I can load premium defense ammo with premium 250 gr. Gold Dot or Hornady XTP bullets and 2400 powder for about 23 cents a round, assuming six uses of the brass. Not bad considering the same ammo in the store is, what, about 75 cents a pop... And if you use cheaper bullets, the cost could easily get below 20 cents a round. One of my favorite defense loads right now is a 200 gr. Hornady XTP/JHP bullet in front of about 18.5 gr. of 2400 for a velocity at 9' of about 1245 fps from a Winchester Trapper. Just about the perfect defense round, I'd say. .45 Colt is such a wonderful caliber if you roll your own!

Winchester/Miroku '92 Ltd. 16" Trapper - .45 Colt
http://www.legendportraits.com/Images/Win92Trapper.jpg

Elkloco,

I picked up a Lee Pro 1000 progressive reloader from Lee's surplus page in .45 Long Colt. I paid $80 for it plus a couple of bucks for shipping. Once you have it set up, it will turn out one finished, loaded round every time you pull the lever. You could borrow the odds and ends needed to do the set-up. A buddy of mine has one of these presses for his .45 ACP and has over 400,000 rounds from it listed in his handloading log.

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1099143532.2982=/html/catalog/surplus.html

Lobo in West Virginia

Awesome stuff, thanks all. I'm definately going to have to start loading my own. I've been shooting some Buffalo Bore rounds and love the feel but am not wild about the cost or the fact that I have to order online only. Thanks for the link El Lobo!