Paul, (my brother's name is Paul), I don't think $1.00 per round is cheap either for just shooting. As you said, I will likely never be as proficient with the 480 as I will with lesser powered rounds if for no other reason than I simply can't physically shoot more than 25 rounds at one sitting unless I really spread the shooting out. 41 magnum may be the exception to this rule as I seem to just shoot it well even when I start skimping on shooting it due to factory ammo prices. (I know, reload.)
As soon as the ammo manufactures started using the 20 round boxes, I knew it was a marketing effort to sell less ammo at higher prices. Same thing happened to Chlorox.... remember the new "concentrated" (BS) smaller handier size priced less... then it was the same price as the old gallons, and then they sell the old gallon size for more yet. With ammo, I convinced myself that I was buying "premium" ammo, but I don't need premium ammo just to blast away with.
The point is that Hornady 480 Ruger is priced less than some of the other big bore calibers. It is why I do buy a box or two when I see it (mostly past tense now) for less than $20 per box of 20 and save it for a rainy day. Figured I needed at least 200 rounds on hand. Since the time I started buying 480, the price has increased about 150% for Hornady. If you throw in the prices of Grizzly, Cor-bon, and Buffalo Bore, the price is crazy and I can't afford to shoot it much.