Cost of shotgun reloading?

[griz]

I was wondering if you save anything by reloading shotgun shells. The use would be for cowboy action shooting so the quality of the pattern is not a problem. While it doesn't seem possible to beat the cheap prices for the "dove loads" available from the mart stores, I'm trying to find out if you can beat the cost of something along the lines of Winchester's Featherlight loads. While not outrageously expensive, the price is a good bit more than the cheap stuff. What kind of savings do you shotgun reloaders see for light loaded 12 gauge shells?

Thanks, Griz

 

[griz]

Forgot to mention, I reload for rifle and pistol, just never got set up for shotguns.

 

[saands]

I quit loading shot shells when the prices on those dove loads plummetted many years ago. If I recall correctly, I could load them for just about the same price as the discount store price, but I didn't enjoy it and I couldn't really say that I was manufacturing a superior product ... unlike sub-moa rifle ammo, it is hard to measure the quality of your shot shells.

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that you could likely beat the price on anything but the $3.99 boxes of dove loads ... but you aren't going to save as much as you would loading your own 300 Weatherby Mag rounds ... probably more along the lines of 9x19 factory plinking ammo to your reloads ... cheaper? Yes ... worth it? Maybe ...

Saands

 

[HSMITH]

One ounce loads can be built for $2 a box easily, $20 per case.