As mentioned, the keys to saving are to buy components online in bulk... get that hazmat down to one or two bucks per thousand primers or lb of powder. Lower than that if you buy in truly big bulk.
Common calibers are where you save the *least*. For me it looks like this:
9mm: My cost is 11.5c a round = $11.50/100. I NEVER leave the range with less 9mm brass than I arrived with... WWB is around $22/100 right now. I am using a jacketed bullet in my load, same as WWB.
.40: My cost is around $15.30/100. Brass is not as common as 9mm, but common enough to still make it free. WWB is around $32/100 right now? I am using a jacketed bullet just like WWB.
Less common calibers, and loads with more exotic bullets is where you really save a high percentage. Examples:
My 77gr SMK loads, I am putting together for about $370/1000. Black Hills factory remanufactured with the same bullet is around $800/1000.
357sig: Assuming I purchase once fired brass for 5.7 cents each, and get five loads out of each case, and use one of the popular plated bullets out there, my cost will come to $16.44/100. I want to say WWB is around $45/100.
Some other thoughts:
-For handgun ammo, it really *is* all about the economy for me. I'm perfectly happy with the performance of WWB in my pistols, and saving money is my only motivator for them.
-For rifles, the savings is nice, and the performance increase is real nice too. I'm probably 50/50 on motivation there. Actually the only reason I can shoot match quality ammo/bullets in my rifles is because I handload: the factory stuff along this line can easily cost a buck or more per pop, and I wouldn't be willing to pay that. If I wanted to shoot a caliber like 6.8spc, I could do that too, where as in my pre-handloading days, I would never have even considered such a caliber due to the cost of *any* of the factory ammo.
-Unless you are manufacturing powder and primers in your basement, you aren't any more "self sufficent" than anyone buying factory ammo... One day you will run out of components and need to buy more, just like the next guy. If you don't handload and don't want to be subject to the immediate whims of the ammo market, you can buy tons of factory ammo, just like you can buy tons of components. Take it from someone who was trying to get into a couple new calibers over the summer: being a handloader does not make you immune to ammo and/or component shortages. Buying tons of "whatever" (be it components or loaded ammo) when it is available does.
-As far as time, it does take some time to reload, especially if you are doing it on a turret like I am. Brass prep is still the longest stage of the reloading process, regardless of caliber, for me. Let's just say you will get a *wide* array of opinions on how long it takes to reload. For me, a lot of brass prep, etc, gets done in front of the TV anyway, I don't consider it in my cost breakdown. I do it on evenings/weekends, i.e. I am not taking vacation hours during the day to reload, and don't have a second job that I would be doing instead, so the time is costing me nothing. Maybe others do it differently.
