I did some basic math today to figure out what the return on investment would be to reload my own .45ACP ammo.
For these figures I used the following items:
Hornaday 185gr JHP bullets ($16 per 100)
Starline .45acp brass ($15 per 100)
CCI primers ($20 per 1000)
Accurate No.5 powder ($15 per 1lb)
Assuming that the Hornaday 185gr bullet needs a 10.2 grain charge, you're looking at roughly $0.02 worth of powder for every cartridge.
This means that the first batch of cartridges will cost you right at $0.35 per cartridge or $35.00 per 100 rounds.
If you collect and reuse your brass, subsequent cartridges will only cost around $0.19 each or $19.00 per 100 rounds.
Figure that Winchester White Box FMJ target ammo is around $28.00 per 100 rounds at Wal-Mart, you would realize a savings of $9.00 per subsequent batch of reloads.
Now assume that it costs you $800 to put together a good reloading bench, that means it would take you roughly 89 batches of 100 rounds each to recoup the cost of your reloading setup. If you only shot 200 rounds per visit to the range and visited once a week, four times a month, you could conceivable pay for the reloading setup in just over 11 months.
That's a hell of a lot of shooting.