How Much Does Reloading TSS Cost You Per Shell?

[vt35mag]

Taking the crazy pricing/availability and reloading equipment cost out of the equation, what does your .410 and/or 20ga recipe cost you per shell to make?

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

Taking the crazy pricing/availability and reloading equipment cost out of the equation, what does your .410 and/or 20ga recipe cost you per shell to make?

About $4.50/shell for a 1 5/8 oz 20 gauge load, but everything was purchased before the recent craziness and some of the filler wads as early as 2015.  About 90% of this is the cost of the shot.

[Dtrkyman]

I sold a 12ga turkey gun and funded a new 20ga and all the loading supplies, I did not buy a drill press I just use a cordless and it works quite well.

I added up the per shell price once but forgot, $4.50-$5 per sounds accurate for 20ga.  I am going to test a 1 1/4 oz load and save some shot, my 40 yard pattern is ridiculous and I rarely shoot a bird that far!

Loaded up 8 rounds the other day and ran out of a component so I need some felt, I enjoy loading them and can probably load 10 in an hour.

Crazy thing is when you get the shot, it's like really that's it, I ordered 5 pounds and it is crazy how little the box is!   

[jrinny]

I have price breakdowns on a 1&5/8 ounce 12 gauge load and a 2 ounce 12 ga load. The 1&5/8 ounce load is about $4.75 with the shipping for components figured in and the 2 ounce load is about $5.75 with shipping accounted for.

[tracker#1]

I get 9 rounds out of 1 pound 18g tss using 1- 5/8 oz recipe of #8s tss (NY) 3" 20 gauge. Thinking around $4.50 per round. The price for tss doesn't really bother me because I recapture 90% in a trap I built. The trap allows me to experiment with chokes and different "recipes" that
I purchased from some folks on this forum. I enjoy rolling my own, kinda like tying your own trout flys...

[ShootingABN!]

Oh my goodness Becky.... I need to start reloading.....

[Mossyguy]

Oh my goodness Becky.... I need to start reloading.....

With the way prices and availability of supplies are going now you might want to rethink that..lol

[Spurs Up]

The components are usually bought in quantities of at least 100. Often 250 or 500. Powder and buffer by the pound(s). You would have to load and shoot a lot before you ever got your per shell cost down to $5 or less. And then there is the cost of scales, scoops, powder tricklers, crimping dies, hull vises and shell holders. If you're handloading to save money, forget about it!

[ShootingABN!]

Oh my goodness Becky.... I need to start reloading.....

With the way prices and availability of supplies are going now you might want to rethink that..lol

Yea. I'm moving to Hawaii this summer. It'll be about 3 years before I hit the mainland. I'll give it time to reset.

[wchadw]

Taking the crazy pricing/availability and reloading equipment cost out of the equation, what does your .410 and/or 20ga recipe cost you per shell to make?

About $4.50/shell for a 1 5/8 oz 20 gauge load, but everything was purchased before the recent craziness and some of the filler wads as early as 2015.  About 90% of this is the cost of the shot.

This is about what I figure up. Little over $4.50 per for 20ga


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[lowoctane]

The components are usually bought in quantities of at least 100. Often 250 or 500. Powder and buffer by the pound(s). You would have to load and shoot a lot before you ever got your per shell cost down to $5 or less. And then there is the cost of scales, scoops, powder tricklers, crimping dies, hull vises and shell holders. If you're handloading to save money, forget about it!

Yep. Kinda what I was thinking..

[Dtrkyman]

I didn't do it to save money, at the time there was no loaded TSS available to buy and I wanted a lighter gun, honestly if I did it over again I would have bought a 28ga.  I like knowing the fact I built each load and know it was done correctly, my components will not change unless I want them to.

But yeah you would have to load a pile of em to save money!

[Big Jeremy]

Spurs Up and DTRKYMAN are correct. After factoring in components, there is NO WAY you're averaging less than $6 for a shell until you have rolled hundreds of them. I didn't start to save money, though. I mainly started for the sentimental fact of knowing that I killed a gobbler with a shell that I assembled. Also, I can know that each shell is EXACTLY the same...companies that are mass producing them simply can't offer that, and it's understandable. Sure, their tolerances may be extremely tight, but not exact.

I load 3" 2 oz loads for my 12 gauge...call it overkill if you wish. But, my patterns are phenomenal, and the results have been 100% satisfactory in the field to this point. After factoring in the costs of equipment, all components, and shot, the 45 that I have rolled so far average out to just under $8 a shell. That will go down a hair over time, but not by much. I buy it 5 pounds at a time, and in the past that came out to a hair over $46 a pound, shipped. So, I am spending $5.80 a shell JUST on shot. After having rolled about 150 shells, I will after that be averaging about $6.50 a shell. Certainly cheaper than buying them from a company, but not by a ton.

[Jmbradt3873]

Using a 1 1/2 ounce 20 gauge load I save about 50 cents each over buying Federal factory loads, but it gives me something to do in the off season and I know they will be in stock when the season rolls around.

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[Rapscallion Vermilion]

After factoring in components, there is NO WAY you're averaging less than $6 for a shell until you have rolled hundreds of them.

It's not quite that expensive to start up.  I spent less than $100, shipping included, on my first batch of components and that is for one of Hal's more complicated loads. There are much simpler loads out there now.  Figure another $40 for tools: a roll crimper bit and a digital grain scale.  If I only loaded 75 loads and no more, I'd be below $6 per shell and that includes the tools. I started loading TSS in 2015 and between patterning chokes, sighting in optics, and hunting, I'm about there already and am set for at least the next five years. With the exception of the powder, these components and tools are easily resold on this or other turkey forums if someone wants to recoup some startup costs, or go back to factory loads. 

But I would agree that anyone going into this should look at it as a longer term investment, with all the benefits of consistent performance and availability.  Factory 20 gauge TSS loads are running about $8 per shell or more now, not including shipping, if you can find them.  At that cost, and eating the expense of the tools and extra components, I figure the breakeven point is somewhere around 35 shells.