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Does it Pay to Reload?When it comes to making your own shells to cut recoil, the economics of the whole process can really come into play for many shotgun shooters.
The beauty of reloading is that you can mix your own formula using an almost infinite combination of ingredients to come up with just the right shell that gives you maximum performance with minimum recoil.
There are a few books available that break down the entire process, eliminating all the guesswork. And with many reloading components available online, there’s nothing stopping you from making the perfect shotshell.
The economics of reloading weigh in favor of store-bought shotshells in the larger gauges. Given the economies of scale for shotshell manufacturers, they can outprice the individual consumer these days to provide cheaper 12-gauge and 20-gauge shells. The sheer volume of these particular shotshells will likely dictate lower prices than homemade for the foreseeable future.
But get down to 28-gauge or .410 and reloading makes a compelling economic argument. Even with the surging prices of lead, gunpowder and primers, you still may be able to save 50% on reloads versus store-bought shotshells.
(If price is a driving issue for you to reload, check out this wonderful Shotshell Reloading Cost Calculator. It will save you lots of time and AA batteries for your calculator.
http://10xshooters.com/calculators/ShotshellReloadingCost/)
