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Watching the local financial news last night, I noted that one Aussie Dollar is now buying .92 cents US. Not quite parity, but getting close. Having just ponied up for more reloading components for the 12ga at bulk prices I thought it may be interesting to compare with our US cousins.

Hulls - free pickups of course. Winchester CF (all the Euro trash stays on the ground)
Primers - Fiocchi 617 - A$50 per 1000
Powder - Alliant Promo - A$190 per 8lb keg - Hodgden Clays - A$220 per 8lb
Wads - Win AA1224 - Win AA12SL - A$50 per 1000
Shot - Eley Tower Magnum - A$68 per 25lb

You do the math.....I don't know of any cheaper options when it comes to Primers & Powder but you can save a little by using cheaper generic wads of dubious quality for perhaps A$40 per 1000 (false economy IMB) and using reclaimed/recycled shot (7/8oz recommended as I only reload for skeet).

With the cheapest factory shells starting at A$140 up to A$200+ per case of 500 it is a wonder that the government is winning the fight to reduce the number of people involved in the shooting sports in this country!

Xmas is drawing ever nearer, so from down under I wish you all good shooting, a Merry Xmas and better scores next year.....

Phantom

U S A

hulls -- free range pickups
powder -- promo 80-90 Clays 125-135
primers -- fio 616 125. + usually 25 to ship. win 209 155--175 federal-185-200
wads- clone wads 75.
shot-- Lawrence mangum 35.
case of shells - eurotrash 60-65, high grade 80-90

Check out the Reloading Cost calculator at
http://www.dundeesportsmansclub.com/vid ... ulator.htm

Then put in the cost of the components and see if it is viable for you to load.

We buy our supplies through a Club and get very good prices and it saves quite a bit on shipping costs. Buy in bulk to save money. And you might even do like I did, experiment with loading 3/4 oz loads. Great shooting and they cut costs a lot.
ZV/R TonyG

We wish you the same and hope that someday the shooting environment will be better in your country. I just hope O'Bummer and his crew won't make it any worse here!

The way reloading saves you any money is by buying in bulk.
I base everything on 5000 rounds. Thats what wads and primers come in, so it keeps it simple.

Hulls: $20 for ~200 once fired Win AA (essentially free over their lifetime of 7 reloads each)
Primers: Federal $135/5000 at my local club
Powder: Clays $105/8 pounds (gets about 3200 rounds) or $135/5000 rounds
Wads: Downrange wads $100/5000
Shot: ~$25/25 pounds (400 rounds per bag) or $325/5000 rounds

Excluding the cost of the reloader, scale, etc (because lets be honest, its a toy and we all have toys), my rounds are ~14 cents per, and a box is about $3.50. Now I dont know about you, but I have yet to find any shells near that price. The best I can do is $6 per box of trash shells at the local club.
Find a local club that you can buy supplies from, and buy in bulk. I started off with the buying one box, one bag at a time, and it will never ever ever make fiscal sense to reload.

Heck, even including the cost of the reloader and scale and other hardware, its still well under $5 per box, and now I can customize my loads to what I want and need.
Ill never buy shells again

I do indeed buy in bulk! A sleeve of primers (5000), a case of wads (5000), 6kg powder (13lbs) & 140kg shot (309lbs) at a time. I normally only reload 7/8oz shells but with some at 1oz as well, also use reclaimed shot and even so, I am unable to keep the cost below $5 per box. This of course is not taking into account the cost outlay for any reloading equipment or indeed time, as I consider reloading itself an enjoyable pleasure.

We are absolutely at the mercy of our component suppliers over here and they are driving the average competition shooter to the wall. The elite level shooters will of course always be there, but at the grass roots level I am afraid numbers are constantly on the decline, in the main due to the high cost of ammunition let alone the competition fees.

Phantom

In Melbourne, things can be had a bit better.
My last purchase a couple of months ago:
Cheddite Primers - $175/5000
Shot was still $80 for 20kG.
B&P wads @ $135/5000
I think Vectan powder can be had for @ approx $100 for 2 KG.
Are you sure that ADI powder price is correct? I asked at my local shop last week and thought it was $110 for 2kg AS30N (Clays) edit: OK, just noticed you said 8 pounds which is about 3-3/4 KG which is similar price.
I can load for about $4.50 - $5 a box depending on the shot weight (3/4oz or 1 oz). Factory shells best price by the case about $145/500 ($7.50 a box) in bulk buys from the club.
I like my loads better anyhow!

You should take a look at what we are paying here!!
NZ$90 per slab of 250 factory 1 oz loads.
Nobody is making components here anymore so it is all imported. I don't know of any local shops selling in bulk. 1000 primers is as bulk as they can think.
Shot at NZ$70 per 10kg so forget that.
I have a big stash of shot that I got for free, so even with no cost there it still costs me NZ$6.30 per box 1 oz, (Still a bit cheaper than factory).
$3 and $4 boxes are just not even on the radar out here.

Hey Bulltahr, There was a company over there producing clone winchester wads a few years ago (Can't remember the name off the top of my head). I considered importing them here but it didn't look to be viable at the time. Is he out of it now?

There was, but I haven't seen them around for several years. Would be keen to know a name and if they are still in business, but I doubt very much that they are selling here. Reloading industry here almost non-existent. I only started back up when I scored a significant amount of shot for free.....................

Of course. Unless your sole reason for reloading is financial then it is iffy in the 12 gauge. It is much more profitable in the smaller gauges. Then there are guys like me that reload simply because we enjoy it. If I save any money, that is a bonus. To me, reloading is an extension of the shooting part of the game.