Hornady 30-40 at Midway right now!

[Mike4MSU]

$2.50 a round for factory loaded ammo is pretty steep. However, costs for reloading . 30-40 ammo has also significantly increased since the pre-Covid days 0f 2019. I am not an accountant, but my calculations indicate it now costs me $1.42 per round to reload .30-40 versus $.81 in 2019 when I acquired my model 1899 Krag carbine. During the 2021 - 2023 period I have replaced my inventory on each of the .30-40 reloading components, i.e., powder, brass, bullets, and primers. The price increases on those components have contributed to the 75% cost increase in per round reloaded.

Primers: $92/1000 or $0.092
220gr RN Bullets: $50/100 or $0.50
40g H4350: $48/lb or $48/7,000*40 or $0.274

$0.866 ea.

I have plenty of old stock brass at roughly $35/50 and get over 10 loads so maybe $0.07 ea. even at todays crazy prices, it averages to maybe $0.15 or $0.20.

So depending on brass, $0.93 to $1.046 ea

With lighter weight bullets, that number could be reduced by another $0.20 to $0.30.

Definitely worth it to reload!

[scottz63]

Absolutely worth it to reload. I just can't get brass. I have 100 rounds of factory loaded ammo right now so, 100 reloads when I shoot that up.

[Culpeper]

Absolutely worth it to reload. I just can't get brass. I have 100 rounds of factory loaded ammo right now so, 100 reloads when I shoot that up.

I am curious. Not like Curious George who is no longer curious since he ran away to San Franciso with another monkey but the regular kind of curious.

What do you figure is the right amount of brass for your peace of mind? My kind of numbers or regular, sane, folks' numbers?

[scottz63]

Absolutely worth it to reload. I just can't get brass. I have 100 rounds of factory loaded ammo right now so, 100 reloads when I shoot that up.

I am curious. Not like Curious George who is no longer curious since he ran away to San Franciso with another monkey but the regular kind of curious.

What do you figure is the right amount of brass for your peace of mind? My kind of numbers or regular, sane, folks' numbers?

LOL! Sane folks' numbers. Maybe a couple hundred more.

[Mike4MSU]

I am curious. Not like Curious George who is no longer curious since he ran away to San Franciso with another monkey but the regular kind of curious.

What do you figure is the right amount of brass for your peace of mind? My kind of numbers or regular, sane, folks' numbers?

I currently have ~600 pieces of brass. Bought most of it new a few years ago between $0.50-$0.75 ea. I thought it was a little prices then… what did I know. I feel comfortable with what I have, but if it became available at reasonable prices, I would prefer to have closer to 1,000.

[Olpeddler]

I have two brand new, still unopened, 50 round bags of Winchester .30-40 brass that I picked up from Precision Reloading about 3 years ago. Additionally, I have approx. 75 rounds of Hornady brass I bought when I acquired my Krag in 2019. They have been reloaded 6 - 8 times. I use Paul Steinmayer's method for neck sizing. As such, I expect 15 - 20 reloads per brass. On-going, this will enable me to get a about 2,500 reloads which is plenty to keep me in business until my eyesight begins to fail.

[scottz63]

What is "Paul Steinmayer's method for neck sizing"?

[psteinmayer]

"Paul Steinmayer's" method is to neck size only after the initial firing of new full-length sized brass. I use my LEE FL sizing die backed out 1 full turn. Because of the slight (almost unnoticeable) taper in the Krag round, this keeps the shoulder and most of the length of the main body from actually touching the die surface... and thus, only the neck itself is sized. This will save considerable wear and tear on your brass! Once the round is fired, it takes the shape of the chamber and would not need to be resized as long as it is only used in that same chamber. Also, Avoid max loads always... and anneal the shoulder and neck every 5 or so firings to keep your brass in tip-top condition! I started saving my brass back in the mid 1980s, and have around 1200 rounds worth (both Remington and Winchester) that I've been using for decades... some with well over 20 reload/firings. I get a crack in a neck every once in a while, but for the most part, my brass has held up very well! I also have a couple hundred new GRAF cases that I've never seen the need to use, so they are my reserve supply!

[Mike4MSU]

I’ve been necksizing my 30-40 using a custom set of dies from Lee. Figured it would pay for itself in brass life extension. Seems to spend on load, but I anneal and full size every 4-5 loads on average.