FOR PRACTICE AMMO!
I would like to know exactly what the cost would be to load 9mm, 357sig, 357mag, 10mm, 40s&w and 45acp. This is considering you re use your brass. I have been buying 357 sig for $19.50/box and 40S&W for 15.95/box.
Also what have you spent on the equipment to do it?
I understand people do it for precision and accuracy reasons.
What is the best way to collect the brass while shooting a semi auto?
I'm thinking parking my truck to the right of me with the tailgate open.
I recently priced out 1,000 primers (CCI large pistol), 1 lb of powder (Winchester 231), 1,000 bullets (Rainier Ballistics 230 gr RN .451" cal), a Hornady Lock n Load AP progressive press with an automatic case feeder and all of the requisite add-ons such as a powder-check die, caliper, bullet puller, powder scale, reloading manual, shell plates, extra parts, lubricant, and a set of dies for a .45 ACP.
With shipping (assuming the powder and primers are bought locally to avoid haz-mat fees) the whole thing was around $1,340
Shell plates for that press are about $35 a piece and dies for each additional caliber would be between $30 and $80 each depending on how fancy you get. I think the Hornady dies were Ti Nitride and still came in at about $60 each. You'd be in it for another $300 in dies and another $35 for a second case-feeder plate if you got the automatic case feed.
Then you'd have to add in the cost of additional bullets for each caliber.
I think for your setup with a progressive press like that you'd be looking at about $2500 total to load 1,000 rounds of each, assuming you had brass for each.
Now if you go single stage, you'd save about $500 or so but rather than loading 600 to 800 rounds in an hour you'll be loading about 60 rounds in an hour and you'll be pumping your hand up and down on the press 3 times, plus a priming stroke, rather than one pump on the progressive press.
That being said, a single stage press is better for rifle accuracy (which you don't seem interested in) and a single stage press is arguably safer and easier to learn to reload on.