Inflation

So at lunch today I ran by my favorite Merchant O'Death's place of work and picked up some powder. They'd just gotten in a shipment of about a hundred pounds of various types (still no Unique - which at this point should just be renamed "Unavailable"), and I'd had him set me aside a bit: three pounds of H110 and one of Accurate 4064.

Remember when powder was around $20 a pound? Yeah, so do I. Four pounds of powder set me back a little over $116 including tax.

Ouch.

A few years ago, I did a post on the basics of reloading with a list of recommended materials.  I thought this would be a good time to review that and see just how much things have changed.  

Originally I recommended the Lee Anniversary Kit, which consisted of their Challenger "O"-press, powder measure, powder scale, reloading manual, priming tool and (most) shell holders.  It was $89.99.  That particular kit is no longer available, but the current one is the Challenger Breech Lock Anniversary Kit, which at $126.99 contains:

• Lee Breech Lock Challenger Single Stage Press
• 1-Breech Lock Die Bushing
• Lee Large and Small Safety Prime
• Lee Cutter and Lock Stud
• Lee Perfect Powder Measure
• Lee Chamfer Tool
• Lee Primer Pocket Cleaner
• Lee Safety Powder Scale
• Lee Powder funnel
• 2 oz Tube Lee Resizing Case Lube

Next up came dies, and I again recommended an all-Lee lineup:

Carbide .38/357 4-die set: $30.99 $41.99
Carbide .45ACP 4-die set: $21.99 $41.99
Steel .30 Luger 3-die set: $20.99 $30.49
.22-250 3-die set: $24.99 $30.99
.243 Winchester 3-die set: $24.99 $30.99
.308 Winchester 3-die set: $24.99 $30.99
.30-06 3-die set: $24.99 $30.99
.30 Carbine carbide 3-die set: $30.79 $38.49

Next up was lube. The Lee kit above has their lube, but I recommended a can of Hornady's One Shot spray lube. For the sake of economy, I'll leave it off this list.

I recommended a steel dial caliper micrometer: Still $25.99

I recommended a Hornady universal reloading tray: $4.79 $8.99

In the article I stated that a minimum of TWO reloading manuals should be on hand. The Lee Anniversary kit had one in it originally, but not now. The Speer manual at that time cost $26.99. Now it's $29.99, and the Lee manual is another $21.99

Then there was powder and primers for all the calibers we were buying dies for. Powder is per pound, primer pricing is per thousand.

IMR 4064: $18.99 $25.87 (out of stock)
Winchester 296: $17.99 $21.60 (out of stock)
Winchester 231: $17.49 $21.04 (and also out of stock)

CCI Small Pistol: $21.99 $26.99
CCI Large Pistol: $21.49 $31.49
CCI Small Rifle: $22.49 $31.49
CCI Large Rifle: $22.99 $31.49

And then there was case prep, cleaning & miscellaneous:

Iosso Case Cleaning Kit: $14.99 $16.79
I suggested a primer pocket cleaner and chamfer and deburring tool, but those are now included in the Lee Anniversary kit.
Safety Glasses: $8.99 $4.49 - that's the only item to reduce in price.

So in 2007 all the materials you'd need to start reloading for eight different calibers, with the exception of projectiles, was $542.76.  Today it would be $702.12, an increase of 29.4%.  Powder has gone up almost a third on average, if you can find it.  Primers have gone up almost 50%.

I'm glad I didn't record bullet pricing back then.  I don't think I want to know how much THAT'S gone up.