ROI on Bullet Collator

[Sgt.K]

Y'all,

I reload .45 ACP for IDPA shooting because it's cheaper than buying factory, and I still have enough supplies to load a couple thousand before I need to buy any more. For <reasons> I am currently only going thru a couple hundred rounds a month, but at peak a few years ago I was averaging nearly 3 times as much.

I have a bullet feeder on my Lee Pro 1000 that functions well as long as I don't have more than 17 in the tube, so I need to top off the tube every 15-17 rounds loaded, and a collator would eliminate the need to do it manually. I have seen multiple YouToobers who have built their own, and I'm relatively handy, but for those of you (if any) who have done this, have you considered whether the effort of building the collator is worth not having to load the tube manually? In other words, have you considered/calculated return on investment as a function of time and/or money?

I'm open to any input. Thanks.

[85MikeTPI]

Y'all,

I reload .45 ACP for IDPA shooting because it's cheaper than buying factory, and I still have enough supplies to load a couple thousand before I need to buy any more. For <reasons> I am currently only going thru a couple hundred rounds a month, but at peak a few years ago I was averaging nearly 3 times as much.

I have a bullet feeder on my Lee Pro 1000 that functions well as long as I don't have more than 17 in the tube, so I need to top off the tube every 15-17 rounds loaded, and a collator would eliminate the need to do it manually. I have seen multiple YouToobers who have built their own, and I'm relatively handy, but for those of you (if any) who have done this, have you considered whether the effort of building the collator is worth not having to load the tube manually? In other words, have you considered/calculated return on investment as a function of time and/or money?

I'm open to any input. Thanks.

I find that most automation is far from 100% reliable and you don't save nearly the time/effort is using it as rated. Add to the cost of setup/maint/adjustments and I quickly shy away from most automation unless I'm into the 1000s of rounds. Then when talking about final assembly automation (seating the bullet) my trust level goes into the basement and I spend way too much time/effort in making sure the final product is safe and reliable. Even when manually (single stage) dropping powder and seating bullets, I limit myself to 20 at a time to make sure I can check them and not fatigue..

So my vote is clearly in the "not worth it" camp.

[marketermac]

I have one (bought not built, not a Lee press). I have loaded 10s of thousands of rounds though, so for me it was worth it. Setup took less than an hour a few years ago, I do spend about 5 minutes a month taking it apart and cleaning it.

I never timed it, but assuming it takes a second longer to load a round by hand (probably longer) then it takes roughly 5000 rounds to get back the hour I have invested in setup. From my perspective unless you load thousands upon thousands of rounds, it isn't worth it.

My primer collator however is absolutely worth it for the time savings, and was cheaper then the bullet feeder. I'd start here if you are looking for time savings and ROI.