Sort of.
If you reload, it costs essentially the same to shoot 12,20, or .410.
The current average economics assuming you have a gun club membership and can buy components off the vendor truck, or you attend shoots and can avoid 'retail':
Shot is a dime an ounce.
Primers are 3 cents.
Wads are 2 cents.
Powder is 4 to 5 cents a 'bang'.
This is the same whatever gauge you load.
.410 shells are usually purchased in factory loads since you don't find them laying around free and if you buy them 'once fired' they cost 20 cents anyway.
.410 hulls cost roughly a nickel a cycle, exactly the same as the money saved by using only half an ounce of shot. It's a wash.
12 gauge shells are free for the picking up. 20 gauge shells sometimes can be found for free, if you can't find any at the ranges, Gun Club shells last nearly forever, certainly long enough to get the cost down to a penny per cycle.
When figuring total cost, I also include a penny per load for equipment.
I figure $5 a box total at current prices. I can certainly buy promo loads for near that, and I do burn quite a few of those.
But, for 410 and for stuff I can't buy at any price, I load.
