Calculating the cost of reloading 9mm

[thelaststand]

I can find 9mm bullets for 10 cents each and primers for about 3 cents each
Does anyone know what the powder will cost?

Also are there bullets for cheaper than that?

 

[wmurphy]

There's 6999.9998 grains in a pound of powder. Let's say you're loading 5.0 grains, and a pound of power costs $20:

20/6999.9998 = ~.0029

.0029 * 5.0 = $.0145 per round

Or, I think there's a complete load calculator on www.handloads.org. I've created and Excel spreadsheet that does this for me. Let me know if you'd like a copy.

 

[Afy]

Powder cost:

(Cost per lb/7000)x charge in grains.

Cheaper bullts probably. I am sure someone will be around shortly.

 

[thelaststand]

The cheapest I can get for factory loaded 9mm is about 21 cents per round (after taxes) and that will go up after the walmart/federal and winchester contracts expire. Then monarch at academy will be the cheapest at 25 cents per round.

So given about 10 cents per bullet, 3 per primer and 1.5 for gunpowder and assume the brass is free because I'm going to collect my own and pick up what I can at the range.

14.5 cents per round.

If I share reloading equipment cost with my brother I think it may be worth it.

 

[bullseye308]

Look into cast bullets or possibly casting your own and you will save even more. I cast bullets from free lead(thank you craigslist) and my cost for 9mm is ~15.00-powder & 25.00-primers or 40.00/1000. I load with Bullseye at 3.8gr and buy it in 4lb jugs. Even if you buy your lead you will still save a significant amount over factory. My caost to load 38, 357, & 45 is almost the same.

 

[Sam1911]

Shooting cast lead bullets will cut your costs there to about $0.05 a bullet, as long as you're ordering from the manufacturer and not Cabela's or some retail place like that.

-Sam

 

[RandyP]

The longer you reload the more you amortize the cost of the machinery too.

For the very casual shooter, reloading may not make sense, but if you shoot hundreds of rounds per session it likely does.

 

[delta5]

Not only do I shoot several hundred rounds per session, I enjoy reloading as a hobby. Many times at the gunshows I cant find .308 at a good price, or even at all, I can usually find empty shells for sale. So I can at least keep on shooting as long as I can find powder and primers..

 

[editingfx]

My cost:
$0.095/round
$4.72/50

8 lb powder at $154, 6gr charge, primers @ $22/1000, lead 9mm @ $112/2000, free brass

Always having boolits to go BANG.... priceless

 

[Quoheleth]

Here ya go

go to this website:
http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

Plug in your actual costs and it does the math for you.

I actually don't even price in my brass costs for anything except my .41 Magnum, b/c I bought that brass. Everything else is reloaded factory ammo. Since I had to buy the ammo anyway - or I picked up what others bought - being able to reload it is bonus.

FWIW, about the cheapest jacketed and plated bullets I've seen are those sold here by longdayjake. The cheapest commercial cast lead I've found is missouribullet.

Q

 

[atblis]

My current cost is $5.40 with jacketed bullets.

Precision delta has the cheapest jacketed bullets I've ever seen.

 

[millertyme]

like Murphy, I have a spreadsheet I've worked up so I can determine my costs. I have a local souce where I get lead, primers, powder, and (need be) brass for reloading 9mm. With a little shopping around I can keep my costs (with purchased brass) under $0.15/round and if i pick up brass at the range and use my own fired brass it drops to a little over $0.09. I'm using the same old Rockchucker and other equipment my dad bought 25 years ago so the machinery cost is negligible. However, I would like to get into a new Lee Pro progressive set up to help rid me of all those nasty empty casingings lying around my shop.

+1 on the gun shows. Like delta5, I have been able to find great deals on consumables at shows. I got a 500 piece box of 240gr Meister LSWC's for $15, a set of 44 Mag dies for $10, 4 lbs of Red Dot in a trade for 150 230gr JHP .45 projectiles (no need for them in my house), and 500 primers for an old, rusty Case trapper (I have enough knives in better condition and the old timer I bartered with really wanted that knife).

 

[armoredman]

Cast, $2.52 per 50, jacketed goes way up to almost $9 per 50, with the current prices on what I just bought. Gonna cast more soon, instead.

 

[hometheaterman]

I see you said your price for factory ammo would go up when the Wal Mart Federal/Winchester contract is up. Any more info on this? Is this something happening soon?

 

[blikseme300]

Bake cake or buy cake?

I am often asked if I save money reloading. Frankly, I don't care. I enjoy casting and reloading. If cost is your only concern then you will probably not like reloading as it often is not cost effective compared to surplus or factory ammo.

We reloaders are a strange crowd, but we chose to do what we do.

Just my 2c

Bliksem

 

[millertyme]

+1 Bliksem. My dad got me reloading back when I was a teenager and I have learned to enjoy all the tedious little things we do to get the most out of evey round we fire. Even with my single stage press I don't mind sitting in my shop cranking out my favorite rounds or experimenting with something new. I think I might enjoy reloading more than I enjoy unloading!

 

[rfwobbly]

You forgot the big one

Not only that but you can place the reloading machine at your brother's house. He'll think you're being a really nice guy. Then you can go into his frig and drink all his beer. That should save you about $2000 a year.

Be sure and add that savings in too.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

I have to add this: 9mm is probably the LEAST economical centerfire to reload, BECAUSE current 9mm factory and re-manufactured ammo is some of the lowest priced stuff to shoot. Just about any other centerfire, from .380 to .500 S&W, costs more per box than many 9mm FMJ offerings. For instance, there is no cheap .45 Colt or .44 Special ammo. Even .25 or .32 auto is $15 a box, more than many 9mm's. Once you start shooting the less common cartridges, reloading starts saving you a lot more. 9mm is now what the .38 Special used to be; plentiful, and as economical as it gets, at the present time.

 

[evan price]

Right now, using components I bought before Obama's coronation, I am loading 9mm Luger for the total price of $3.55 a box, using commercially cast lead bullets.

When I factor in the new cost today, primers are up, powder is up, but now I cast my own bullets. $14/lb for powder in 8# kegs, $25/K for primers in 50K lots, ten cents a pound for wheel weight lead. A few dollars worth of propane to smelt a bucket of lead.

Powder a penny, bullet a penny, primer 2.5 pennies, range brass free. 4.5 cents per shot, $2.25 per box of 50.

 

[thelaststand]

editingfx, where do you get 1000 primers for $22??

millertyme, I'd like that worksheet if you're willing to send it to me

 

[1SOW]

$6.80/50, 124gr, Montana Gold fmj/jhp,4.2 Vit n320, Fedspp, free range brass (cleaning cost, a few cents/500) Switching to Zero 125g JHP this month-I hope....slightly cheaper

Primers are killing me: over $30/1000 shipped....need to order in bulk to save $

Edit for why reload 9mm: I've found that I prefer 124gr jacketed rounds for fun shooting. I load them with a light power factor for fast accurate shooting. I can also load respectable SD rounds for just slightly more money.

Check the cost of 124gr 9mm and also 124gr jhp for SD. It's NOT the Win Value Pak price. (Wal-Mart had Value Pak today for about $24 counting local taxes--$12/50) I shoot anywhere from 100 to 200/week.

Many who buy expensive SD rounds shoot them very little because of cost. I can shoot them regularly without worrying about the cost.

 

[editingfx]

thelaststand - I made a large order at Grafs back in April. I had just started reloading, but figured component costs had to be about to rise since scarcity was such a factor. So I ordered as much as I could afford. (Though by the time they came in, a couple weeks ago, "afford" had moved to a very different place due to the economy.

Anyone reading who casts; how much time/hassle is it to cast, compared to the rest of reloading? Using Evan's "penny a boolit" would more than halve my $5/50 cost now.

 

[qajaq59]

You need to think long term. Even if I only saved a 100th of a cent per round I'm way ahead. I've been loading since the 60s. And I shoot only rifles, and I shoot them a lot. I couldn't possibly figure it out now, but I'd bet in that time I've saved enough to buy at least one truck!

 

[NuJudge]

Can I suggest that you use a powder that bulks up well in the case? Using the powder that is cheapest may result in really small charges, which do not bulk up well, and it's hard to tell a double charge from a single charge.

CDD

 

[mongoose33]

"I have to add this: 9mm is probably the LEAST economical centerfire to reload, BECAUSE current 9mm factory and re-manufactured ammo is some of the lowest priced stuff to shoot. "

Very true. There are several reasons I reload (like it, have access to ammo independently of the supply system, better ammo than factory, savings), but I save the least with 9mm.

Still, right now I have to pay about 21.5 cents per round for WWB in 9mm. My costs for 9mm are about 10 cents per round, so I save 11.5 cents per round.

However, if I can reload just 300 per hour on my progressive (and I can do more), 300 * 11.5c is over $33 per hour in "savings." That is, who has a hobby that *pays* them to do it? And who has a part-time job that pays them at that hourly rate?

So even though 9mm is probably the least effective in terms of savings, it's still well worth it for me.

I save more w/ .45. Currently WWB costs more than 36 cents per round; I'm reloading .45 for under 14 cents per round. That equates to a per-hour "wage rate" of...lessee.....22 cents savings times 300 rounds per hour--my gosh, I'm rewarding my time at a savings of $66 per hour!

And I *like* reloading--it's relaxing, I get a feeling of accomplishment, I produce better ammo than factory.

The savings are just icing on the cake.