Does reloading 9mm range ammo make any sense?

[rpenmanparker]

I don't reload, but I have considered doing it. I only shoot 9mm and .22LR and those only at the range. I keep about 100 rounds of 9mm HP SD ammo around, but other than that all my 3,000 round stock of 9mm is new or reman 115 or 124 gr RN FMJ stuff for the range. I am a loyal Freedom Munitions customer and play their frequent sales games to buy 9mm at $9.00 per 50 round box or less all in, with delivery and tax. So my question is could there be any advantage/benefit to reloading? Can I beat $0.18 per round after factoring in all equipment and raw material cost, load development losses, and the inevitable mistakes, yield losses, and other waste?

Lately I get .22LR from Wal Mart or Academy for $0.04-0.05 per round.

Thanks.

 

[Axis II]

if you don't already own the equipment or plan to load for other calibers i wouldn't do it. I figured without my press, scale, thrower, and die cost im making 9mm for about $6-7-50rds.

 

[Walkalong]

The main advantage is being able to tailor your ammo to your likes. If all you care about is cents per round, it is hard to justify 9MM for some people.

 

[rpenmanparker]

if you don't already own the equipment or plan to load for other calibers i wouldn't do it. I figured without my press, scale, thrower, and die cost im making 9mm for about $6-7-50rds.

Thanks for that. Not counting the equipment investment, is that otherwise "all in"? What % losses do you experience due to errors? Say you produce 200 rounds of a new load and find after shooting about 25 rounds it really is a stinker. What do you do with the rest? Can you save the bullets, casings and primers, but lose the powder? Or do you save the powder too? Just wondering.

 

[rpenmanparker]

For only 9mm what would you guys estimate is the equipment buy in? Say mid-range quality and complexity.

 

[Gottcha]

Thanks for that. Not counting the equipment investment, is that otherwise "all in"? What % losses do you experience due to errors? Say you produce 200 rounds of a new load and find after shooting about 25 rounds it really is a stinker. What do you do with the rest? Can you save the bullets, casings and primers, but lose the powder? Or do you save the powder too? Just wondering.

That is why you never pump out 200 rounds of an untested round. I make 5-10 rounds with varying loads and see which shoots best or make adjustments untill I find what I like then make larger batches.
As far as setup and tools cost. Around 400 bucks for a lee classic turret, dies, powder, primers, bullets, cases, books..... I'm sure I'm forgetting some smaller stuff. A pound of powder will make well over 1000 rounds and I just get satisfaction for making my own and it is cheaper that buying them. Plus if I want to got to the range the next day I can make 2-300 rounds that night with out rushing to an out of the way store or buying expensive range rounds.

Also once you start loading 9mm the brass cases will be free!! Just reuse the ones you shot.

 

[Galil5.56]

I have never been as analytical, cost/benefit ratio driven concerning any reloading... Reloading is completely intrinsic to shooting for me; heck, I seemingly shoot to reload, and really never factor cost... it in and of itself is a hobby I simply enjoy, that just happens to go with shooting. Any firearm I have that is centerfire, I reload for, including 9mm. I also cast my own bullets, and again this includes 9mm which really helps bring the cost down, and allows very great tuning of variables of the load for accuracy, power, etc.

Ever hunt rabbits and squirrels with a 30/06? I have, with 150 grain cast bullets loping along at about 950 fps. Try finding that at the local hardware store. Same idea say for beginner shooters, introducing them to .45 ACP, traditional full power hunting rifles, or even 9mm for that matter - I can make very mild loads that function well, and gently introduce the shooter to the sport. So, perhaps in your situation reloading 9mm does not make sense; as for me, I would still reload even if it cost more, I simply love the process, and the great results are icing on the cake.

Eddit fer spellin.

 

[Spade5]

I do it because I enjoy doing it and I certainly do not save any money. Back when I started 30+ years ago, I probably saved some money. I am sure there were places to buy bulk ammo back then but I just started saving my brass and bought an RCBS kit which had most of what I needed. Of course then you add another caliber and see some other tool you want and pretty soon you have quite a bit of stuff. My advice is, doing it to save money is probably a pipe dream. On the other hand if you just want to try it, most likely a Lee starter kit would be the cheapest and it is good quality. I want to say the Lee can be had for $150 or so and the RCBS is probably closer to $300. I would estimate $300 to $500 to get started including dies, primers, powder you know the consumables. I use Freedom Munitions as well and would have to load tens of thousands of rounds to offset my equipment cost and consumables versus buying from them. That is my $0.02.

 

[Axis II]

For only 9mm what would you guys estimate is the equipment buy in? Say mid-range quality and complexity.

Lee dies, Lee classic turret, Lee auto drum, Lyman micro touch scale, HP38/W231, S&B small pistol primers, Lee classic turret, turret. RMR 124gr FMJ-RN-1K. Hodgdon reloading manual, ABC of reloading, Lee manual.

I just checked everything i listed on Midwayusa.com and your about $400 in the hole but i would check other places like Amazon, etc for cheaper prices.

As far as messing up. You first make a dummy round and make sure it plunks and then use a start load with the COAL that plunks and load 5-10 rounds and fire them. If they cycle and give good accuracy then i load about 25 of them and run them through the ringer. If you need to go up in charge weight or change COAL you make another 5-10 until you have the perfect load and then you can crank out 200-300.

 

[Axis II]

That is why you never pump out 200 rounds of an untested round. I make 5-10 rounds with varying loads and see which shoots best or make adjustments untill I find what I like then make larger batches.
As far as setup and tools cost. Around 400 bucks for a lee classic turret, dies, powder, primers, bullets, cases, books..... I'm sure I'm forgetting some smaller stuff. A pound of powder will make well over 1000 rounds and I just get satisfaction for making my own and it is cheaper that buying them. Plus if I want to got to the range the next day I can make 2-300 rounds that night with out rushing to an out of the way store or buying expensive range rounds.

Also once you start loading 9mm the brass cases will be free!! Just reuse the ones you shot.

Or scrounge them up in range buckets or ask people at the range if you can have them I scored 1k wet tumbled from RMR for like $35 a few month back.

I too hated driving 25min one way for decent priced 9mm ammo and that's the reason i reload it. Cabelas and when Gander was around charged over $10 for cci blazer brass and still do but last night the shop i frequent had it for $9-50rds. I would get a phone call hey, we are going shooting tomorrow or we are going woodchuck hunting and then i would have to race to the store and hope they even had any so now i just walk in the other room and crank some out and don't have to drive an hour round trip.

 

[Blue68f100]

Unless your shooting 5k/yr it may not be worth your time and effort. Then trying to feed a high round count on a SS is way more time consuming than you think. This is why most go AP press to up there output/ram stroke. I switched to a AP long ago. The cost of 9mm then was running around $9-$10 /box of 50. Back then I figured I would have to load 4000 rounds to pay for the initial investment, < 1 yr. With components running higher now than back then it will take longer to recoup your investment. The up side is if you prepare properly you will always have ammo to shoot, no shortages. And they will more than likely be more accurate than what your now using.

 

[drband]

$300 tops if you shop around (Amazon, Titan Reloading, Sales at Midway, etc. )

As noted, it would take a long time to make up the cost for 9mm. I made up my cost in less than 6mos because I also load .380, .45acp, and .44mag.
I typically load 50 9mm for $6.50 in pickup range brass.

One caveat: how “expensive” is your time?

I enjoy reloading and I’m retired. You?

I can load 100 rds in 30 min.

 

[someguy2800]

Yes because the cheap 9mm ammo from the store stinks. It is extremely easy to load 9mm ammo and with the right bullet following load data i don’t know how you could go wrong. Get some Berry’s 124gr bullets of whatever variety you like and some BE86 powder.

https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/4...MIxsi2lsT42QIVyLrACh0EoQBLEAQYAiABEgJQMfD_BwE

 

[fallout mike]

If casting, you are close to $50/1000 rds. Doubt you are coming within 1/4th of that price with the crappiest/cheapest ammo you can find.

 

[ih772]

The whole calculating "how much is your time worth" doesn't make a bit of sense. Unless you are blowing off work to reload, figuring in that "loss" doesn't apply to the cost of the ammo.

 

[D Rock]

For only 9mm what would you guys estimate is the equipment buy in? Say mid-range quality and complexity.

Last year I got in to loading 9mm for 1,100.00 total cost. That was a Lee Classic Turret kit from Kempf 199.95(not your standard kit).
https://kempfgunshop.com/Kempf_Kit_w/_Lee_Classic_Turret_Press_-90064Kit-6575.html
" Pistol Caliber Kits Include:
Lee Classic Turret Press
Lee Deluxe 4-Die Set for the pistol caliber of your choice. ( 44/40 and 357 Sig are 3 Die Sets)
Lee Auto Disk Powder Measure
Lee Safety Prime System (Large AND Small)
Lee Auto Disk Riser (Required for the Safety Prime System)
Six MTM 50 round Plastic Ammo Boxes "

The rest of the 1,100.00 included a Frankford Arsenal tumbler kit on sale at Cabela's for 119.00, along with a media separator. Frankford scale and bullet puller also on sale. Also in the 1,100.00 were 5K S&B spp on sale, 8 lb Win 231 and 4K X-treme plated 9mm at 15% off and free shipping. I don't think I missed anything, but may have. Also have another 4K X-treme plated 9mm at 10% off and free shipping on the way courtesy of St. Patty's Day sale.

Anyway, I shoot several hundred rounds a week and figure when my first 5K rounds will cost me about 0.21 a round but after that, with careful shopping I should drop to 0.10 to 0.11 a round. Not counting my time.

I mostly wanted to try it and am glad I did.

Dave

 

[fallout mike]

If we calculated our "time" into all our hobbies expense we would never do anything. Calculate your time and expense into going fishing in your boat or deer hunting. It would be much cheaper for nearly everyone to just go to the meat market or grocery store.

 

[CZ9shooter]

Do it. You wont regret it. If you are like most of us, it starts out as a cost savings venture, but in the end you reload because you enjoy it.

I said the same thing too... only 9mm. Lol. Now I load almost a dozen cartridges. And I buy new guns primarily just to have a new caliber to experiment with!

 

[reddog81]

The time to reload has to be considered in my opinion. On a single stage press it'll take over an hour to knock out 100 rounds. I'm sorry but for 9mm that just isn't worth it. Not everyone considers reloading to be a hobby. I have multiple hobbies and spending 3 hours making ammo so I can go to the range for 1 hour doesn't make any sense to me.

With that said, I reload 9mm on a progressive press and can knock out 300 rounds in an hour without much effort. However if all I shot was 9mm I probably wouldn't bother.

 

[brewer12345]

If you are only going to reload 9MM, I would only do it if you want to extend into that part of the hobby for its own merits. The cost savings are small enough that if you put any value on the time spent it is not worth it. Now if you get into other calibers, reloading makes a lot of sense and maybe even a requirement. In addition to loading specialty rounds (30-06 gallery/small game, etc.), the savings can be large in some cases. 44 Mag and 35 Rem are the biggest cost savings for me. Sometimes certain calibers are difficult to source ammo for, but easy/cheap to load.

I cast my own bullets as well, which further drives down costs. I spend 6 cents on a practice bullet for 35 Rem or 30-06, not 25 to 30 cents.

 

[George P]

If we calculated our "time" into all our hobbies expense we would never do anything. Calculate your time and expense into going fishing in your boat or deer hunting. It would be much cheaper for nearly everyone to just go to the meat market or grocery store.

Exactly, if you calculated your time as a cost, you wouldn't be going to the range to plink.

Saving money reloading 9mm AT THIS TIME, is accomplished by buying components in large bulk - primers by the sleeve of 5000, bullets by the case (typically several thousand). powder in 8# jugs, etc. Whether that lasts you a month or two years, bulk lowers unit costs.

One advantage stocking up on components does is also allow you to shoot when panics and shortages happen - and this is an election year and this gun issue is not going away anytime soon. Prices are low, so stock up on ammo, components or both.

 

[Legionnaire]

I am a reloader. I thoroughly enjoy reloading bottle neck rifle cartridges and .357 and .44 magnum revolver cartridges. The "savings" are significant relative to the cost of quality factory ammo and I can tune the loads for application and accuracy.

However, even as a reloader I don't bother with 9mm. I probably don't shoot 1,200 rounds of 9mm in a typical year. I do practice with my 9mm, but I prefer revolvers for range and field use and shoot far more revolver cartridges. Bulk 9mm ammo is inexpensive, and I don't see any benefit to "tailoring" a 9mm load. And a couple boxes of good quality defensive ammo doesn't cost that much, either. And I'd think reloading 9mm without a progressive would be tedious.

Just bought a new Ruger PC Carbine, so my 9mm consumption is likely to go up, but I still doubt I'll decide reloading for it is worth the effort.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

As said, the initial cost is a bit much. But if you shop wisely, it’s possible to get started for under $200 and have a good setup to build on.

Personally, I find reloading relaxing so it’s worth it to me. And once your gear is paid for if you buy in bulk you’ll save money. The thing is initially you should buy a pound of powder, a small lot of bullets and primers to see if you like doing it, and if you like those components.

Once you settle on a powder or two and which bullets and primers you like you can then buy in bulk which is where the real savings is found. Until then there is no savings.

Also keep in mind, that there is no real savings as you’ll shoot more and buy more gear to load and shoot more.

 

[someguy2800]

If we calculated our "time" into all our hobbies expense we would never do anything. Calculate your time and expense into going fishing in your boat or deer hunting. It would be much cheaper for nearly everyone to just go to the meat market or grocery store.

Whenever I come back from a fishing trip with a bunch of fish to eat I always tell my wife, enjoy that walleye fillet, it cost $60 to go get it.

 

[rpenmanparker]

Thanks guys.