Is the 9 mm a pain to reload for?

[film495]

depends on how much you shoot, if you are trying to save $, you have to shoot a lot to earn back the price of dies, powder, primers ... the savings for loading 9mm are short margin compared to just shooting factory, so - from my experience people who spend time loading 9mm shoot a lot. pennies per round, a few. I have relaoded for 9mm just decided to do so during the pandemic and crazy prices etc. , but for the most part I don't want to take the time to even bend over and pick up the cases, not worth it most of the time, and I'd rather have the time than more once fired 9mm cases ... lol

9mm is straight forward to reload and not particularly difficult for any reason I've found. If you can load any pistol cartridge, 9mm is not hard or different for any reason. He did mention he doesn't like loading the higher pressure, small case, and that is just a personal view. It is a small case and higher pressure than a lot of other pistol cartrdiges, so - maybe he is just averse to it for that reason.

 

[tmd16556]

I’ve tried 700X and it wasn’t anything exciting for me. I like it in 38 special, so it gets used there. Part of it was a low battery in my digital scale making checks on my powder meter frustrating. I probably over checked with a big flake powder. It actually meters Ok as long as you aren’t pushing the high end, and it’s not a good powder for velocity anyway. Even with hand measured loads, it just didn’t shoot as well as Power Pistol, which meters better. Charge weight and cost are negligible in 9mm loads when a pound gets 1200 or more loads.

 

[9mmepiphany]

depends on how much you shoot, if you are trying to save $, you have to shoot a lot to earn back the price of dies, powder, primers ... the savings for loading 9mm are short margin compared to just shooting factory, so - from my experience people who spend time loading 9mm shoot a lot. pennies per round, a few

I guess " a lot" can be relative. I don't consider 10k a lot because that is less than 200/week...I'd shoot that much if I competed ever weekend (not even counting rounds shot during practice sessions) 12k isn't a huge number as that is only 1k rounds each month. I guess a lot might start at 25k a year.

I don't reload 9mm to save money. I like to think that I can tailor my load for increased accuracy/consistency from "that" barrel or to limit muzzle flip and bring the sight back to the exact POA I had for the previous shot.

But I think I do it more for the peace of mine that I don't have to plan ahead to have ammo on hand. I can run out to the garage the morning before a match and turn out 300 rounds in about half an hour. PLus it is a lot easy to store supplies for 35k rounds than boxes of cartridges

 

[armoredman]

I’ve tried 700X and it wasn’t anything exciting for me. I like it in 38 special, so it gets used there. Part of it was a low battery in my digital scale making checks on my powder meter frustrating. I probably over checked with a big flake powder. It actually meters Ok as long as you aren’t pushing the high end, and it’s not a good powder for velocity anyway. Even with hand measured loads, it just didn’t shoot as well as Power Pistol, which meters better. Charge weight and cost are negligible in 9mm loads when a pound gets 1200 or more loads.

I hate 700X - gave away two pounds I got by accident back during the height of the pandemic. It doesn't meter for squat for me.

 

[BWS]

Lyman Accumeasure,custom rotors haha... 700X meters as good as anything.

I found,the more case taper that can be eliminated... the better,on the sizing op. Running custom mandrels in really showed up on paper. Not that much different than cast rifle accuracy work. Work on case to chamber fit,along with dialing in the bullet jam. Overall surprised at how generally inaccurate the 9mm "platforms" are,or what folks put up with?

Am glad I went down the rabbit hole though,proved it can be done.

 

[Walkalong]

I hate 700X - gave away two pounds I got by accident back during the height of the pandemic. It doesn't meter for squat for me.

Shoots much better than it meters, but yea, coarse flake powders don't meter great from volumetric powder drops.

 

[Wildbillz]

I shoot 9mm the most, so typically I would reload 9mm the most. But with the cost of small pistol primers right now I choose to use them for calibers that are more expensive and harder to find. I would rather use the primers to load 38Spl or 357Mags then 9mm right now.

But I have not found 9mm to be any harder to load then other pistol calibers. The occasional 380Acp case that gets mixed in and some of the odd ball foreign case. But if you do a good job sorting them out and getting rid of the junk prior to loading it runs pretty smooth. I don't bother with separating them out by maker or weighing them but I look for the ones that are bad and known odd balls.

WB

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

When my neck is acting up. Sizing them can be painful for me. Last time i loaded some. My son sized them for me.

 

[Charlie98]

I detest reloading for 9mm, even though I shoot quite a bit of it. For many years, I quit reloading 9mm... largely because of pressure issues I was seeing, admittedly because I was pushing the edge of published data back in my Early Days. In fact, I wound up selling all of my 9mm reloading kit, and gave away my Browning HiPower... getting completely out of the 9mm business.

Fast forward to the early 2000's... and I was looking for a new carry piece to replace my Colt .380 Government... the 9mm seemed like the perfect answer, as it indeed was. So I had to retool to load 9mm. Having 20+ more years of handloading experience NOW than I did back in the Early Days, successfully loading 9mm isn't that big of a deal. I do mix my shooting... a combination of factory ammos and handloads balances out the costs, and keeps me in brass to load. The price of factory 9mm is coming down (at the moment) and I'll have to evaluate the cost and time differential between the two, particularly since primers are still priced into the Stratosphere.

If you are loading just for target ammo, you don't have to run the ragged edge of data and pressure... and a properly set progressive is the hot setup. Pick a suitable powder that tends to meter well... and you will be on your way.

 

[Jim Watson]

I have been reloading 9mm for some time with few difficulties. I do not find it necessary to de-progress my Dillon to get decent ammo. But I am getting into post-Covid prices and the savings are less; econoball prices have dropped more than components.

My older brother, the reloader in the family, causally mentioned that he won't reload 9 mm. IIRC it was reasons like high pressure load with small case capacity

Could it be because he uses a Dillion 550? If I want to show up with dies and powder in hand what would y'all suggest?

There are a lot of nervous reloaders out there, who do not trust their equipment and technique. I would not push him. Oh, by the way, "dies and powder" would not equip you or him to load a new caliber on a Dillon.

 

[RashQuestion]

I don't reload 9mm to save money. I like to think that I can tailor my load for increased accuracy/consistency from "that" barrel or to limit muzzle flip

+1, 2 & 3 on saving money!!! You'll just shoot more as I do!!! 9 isn't that tough as many here have said.

You'll do fine loading them. Just read the manuals and follow their printed guidelines to be OK!!! God Bless and be careful!!! Think Safety First!!!

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

In fact, I wound up selling all of my 9mm reloading kit, and gave away my Browning HiPower... getting completely out of the 9mm business.

Been there - Done that; and, Ditto!
This time around for me started after Y2K. Everyone was selling their post apocalypse preemptive action gear for pennies on the dollar so I bought a lot of military surplus pistols in 9mm for cheap plinking. I reload 9mm now because the factory ammo is cheap crap or expensive anti personnel cop-shop ammo. My hand loads are cop-shop quality at cheap crap prices.

 

[sparkyv]

I find resizing the 9mm tapered cases require more effort than any straight-walled calibers.

Some people hear tapered cartridge and start to panic. It really isn't much harder than any other cartridge.

And the tiny 9mm challenges me, what me with meaty clubs...

With the small bullets and brass, it is a bit of a pain.

 

[Charlie98]

And the tiny 9mm challenges me, what me with meaty clubs...

X2. .380 is even worse, but I don't load a whole lot of that. Go up to a more reasonable cartridge... .45ACP... and I love to load those!

 

[GooseGestapo]

As some here have intimated, if all you want is “blasting” ammo, go ahead and buy the cheap factory offerings. There isn’t much difference in cost and labor to load blasting ammo vs really good ammo often exceeding the most expensive ammo.

I only load accurate match grade 9mm. My 9mm guns for the most part far exceed the average blasters. I’m not surprised at 2”groups at 25yds, and it’s typically my minimum expectation. So, the little time it takes to crank out 100rds (I usually do 300-1,000 at a sitting, is near meaningless. So, for the cost of 1,000 factory generic 115gr FMJ’s, I’m loading RMR “Nukes” or XTP blems, or even some Speer Gold Dot or Federal Hydro Shock blems I’ve recently acquired.

A little tip…
You can load the same ammo on a 40yr.Old Lee Pro 1000 that I load on a 30yr old LoadMaster, or a Dillon 500, or the latest What Ever Latest Greatest new loading machine.
In this instance, it’s the Indian, not the arrow!
But, my “blasting ammo”has been proven to win matches and set national records in precision competitions.

re: 700X, I found some data for 115 and 147gr bullets. 4.7 max with a 115gr, XTP, and 3.8gr with a 147gr XTP in a 30yr old Lee #2 manual. I’d consider starting at 3.8 and 4.0 a safe maximum. 4.2 if 4.0 doesn’t give consistent cycling/ejection.(using stated 130gr bullet).

 

[docbrown]

I reload more 9mm than any other caliber with the exception of 223.5.56 and it is no more difficult than 40 S&W or 38/357. Now, 357 Sig can be a bit of a pain, but 9mm is really pretty easy. Just stay within the published data, and watch out for stepped cases, which can cause high pressure with published data and you should be golden.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I reload more 9mm than any other caliber with the exception of 223.5.56 and it is no more difficult than 40 S&W or 38/357. Now, 357 Sig can be a bit of a pain, but 9mm is really pretty easy. Just stay within the published data, and watch out for stepped cases, which can cause high pressure with published data and you should be golden.

@docbrown brings up a good point: if there’s something about 9mm that makes it less nice than other calibers, it’s case prep and inspection. There’s a price to pay for “free brass” and it’s that you have to spend time inspecting cases for oddities - like crimped primers or stepped internals - and for signs of over pressure loads - Major or Wickwannabe loads - by previous shooters.
You won’t usually see such things in .40S&W or .380ACP.

 

[lordpaxman]

My older brother, the reloader in the family, causally mentioned that he won't reload 9 mm. IIRC it was reasons like high pressure load with small case capacity (didn't care at the time as I had no intention of owning a 9mm).

If your recollection was BC (Before Covid), 9mm was fairly inexpensive in bulk although you could reload it for less money.

You’ll have to decide if it’s worth it to you based on volume and usage.

At a recent match I was at, at least 100K rounds of 9mm went down range over the corse of 4 days. Most of that consisted of reloads. There’s no doubt it’s a popular cartridge. I would recommend if you want to start reloading for it, pick a jacketed RN 115 or 124, a medium powder like 231 or 244, and follow the SOP for a new combination. RMR makes great bullets if you need a place to start. Good luck and let us know what you do!

 

[Barmcd]

I don’t think it’s difficult. I tried varying loads of ten different powders before finding one powder and load that would 1. Reliably cycle the gun, 2. Give me the velocity and recoil I wanted, and 3. work similarly in a wide variety of cases. I still reload it even though I can find 50 round boxes for about what it costs me to reload 50 rounds.

I started with jacketed bullets, then quickly moved to plated Berrys Bullets and now I’m looking at Missouri coated bullets.

 

[FROGO207]

When I first started out loading 9MM I was told by more experienced reloaders that it was a hard round to reload. Most stated was bullet setback and resulting high pressure. So first thing I did was to check each headstamp brass for setback. I found no problems using my Lee dies. I have used 700X, RedDot/Promo, GreenDot, mostly with other pistol propellants used at times. All worked OK and my ammo was always more accurate than factory. I load on a single stage press, use a powder funnel mounted to the shelf and scoop my charges for this caliber. I am in no hurry as I am retired now and enjoy doing it. The new thing to watch out for as mentioned above is the crimped primer pockets and the internal stepped ring in the brass. I have so many range brass now that those go in the scrap bucket. Also look out for plated steel cases, those are rejected as well. Take your time, check case fill, and do a plunk/setback test at least with each headstamp of brass when setting things up to assure fit and you should be good to go.
If 9MM upsets you stay away from 25ACP for sure LOL.

 

[Russ57]

Thank you gentlemen.

 

[2ndtimer]

I hate 700X - gave away two pounds I got by accident back during the height of the pandemic. It doesn't meter for squat for me.

It can’t be as bad as it’s late older brother, 800-X, can it?

 

[n2omike]

For simple 'blammo ammo' it's hard to beat store bought. Don't save a whole lot doing it yourself.
However, when it comes to specialty stuff, such as hollow points, subsonic, heavier bullets, precise accuracy loads, etc... Hand loading is about the same cost as shelf 'blammo ammo'. 124 grain HP Nukes, 147 grain subs, etc. No contest.

However, if you have plenty of time on your hands to cast/coat bullets, a person can build rounds super cheap. Yea, it's just blammo ammo and isn't going to be the most accurate, but it's not like you're going to notice a huge difference when shooting pistols off hand, anyway. At least for me! lol

 

[armoredman]

It can’t be as bad as it’s late older brother, 800-X, can it?

I have no idea, never heard of or used that powder. I've only been loading for about 17 years.