Steel case 9mm, worth $112/1000 rounds?

[taliv]

Hmm, those cases were already cleaned, de-primed, and pockets cleaned BEFORE this was done? How much time was needed in prep work?

Looked at the video, the machine is $2000 new and $400 per additional caliber. The creator of the video states 15 cents per round, that's $7.50 a box of 9mm. New in box 9mm ain't much more than that, and I've bought 9mm ammo off people on Armslist cheaper than that.

i usually don't clean mine. depends on where i picked them up. if there's actual dirt or mud on them yes, but if they've just been fired and i'm on an indoor range or something, no. i have buckets of 9mm brass from an indoor range. i usually just scoop two handfuls out, squirt some lube on them and dump them in the hopper.
the press de-primes them and swages primer pockets, so no need to do that ahead of time. (besides, who cleans primer pockets in 9mm brass? i don't even clean primer pockets on my precision rifle brass)


edit to add, i don't know what he's paying for components, but you can definitely go cheaper and more expensive. my first post you quoted showed what i'm paying

 

[stchman]

I'm not slamming on reloaders, I actually reload .44 Magnum myself on a single stage press. I just think that 9mm, .40S&W, and .45ACP aren't really worth reloading as new ammo is cheap.

I save a good amount of money on .44 Magum as I save all my old brass (easy to do with a revolver). The cast lead bullets cost me about 11 cents, the primers are 3 cents, and the powder is about 2 cents. That is 16 cents per round and store bought rounds cost me about 50 cents per round.

My store bought ammo uses FAR nicer JSP bullets which are 26 cents each and have much better muzzle velocity. For plinking rounds, the LSWC bullets will do just fine.

 

[taliv]

no question you save a lot more with 44mag etc!

 

[Trey Veston]

I'm not slamming on reloaders, I actually reload .44 Magnum myself on a single stage press. I just think that 9mm, .40S&W, and .45ACP aren't really worth reloading as new ammo is cheap.

I save a good amount of money on .44 Magum as I save all my old brass (easy to do with a revolver). The cast lead bullets cost me about 11 cents, the primers are 3 cents, and the powder is about 2 cents. That is 16 cents per round and store bought rounds cost me about 50 cents per round.

My store bought ammo uses FAR nicer JSP bullets which are 26 cents each and have much better muzzle velocity. For plinking rounds, the LSWC bullets will do just fine.

Defensive 9mm ammo is over a dollar a round. That's not cheap in my book. I just picked up a box of 100 124gr Hornady XTPs for $19.99. The same thing for my .40 S&W and 10mm in 180gr are $2 more per box. I can whip up a batch of 100 quality self-defense loads for $25 or so.

For plinking ammo, sure, buy off the shelf for 9mm. It just depends on the purpose of your plinking. If you just want to put holes in stuff and not train for actual self-defense or test accuracy, then off the shelf stuff is fine. But if you are trying to optimize your carry gun for self-defense, then lower power and less accurate cheap stuff is not optimal.

 

[stchman]

Defensive 9mm ammo is over a dollar a round. That's not cheap in my book. I just picked up a box of 100 124gr Hornady XTPs for $19.99. The same thing for my .40 S&W and 10mm in 180gr are $2 more per box. I can whip up a batch of 100 quality self-defense loads for $25 or so.

For plinking ammo, sure, buy off the shelf for 9mm. It just depends on the purpose of your plinking. If you just want to put holes in stuff and not train for actual self-defense or test accuracy, then off the shelf stuff is fine. But if you are trying to optimize your carry gun for self-defense, then lower power and less accurate cheap stuff is not optimal.

1MOA accuracy for a 9mm handgun is pointless. What I seek in a defensive round is:

1. Dependability of primer ignition with my chosen handgun
2. Stopping the threat.

I normally shoot a couple of hundred rounds of cheap ball ammo and then follow that up with a box or two of whatever defensive round I choose to see if it and the gun play well. If they do, I call it good.

 

[TTv2]

Defensive 9mm ammo is over a dollar a round. That's not cheap in my book. I just picked up a box of 100 124gr Hornady XTPs for $19.99. The same thing for my .40 S&W and 10mm in 180gr are $2 more per box. I can whip up a batch of 100 quality self-defense loads for $25 or so.

For plinking ammo, sure, buy off the shelf for 9mm. It just depends on the purpose of your plinking. If you just want to put holes in stuff and not train for actual self-defense or test accuracy, then off the shelf stuff is fine. But if you are trying to optimize your carry gun for self-defense, then lower power and less accurate cheap stuff is not optimal.

I reload, but $25 for 100 rds of 9mm JHP isn't that good a deal considering I can get decent 9mm JHP for maybe $10 more and not spend any time doing it. .40 I have gotten Bonded Winchester for about $40/100 rds.

It's when you get into .45 ACP or 10mm or any revolver calibers that reloading is a big money saver.

 

[Pete D.]

Pretty much this ^^
I have a commercial Mak that I've shot 1000's of steel case ammo through. I think the difference in wear would be noticeable in 10's of thousands of rounds.

Exactly. Same experience here.
About reliability: I have shot cases worth of steel cased ammo through my Mak and have never had an FTF.
Pete

 

[TomJ]

I just ordered another 2000 rounds of Wolf ammo from SGammo. $293 after taxes and deliver charges, or $.1465 per round. I'm supplementing this with what I reload. With spring around the corner I'm stocking up as we're going to be shooting much more.

 

[Spats McGee]

....IDK, do you guys think $112/1000 rds of steel case is good? Would you buy it if you didn't reload 9mm?

Yes, I'd buy it. At that price, it'd be hard to go wrong. As others noted, if it wears parts, you can buy new parts with the savings. For that matter, I might just buy it to have on hand in the next ammo panic.

 

[Ignition Override]

The only crap ammo I've bought is "Forged", by Winchester. This makes a Fail To Eject now and then with Tula look like premium ammo.

Forged was quoted by the "Military Arms Channel"/MAC as causing the first malfunctions in several of his guns. It seems to be caused by the gunpowder loadings. Sort of like .22LR issues in handguns--but even weak .22LR works much better than Forged 9mm.

The only reason-without exception- why I use US ammo instead of Russian for the first several hundred rds. in Each my handguns is to exclude the chance of a weak loading/FT Extract factor, just to know that the new gun is mechanically reliable.
My three German Sigs (P6's, a 1987 P225), Walther P99 AS, and CZ PCR are 'reportedly' made of high-quality steel and using ammo made of cheap commercial steel won't cause any stress.

If your guns are made of very sub-standard steel (i.e. Century-produced AKM clones), then stick with the decent US ammo brands.