To load or not to load...9mm

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D.B. Cooper

D.B. Cooper

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So it looks like Federal dropped their aluminum cased 9mm (i.e. cheap) ammo. Does anyone else make a cheap ($7-8/box of 50) 9mm 115grn FMJ? The next best things I can find are Magtech and Winchester NATO at $10/box and Blazer Brass at $11/box. (I'm gun shy about steel cased ammo so avoiding it.)

So at 20¢/ round compared to about 12¢/ round, I'm not sure I should go in to loading 9mm. I use a Lee LCT turret press and can produce about 125 rounds per hour. I figure I can load 9mm for about 12¢/rd; that only saves me about 8¢/rd, or about $10/hr. I'm also loading 44 special at about 14¢/round, but on that caliber, I'm saving 46¢/ round, or about $57/hr. I hate to pay $10-$12/box of ammo for 9mm, but according to basic economic principles, I should be focusing on loading 44 spl; any time I spend reloading 9mm is an economic loss.

Scenario 1: I'm doing this purely as a cost cutting strategy, I don't need hyper-accurate ammo, and that I'm not reloading for the joy and/or sake of reloading in and of itself, what do you guys think? Should I even gear up to reload for 9mm?

Scenario 2: Massive ammo shortages. Should I gear up to reload 9mm not as a cost cutting measure but as a hedge against market fluctuations/hyper-inflation? And if the answer yes, why wouldn't I just buy as much loaded ammo right now as I possibly can afford?
 
I have the tooling to load 9mm but I don't load for it. If I pay myself just $10 an hour for my time to reload, I could buy a 1000 round case. Then again 9mm isn't at the top of my list for carry or target practice and as such is a lower priority for me.

.40
 
How about a combo approach??

Start storing up components while components are cheap and then when prices go up, and they will go up... you will already have components on hand....oh and save your brass, although as cheap as 9mm brass is I don't get too worried about losing a few per mag.

Shoot the cheap stuff while its $10 or so
 
I reload nine, but judging from the amount of brass laying around at the range I don't think many people reload it. You can't sell the OF brass because nobody wants it. It's even harder to sell than .223/5.56 brass if you can imagine that.

I stopped picking up the brass because I have more than I could ever use now. I guess I've been collecting it for about 3 years.

I'll continue to reload it because I have more time than money now that I'm retired. If I was still working I doubt I would mess around with it. I think the only reason I started reloading nine was somebody gave me the dies and I already had plenty of powder, brass and primers. Keeps me out of the taverns. :D
 
Meh, I gave up a long time ago loading for 9mm and 5.56mm... when you consider the time I would spend loading them, it's a no-brainer. I have a lot of cartridge to load for... I would rather spend my time loading for cartridges I can't afford to buy (like .41 Magnum) or can't find (like .348WCF) or cartridges that benefit from the handloading process. I understand there is a trade-off... time vs money... but that is just the way I do it.

I have started to load limited quantities of match-grade 5.56mm (which would be expensive otherwise) and some 9mm (just so's I have a few recipe workups just in case,) but I buy my blasting ammo by the case.
 
CoalTrain49 said:
I stopped picking up the brass because I have more than I could ever use now. I guess I've been collecting it for about 3 years.
Click to expand...

Haa haa! I finally scrapped about 15K 9mm cases a few years ago, and only kept something like 3K or so... just in case. I'm a brass scrounger from the word go, but even I leave 9mm lay. 5.56mm is about as bad...
 
I've recently seen brass case 9mm for 17 cents delivered. If you look strictly at cost savings, and give any value at all to your time, then it simply does not make sense.

Having said that, I continue to load my own 9mm, costs me about 11 cents. I have a special load for my 9mm carbine that I simply can't get with factory ammo, and for my pistols I have reduced recoil loads that are reliable in all my guns. And, it is a relaxing hobby for me.
 
newfalguy101 said:
How about a combo approach??

Start storing up components while components are cheap and then when prices go up, and they will go up... you will already have components on hand....oh and save your brass, although as cheap as 9mm brass is I don't get too worried about losing a few per mag.

Shoot the cheap stuff while its $10 or so
Click to expand...

^^^I do this for 9mm^^^
 
I do keep the components and knowledge base up to date for loading 9mm ammo. Usually I find myself bored in the winter and cranking out some 9mm when I run out of more interesting things to load and ice fishing or snowmobiling at 10 below or worse sounds like a bad idea. Was very glad I had the capability during the last great shortage. I shot A LOT of 9mm, as .22 was pretty unobtainable and I was reserving my existing stock for varmints and such. I could still get cast 9mm at a reasonable price from Missouri bullet so long as I didn't mind waiting on backorder limbo a week or two. Yes, the cost saving is minimal with current prices, even running a bottom dollar cast bullet and sipping HP-38. Yes, it's not really worth my PRODUCTIVE time, but it's worth more than watching TV. That being said, with the current prices, I'm probably going to order some and build up my brass stockpile when my current stock from last winter starts getting thin. It's probably as good of time as I'm going to get to rotate out my old brass and get down to one headstamp once fired by burning some new ammo. As far as ordering a large quantity, I don't like to do this unless it is DIRT cheap, as was the case with several military rifle rounds and 7.62 Tokarev several years ago. I don't see myself ever loading any significant quantity of 7.62x54R or 7.62 Tok with the exception of specialty loads, but a set of dies and some basic load work up to find a "standard" load with a powder you use elsewhere is cheap insurance vs. not shooting if things get stupid again. In the case of 9mm, a thousand rounds worth of components doesn't take up much space.
 
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I load 9 and 223 I do load it cheaper then store bought, the big plus for me is
My ammo is way better and cleaner then the cheap budget stuff in the shelves I much prefer my home brew especially in 223. I guess it depends on
If you are looking for accuracy or just
Plinking
 
Follow up question... what powder are you loading in .44 spl? Odds are good it is suitable for 9mm. Primers don't take up much space. If I were you, I would stock some based on scenario 2, and rotate your stock every few years on some cold winter nights. This way you have the dies and knowledge base to jump right into it if shortages or extreme prices show up again.
 
I load for mine. Makes me feel productive and I get the loads I want. And it is cheaper. I'm not taking work off to load ammo so the "once you factor in your time" argument doesn't make sense to me. But you can get good brass cases 9mm for $.16-$.17/rd delivered so I understand those who decide it's not worth the time.
 
I am not into reloading for purely economical reasons. If I worried about the value of the time I spend on my hobbies I wouldn't have any hobbies at all. My handmade leather belt would cost me over $80 in a store. It cost me well more than that in the time it took me to make it myself. But I made it exactly the way I want it and I have the pride of having done it myself. The booze I make myself costs a lot more in time than I can buy the good stuff in the store, but I make it exactly the way I want it, and have pride in having done it myself. The honey from my hives, same thing.
Yes, I could find ammo on Walmart's shelves that cost less per round than I can build it, but I'll bet you a whole dollar that the 9mm that I build shoots better than White Box, and I know exactly where the brass is going to land, and I like the way the recoil feels a lot better. I build my ammunition to do exactly what I want it to do in my guns. Oh, it ain;t as pretty as new brass, because I don't worry about polishing it like a diamond.
Another one; shotgun shells. I know for certain it costs more to load my 20, 16 and 12 ga shells than I can buy a box of economy shells in the store. But I know exactly how mine are going to pattern, and I know the grouse I'm roasting was killed with ammo that I built.

So, IMO, if your bottom line is the bottom line, don't bother loading 9mm, just buy the cheapest imported junk you can find. But if you have any interest in making it your way and taking pride in the result, 9mm is a fine cartridge to spend your hobby time crafting.
 
Well I appreciate everyone's thoughts. I kind of felt like I had answered my own question in my original post, and, apparently, I did. The general consensus seems to agree that, at least for the time being, it's not financially beneficial.

I think newfalguy has it right. Shoot the cheap stuff while it's cheap, while at the same time accumulate components.

In response to Random 8, I load Clays in my 44 Special, and there is loading data available for Clays in 9mm. I also could load other calibers that share Clays powder data and small pistol primers, so the logistics won't be too bad.
 
My approach is a little different

I look at cheap factory ammo as a source of brass with the bonus of some practice

I find reloading relaxing so I don’t look at the “cost” of my time in the equation.

My ammo is a lot better than the cheap stuff. So it’s not fair to compare the cost of mine against the cost of cheap ammo. A better cost analysis would be against decent competition ammo. And even that isn’t fair as the loads aren’t exact for what works best for me and my guns.

That said. I’ve always tried to buy at least twice what I shoot. So if I shoot a box of cheap ammo, I then but at least two more.
If I shoot my reloads I usually buy a box of cheap stuff and components to replace what I shot. Or put the money aside to buy more components since I buy bullets and primers in a minimum of 1000.

The thing as others said is to wind up with more than before heading to the range while things are cheap. Be it components or ammo.

And if you like reloading then do it for the joy. If you don’t, load a hundred or so every trip to the range or at least after a few so you keep your skills up. and buy more ammo and components so you can reload in the event of the next shortage.
 
Thimk again. Hokie_PhD has it right! I can load 9mm that is much better than the cheap stuff. OTOH, you have it right too! I am still shooting 22 LR that I bought in the Clinton era. The secret to panic buying is to buy ahead. Stock as much of the cheap stuff as you can and buy components while you can get them.
 
Hokie_PhD said:
I find reloading relaxing so I don’t look at the “cost” of my time in the equation.
Click to expand...

LOL......not me.

Hokie_PhD said:
My ammo is a lot better than the cheap stuff. So it’s not fair to compare the cost of mine against the cost of cheap ammo. A better cost analysis would be against decent competition ammo. And even that isn’t fair as the loads aren’t exact for what works best for me and my guns.
Click to expand...

I don't need that. I need it reliable and able to hold 2-3" at 20 or so yards, or inside the dots of a Dot Tprture Target at 7 yrds.
 
docv said:
The secret to panic buying is to buy ahead. Stock as much of the cheap stuff as you can and buy components while you can get them.
Click to expand...

Agreed. And that's pretty much what is driving all this.
 
The first cartridge I started loading 30 years ago was 9mm.

I still reload 9mm on my Dillon 650xl. I have roughly 8000 9mm bullets and 8000 rounds of once fired 9mm brass... so I can't really afford to not reload 9mm. With my Dillon I can reload 9mm faster than it takes me to go into town to buy it. When a buddy calls at 8pm on a friday night saying lets go shooting tomorrow, I can crank out several hundred rounds in a half hour or so, I can't make it to town and back in that time even if there were a place with a decent price (or any price) open.

I also have some old guns that I like to load wimpy loads for... P08 Luger, Walther P38, C96, etc. I also like practicing with the loads I carry so I load Gold dots for practice and carry in my carry guns... CM9, DB9, CZ75D compact. I am confident my carry pistols feed my carry rounds. With retail price of defensive rounds who can afford to practice with them?

The best part about NOT reloading is NOT having to bend over to pick up the brass.
 
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fxvr5 said:
CCI brass for $9 - https://www.targetsportsusa.com/9mm-luger-ammo-c-51.aspx#Ma29|
Click to expand...
And if you purchase their “prime ammo” membership, it’s an additional 8% off all prices on everything they sell and free shipping on all orders.

It’s a wonderful thing we live in the USofA and get to decide for ourselves...to load or not to load...

If your economic model indicates it’s cheaper to buy factory, have at it. If one of your inhibitors is your current progressive press, and, you enjoy reloading, perhaps you should look into a press that would increase your output while maintaining quality? Just looking at the issue in a different way!

Me, I like watching things go round in circles I guess. That shell plate, clocks, race cars...
 
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