I know components can be more scarce right now but it seems like pistol components are available although prices are up no doubt. Just wondering if the 9mm reloaders are finding it cost effective to purchasing bulk 9mm ammo at ~$400/ 1000 rounds. I reload rifle calibers right now and that has been nice over the past couple years so I am considering starting to reload 9mm. Another reason would be to ensure I have a supply of 9mm, shipping bulk ammo to rural areas is no longer free and bulk quantities are not always easy to find.
Reloading 9mm cost effective?
- Thread starter A-bolt243
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In general, yes, but it's not as much of a difference as some of the other calibers. On a single stage press it would be boredom personified. On a progressive (like say a Dillon) it's much quicker, but still takes time to get to decent volume. I do load 9mm, but I also load 9 Major for Open, which is much cheaper to load.
$0.308 per round (taxes in) is what I'm reloading for 9mm with today's inflated component prices. That's with plated bullets, I'm not casting my own or anything "special".
That's $15.40/50 rounds.
Factory ammo is going for what, around $25.00/50 rounds pre-tax?
So for me it's worth my labour to load my own.
That's $15.40/50 rounds.
Factory ammo is going for what, around $25.00/50 rounds pre-tax?
So for me it's worth my labour to load my own.
Components actually in stock ready to sell not including hazmat or shipping.
pistol primers 170
pound of win 231 62
campro bullets 110
components 342
Also brass has a value whether you save it and sell it or reload it so that is another 30$
pistol primers 170
pound of win 231 62
campro bullets 110
components 342
Also brass has a value whether you save it and sell it or reload it so that is another 30$
.30/06 FTW
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- Thunder Bay, Ontario
Casting your own bullets can help too. $25 or so per thousand if you don’t mind spending the time to do it.
Reloading 9mm cost effective?
I picked up 1000 primers last week for 110 bucks
9mm brass is just about free
10 pounds of lead will pour over 500 cast bullets
and a pound of powder for 60 bucks will load over 1000 rounds of 9mm charges
Seems cheap enough to me, or you can buy them from places like Cabelas for 50 or 60 cents each or $50/100
I picked up 1000 primers last week for 110 bucks
9mm brass is just about free
10 pounds of lead will pour over 500 cast bullets
and a pound of powder for 60 bucks will load over 1000 rounds of 9mm charges
Seems cheap enough to me, or you can buy them from places like Cabelas for 50 or 60 cents each or $50/100
I think it's dependant on how much you shoot in a year, and if you're going to reload other more commercially expensive calibers (45 ACP in my case). With newly purchased components I'm roughly saving .10 cents a round vs Blazer bulk, or 1$ per magazine. Hardly worth the $1200 outlay for a Dillon 750 and case feeder if you shoot a case or two a year, imo.
Casting imo isn't worth it unless you have a substantial supply of free or next to free supply of lead. For what people here sell ingots for, I can buy campro.
Casting imo isn't worth it unless you have a substantial supply of free or next to free supply of lead. For what people here sell ingots for, I can buy campro.
For reloading a couple boxes you don't need a progressive press with case feeder.
The amount some people on the EE asking for their ingot does not mean they sell any...
My local scrap metal place currently pays $0.50/lb for clean lead and $0.20/lb for lead wheel weights.
If you pay the tire shop $0.20-$0.25/lb and pick it up they will gladly sell it to you.
Bring them a 5 gallon pail with your phone number on it and throw in a box of donuts and they likely call you as soon as the buckets gets full.
So lets say after cleaning the lead (expect a good percentage of loss due to steel and zinc weights) you are into it for $0.50/lb that means an average 9mm bullet cost you $0.01 for the lead itself.
It's easy to calculate your component cost (as above), but that's just part of the question. Not everybody has the same perspective on the time required, and people never seem to post up their cost savings with respect to how much time it took them to get those savings. Reduced your costs to $10 per box - That's great! But maybe not so great if it took you two hours per box to do so.
How much time do you have available for reloading? And, how much is your time is worth to you? I wouldn't expect a retired dirt farmer to have the same priorities as a currently working lawyer, for example.
Cabelas still ships ammo for free to my rural location (orders over $149).
A box of 50 on a single stage press is 20-25 minutes without rushing. A box of 50 on my Loadmaster (or a similar progressive) with prep time to add powder & brass to case loader = 10 minutes. If I keep going that drops to 5 minutes per 50. Hardly a major time expenditure. I can't think of too many jobs where a person couldn't find an hour a week to load up 150-400 rounds. At a savings of $10/box that's a minimum of $30-80 savings per loading session which for most people isn't chump change. Cast your own bullets and the savings jump a minimum of an additional $5-6/box.
Of course casting also takes time and an initial cash outlay for equipment but with the price of bullets (9mm is a minimum of $100/1000 these days) it does not take too long (perhaps 3000-4000 bullets) to recoup those costs. After that you're basically casting for the cost of the lead so maybe 2 cents per bullet for 9mm if you're buying the lead for $1/pound.
If you shoot a box a month reloading probably isn't worth it but if you shoot even one box of 9mm per week that's a savings of at least $500 per year and much more than that if you're into 38's, 44's or 45's.
Slinging 9mm campro at $0.12 or so plated + $0.20 primer and say $0.08 high estimate for say VV powder, still a bit less than factory 1k rd cases going $425-450 with out any expensive shipping bumping $/rd.
Id say im rolling 9mm, .357/38spl for less than 0.30 ish around, 44mag: 0.45-$1(Hornady with fancy brass),
Most fun: 45-70, call it $2-$2.5 with brass (maybe $2/case new these days) and $1/per less w/o. Compared to $3-7/rd factory. I do it on a Lee breech lock hand press which is $90-120 for the kit. Super handy and portable for remote reloading.
I calculated .223 at $0.54/rd with cfe223 with campro to fmjbt and GINEX printers at $0.17/per.
And you can be a total sicko and just love hand-loading for the firearms-adjacent monotonous and meticulous hobby it is.
When I start jamming on a Lee 4 turret progressive, I’m busting out 100-150/hr easy with occasional stoppages and checks for powder drift. I added a case feeder it’s like 250-300/hr it’s spooky. (Use powders that will overflow if double charged)
So yea it’s worth it. Just don’t by a $1000 Dillon and $600 auto powder drop scale to start! LOL
Id say im rolling 9mm, .357/38spl for less than 0.30 ish around, 44mag: 0.45-$1(Hornady with fancy brass),
Most fun: 45-70, call it $2-$2.5 with brass (maybe $2/case new these days) and $1/per less w/o. Compared to $3-7/rd factory. I do it on a Lee breech lock hand press which is $90-120 for the kit. Super handy and portable for remote reloading.
I calculated .223 at $0.54/rd with cfe223 with campro to fmjbt and GINEX printers at $0.17/per.
And you can be a total sicko and just love hand-loading for the firearms-adjacent monotonous and meticulous hobby it is.
When I start jamming on a Lee 4 turret progressive, I’m busting out 100-150/hr easy with occasional stoppages and checks for powder drift. I added a case feeder it’s like 250-300/hr it’s spooky. (Use powders that will overflow if double charged)
So yea it’s worth it. Just don’t by a $1000 Dillon and $600 auto powder drop scale to start! LOL
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I enjoy reloading for handgun and rifle, but if I am truly honest about the total amount of time I spend doing everything associated with it, the cost savings are usually a minor part of the equation.
Thanks for suggesting some real numbers, that provides useful context. They do seem a bit on the optimistic side (for most people), but I have no trouble believing that a talented and organized person could get there: You've got your techniques and equipment dialed in, and maybe you have a dedicated space to keep your equipment set up and have components easily accessible. For somebody starting out, that's not likely to be the case.
I think it's very easy to underestimate how much time is actually put in to reloading. You almost never hear about time spent doing the behind the scenes stuff - Those things that are not directly related to "production reloading". It takes time to research, choose, and then shop for equipment and components. Then there's time spent learning basic techniques and setting up your equipment and reloading area. And time spent researching load data and then testing loads. There are probably other points I'm missing. Oh, and how about time spent collecting and processing brass? How many times have you seen someone write that they use "free" range brass?
And yes, casting sounds like a great way to save. But again, there's not typically any mention of how long it takes in production terms. And almost never any discussion of how much time is spent behind the scenes.
If you love reloading, and that's a hobby that you choose (like I do), then great. You'd probably make a different cost/benefit calculation from someone who loves shooting and is indifferent to reloading (or someone who dislikes reloading). Or someone who, on a good week, maybe only has two hours per week available for their shooting hobby (and everything associated with it).
When my kids move out and i eventually retire (or slow down) I can def see picking this up as hobby.
But id treat it as a hobby with the goal of breaking even. If i end up ahead then that's great!
Kinda like the guy in the Pub Band that uses the money he makes to buy new guitars
But id treat it as a hobby with the goal of breaking even. If i end up ahead then that's great!
Kinda like the guy in the Pub Band that uses the money he makes to buy new guitars
Those things aren't relevant so yeah, don't count it. It seems to be a #### measuring thing for guys to get a lower number yet nobody works for free. Casting 5-10,000 9mm bullets is time consuming and becomes a chore every time for myself.
Me too, casting not so much. I miss having access to BDX bullets, I wouldn't bother casting 9mm.
