Reloading 9mm

saskgunowner101 said:
Is saving money his stated goal? Maybe he wants a hobby to pass the time, that feeling of rolling up his own accurate ammo, and never having to rely on a gun store to have ammo in stock.
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OP does not say what the interest is that's the question, but he's finding out looking for powder is harder than finding some 9mm factory loads in stock.
 
OP go ahead and buy your press...

1/. Go for a good quality press and it will last your and your kids lifetimes. You will find that soon enough you are shooting another calibre as well. A couple times a year put some oil in the pivots and wear areas.

2/. Don't be afraid of single stage presses. If you aren't in a hurry (or you can plan ahead) you can have enough ammo. Figure 100 rounds an hour in pistol calibre so.

3/. As mentioned, information and knowledge is important.

4/. Don't forget this is a hobby and you do this for enjoyment.
 
Read read read, etc etc, REALLY? I have downloaded most of the reloading books and I admit I did skim though a couple of them but theres no way I could read word for word one, or several of these books without falling asleep or completely not comprehend it all. I understand the importance of knowing what you are doing when playing around with reloading, but think about it, all the old school guys had was books back in the day, no youtube, no CGN, no Google so they really didnt have any other options to learn how its done.

Now that said, I reload 4 different pistol calibers and have loaded probably 8000 to 10000 rounds over the last couple years and I have had 2 squibs. Perfect, no, not really, but not bad either. And I've never had any incidents while running a press. I learned everything from this forum, googlel, youtube and talking to guys at my club. Just trying to say that reading 20 books printed 50 years ago might not be as "required" as it was even 10 years ago.

flame suit on, let'r buck LOL
 
saskcop said:
I use single stage for my pistols. It is slower than most, but I do it in stages where I prep a pile of brass, then prime it all, then load it in lots of 3-400 at a time. Still saving a few bucks - if I could locate powder ...
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Right on saskcop, I do the same, gets me out of the house and into the Man cave away from distractions ( away from the Bride) for a few hours a month.
 
Awesome guys thanks for the advice. Would it be realistic to say if I bought 1000 cheap target bullets, 1000 primers and a pound of gunpowder (I already have once fired brass), that I would only be in at $8 to $10 for a box of 50?
 
Do the math dude. Get all your prices, figure out the powder and charge you will use and figure it out with a calculator. I use Win 231 at 4.3 grains and my reloads are somewhere around 13 cents a shot if I remember correctly.
 
HI; I still use my 25 year old rockchucker from RCBS. Loaded 100000 rounds plus I guess. Still load 2 thousand a year, not the 10,000 a year I use to. If you get the wife or able child to help set up thing loading go quick.
 
Ganderite said:
Any pistol primer would work. Buy what you can find.

You should buy a medium speed pistol powder, like 231, TightGroup, Power Pistol, 3N37. (Good luck with that.)

You don't need a digital scale. To load pistol powder you need a powder thrower. You should be able to buy one used on EE. A balance scale would suffice to set the thrower to the correct setting.

I used to load 9mm on a single stage. Size a bucket of brass, then change die and mouth open the bucket of brass. Prime all the bucket of brass, then throw powder charges and seat the bullet. Not as slow as pone might think.

Let us know what powder you find and we can suggest a good load to start with.
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Here you go. I loaded well over 10000 rounds just like this. Prep brass in batches and then away you go. Is a progressive faster? Yup but you can load efficiently with a single stage no doubt.
 
jrcarbine said:
Awesome guys thanks for the advice. Would it be realistic to say if I bought 1000 cheap target bullets, 1000 primers and a pound of gunpowder (I already have once fired brass), that I would only be in at $8 to $10 for a box of 50?
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Yup. You can get it down to almost $6.00 with some research and bulk buys.
 
As a new handloader a single stage kit works great and is very easy to use. Before i got my dillion i shot IPSC with my 45 and used my Lee single stage press. Sure it takes time but its a great teaching tool. My 9mm load with bought lead bullets from Cactus Plains ( i cast also) SR 7625 powder and primers and using my brass cost me 12.2 cents per round. This is $6 per box. If you factor in once fired brass I have bought 9mm at 9 cents per. Cast lead bullets one makes oneself can cast almost nothing if using wheel weights.
As others have said the Lee and the Lyman load books are broad ranging books that cover lots of loads both jacketed and lead. Good luck
 
ipscgraz said:
OP go ahead and buy your press...

1/. Go for a good quality press and it will last your and your kids lifetimes. You will find that soon enough you are shooting another calibre as well. A couple times a year put some oil in the pivots and wear areas.

2/. Don't be afraid of single stage presses. If you aren't in a hurry (or you can plan ahead) you can have enough ammo. Figure 100 rounds an hour in pistol calibre so.

3/. As mentioned, information and knowledge is important.

4/. Don't forget this is a hobby and you do this for enjoyment.
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This!
 
jrcarbine said:
Awesome guys thanks for the advice. Would it be realistic to say if I bought 1000 cheap target bullets, 1000 primers and a pound of gunpowder (I already have once fired brass), that I would only be in at $8 to $10 for a box of 50?
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Yes, that would work. Take up Peter Dobson's offer of N320. Might be the best powder in the world.
 
I just started reloading. I have a Lee Classic Turret Press. Since I am new, I took out the indexing rod and doing things in "single stage" mode so that I can inspect each load.

-Read and reread reloading manuals;
-Watch this youtube video - very, very informative - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21P8LDUqWYU&list=FLUhmZQalFU7TtwzRjiv60kw&index=10
-Powder was initially hard to get, but I picked up some IMR 700-X through Cabela's.
-9mm cartridges usually uses small pistol primers. CCI is usually the popular one
-Take your time in reloading. Have a good clean organized desk when reloading.
 
Even at a savings or $8 a box, it doesn't take that many to totally justify the cost of a Lee classic turret kit, stand and dies set. More expensive brands will take a bit longer but the economics are still there. Reload more expensive rounds like Speer GDHPs and the numbers add up fast. Saving 70-80 cents a round makes practising with the snappy stuff a lot easier on the wallet.
 
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