Reloading for 9mm?

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coldblood

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How feasible is it? I mean including equipment, components and materials required to start reloading 9mm from zero - when it will start to pay off? For quick comparison I could buy 500 rounds for 170$. Let alone all the benefits of self-reloaded rounds, does this worth it to reload for 9mm?

Thanks.

ps more info - assuming I will shoot about 1000 rounds per month or may be more.
 
i save about 100 bucks per thousand rounds. i payed 700 bucks for my dillon 550, it came with a scale a tumbler and a media separator. but i got a great deal:D buy a new 550 and your looking at about 550 $ then you need a scale, some form of cleaning. (some guys do it on the cheap, there's various methods) theres a thread around somewhere about buying stainles steel shot from the states with the company's tumbler. with shipping i guess that would be about 250$.

now i payed 700 all in for mine, i save about 100 bucks per thousand rounds. once i reload about 7000 rounds ill have mine payed off. after that its just pure savings.
 
The savings are almost secondary. The important factor for most people is reliable supply of ammo that's consistant. Nothing sucks more ass than practicing and tuning your gun only to have to scramble for more of the same ammo.

My reloading set up would probably top 4k to replace. You could argue it's got a long payback time. My arguement is I don't plan on quitting shooting any decade soon, so who cares? How would you suggest I try and mentally break down my investment? ((($/hr used)/(X years))+ ((Cost of factory ammo)-(Cost of components))x (#K/yr))
 
coldblood said:
How feasible is it? I mean including equipment, components and materials required to start reloading 9mm from zero - when it will start to pay off? For quick comparison I could buy 500 rounds for 170$. Let alone all the benefits of self-reloaded rounds, does this worth it to reload for 9mm?

Thanks.

ps more info - assuming I will shoot about 1000 rounds per month or may be more.
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Not worth it if you don't care about reliability.

Cheapest 9mm factory ammo options are the BDX stuff or those non-reloadable aluminum case CCI stuff.
 
coldblood said:
How feasible is it? I mean including equipment, components and materials required to start reloading 9mm from zero - when it will start to pay off? For quick comparison I could buy 500 rounds for 170$. Let alone all the benefits of self-reloaded rounds, does this worth it to reload for 9mm?
ps more info - assuming I will shoot about 1000 rounds per month or may be more.
Click to expand...

1,000 rds/month is a lot of reloading, IMO.

Reloading 9mm costs me 70 bucks per thousand for primers and powder, because I cast my bullets.

It will cost about 80 bucks more with commercial lead or about 100 more with plated bullets.

It is worthwhile to get at least a Dillon 550, a decent tumbler and weighing scale, say total about 800 bucks. You break even in 8 months even with commercial bullets.

Or if you want cheap, you can go with a Lee Turret kit for $145, dies for about 50, from Henry Nierchlo on the EE Reloading and Ammo, or other dealers. It will take you about 6 hours to load 1,000 with this Lee kit, vs 3 hours on a 550B. Quality of reloaded ammo is about the same with either machine.

If I shot that much, I'd go with at least a 550B.
 
Since I saved all the brass from the factory stuff I shot, that's free for me now. Using this:

ht tp://handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

...it works out to:
.128 cents per round
$6.38 per box of 50
$127.66 per thousand.

I'm using plated bullets, and a single stage press.
 
coldblood said:
Sorry, didn't quite get what did you mean by "reliability". Did you mean - consistency?
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I mean eveything. It makes your firearm dirty very quickly causing misfires, jamming, etc. I don't think the quality control is that good either in terms of powder changer and bullet weight.
 
Reloading for me is worth it. It costs me about half of factory ammo and I enjoy doing it as well.

I bought my reloading gear used for $40 and it has everything I need. I just had to buy a 9mm die set for $35 and I was off to the races.

Now 1000 rounds costs me about $150 and allows me to shoot way more rounds than I would if I was always buying factory.

I figure I shoot about 6-7000 rounds per year and I am glad I don't have to spend more cash on ammo than I already do!

Soooooooo, go for it!!!:D
 
Thank you everybody for comments! I really appreciate it.

Another (a bit off topic) question - can I reload rifle rounds (.338/.308/.243) using the same equipment that is used to reload 9mm? Knowing that I will reload for rifles, how the suggestions for equipment will be different to accomodate both set-ups - for handgun and for rifles?

Thank you.
 
If you get a decent progressive press, like a Dillon 550b or Hornady LnL, you can reload rifle calibers just as fast as a pistol calibers. The case prep requires more time though.
 
The Hornady LNL Classic kit is on sale at Brownells too, $299 minus 10% if you enter code RFL in the check out process. Much higher quality and better warranty than the Lee products, although more expensive than the anniversary kit. This kit will do rifles & handguns. The Dillon Square Deal B is inexpensive too, but will only do handguns.
 
I started this year with 9mm and have gotten the cost down to about 4.50/box. I bought a lee loadmaster progressive and once I got it tuned correctly it works very well. If your going to shoot that much in a month its well worth it to reload. I also have a single stage RCBS press for reloading just rifle rounds. In my opinion it takes more time to monkey around changing your progressive that it would to just use a single stage press. Again this depends on how much rifle rounds you plan to shoot etc. For me I just make hunting rounds so its not worth the effort to convert my progressive every time I need to load 50 or so rifle rounds.

As for progressive and pistol? Its worth it to reload!

my 0.02cents
 
You can buy reloaded 9mm from SRFC (see above, they're a sponsor) for $238.00 per thousand. Thats the price you must beat and if you're honest with yourself about costs, you'll soon see you can't make em for less. Beware of reloading accountants. Their rose colored glasses are about 5x power. You need a lot more than a press to make ammo with and they all know it.
 
HKMark23 said:
You can buy reloaded 9mm from SRFC (see above, they're a sponsor) for $238.00 per thousand. Thats the price you must beat and if you're honest with yourself about costs, you'll soon see you can't make em for less. Beware of reloading accountants. Their rose colored glasses are about 5x power. You need a lot more than a press to make ammo with and they all know it.
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:bsFlag: :eek: :HR:
If you need to ship that ammo from SFRC, don't forget to add shipping cost.

For 9mm, my cost will be $170 per thousand with commercial plated bullets. My cost is $65 per thousand with my own home cast bullets. I do not buy brass (except for .45acp sometimes) because I enjoy sweeping up and scrounging trash cans for free range brass. I get all my supplies locally.

Labor is not factored in but even if it was, my time is still cheaper than seeing a shrink and anti-depressant drugs which I would need to keep my sanity in this crazy world. As well, other leisure pursuits are more expensive on a per hour basis, like golf or any of the other pastimes I do not care to indulge in.

My reloading equipment consists of all Lee equipment (crap as some would put it:D) and the Loadmaster cost me less than $400 with tumbler/powder scale. My reloading equipment has been paid for many times over. My casting and resizing equipment cost $300 and I (and my buddies who use my equipment as well) have saved about $1,800 making more than 20,000 our own 38/357, 9mm, 40 cal, and 45 acp bullets in the last two years. My reloading and casting equipment have paid for themselves a long time ago and have been written off, yet they will continue to produce quality ammo/bullets for many years to come.

I am not an accountant, do not wear 5X rose-colored glasses nor do I need anybody to tell me what I know. Sorry for the rant.
 
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easyrider604 said:
:bsFlag: :eek: :HR:
If you need to ship that ammo from SFRC, don't forget to add shipping cost.

For 9mm, my cost will be $170 per thousand with commercial plated bullets. My cost is $65 per thousand with my own home cast bullets. I do not buy brass (except for .45acp sometimes) because I enjoy sweeping up and scrounging trash cans for free range brass. I get all my supplies locally.

Labor is not factored in but even if it was, my time is still cheaper than seeing a shrink and anti-depressant drugs which I would need to keep my sanity in this crazy world. As well, other leisure pursuits are more expensive on a per hour basis, like golf or any of the other pastimes I do not care to indulge in.

My reloading equipment consists of all Lee equipment (crap as some would put it:D) and the Loadmaster cost me less than $400 with tumbler/powder scale. My reloading equipment has been paid for many times over. My casting and resizing equipment cost $300 and I (and my buddies who use my equipment as well) have saved about $1,800 making more than 20,000 our own 38/357, 9mm, 40 cal, and 45 acp bullets in the last two years. My reloading and casting equipment have paid for themselves a long time ago and have been written off, yet they will continue to produce quality ammo/bullets for many years to come.

I am not an accountant, do not wear 5X rose-colored glasses nor do I need anybody to tell me what I know. Sorry for the rant.
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Very Well Said!!!!!!

I reload more for the fact that its just not easy to come by factory ammo in my area. Well 11.90/box is cheap from SFRC it does cost about 40 bucks to get that package to my neck of the woods. Lets not forget the governments portion either.... when you can cast your own bullets and scrounge range brass it really is cheaper all things considered. like many others have said my costs associated with my equipment are long recovered in savings on purchasing factory ammo. So no rose colored glasses here my friend..... The bottom line is to enjoy the hobby and not get so caught up in the costs.;)
 
im starting to reload 9mm, partly for cost savings, partly just for a new hobby and partly because it lets me make rounds for competition better than factory ammo. i want to start shooting steel, ever tried to find 120 pf factory ammo? trying to find any 9mm ammo with lead bullets is hard enough (not mandatory at all places for steel, but i feel safer anyways)

and its a nice primer for when i want to reload .45 or 38 special or some other even more expensive cartridge
 
I reload 9mm in a single stage Lee. Cost about 15 cents per round in the end. In saying that it does take time to do load with the single stage, take that into consideration....

As far as rifle goes, I use the same press, different die set. Works great. And am usually only loading 40-60 bullets as opposed to 500 or more for 9mm!!!
 
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