single stage press, reloading 9mm is it worth it?

Reloading handgun rounds takes very little time and can be a nice break from the wife and kids. (for safety reasons of course)

reloading rifle, the press is almost immaterial, case prep will suck up about 85% of the time you spend reloading rifle.
 
Buy a cheap lee pro 1000, go slow n steady, get a feel for it, and watch the primer feed like a hawk. I loaded over 1k 38 special in an afternoon with no errors. I've just ordered the parts to convert it to 45acp and 9mm.

Best bang for the buck if you are a casual shooter but are outgrowing the single stage.

Brass is free if you mine the range (I collected thousands in a few mornings out).

Cast bullets cost me $90 per thousand if I don't want to drop my own. Primers $40 per thousand. Powder is maybe $15 per thousand - I've not worked out how many 3.4 grain charges of titegroup per pound I get.

If you waste time in front of the tv or on the computer for hours a week, then I'd say your time costs nothing - reload instead
 
GM,

If you're looking at it from cost vs time side, then it costs me $5.50 per box. If you're paying $16/box then at 20 boxes (1000 rounds) you're looking at a difference of $210.

It'll take you 3 hours (2 hours if you go max speed) start to finish to crank out 1000 rounds on a progressive. That means you save $210/3hrs = $70/hour.
If you make less than $70 an hour at your job then a progressive is worth it. If you make more than $70 per hour then its a toss up since your time may be more important than cost.

Unsure what the rate is on a single stage press, but for me between family and work I just don't have time to spend 3-4x the time on a single stage press versus a progressive. I do enjoy reloading when I do get to do it, but am at a very busy stage of life right now. Let's say it takes 4 times to reload the same 1000 rds on a single stage press then that would be $210/12hrs = $17.5/hour. If you make less than that at your work then its worth it, if you make more than that its a toss up and your time may be more valuable.

In short a progressive will allow you to save more (make more depending on how you look at it) in a given time than single stage. You can still love to reload and which type of setup (single, semi progressive, progressive) is really independent of that passion.

Hope this helps,
on-ca

savage M110 BAS said:
does anybody reload 9mm from a single stage press? in your opinion is it worth it in terms of dollar savings?. $16 dollars for a box of 50 compared to the time it would take to reload + supplies, i cant decide what to do.
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savage M110 BAS said:
does anybody reload 9mm from a single stage press? in your opinion is it worth it in terms of dollar savings?. $16 dollars for a box of 50 compared to the time it would take to reload + supplies, i cant decide what to do.
Click to expand...

Reloading depends on several factors.

#1 - How much are you willing to commit to reloading? $100? $500? 2000?
#2 - If you reload do you take into account your equipment costs? Return on Investment (ROI)?
#3 - What volumes of reloading will you be doing? 100/year? 1000/year? 1000/month? More?
#4 - How much free time do you have? How much time are you willing to devote to reloading?

These are not necessarily in sequential order.
If you have Zero time to reload or to devote to reloading, stop here and go buy factory.

Now when you look at ammo, say 9mm.
Factor 1000 rounds @ $16/box of 50 = $320
You can relaod for say $17/100 (per round: 0.02 for powder, 0.10 for plated bullets, 0.05 for primer = 0.17 each) or even cheaper if you use non-jackets/plated bullets or buy in bulk.

ROI! If you feel that you need to know when you might break even or get positive ROI, Lets assume you shoot 1000 rounds a year and therefore save $150 over factory ammunition.
It would take under a year with a cheap $100 press, but over 5 years with an $800 press.

I have done 1000 .40 S&W on a single stage press (my RCBS RC for rifle and my first centerfire handgun), which took 16hours worth of reloading time. That 16 hours spent instantly promted me to spend $250 and get a Lee-1000 and the next 1000 rounds took me 4ish hours. Since then I have upgraded to a Hornady LnL-AP and 1000 rounds takes roughly 2 hours.

So in my experience:
Single Stage @ $100 = 16 hours for 1000 rounds.
Cheap Progressive @ $250 = 4 hours
Good progressive @ $800 = 2 hours

I decided at the time that I never wanted to spend an entire weekend making 1000 rounds, my time was valuable to me. Some put hourly rates and such, but if I reload it is volunteer work (aka free labour) and as such does not factor into costs for myself.

Obviously if you shoot frequently (aka several thousand rounds a year or more), a bigger press is in your future. At one point (before two kids), I was up to nearly 10K a year with .40 & .38spc/357mag (shooting and plinking). I'm probably down to 2500 a year now...

It took me two days to go from a single stage to the Lee-1000 (Had to go get it and set-up). I used that Lee-1000 until I was hitting 5000 rounds annually (~3 years), then jumped to the LNL-AP.
The Lee-1000 is quirky (Primer system anyone?) but comes with dies and a shell plate (which are at least $70 worth of extras on the higher end presses).
As someone mentioned, I do find reloading to be relaxing (Almost like meditation) when you lock yourself away from the pressures of life for a few hours... So it is a balance of all the above factors that only you can decide on fully.
 
I reload 9mm on a single stage, as well as .38 S&W. I can get my costs down to 15 cents/rd, and like Dogzilla, I break it up into stages. This isn't a problem for me, as I do all this over winter anyway. I also use Custom reloading as my source for Berry's 124gr plated RN.
 
stevebc said:
I reload 9mm on a single stage, as well as .38 S&W. I can get my costs down to 15 cents/rd, and like Dogzilla, I break it up into stages. This isn't a problem for me, as I do all this over winter anyway. I also use Custom reloading as my source for Berry's 124gr plated RN.
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Winter isn't time off shooting for those of us who shoot indoors as well as outdoors... :) Besides you can still shoot in snow covered ranges.. Just bring a snow blower and make trenches. :)
 
Depends on how much you shoot, and how much time you have on your hands to reload. I bought Dillon SDB 9mm for my only handgun. Cranking out 400 rounds in an hour is no sweat. Pretty easy to take an hour the night before the range and make a days worth of ammo. Or take 2.5 hours and make thousands... After doing it this way, I could never go back. I make my precision rifle ammo for hobby and enjoyment. I make 9 mm for the savings and continued availability, not enjoyment!
 
Not if you value your time.

But you can buy commercial reloads for under $10 a box. Even better.

BUT, reloading is an interesting hobby in its own right. I got started with a single stage and reloaded 9mm on it for a few years. Size a whole bucket of brass. change dies and bell mouth the bucket, then change dies and drop powder and seat bullet.

Not as slow as you might think.
 
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Ganderite said:
Not if you value your time.

But you can buy commercial reloads for under $10 a box. Even better.

BUT, reloading is an interesting hobby in its own right. I got started with a single stage and reloaded 9mm on it for a few years. Size a whole bucket of brass. change dies and bell mouth the bucket, then change dies and drop powder and seat bullet.

Not as slow as you might think.
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That's exactly what I do !!!!! A great way to spend an evening getting away from the TV !!!
 
I just buy bulk factory 9mm ammo from whoever. However, I do hand load using a single stage press for .357 mag revolver.
 
savage M110 BAS said:
does anybody reload 9mm from a single stage press? in your opinion is it worth it in terms of dollar savings?. $16 dollars for a box of 50 compared to the time it would take to reload + supplies, i cant decide what to do.
Click to expand...

if you don't already have a press, it's not worth it to get one to set up for it (either single or turret or progressive)

if you already own a progressive for other calibers, then adding 9mm capability is probably somewhat worth it.

if you think you might get into reloading other calibers in the future, don't buy a press but save your brass, and then when you do buy, buy progressive with parts to handle your needed calibers.

i use a lee pro 1000 to reload 40, 38/357, 45. i can reliably and consistently do approx 200 rounds per hour. i'd consider adding 9mm to that press, maybe, but not as strongly as adding 44mag to that press.
 
savage M110 BAS said:
does anybody reload 9mm from a single stage press? in your opinion is it worth it in terms of dollar savings?. $16 dollars for a box of 50 compared to the time it would take to reload + supplies, i cant decide what to do.
Click to expand...

Not sure of your location, but if in GTA, go to Rouge River, they have variety of presses set up and good prices. Talk to Scott.
 
I have an idea, SELL the 9mm as they just aren't that much fun, and buy a 44MAG. You can match the price of buying new 9mm by reloading 44mag at home on your single stage. My advice, if you are just buying a press to keep the costs down oppose to buying a press to enjoy the hobby, I think you would be better served by just buying new. If you love the hobby then jump in with both feet, and get a progressive as well as a single stage. You'll appreciate having the two side by side.
 
A single stage press IS an awesome learning tool for new reloaders. It's what I started on, reloading both 9mm, 5.56, and .308Win. A single stage press is also a great tool for load development.

That said, you're pulling that single-stage lever an awful lot of times to reload a decent amount of handgun ammo.

My recommendation would be to start out with a decent single stage press, and then once you've got the reloading process straight and are able to safely produce good ammo, then move to a progressive.
 
I use a single stage press for reloading .357 and it costs about $.21/round instead of $.56/round to buy factory ammo, so I think that is worth it. I probably shoot 1000-2000 rounds a year, and bought the press to reload for rifles. I don't shoot 9mm, but have a couple of .45s coming, and I might buy a set of dies to reload for them, but at $330/1000 it's almost not worth it for me. If I start shooting more, I might buy a progressive.
Kristian
 
"...been reloading with a..." Ditto. Not a Rockchucker though. Not that it matters. Reloading quickly on a single stage press is a matter of technique. Mostly the use of both hands and bins of processed and unprocessed cases. Then into a reloading tray for powdering and bullet seating.
Reloading isn't about saving money anyway(you very likely won't). It's about using the best possible ammo you can.
 
It is best to start your reloading career with a single stage press and learn all the tricks of the trade on it. The first time I used a progressive press I wanted to cry thinking of all the time I wasted on my single stage which could have been spent with family or on the range. Life is just too short to load any handgun calibre on a single stage.
 
I'm waiting on a lee 4-hole turret to become available, then I will be reloading 9mm and 45acp, each with its own turret. I considered a single stage but discarded the thought, you can run a turret as single stage until you feel more comfortable with it and you don't have to keep changing out dies. I prefer to monitor quality control myself so I'm not interested in a progressive either. I view it as 100% worth it, somewhat cheaper, better loads and no worries about finding cartridges in short supply.
 
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