Trying to understand grains

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Virtualdodo

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So I have been toying with Reloading and have been doing some research and learning a lot but want to double check that I have it all straight in my mind.

so in 1lbs of powder there are 7000 grains correct?

Now when you buy factory ammo the Gr rating on the box is actually the bullet grains not the power grains correct?

So out of curiosity just trying to crunch some numbers what is an average grain count for a 9mm round I have seen like 4-6 does that sound right?

Thanks in advance.
 
Thanks so on to the next stage of the project.

A dealer I know of has Winchester 231 Pistol Powder 4lbs 82 bucks. (not sure if this is good or bad but using it for numbers if you have any other better choices I am all ears)
So 4lbs at 5 Grains will yield 5600 rounds(correct) 4lbs *7000 grains per lbs =28000/5 5600. which works out to be about 0.0146 per round.

Now they also sell 2000 primers for 72 bucks so that's about 0.04 per round

Now 2000 bullets is 177 bucks (115 Gr 9mm Round nose)
So that's 0.08 per round

Total 0.14 per round?

Now compared to the cheapest 9mm i have found which is 0.21 that's a pretty good savings which puts you at about 3000-4000 rounds break even point right, If I only do 9mm I assume on stuff like .357 or .45 its even more savings.

Now my numbers might be off so if they are please let me know, I am just looking for an average or if you have any product you recommend (Powder, Primer,Bullet) and a place to get them let me know, I also have 1200 rounds of 9mm brass so that's why I didn't add that.
 
That's pretty close for numbers my 9's cost me about .15 . 45lc at WSS $55 a 50 box at just about $7/cylinider full ouch. loading about 16 cents. Buy primers and bullets buy the 1000s don't rely on the store to always having in stock.Not having the wife nagging about the cost of ammo priceless.
Leroy
 
you need 2000 cases to start with around 60 70 bucks . to be hounest with you 9mm is not worth realoading. you can get 1000 rounds of 9mm for 240 . unless you want better results
 
IMagius said:
Ignoring the price of brass (or dividing that cost by at least 4 (and up to 10)), reloading is much cheaper than factory.
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... if if you are shooting enough to pay for the initial investment in reloading equipment. Don't get me wrong - I reload, but somebody who shoots, say, 25 rounds a month is going to take a long, long time to make up the difference. Using virtualdodo's prices as representative, reloading can save 7¢ a round. Let's say you drop $400 on reloading equipment. You'd need to reload 5,700 rounds before you had that paid off and started saving money.
 
Agreed. I always assume that reloading will be a lifetime adventure for someone and the cost of the equipment isn't truly a factor in the final cost equation, same as I don't add $ to the cost of each repair to my car to account for the equipment & tools in my garage.
 
Atom but that can also be recovered faster if loading different calibers correct? As 9mm is cheap to buy but some others aren't currently looking at a .357Mag/38 Special and maybe a .223 or.308 so could recoup that cost even faster correct?

I will probably shoot 100-200 rounds per week right now I am only doing 50-100 as I am trying to stretch out the life of the ammo I have.

1000 rounds for 240 or reload 1200 for 166 that's money in my pocket still. That works out to be about a 6 month ROI if my math is correct.
 
Basically, you shoot more for the same amount of money. if it makes you feel better you save money, but in real life you just shoot more=more fun.
 
iceman2 said:
Basically, you shoot more for the same amount of money. if it makes you feel better you save money, but in real life you just shoot more=more fun.
Click to expand...

Thats kind of my goal for me, shoot more practice more right now i only take 50-100 rounds to extend the life of what I got.
 
No argument, gentlemen. My point however was that if you are just a once-in-a-while shooter, reloading to save money doesn't make much financial sense. At 500-1,000 rounds a month however, it doesn't take long to pay for itself.
 
Virtualdodo said:
Thanks so on to the next stage of the project.

A dealer I know of has Winchester 231 Pistol Powder 4lbs 82 bucks. (not sure if this is good or bad but using it for numbers if you have any other better choices I am all ears)
So 4lbs at 5 Grains will yield 5600 rounds(correct) 4lbs *7000 grains per lbs =28000/5 5600. which works out to be about 0.0146 per round.

Now they also sell 2000 primers for 72 bucks so that's about 0.04 per round

Now 2000 bullets is 177 bucks (115 Gr 9mm Round nose)
So that's 0.08 per round

Total 0.14 per round?

Now compared to the cheapest 9mm i have found which is 0.21 that's a pretty good savings which puts you at about 3000-4000 rounds break even point right, If I only do 9mm I assume on stuff like .357 or .45 its even more savings.

Now my numbers might be off so if they are please let me know, I am just looking for an average or if you have any product you recommend (Powder, Primer,Bullet) and a place to get them let me know, I also have 1200 rounds of 9mm brass so that's why I didn't add that.
Click to expand...

If you start to make your own bullets you can imagine the savings you have once the equipment is paid for. So in your figuring on how much a 9mm costs to reload you could minus the 8 cents a bullet or it would cost you 6 cents a shot or 3 bucks a box to reload.

Now try some figuring on .44 Mag or .38 S&W or .455 or .357 Mag and you can see why reloading will allow you to practise more.

Rifle ammo is even more pronounced on the savings. .444 Marlin are about 50 bucks for a box and reload is about 5 dollars, even with factory bullets it is about 9 bucks a box.
 
Your math is correct.

Another advantage is the ability to match the ammo to the gun and purpose. For paper-punching, cast lead bullets are just as good as jacketed, at about 1/4 the cost.

I pay $35/500 for DRG bullets.

In 9mm the 135gr groups better and has less felt recoil than the 115 jacketed ammo. I laod it to about 950 fps, which is around 80% power. Have never had one bounce off the target.
 
Can anyone provide some insight into maybe what to look for now in a powder/primer/bullet now?

Is the Winchester 231 stuff good? It seems to be the cheapest I have seen? is it good for all of these? 9mm/.357/.38Special?

What about bullets the one I was looking at were frontier I think?

Make your own bullets that sounds interesting but lets walk before we run right :p
 
I'd suggest your first purchase should be a reloading manual. Reading it will answer just about every question you've asked so far, and more!:)
 
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