Saving $ Loading 9mm

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  • BE Mike

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    I know that once in a while, the question that arrises from someone who might be contemplating getting into reloading is, "Can I save money by reloading?" or "Is it worth it to reload 9mm?" I went to Bass Pro after church yesterday to get some bore brushes and some Lyman spray lube. They had 500 packs of Winchester 9mm for $119.95. The past couple of days I've been cranking out 9mm ammo on my Dillon 550B. I've been using a Hornady 115 gr. FMJ bullet which I bought in bulk years ago. I used American Select powder since I discovered how nice it meters and shoots in my pistols. The cases I found at the range or traded for and have no money invested in them. I was using Winchester SP primers. As I still had the prices of the components I figured the cost per box of 50. It is $5.00. The Winchester ammo at Bass Pro is $12.00. I'm doing pretty good. There is also the satisfaction in shooting something I made. Any time I want I can make some custom ammo, like hollow points, etc. Oh yeah, I have some nice cast 9mm bullets that were given to me from someone who was getting out of reloading. When I load them, my ammo costs go down to just $1.90 per box of 50.
     

    Gluemanz28

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    I have been reloading for several now and one thing that guys don't figure in is the cost of the equipment in the cost per round.

    I tend to to go a little overboard on my equipntment purchases. I probably have around $3,000 in my equipment.

    Am I saving any money? Not yet but I have enough components that I could load and shoot for years.

    Plus most of us shoot more than we would if we were buying loaded ammo so it's about a wash for me.

    PSA has been selling Blazer Aluminum for $7.99 with free shipping. I have bought several thousand rounds to shoot at places where retrieving my brass isn't easily done.

    Funny tip: How can you tell if the guy at the range shooting a 10mm is a reloader?
    He will look like a chimpanzee crawling around picking up his spent brass. :):
     

    BE Mike

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    I have been reloading for several now and one thing that guys don't figure in is the cost of the equipment in the cost per round.

    I tend to to go a little overboard on my equipntment purchases. I probably have around $3,000 in my equipment.

    Am I saving any money? Not yet but I have enough components that I could load and shoot for years.

    Plus most of us shoot more than we would if we were buying loaded ammo so it's about a wash for me.

    PSA has been selling Blazer Aluminum for $7.99 with free shipping. I have bought several thousand rounds to shoot at places where retrieving my brass isn't easily done.

    Funny tip: How can you tell if the guy at the range shooting a 10mm is a reloader?
    He will look like a chimpanzee crawling around picking up his spent brass. :):
    Yeah, I amortized the cost of my equipment many years ago. One other thing to consider though is that if you purchased quality equipment, it retains probably 75% of its value. I absolutely hate aluminum cases. I've had them cause feeding issues. My loads are so much higher quality than Blazer Aluminum, there isn't a comparison. Match shooters guard their brass just as fervently as those 10mm guys! ;)
     
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    Gluemanz28

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    Yeah, I amortized the cost of my equipment many years ago. One other thing to consider though is that if you purchased quality equipment, it retains probably 75% of its value. I absolutely hate aluminum cases. I've had them cause feeding issues. My loads are so much higher quality than Blazer Aluminum, it isn't a comparison. Match shooters guard their brass just as fervently as those 10mm guys! ;)

    I haven't had any feeding issues with Blazer Alum Ammo. I did have a couple that didn't go bang and needed to be shot again to go bang. It was in a Glock that had a lighter striker spring though.

    I agree that handloads can be made to shoot better than factory loads if done correctly but leaving behind 250-500 pieces of brass scattered in large gravel covered range bays is cutting into the savings. I shot alum cased at my last training class with no problems.

    After class was over I was tired and ready to head home. Some guys were digging through the rock to get brass but I was in my air conditioned truck driving home and not thinking about how much brass I just lost.

    Cheap ammo has a place for me and $15 extra for purchased Ammo minus the $7.50 I would have lost in unretrieved brass puts me at $7.50 total extra cost.

    No cleaning or reloading time either.

    Dont get me wrong Mike I love reloading as much as I love shooting but sometimes it just make sense for me to shoot factory Ammo.
     

    churchmouse

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    At my age I would most likely never recoup the equipment cost.
    Plus the fact my time is pretty valuable. Always something going on that takes up my time. Some of this actually pays...:):
     

    bwframe

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    Thanks for posting your costs Mike. I haven't really calculated mine since switching to 9mm and starting casting.

    I really need to work up a Clays load for my 9mm needs to save further $. Between Clays and ClayDot, I have 11 pounds on hand. That's around 25K rounds, if I can make it work. Then to find a cheaper primer... :spend::spend::spend:
     

    spencer rifle

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    We are just looking at 115 grain FMJ, but I never shoot that. Compare pricing with JHP and reloading makes even more sense. I can load what works best for me (124 grain JHP over 3.5 grains Clays) for less that 12 cents a round. And now I have Clay Dot also because of the Clays shortage. Burns clean. Wolf primers have worked for me for years.
     

    Goodcat

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    You can't save like a time before my reloading days loading pistol, but you can certainly save 25-50%. For me, I just enjoy reloading. You don't actually save money, you just shoot more. :ar15::ar15::ar15:
     

    BehindBlueI's

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    I tend to to go a little overboard on my equipntment purchases. I probably have around $3,000 in my equipment.

    :faint:

    It took me 10 years to break my first Lee turret press (actually the primer arm, which has changed and you can't get the original kind any longer). I figure I got my $80-ish bucks out of it in that time.

    ...and yup, I've done the brass-a-gator crawl. I cry a little if I can't find all my .45 brass.
     

    LP1

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    Paying $12 for 9mm target ammo right now is too much. $10 is more like it. My cost for consumables for 9mm is .07 for bullet, .03 for primer, and .03 for powder = .13 per round. And that assumes that the brass is free. Comes to $6.50 per box. Between the time spent picking up brass, processing it, and doing the reloading, it's not worth the effort for 9mm right now. The math is more favorable on .38 and .45, and I'm not obsessed with precision. As long as I can get 9mm for around $10/box, I'll find better uses for my time.
     

    VERT

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    9mm is costing me about $0.12 each. So $6 per 50 not including the brass. So not much savings compared to aluminum or steel cased stuff.

    The big savings is with .45 acp
     

    Goodcat

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    I've worn out a few priming arms, autodisc screw holes and various other stuff. Lee replaces it all when you pay for shipping. So I got 4 of each item I normally wear out. :)
     

    NIFT

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    It is true: Don't save any money but do get to shoot more.
    However, most of my shooting is with a Glock 34 that breaks at about 1lb 15oz and only works with Federal primers; so, the Dillon 650 gets a workout from time to time--147 gr. Bayou bullets over 3.2 Titegroup.
     

    Goodcat

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    It is true: Don't save any money but do get to shoot more.
    However, most of my shooting is with a Glock 34 that breaks at about 1lb 15oz and only works with Federal primers; so, the Dillon 650 gets a workout from time to time--147 gr. Bayou bullets over 3.2 Titegroup.


    I cant get away from 147gr. Sometimes I shoot suppresed and it's much easier to load all subsonic ammo so I don't have to adjust my dies. Maybe I'm just lazy.
     

    BE Mike

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    When I first started reloading I was pretty heavy into bullseye pistol shooting and kept at it for a long time. The cost savings of my reloads over factory match ammo was tremendous. It allowed me to amortize my equipment costs pretty quickly, even when I kept upgrading. Even when I had a demanding job with long hours, I still found time to reload. Like goodcat says, it is nice to be able to tailor loads for different guns and purposes. I can't say that I have ever enjoyed the process of reloading, but there is a satisfaction in shooting the ammo I have created, especially when I won a match.
     
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