buying in bulk?

Well if you're set on CCI, I don't know if you need the mag primers or not. I do know that I've never had any issues lighting off h335 with Win or Wolf SR primers. Actually, Win LP primers have no issues with H110 in MN weather, and that powder is notorious for being finicky.

As far as 9mm goes, just get a 1000 124 gr plated from RMR and get shooting. I've found 124gr seems to be the sweet spot for most pistols I've loaded for.

If you want to load for accuracy, you're going to want to load up 10 ea of several different loads, probably ~0.5gr steps for rifle and ~0.2gr step for 9mm. Fine tune from there.

I have never bought less than a brick of primers at a time.

I also recommend buying bullets, esp for plinking in at least 500 count to save a little. Hunting or premium bullets are different, I buy smaller quantities due to cost and once I find a good load a box of 50 will last for years.

Buy in small quantities to try stuff out. Once you find what you like, buy in bulk to save money.

With rifle, it is real easy to accumulate lots of components that just don't make the grade in your rifles.

With handguns, it is usually easy to consume components that don't work well in your firearms especially if you have not gotten heavily invested in them to begin with.

In my area I can not buy 100 primers. They are only sold in 1,000 box.

As for bullets it depends on what your goal is. You mention super-accurate loads. For that quest quality control is going to be very important. I would buy small amounts of bullets so you check their consistency in weight.

Brass will also be important again for consistency in manufacturing.

Powder and primer selection involves a good deal of black magic and luck. Every gun is a rule unto itself. Finding the load that meets your satisfaction just depends on how hard you are willing to work at it and a good deal of luck.

For example the first powder, primer and bullet combination I tried in my Ruger M-77 delivered 1/2" 3 shot groups at 100 yards. Talk about plain old good luck finding the right load combination the very first time!

On the other extreme I have a old Mosin Nagant 91/30 that so far has resisted shooting accurately with all of my reload combinations using a cast lead bullet. I get there someday...hopefully. :banghead:

p.s Most of us on this forum don't consider 1,000 primers and 250 bullets as bulk. It is just a couple of range sessions. Bulk is when you start buying 10,000 primers, powder in 8# jugs, bullets and brass by 1,000's.

p.s.s. Don't be fooled into thinking buying in bulk will save you money. Instead with all of that ammunition you just go to the range more often to shoot.

I always try to buy in bulk. When you could get surplus powder I'd get 32 to 40 pounds at a time and primers by the case for the discount. Surplus is no more and discounts discontinued.

ohihunter2014 said:

not really stuck on cci but its mostly what the shop carries as well as what I'm familiar with. I will see if they have Winchester when I go this weekend.

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If you are serious about the super accurate part in 223, you are going to be doing a lot of case sorting and prep work, and trying out several different manufacturers primers is going to be part of the game. If you load 100 at time, it's either because you've found the perfect load, or you are trying out 10 loads of 10 ea. You will want to change 1 thing at a time. So pick your primer and powder, and try different charges to see if you can find something you like. Then change to a different powder or primer, and start over. It doesn't hurt to focus on what has worked well for others here, but that won't insure success according to your definition.

It's like any other sport, the winners are the guys who sweat the small stuff.

As far as the 9mm goes, I think you will be much more limited by your firearm once you work up a load it likes. You mentioned plated bullets - there are other sources besides RMR, and you may find something that works a bit better for your gun, but that is as good a place as any to start.

There's a couple guys (who belong to club I'm a member at) I know that are none too happy with small clover leafs at 100 yds on a windy day. The one guy told me he wouldn't even be close to the top 10 with a pattern like that - they measure ragged holes with calipers to sort through the top 10. So that's kind of what I was thinking you might have in mind.

ohihunter2014 said:

I would like to shoot plated bullets in 9mm for cost, should I try say 250 bullets of one brand first or just buy 1000?

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Based on various plated bullets I shot over the decades, I have gotten better accuracy with 124 gr RN than 115 gr RN.

Lighter 115 gr RN with shorter bullet base needs to be pushed near max to reliably cycle the slide of my Glocks, especially with compact/subcompact with stiffer recoil springs.

Heavier 124 gr RN with longer bullet base can be loaded to lower powder charges yet still reliably cycle the slides and produce accuracy. Berry's HBRN-TP has hollow base that extends the length of bullet base that rides the rifling and I have gotten comparable or better accuracy than Winchester 115 gr FMJ bullet I use for 9mm reference load.

Before buying 250-1000 bullets, since 115/124 gr plated bullets come in different diameters (.355" to .356"), I would first slug the barrel to see what the groove diameter is. If it is sized .355", lowest cost plated bullet would work. If it is .356"+, I would go with larger than .355" sized bullets. FYI, Berry's bullets are sized larger around .3555" and RMR 115 gr HM RN are sized .356".

As to accuracy of plated bullets, these are 25 yard shot groups I got with Berry's regular plated 124 gr RN (solid base) and RMR thicker plated HM 124 gr RN shot with Glock 22 and KKM barrel which has .355"-.356" groove diameter - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=9924922#post9924922

Dardas cast bullets offer slugs for checking barrel dia.
http://www.dardascastbullets.com/mm...Code=dardas&Product_Code=9SLUG&Category_Code=

However plated bullets only come in one dia (may vary depending on brand/bullet) lead cast you can get sized to your barrel.
If you want plated just find one your gun is happy with.

I like the RMR 124gr FN in 9mm.
PM me and I will PIF you a sample of a couple 9mm bullets to try if your interested.

I always buy Primers and Projectiles 1000 at a time I just got a order in the other day of X-treme 124gr. I am testing them out I have been shooting Berry's plated 124 gr. the X-treme primers that they sell are made by Winchester. Powder I like to buy the 8Lb Jugs. I have also found that my 9mm pistols like the 124 gr. better or it may be just me.

Most recommended primers for AR-15's are CCI BR4, CCI 450, CCI 41's and my favorite is Remington 7 1/2. I shoot mostly CCI pistol primers but also RP 2 1/2's in 45 ACP. I would buy primers at least by the thousand and bulk bullets. I'd at least buy 1000 .223 bullets and 500 pistol bullets. Primers for the rifle if funds aren't a problem I'd buy 5000. Powder I'd buy in 8 lb. jugs. You would get about 2250 rounds from an 8 lb. jug at 25 grains per round. You might be surprised at how much you will shoot and a good idea to stay stocked up. If you have plenty of the same lot of powder, same lot of bullets, and same lot of primers, the loads you work up will stay the same for quite a while. I like 124 gr. bullets in 9MM. Lots of good bullets for your bolt action rifle so possibly buying 100 rd. boxes until you find a bullet your rifle likes then buy bulk. Depends on whether you'll be hunting or target shooting or plinking and the twist rate of your barrel as to what bullet might shoot better. I'm satisfied with Hornady and Sierra bullets.

Hmmm seems my experience with 9mm is the same.

I, and my guns, do better with 124gr bullets.
Infact one of my guns HATES 115gr bullets.
It stovepipes about once per mag/or every other mag full.
I just don't see that with 124gr pills.

I buy bullets by the thousand, primers by the 5000 and powder in 8 lb jugs. Everything is cheaper in bulk.

Since I shoot about 12,000 rounds/year all calibers combined, even that won't last me very long.

Buy in bulk, you'll easily find someone that will buy what you have left if you decide it's not for you. I cast my own 9 & 40 boolits = about 3 cents per 9mm round & 10ish in the 40. 9's tickle around 8 cents if I use any of the 11,000+ 9mm Montana Gold I bought a long while ago.

I buy in minimum of 1000 . Bullets, primers and powder in 8 lb jugs. You get a much better deal in bulk.

ohihunter2014 said:

I already seeing the bulk bullets is a better deal. picked up 100 22cal fmj-bt for 13-14ct a piece.

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Buy bullets in bulk, 6k box and the price drops to under $0.08 ea.

I buy primers & bullets by the 10k's, powder by the case (2x8#). Try to max out your hazmat fee to save more.

As others have said I always buy at least 1000 primers at a time. I use CCI in my pistols but my revolvers insist on Federals which are harder to find and more expensive. Once my stock of CCI small pistol primers is used up I will buy only Federals to make things easier. Right now I have about 25K pistol primers, possibly more.

I use plated bullets for my semi autos. I've tried them all but have settled on XTREME and usually buy 3000 or 4000 at a time. Lately I 've been experimenting with coated bullets in 9mm and bought a 100 pc pack, then 500 pcs pack and last week a 3300 pc pack. I'm probably going to move to the coated but I have a s&^% load of plated bullets on my shelf.

I have different loads for different applications. My Glock 17 I shoot either 147g or 115g plated, My G26 I use 124g plated. My S&W 929 (9mm revolver likes 135g coated). The only way to nail down what your gun(s) like is to experiment. At this point I would buy small packs of bullets, 100 or 250 pcs and try to narrow down your powder charge also. It's not just one component, it's many (bullet, powder, primer, case).