To load or not to load...9mm

A couple times a year cabella's sell the s&b primers for $20/1000. I use them in the 9mm's, 38spl p+, 357's & 223rems.


I'm not the normal for most reloaders because I cast my own bullets from free range lead but I do powder coat them 1# of pc does 10,000 bullets. The pc costs $10 a pound shipped. I scrap more free range 9mm brass then I use, it's nothing to find piles of 9mm brass laying around every trip to the range.

primers $0.021
bullet $0.01
powder (avg 5.0gr per reload @ $30 a #) $0.022

At the end of the day it costs me +/- 4.5cents per round to reload 9mms.

I primarily use/shoot my 9mm reloads in a NM 1911. My 1911 with the cast/pc'd bullet


Not hand picked/cherry picked by any means. Nothing more then the actual test target used to test loads that day. Typical 10-shot groups @ 50ft with the reload/1911 combo pictured above.


Well worth the 4.5 cents a round it costs me to reload those 9mm's.

forrest r said:

A couple times a year cabella's sell the s&b primers for $20/1000. I use them in the 9mm's, 38spl p+, 357's & 223rems.
View attachment 841053

I'm not the normal for most reloaders because I cast my own bullets from free range lead but I do powder coat them 1# of pc does 10,000 bullets. The pc costs $10 a pound shipped. I scrap more free range 9mm brass then I use, it's nothing to find piles of 9mm brass laying around every trip to the range.

primers $0.021
bullet $0.01
powder (avg 5.0gr per reload @ $30 a #) $0.022

At the end of the day it costs me +/- 4.5cents per round to reload 9mms.

I primarily use/shoot my 9mm reloads in a NM 1911. My 1911 with the cast/pc'd bullet
View attachment 841054

Not hand picked/cherry picked by any means. Nothing more then the actual test target used to test loads that day. Typical 10-shot groups @ 50ft with the reload/1911 combo pictured above.
View attachment 841055

Well worth the 4.5 cents a round it costs me to reload those 9mm's.

Click to expand...

Cabela's has been out of S&B pistol primers for over two years.

forrest r said:

A couple times a year cabella's sell the s&b primers for $20/1000. I use them in the 9mm's, 38spl p+, 357's & 223rems.
View attachment 841053.

Click to expand...

Those days are long gone my friend. The Cabela's store in Illinois and all of them in Wisconsin haven't had any primers in them since last spring when BPS bought them out.
Also the S&B primers are no more they haven't been imported in over a year.

NATO Reloading said:

General pricing....generally.

Primer .03 each
Powder .02 each round
Bullet .10 each round
Case .05 each round cleaned and ready to load?

Total cost without equipment for something pretty good, is about 20 cents per round. If you recycle the brass or pick up range brass, then your making premium ammo for $7.50 for 50. Thats premium. you can get bullets cheaper, at like .06 cents, making it closer to $6 for 50.

The thing is, the $6 ammo is more accurate than the premium $20 a box stuff "generally".

Click to expand...

You can get processed 9mm brass for well under $0.05 each. More like $0.02 each if you shop around. Since the brass is reusable I don't even consider brass price in the cost of my reloads.

I've started reloading a lot less 9mm. Prices are just so cheap that it's hard to justify reloading it when I don't have much free time to start with. For my plinking, factory 9mm is good enough.

For me to reload I'm spending about $6 per 50 when I'm using plated bullets. I've yet to find a plated load that shoots anywhere near as good as even cheap basic fmj factory ammo. I wish I hadn't bought so many of these at once, but I'm just using them trying to use them up.

It costs me bout $6.50 on average to load 50 rounds of FMJ ammo. I have some components on hand so that I can continue to shoot during a panic or if prices rise significantly again. However, it's just not worth the savings for me to reload on my single stage at this price.

I've been stocking up on factory 9mm whenever I see a good sale and it rarely cost much more than my reloads. For example, I just recently picked up some of the Winchester Train and Defense 147 grain ammo that's been on clearance for $7 a box at Walmart. $7.37 after tax, but there is also a 10% rebate making it $6.67 per box after tax and rebate. Even if I do 100 rounds per hour which is pushing it on my single stage, that's only 34 cents that I'm saving per hour. Prior to this, I bought a bunch of Federal 9mm right before Black Friday for $6.40 per box after shipping. That's cheaper than I can reload similar FMJ rounds. The year before that I bought about a years supply for a similar price. It seems like I'm able to get it for around this price once or twice a year.

I keep trying to talk myself into a progressive press, but since I'll primarily use it for 9mm, it's hard to justify at these prices. Lets say I spend $8 per box on 9mm, which almost never happens. That's only $3 per 100 rounds that I'm saving. Now lets say that I'm spending $1,000 on a Dillon 650, which is pretty easy to do after dies, case feeder, roller handle, mount, etc. It will take 33,333 rounds just to pay for the press. That's not consider that it still takes time to reload. That's probably 15-20 years worth of shooting 9mm for me. I just can't justify that. When you consider it's closer to the $.34 per 100 rounds that I'm saving, it'll take 294,000 rounds just to pay for the press, before I actually save anything. It's just not worth it.

That's also not counting the fact that if I do want to pickup the brass, I could sell it for about $2 per 100. Thus making the factory ammo even cheaper.

For me, I have no problem justifying my 9MM loading. It's the caliber I shoot the most and consequently, what I reload the most as well.
I was loading plated for between $4.72 per to $7.12 per 50 rounds, depending on the bullet. The $4.72 was with a stock of Berry's 147 GR factory seconds that I picked up for $.06 each.
But, now I've gotten into casting and I can load 9MM for around $3 per 50 using lead I bought.
Once I get into melting down some buckets of range scrap lead, my cost will be even less.

However, even at the $6-7 range for my reloads, I'd still reload. Reloading is another extension of the hobby for me.
Of course, YMMV as always.

mstreddy said:

I'd still reload. Reloading is another extension of the hobby for me.

Click to expand...

That is my hobby also.

My wife reminded me a few weeks ago when there were good deals for Blazer Brass 9mm for a penny less a round for sale than what I loaded 500 rounds this past winter.

You all must understand that where I live I do not count the time, miles traveled, or gas spent to acquire my reloading components.I do not or can not justify buying large quantities at a time. Not enough $ or space. (Do not feel for me, my life is good!)

Though, I am still considering buying that ammo because it would save me time reloading, and it would be like getting once fired brass to reload for free!

kmw1954 said:

Those days are long gone my friend. The Cabela's store in Illinois and all of them in Wisconsin haven't had any primers in them since last spring when BPS bought them out.
Also the S&B primers are no more they haven't been imported in over a year.

Click to expand...

When I can't get the s&b primers I buy the fiocchi small pistol primers for $21 per 1000

forrest r said:

When I can't get the s&b primers I buy the fiocchi small pistol primers for $21 per 1000

Click to expand...

Where do you normally buy these?

slowr1der said:

Where do you normally buy these?

Click to expand...

outdoorlimited.com has them on sale right now for $249.99/12000

If you keep looking around once a week for specials/sale on the web there's always something out there.

I just like reloading.
So I reload everything I can get my hands on.
In the evenings I could like a lump of doo doo lay on the couch look at the idiot box or go in the garage prep some brass and look at the idiot box .
I like my garage.

This whole topic should be saved to view later. In 2020, if somebody you don't like gets in White House, and they start banning hundreds of guns, and tax the crap out of ammo, and start a registry tjust to BUY ammo, ALL YOU PEOPLE. ALL OF YOU...that said today reloading is not worth it, will be singing a new song. Because you will not be able to buy anything, no equipment, nothing, it will be sold out for years. Just like 10 years ago, but way worse.

I started reloading for saving money on calibers other than 9mm. But as I got better at reloading, I added 9mm to the mix because I already have the equipment and it’s a relaxing hobby.

Enjoy if you have the time..
So rewarding shooting, shooting and shooting clean shinny accurate ammo that's self made..
If you really have some time casting and powder coating is a blast. Cuts the price to penny's a round if that's why you do it.
IMHO... In the coming years ammo will become difficult to buy as it has here in Califorina no innerweb sales, you must buy from an FFL with a background check and a fee. So stocking up on 22 and 12ga ammo
EVERYTHING else I load for.

NATO Reloading said:

This whole topic should be saved to view later. In 2020, if somebody you don't like gets in White House, and they start banning hundreds of guns, and tax the crap out of ammo, and start a registry tjust to BUY ammo, ALL YOU PEOPLE. ALL OF YOU...that said today reloading is not worth it, will be singing a new song. Because you will not be able to buy anything, no equipment, nothing, it will be sold out for years. Just like 10 years ago, but way worse.

Click to expand...

Part of the reason I started reloading:



This was January 2013. Luckily, there was a slight lag before the shortage of pistol primers, powders, and reloading equipment occurred, and I was able to pick up enough supplies to get started. I've got enough components now to keep me busy for at least 4 years, maybe more.

Sometimes locally I've found 9mm for 6.99 a box on sale so the only 9mm I load is HP, I also prep and prime the brass for loading some plated bullets I got at an estate auction for cheap if I start running low. I store the primed brass in vacuum sealed bags in 500's in ammo cans. I looked this weekend and I have 2 50cal ammo cans of fmj and the only 9mm we have is the wifes SCCY.

D.B. Cooper said:

Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

Click to expand...

Not sure if you are serious or sarcastic with that comment - maybe a little of both.

NATO Reloading said:

This whole topic should be saved to view later. In 2020, if somebody you don't like gets in White House, and they start banning hundreds of guns, and tax the crap out of ammo, and start a registry tjust to BUY ammo, ALL YOU PEOPLE. ALL OF YOU...that said today reloading is not worth it, will be singing a new song. Because you will not be able to buy anything, no equipment, nothing, it will be sold out for years. Just like 10 years ago, but way worse.

Click to expand...

To be fair though, we did it to ourselves by hoarding. The ammo companies didn't stop making it, they just couldn't keep up with demand. Stocking up a little at a time will avoid the next crisis.

Jeff H said:

To be fair though, we did it to ourselves by hoarding. The ammo companies didn't stop making it, they just couldn't keep up with demand. Stocking up a little at a time will avoid the next crisis.

Click to expand...

Well, maybe not entirely true.

At the time, even though I had just started reloading, I was still trying to buy some factory ammo in calibers I was not loading for yet. One of the places I had been buying ammo from was a company that sold mostly remanufactured ammo. (They have a sister company that also sells their own brand of bullets - maybe you know who they are ). I would check their website often, and had signed up for email alerts. When the panic buying started, they hardly had any reman ammo for sell for several months - just a trickle here and there. Each time they had something, it was only small amounts (they had the amount available listed), all of it was gone in an hour or so, and the prices had crept up. Eventually, it appeared the prices had reached a peak that the market would bear, and then they dumped over 1 million rounds of 9mm, in two batches, in one week. I watched it happen. There was no way they made that much ammo in one week, they had to have been making it and stockpiling it until the prices peaked so they could make the maximum profit on it. I can't really blame them, it makes good business sense to do so. But, I also don't have to like it. So, maybe they didn't stop making it, but they sure seemed to stop selling it.

Each to his own! I have been an avid re-loader for well over 30 years. With the exception of .22s I reload for all 8 calibers I own. Even the lowly 9mm. The reason is simple, For every new caliber I have ever owned, I enjoyed working up loads that get the absolute accuracy out of every firearm. For the larger calibers 45 ACP, 45 Colt, there is a very considerable savings. Even the .357 and 38 Spls are very inexpensive to reload. With the 9mm I worked up loads that really improved accuracy and power. Yes, I tried some of the low cost factory ammo and the performance compared to my hand loads was very obvious, groups opened way up. Cost to reload 9mm with 124G cast RN is less than $11. per hundred. SO it is still a significant savings and its so easy to keep components on hand. As I stated up front, I love re-loading anyway, Its relaxing and rewarding. For those that prefer to shoot the cheap ammo GO for it, Its all fun anyway...