Feasibility of saving money on 9mm with handloading/reloading

ISHoot17 has it right - it's a hobby. If you cost out your hobby, you're not looking at it right. BUT, as also stated, heck yes I save money. I stocked up BIG years ago on components. I cast my own bullets, and using wheelweights, ( about $1 a pound on various forums shipped in smelted 1 pound ingots), I can load a box of 50 for less than $3. I do not cost out my time, because if I wasn't reloading, I'd be wasting time on the internet...like now.
I really have three hobbies, shooting, reloading and bullet casting, and they compliment each other nicely.

As the others have said, your cost per round will drop significantly by reloading.

At current prices of ~$25/lb for powder, ~$32/k for primers and loading 124gr cast bullets this is what I can do:
$ 0.106 per round
$5.31 per 50 rounds
$106.29 per 1,000 rounds

Of course it will cost you less if you cast your own bullets and how much you safe will depend upon how much the lead costs you. Gone are the days of free lead from the tire shops.

Back in the days of free lead and $16 powder and $18/k primers a box of 50 9mm rounds would cost only $1.36 to produce. That was only less than 10 years ago BTW.

Between $6 and $7 a box for 9mm.
I don't save anything because I shoot twice as much but I enjoy reloading.
I get more accurate ammo and the pride of "making" my own.
I have a Lee turrent press and I feel that is a good place to start if you are loading 9mm. Decent speed, not real expensive.
There are many threads here on what you will need to get started.
Check them out!


I like both RMR and MIssouri Company bullets. Both offer THR members a 5% discount.

While all the powders you can load 9mm with my not be the ideal one for your load or need there are a lot of powders that will work.

Be aware if you order powder/primers there will be about a $28 hazmat fee on top of the other shipping charges.
So if you order you want to try to find both a one place and order enough to make it worth the hazmat charge.

so
3000 MCB 125 bullets shipped $205
3000 S+B primers Widners $ 60
2 lbs of powder $ 50
Estimate Hazmat + shipping Powder + Primers $ 40

So $355 for 3000 rnds = .118 a round
Say $300 to buy the equipment to get started. (this maybe a little low)(Estimated using Lee equipment)
Lets call it $700 to get those 3000 loaded =.23 a round
So the first 60 boxes would cost you about $12 a box
after that yous cost would be $6 to 7 a box.
3000 rnds would be reasonable the break even point.

My time = $0, it is a fun hobby.
Joy of doing it +$$

I would be cautious about references to savings with lead bullets, because 9mm is typically a supersonic round running well above velocity limits for ordinary lead bullets. The underlying truth is that you will need to cool off the caliber (load) to suit the bullet. Also, you might be better off with a more suitable barrel.

RealGun said:

I would be cautious about references to savings with lead bullets, because 9mm is typically a supersonic round running well above velocity limits for ordinary lead bullets. The underlying truth is that you will need to cool off the caliber (load) to suit the bullet. Also, you might be better off with a more suitable barrel.

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I have been shooting lead bullets in the 9mm for a long time and I don't have any leading problems. Velocity alone is not the determining factor if you will lead a barrel or not. Proper bullet fit and pressure matching the bullet hardness is much more important. Blanket statements condemning lead bullets only serves to spread miss-information so common on the forums and shooting ranges.

Nowhere in RealGun's post did I see him condemning lead bullets or spreading mis-information. All he was doing was informing an inexperienced potential new reloader of things that he should be aware of.

Blanket statements condemning lead bullets only serves to spread miss-information so common on the forums and shooting ranges.

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You paint with a broad brush too, because it is well established that use of lead bullets is problematic. It is also well known that lead creates enough friction to melt in the area of 1100-1200 fps. We also have bullet manufacturers selling BR 12 for subsonic and BR18 for "magnum" use. There is a lot to know about successful use of lead bullets.

I shoot my own cast and coated lead bullets out of all sorts of rifles pistols and machine guns, even with suppressors. Just because you cast doesn't mean you have to shoot wax lubed bullets.

Your cost per round will go down as long as you don't factor in your time. However, you will be spending more by shooting more. Don't go into reloading to save money. Go into reloading to control your own destiny and provide yourself with some mindless relaxation.

Onward Allusion said:

Your cost per round will go down as long as you don't factor in your time. However, you will be spending more by shooting more. Don't go into reloading to save money. Go into reloading to control your own destiny and provide yourself with some mindless relaxation.

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Not so sure about the mindless part.

Yes, it will cost you less per round to reload.
No, you might not spend any less to shoot.

Some say that you don't save money reloading, you just shoot more.

I think I shoot more than I otherwise could AND save some money. I do tend to keep a few boxes of factory ammo in storage for anything I shoot, but the rest tends to be reloads. And I'm not afraid of shooting cast bullets in 9mm, so that definitely cuts the cost.

I initially got started in reloading about 2 years ago when the mad rush on ammo started and the ammo shelves in the stores went empty. If you could find it, the prices went up. I wanted to have ammo to shoot, and get the cost down.

What really happened is I started a new hobby. My first hobby was target shooting. Now, it almost seems like my real hobby is reloading, and I just go to the range to make more dirty brass so I have something to reload. And I am loving every bit of it!

That's some fascinating statements, RealGun. Perhaps what would have more enlightening is to explain the differences in Brinell Hardness, how to harden cast bullets and to explain the different types of lube available.
For instance, I have two typical loads in 9mm using cast bullets, with three different lube types, such as lee Liquid Alox, non-commercial hard lube, and powder coat. One utilizes 6.4 grains of Accurate Arms #7, and reliably produces verified average velocity of 1035 FPS. With all lead types used, such as common "garbage lead" like wheel weights, I get zero leading using all lubes. The other load, arguably too hot per current published data, (the data was drastically revised by AA recently), at 6.8 grains of AA#7 slide in with a verified average velocity of 1100 FPS, and with the harder alloys like 96/2/6, I get no leading. Now with powder coating, leading is reduced to zero at almost every speed I've tried, but that is something not many reloaders use right now.
So this,

I would be cautious about references to savings with lead bullets, because 9mm is typically a supersonic round running well above velocity limits for ordinary lead bullets. The underlying truth is that you will need to cool off the caliber (load) to suit the bullet. Also, you might be better off with a more suitable barrel.

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is not really quite accurate. BTW, all rounds are fired through the as-is barrel - the only barrel swap that has ever been encouraged for any handgun is the polygonal rifled Glock barrels, IIRC. Not owning a Glock, I cannot comment on that particular issue.
As for velocity limits...that's interesting. Here's the velocities I run cast RIFLE bullets, using the same better lead.
7.62x39mm - between 1776 and 1886 FPS in all weights. Properly lube and hardened, no leading apparent, even in a gas operated rifle.

8x57JS in the 175 grain Lee bullet runs about 1752 with my powder coated load, but that's because I download in respect of a 98 year old receiver. Powder coated bullets leave no leading.

9mm is easy enough to load, and loading with cast lead bullets is also easy, once you get past the hype, and experiment on your own. Loading too hot will cause issue, but within the limitations of the material, you can make some pretty dadgum awesome bullets.

These 124 grain cast lead reloads were shot from my CZ P-09 at 10 yards two hand standing. Just as an example.

I used to reload so I could shoot more. Now I shoot so I can reload more. Also, I cast my own 9mm with excellent results and a lot cheaper than any factory stuff. As a beginner I have to recommend fmj to get you started.

How to calculate the answer to your question

Kcmarine

I put links to spreadsheets in in posts 68 and 69 of this thread

www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=663065&page=3

Since your cost of components will vary from mine, I cannot answer your question simply, but give you a tool to see how much you can save and to find out where your break-even point is (the point at which you have paid for your original investment) is there.

Good luck. Thanks for asking our advice.

Lost Sheep

I can reload 9mm using cast wheelweight bullets for about $3.80/50. It's cheaper than 22 right now.

Caveat, it doesn't factor in labor involved. But I will point out I had plenty of 9mm on hand when the shortage happened a couple years ago. I can shoot for a couple hours while others are done in 20 minutes.

[/QUOTE] Say $300 to buy the equipment to get started. (this maybe a little low) [/QUOTE]

Actually that's a bit high. My entire setup cost about $150.

I have shot 5000+ of MBC BHN 18 cones in both my 9mms anywhere between 1000 and 1150 no issues. Shot a bunch of BHN 18s in my .357 over 1200 no issues. All my guns cleaned up with a couple of passes with a bronze brush and Hoppes #9, even after 500 rounds in a seesion.

If a BHN 18 bullet is good for over 1200 in my .357 that pretty much covers anything I would load in 9mm pistol.

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Let me warn you straight up though... You won't save a penny. you will just shoot a lot more

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Or more accurately, you will end up spending just as much and shooting more.

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And you won't save money, you will just shoot more.

Ain't it the truth... I'm going broke saving all that money!

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You still save money per round. If somebody doesn't have any self control then I guess it would be easy to do that. I can't shoot enough to not save money. I can reload any of my pistol rounds for $25 per 1,000 rounds. My components are a few years old so it pays to buy in bulk. I reload 223 for $110 per 1,000.

Not to be that guy, but all I knew about lead bullets the first time I loaded them was that I could encounter leading if I loaded them too hot.

So I didn't load them too hot. The first ones I tried were Oregon Trail Laser Cast, but I don't use those anymore because they're kind of pricey. I think I got the last few I have in a trade deal on here. I'd been using some Speer Bevel Base WC's because they were cheap locally, but I ran out of them. I've also been running some that a friend cast and gave me - just odds and ends. Lately, I've been using 158 grain SWC's from Missouri Bullet Company.

I'm not a match shooter - just a regular guy who likes to shoot. But other than the extra cleaning that comes with lead bullets (and the lube on them) and Unique (which is kind of dirty anyhow), I haven't really had any problems.

this may sound weird, but my favorite part of reloading is picking up all the old dirty range brass bringing it home and putting them in the Tumblr and watching it come out looking like new!

I would wager more leading is caused by shooting bullets that are too hard than too soft. If a very hard bullet is pushed with low pressures like in a target round the bullet will be too hard to expand and seal off the barrel from hot gases. Those gasses along the side of the bullet will cause extreme leading. Then the reloader thinks the bullets need to be harder causing even more leading until they decide lead bullets are not good and they stop using them.

Proper bullet fit in more important than how hard the bullet is. Proper lube is also important too and if you see leading up near the muzzle only you are probably running out of lube.

That is an interesting point. I wonder how much a 230 grain .452 would obturate at any hardness? If much at all sizing to the bore would be moot point and why HBWC are a good choice for light target loads (more like a pellet).

That's some fascinating statements, RealGun. Perhaps what would have more enlightening is to explain the differences in Brinell Hardness, how to harden cast bullets and to explain the different types of lube available.

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Nah...I don't think I will take the bully bait. The OP is not casting his own, and neither am I at this point, although fully supplied to do so. I had in mind commercial lead bullets, which too often arrive oversized and which are rarely in my experience fully described for the recommended application, leaving the new user susceptible to choosing the suboptimal bullet.

In that context, saying one never gets leading is either disingenuous or ignoring the context. It's usually some bullet caster who feels some statement intrudes on his purview.

I think most reloaders would end up agreeing that you won't really save any money but will get a lot more shooting for same money spent, assuming you shoot enough volume (or would like to) that the investment in tools doesn't take too long to recoup.

Casting takes even more time but you save even more money per round with a modest extra investment in tools and equipment.