9mm....worth it?

[someguy2800]

It takes right around half and hour for me to load 100 9mm on a lee turret press. I use tumbled once fired brass and never trim them and only pick up about half of them.

On average it cost me right around $15 per 100 to load 9mm with 124gr plated hp's if I buy once fired brass. If I reuse the brass it costs me about $12

The cheapest I can buy 9mm locally would be 115 grain FMJ which cost me $28 with tax for 100, or mabey as low as $23 if something is on really good sale.

My guns shoot better with 124 and I can tailor the load just the way I like it for recoil and accuracy so I get better ammo by loading it. Its very well worth it for me and I enjoy doing it.

 

[Walkalong]

If all you want to do is load factory equivalent rounds, you don't want to pick up brass, and you can find factory ammo at a reasonable to you price, there isn't much incentive.

I must have picked up over 2000 9MM cases on the last two range trips. Nice fresh, shiny, too good to pass up, almost surely once fired (boxes in the trash bin to match), 9MM brass. I just couldn't ride past it without stopping.

the load I wanted, I could not buy.

They don't sell my two favorite loads in factory form either.

 

[mjsdwash]

with my lee turret, i can and do load 180 rounds per hour at a cost of 6.50 per box. Any user should be able to do at least 100 per hour, and Lee says 200 is possible, though it takes some real effort. Progressives are far faster, but i can change calibers in under a minute, and the press was under 200$

 

[Coal Dragger]

If I was using only a single stage press I'd just buy 9mm cheap and stack it deep when available during non panic times.

I enjoy reloading for the most part though especially on a turret press or a progressive, and I have a Dillon XL650 with a case feeder. So running lots of 9mm is pretty easy for me. I don't save any money to be honest, what I have in the press will take a long time to pay itself off. On the other hand ammo shortages are a non issue for me since I keep lots of components on hand. If we ignore the capital investment in equipment I still don't save money. I just shoot a lot more on the same budget.

 

[.308 Norma]

Wow
If I was basing my reloading on the value of my time I wouldn't be doing it. So the value to me is in the joy of loading and making good ammo.

I'm with Hokie_PhD. I absolutely don't handload to save money or time. I do it because I love it, and because in some cases (admittedly few) I can build better ammunition than I can buy off the shelf.

so brass retrieval is not an issue. It seams like picking up all the brass would be a chore. Is it worth time and sore back invested?

Not retrieving brass is not an option where my wife and I go shooting. We, and a lot of other people around here shoot in a county owned gravel pit just a few miles south of our house. I'd hate to lose that privilege because some county "dad" got tired of county workers complaining about having to pick up trash. The fact of the matter is, even we get tired of picking up old targets and aluminum/steel cases that inconsiderate shooters have left lying around. But my wife worked for the county government for 23 years, and she knows full well that all it would take is a couple of ticked off workers in the County Road & Bridge Department to complain, and our shooting "range" would be closed to public access.

 

[TheSpaceWanderer]

Wow did this get a lot of responses quickly!

As I stated, I get the cost savings aspect . I was more thinking about the time and effort of brass retrieval.

You guys make a good point though. I do enjoy reloading. I used to say that shooting a rifle is the closest thing in my life to meditation. Now I can add reloading to that.

kcofohio the tarp and nut wheel (had not heard of that one). Those are great ideas. I will look into those.

I do load on a SS. I picked one up from RCBS last November and have NO intention on upgrading to a turret or progressive system anytime soon.

That's was another good point, I should have included that in the original post. How do people feel about reloading 9mm on a single stage?

I think I'm convinced though...I'll have to pick up some dies. After I buy a ton of ammo and make some brass for myself anyway.

Thanks for speedy responses guys!

 

[cougar1717]

I'll play contrarian. The 38 and 44 are no brainers when it comes to reloading. It doesn't take long at all to be money ahead with better-than-you-can-buy loads. 9Luger is a different animal, especially if it's not a progressive press setup. Sure, many people on THR buy a dillon, case quantities of .355"s, sleeves of primers, and purchase powder by the 4#'s or 8#'s and go to town. But right now, case lots of 9Luger ammo are relatively cheap compared to what it has been and you have no time invested except ordering it. It really depends on how much you want to shoot. I am all for reloading, but if you don't have the time or the desire to invest, unassembled components don't do you much good. The breakeven point is much further out than your revolver cartridges. If 9Luger becomes something that you like to shoot in quantity, it would be probably be wise to get set up to reload for it. But if it's a lower priority for your range time, then it will become a chore to have to reload for it just to shoot. There will probably be some sort of future scarcity again to be sure and it will naturally be a prime target as history has shown us. It is just a tougher decision because it's a high availability, low cost cartridge. Just because others are heavily invested in 9Luger and shoot it in high volume does not mean that everyone needs to be heavily invested in it, shoots it in high volume, or reloads for it.

 

[CCWdownrangeP2]

If you're going to stick with the SS press, I would definitely suggest getting a RCBS Uniflow (or any other brand) powder drop. Filling a tray of cases and looking at powder levels with a flashlight before seating the bullets is quicker.

 

[Sunray]

Reloading isn't about saving money. It's about using the best possible ammo out of your firearm.
"...would be reloading for at least 200 years..." Last time I figured that out(not exactly recently), it takes about 6 months, at roughly 50 rounds of handgun ammo fired per week, to break even on an entire set up. Depending on the cartridge.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

l

I do load on a SS. I picked one up from RCBS last November and have NO intention on upgrading to a turret or progressive system anytime soon.

That's was another good point, I should have included that in the original post. How do people feel about reloading 9mm on a single stage?

I load using a combo of my Lee hand press, a hand primer and a Turret. I deprime using the hand press while I relax watching sports. Likewise on the priming.

After that I fill the cases then use the Turret to seat the bullets and crimp.

For 50 yo 100 rounds this isn't bad. But for more it would not be fun. In fact as I shoot more I'm going to add the powder drop on the Turret and begin using it like a semi progressive.

I know you say you want to just stay with the dingle stage. I'd highly suggest that you start thinking about getting the Turret if you get to the point of needing a faster way.

In my case I'm looking for a used single stage press to complement what I have.

The thing is to be wise don't spend a fortune and get the gear you need to make loading enjoyable not a job.

 

[TheSpaceWanderer]

If you're going to stick with the SS press, I would definitely suggest getting a RCBS Uniflow (or any other brand) powder drop. Filling a tray of cases and looking at powder levels with a flashlight before seating the bullets is quicker.

I do have the uniflow powder measure. It meters accurate #2 so well that I have been avoiding loading 44 mags because I don't want to mess with it. I'm now 800 rounds in of 38 special without having to adjust one charge. Not one. I am impressed with that thing. I'm gonna have to mess with it though. I need to build more 44's. Probably time for a cleaning anyhoo.

When I charge it goes like this. Charge, weigh, add to brass, visually inspect, seat bullet, repeat. I will NOT charge more than one case at a time. To each his own.

Not retrieving brass is not an option where my wife and I go shooting.

It is at my range. I swear I'm the only one who cleans up after themselves there. There is so much brass on the ground. We do have some brass buckets. I spend plenty of time picking through those. And sometimes someone will be nice enough to leave me a whole box worth of Winchester brass in 38spc on a paper plate. Thanks anonymous donor!

OP if you ever spend some time at an indoor range

I do not spend anytime shooting indoors. I live in rural New Hampshire and the nearest indoor range is about an hour away. No thanks. I prefer to shoot outdoors anyway. That's part of the fun. Don't we spend enough time indoors? I shoot every Friday morning. I stay home on rainy days, but in the winter I'm out there in my snowshoes.

 

[TheSpaceWanderer]

Thanks again for all replies. Knowing is half the battle

The thing is to be wise don't spend a fortune and get the gear you need to make loading enjoyable not a job.

I couldn't agree more. That's why I think I'll be sticking with my single stage for a while. I work in a laboratory so process work is second nature to me. I won't even argue that I can be as fast with the SS. I'm sure the rounds per hour on a progressive is better but I feel for the amount I shoot I can be efficient enough without investing the big bucks.

 

[Ghost In The Fog]

I'll play contrarian. The 38 and 44 are no brainers when it comes to reloading. It doesn't take long at all to be money ahead with better-than-you-can-buy loads. 9Luger is a different animal, especially if it's not a progressive press setup. .

I completely agree and have to say that all of us do it for different reasons- I load on a Lee Classic and I only load 9mm I can load an awesome RMR 124 grain JHP that expands more consistently in water jugs than my EDC Winchester Kinetics using range brass and BE-86 for just under 0.13 each. Closest factory ammo of this caliber is a minimum of $0.52 if you find it on sale online with free shipping. Usually closer to $0.58 each if you shop around or $1.00 or more at TGS
If you take the dollar amount per hour and throw that in to the mix- it is cheaper to buy cheap target ammo but that is not why I reload.

At a savings of 0.40 each for SD type ammo it begins to pay for itself rather quickly. I am wildly weird about quality and on my LCT I load an average of 110 to 120 rounds per hour. (So I guess the average would be 115) Yes that is slower than most but I have a problem, I make sure every single round is right, checked, double checked and checked again. But that is me and how I like to do it. I get great personal satisfaction from making better than factory ammo and knowing as many of if not all of the variables have been eliminated from the process as possible- not from speed.
I have made 205 rounds in an hour before but that was crankin for me. When I was done, I was uncertain if everything was right and took those rounds to the range and got rid of them.
Precision top quality JHP ammunition that is better than factory is the result I am after. I am slow, steady and precise, I'm good with that. I don't enjoy crankin out cheap factory ammo for the least amount per round I can find. For bottom barrel target ammo, I would spend $1,300.00 and get a Dillon 650 with all the bells and whistles and mindlessly churn out 500+ rounds an hour- then it becomes more of an economical thing. Perfect for some- not for me.
Making ammo is my happy place and I learn something new nearly everyday.

 

[TheSpaceWanderer]

Lord, I hope so. I have saved up over 2000 fired brass so far, and do not even have the die set yet Granted, I have been only reloading for about seven days.

Haha I hear ya there. I started shooting 12 years ago. I bought a Yugo M48 Mauser. Man I love that rifle. Anyway even then I knew I should be saving cases. I have hundreds and hundreds of cases sitting in my safe. I started reloading six months ago....one day I'll get around buying some 8mm dies....one day.

Sure, many people on THR buy a dillon, case quantities of .355"s, sleeves of primers, and purchase powder by the 4#'s or 8#'s and go to town.

Must be nice

The 38 and 44 are no brainers when it comes to reloading.

Started loading them six months ago. I used to shoot a couple boxes of 44mag a year. It's something else to go to the range with a hundred rounds to blow.....every weekend.

 

[.308 Norma]

It is at my range. I swear I'm the only one who cleans up after themselves there. There is so much brass on the ground. We do have some brass buckets. I spend plenty of time picking through those. And sometimes someone will be nice enough to leave me a whole box worth of Winchester brass in 38spc on a paper plate. Thanks anonymous donor!

I only meant not retrieving brass where we go shooting is not an option for my wife and me. As I explained, our shooting "range" is a county gravel pit a few miles from our house. Trust me, there are plenty of slobs who leave brass, aluminum and steel cases on the ground there. They also leave improvised targets, including broken bottles occasionally. The county authorities could easily close public access to the "range" my wife and I have been using for 40 years. We don't want that to happen, so we pick up after ourselves as well as others when we go there. I guess we could call it "exercise."

 

[cfullgraf]

I enjoy reloading. It is an activity for evenings to pass the time. Except when suffing powder and bullets in the cases, I can even have music or the TV on.

My reloading area is comfortable to be in. No un-heated or un-cooled garages or shacks. No dark, dank basements.

I know I save money reloading so it has been decades since I obscessed about the cost of time or components.

Since I have my favorite loads, I do not spend time pouring over internet sites looking for the best deal on the brand I like to shoot. I don't shoot the cheap cr** in my guns. I have my favorite components and stock up when inventory runs low. I always, even in the shortage times, have components to load ammunition so I do no go into shooter's withdrawl.

I shoot a bunch of different cartridges so I can do a years worth of 9x19 on a progressive in a couple or three evenings' work. Of course, I do load other cartridges at other times so I am frequently reloading something.

Lots of folks do not like spending time at the reloading bench and that is fine by me as well. What ever rings your bell.

 

[LiveLife]

I think the 9mm has become the 22 LR of the day, cheap to shoot

Definitely +1. During the last component shortage when 22LR became extinct, I said my final "goodbye" to 22LR as I can reload 9mm FMJ comparable in cost and I will never be without ammunition again. I keep my Ruger 10/22 TakeDown for small children to shoot.

Spent brass collection is no longer an issue. I use $11 Caldwell brass catcher for my 9mm carbines (bend the wire at velcro end for almost 100% capture rate) and $40 Garden Weasel (Small) to easily collect brass from ground.

Here's break down cost of 9mm loads:

Bullet - RMR 115 gr FMJ $75.05 / 1000 (with 5% THR discount)
Powder - 4.8 gr W231/HP-38 ($22 / 1 lb)
Primer - CCI/Winchester $30 / 1000

This load comes out to $6 for 50 rounds and comparable to Federal/Winchester white box or other factory target ammo. Buying 8 lbs of powder like Promo and lower cost primers like Fiocchi, cost drops below $5.50 for 50.

I don't shoot the cheap cr** in my guns. I have my favorite components and stock up when inventory runs low.

I quit loading 9mm for a decade or so ... I only started back up because the load I wanted, I could not buy.

They don't sell my two favorite loads in factory form either.

do you think it's worth the time?

For me, absolutely. Not only do I get to shoot more accurate than factory ammo, I get to save $120+ per 1000 rounds over cheapest factory ammo (even with using RMR FMJ bullet) which translates to thousands of dollars saved each year just in 9mm (I shoot 380Auto/9mm/40S&W/45ACP/.223/.300 BLK).

 

[HOWARD J]

I don't bend over too good anymore.
I sweep up the brass into a dustpan with a long handle & dump it into my bag.
I got into reloading when we picked up an UZI & the kids were costing me a fortune---it got rid of it (the kids were mad as hell)
I been reloading over 40 years & I still enjoy it.
Have a great summer

 

[TheSpaceWanderer]

Bullet - RMR 115 gr FMJ $75.05 / 1000 (with 5% THR discount)

That's not bad!!! I hadn't heard of them. What's the discount code?

 

[Axis II]

Here is my take on this. My time doesn't count because I would be watching tv or something. 500 extreme bullets cost me $44, 1lbs powder $22 makes about 1000rds if I remember right. S&B primers-$23-1k. A pound of powder=100 factory rounds and brick of primers equals 100rds of factory 9mm. wichester 100rd packs at Walmart run about $24-25. I'm getting way more components then the 100rds for $24.

 

[LiveLife]

That's not bad!!! I hadn't heard of them. What's the discount code?

The discount code is thehighroad5 and you must enter THR ID in the order comment box. There are higher discounts depending on quantity - Order 4000 and price goes down to $72.67 per 1000!

These 115 gr FMJ are great bullets RMR makes in-house on their new machine which has very consistent ogive for more consistent OAL and bullet weight variance. Winchester and Montana Gold jacketed bullets I used for USPSA matches have less than 1 grain weight variance. RMR 115 gr FMJ weight varies less than .5 grain and since replaced Winchester/MG jacketed bullets as my reference bullet.

 

[444]

I reload pretty much everything I shoot. Any potential cost savings has never really been something I thought about. I sort of enjoy reloading in an of itself. One advantage of reloading is that when factory ammo becomes hard to get, you can still reload your own. Another advantage of reloading is that you can load whatever ammo you want to use and not have to settle for what the local gun store or Walmart has in stock. For me, this is a big deal. I have a suppressed AR15 upper in 9mm and it was designed to be used with 115 grain bullets and you can easily hear the difference when you use it with other loads. My standard 9mm bullet is 124 grains which is what I carry for CCW. So, my handgun sights are zeroed with 124 grain bullets. Because I reload, I typically use cast bullets which arn't available at Walmart. Since I am mostly plinking with them, I use light powder charges........ But, if the mood strikes me (or if I am using a Glock factory barrel) I reload jacketed bullets which I sometimes load at the max and I have that option because I reload. Then I have a 9mm pistol suppressor and to get the minimum report from it I need to use subsonic ammo. So, I handload 147 grain subsonic for that purpose. The point is that I can tailor my ammo to whatever I am shooting at the time or for whatever I am doing with the gun at the time. The options are available to the reloader and frequently not available at stores that sell ammo.

If I only owned one 9mm gun, and all I was interested in was shooting it in the most inexpensive possible way, I would probably just buy factory ammo.

 

[Jonesy814]

I load 9mm for about $14/100 using plated bullets. If I bought components in bigger bulk I could probably get it down to around $12/100. Possibly not worth saving $8-10 per 100 rounds if you only shoot a few hundred each year, but if you shoot 1500 a year and and already have a press it seems worth it to me

 

[joustin]

I picked up 1,000 rounds of 9mm for around $230 to my door, I used that as a starter pile since I've not had a 9mm in years. I won't shoot it anytime soon and I will be ordering bullets soon to start loading. Almost every caliber is worth loading because it's fun. I am not liking cleaning the brass I have now though, it's somewhat annoying as I haven't needed to clean and prep brass in a year or so.

 

[grampajack]

Every range I've been to has brooms. Just sweep away all the brass that's not yours before you shoot, then sweep your stuff into a pile after you're done. Unless it's an outdoor range and the benches are just sitting in the grass, then you're up a creek. At least until the brass magnet is invented.

You can get those shell catchers, though. I've never used one, but once you got it positioned in the right spot I'll bet it would catch a lot if not most of your brass, especially if you're shooting from a bench or prone.