realoading 9mm?

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D-rob92

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would reloading my 9mm really save me any money.
i mean by the time i buy the dyes, powder, bullets, etc. i have a press and everything. i'm just curious if it would be worth the time and effort?
any comments from someone who does this would be highly appreciated.
 
Using Berry's plated bullets I load 50 rounds for around $6. For me its worth it because I can load light loads for whenever I get a chance to start shooting USPSA.
 
Assuming you can find components (difficult right now), it all depends on how much you load!

Last time I bought 9mm 115gr JHP bullets they were 10.29 per 100.

Powder is cheap - out of one pound of powder (15.99 last time I bought Bullseye), you can get 1,555 charges at 4.5gr. That's a lot of reloading per pound.

Primers, when I bought them last, were about 30/1000 (used to be 20..). So figure 3 cents a shot there.

This brings my cost to .10 for bullet, .01 for powder, .03 for primer = 14 cents a round (assuming you have casings, here, if not, PM me and I'll mail you a few hundred for free to get you started).

So $7 / 50.

Compared to $~14/50 for winchester white box full metal jacket (an average price before the run started), you can load up 2x as many jacketed hollow points.

Over a 1000 rounds (20 boxes), you save $140. That's enough for a decent press AND dies.
 
(If you cast, and can find a supply of wheel weights, you can load MUCH cheaper still. But it's a lot of work, and those little bullets make my damn hands cramp enough as it is; so I only cast 45..)
 
I can give you comments from someone who thought about it...
if you'd been able to buy the materials at pre-SH prices you'd look like a genius right now.
however pre-SH prices for factory rounds also didn't make it financially viable to reload 9mm. so you would have been betting on Something Bad Happening when you buying reloading materials. My crystal ball wasn't working otherwise I would have bought a whole lot more factory ammo at pre-SH prices.
now in the post-SH world neither factory ammo prices nor availability of said or of reloading materials really make much of a difference. you can easily do the math though... how much to reload 1000rnds? (figuring $400 for a factory case of 124gr NATO.)

tl;dr... yes and no, and you can't buy anything anyways.
 
thanks i appreciate the 1st hand info. i actually have some brass ive been saving so now all i really need are the components. Thanks for the offer though. But like you said finding the components will probably be tough. My LGS are really making the dough on 9mm right now. bought a box of 50 earlier for 17.99!
 
i just recently bought a 9mm. i have a glock 23 and an xd .45 tactical so to me the 9mm factory ammo even now seems fairly priced. but after paying almost 20$ for a box today i was just curious about realoding them
 
They're not taking orders right now because they got so backed up; but after the 25th Pats Reloading will be taking new orders. http://www.patsreloading.com/patsrel/prices.aspx

They still have 9mm 124gr FMJ or 115gr JHP listed at 124.99 / 1000 (12.5c/r)

A little steep but still cheaper than factory (especially for the JHP)
 
I load 9mm with cast bullets, Unique and used brass. My whole reloading setup (press, scale, and dies) cost me about $100.

I can load 9mm for about $.12/round as opposed to about twice that for even the cheapest commercial ammo. So saving $.12/round, I would need to load about 833 rounds to get my money back on the gear.

Easy peasy. Twelve cents. You can too.
 
i'm just curious if it would be worth the time and effort?

This is the age old point of discussion when it comes to reloading, how do you value your time.

At pre-panic prices, you would save money on components versus the cost of factory ammunition. (Post panic, store inventory comes into play).

But then the disagreement comes in, some folks, including me, consider reloading a past time and therefore their time spent at the reloading press is worth nothing.

Others feel if they were not reloading, they could be doing some revenue making scheme and therefore their time is extremely valuable.

Only you can decide that.

You can get started in reloading for a couple hundred dollars in capital expense on budget priced or used equipment. There are lots of threads discussing the cost of components but you would probably break even in the range of 500 to 1000 rounds or so not including your time.

I enjoy reloading so it is a no brainer for me. I get to shoot ammunition that I like and that works well in my fire arms without the worry of not finding it in the store.
 
what do you value your time at though? how many rounds/hour can you process?

when I did the math about 2 years ago with FMJ rounds I came in at about $0.18/rnd or so. at the time I was paying $0.22/rnd on average. that's $0.04/rnd savings. that excluded the cost of buying a rig to reload (as I do not have one.) finally add in what my time is worth and other things I could be doing and reloading just didn't make sense.

Now... IF I'd bought a reloading rig and all materials to reload say, 10k rounds at pre-SH prices and were to compare that to the valuation of factory rounds now ($0.40/rnd on average for plinking rounds) then $0.18 vs $0.40 is a much better delta but I still don't know if it'd be enough.
 
There was a time in very near past where it was very iffy if we could save a lot on reloading 9mm. We would always save a little compared to what we saved by reloading other pistol cartriges, I'm afraid those days may be gone for a while. They will come back.

If you do it right, absolutely, you can save money on reloading 9mm. I just not sure right now is the time. If you can get equipment without paying Ebay's extortion prices, and buy right, even now you can save by reloading.

Don't be afraid to bid your time. These shortages don't last forever.

Just be smart about it and you'll do fine.
 
Thanks for all the feed back. I believe i will begin looking at the components tonight and do some math. And as far as time goes i work alot and weird hours. but i dont care to spare some leisure time sitting at the old press.
 
Saving money is not the highest thing on the list for reloading. I enjoy it as a stress reliever. The process of deciding on a load, testing it and perfecting it is the fun part. Being patient with purchases and waiting for a bargain to come your way also helps keep the costs down over the long haul. Right now, the bargains are few and far between. There is something to be said about "reloading my own" as well. I think over the long haul you will save money if that is your goal. You can put pennies to it but those change on a daily basis right now. Have fun with it, it really is a whole other hobby. Good luck
 
Have fun trying to source components or tooling right now. Especially for 9mm. Reloading is not something most do to save money. Especially if you're buying bullets. Reloading allows you to shoot a higher volume at the same cost. Everyone says they won't do it. But in the end you end up shooting more. Which is what you need to do anyway to recoup your initial investment in tooling.

I'm able to load 9mm for $.03 a round but I cast my own bullets from free lead. Getting into casting involves another investment in tooling. But in times like these it pays for itself quickly. I also find it an enjoyable hobby. If you don't enjoy reloading then it just becomes work.


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Reloading for the 9 MM has always been a marginal savings as compared to other calibers. My current cost using 115 gr FMJ is $12.90 per 100. Since I load for all my other guns, I have always done so for my 9 MM. Besides any savings, my reloads will shoot as good or better than any factory rounds. At the moment, 115 gr FMJ factory ammo is selling for $20 per 50 in my area so the savings at this time is significant.
 
realoading 9mm?

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would reloading my 9mm really save me any money.
i mean by the time i buy the dyes, powder, bullets, etc. i have a press and everything. i'm just curious if it would be worth the time and effort?
any comments from someone who does this would be highly appreciated.

I actually started with 9mm, it was the only caliber I shot at the time. If you buy components in bulk you should be able to load for 50% less than factory. As the prices go up you will save even more. For example I bought a couple of bulk buy's with friends in 2007 and am still loading with those components. I was loading for $7 per 100 then and am still loading for that price today where the price of factory has at least doubled since then.
 
I reload 9mm only because I started reloading .44 and .38. kinda figgered, well, since I'm here....
 
OP, even though right now is not the best time to get into the hobby due to some serious component shortages, I'd say, research it, don't fall for the inflated prices, be willing to wait on some things, peruse the classified section here and you can get a reloading set up to get going.
Now, your question of 9mm as a candidate... I addressed it on another post a while ago with this:
For those that don't save much on 9mm, you can really pile on the $ savings when you load something other than the standard 115 FMJ box ammo. For example, I've been loading some 147gr Speer TMJ (plated) subsonics for around $5.20/50 and $104/1K. I don't think you can find Subsonic loads for anywhere near that price point. Most 147 gr boxes I see are in the $15-20/50 range.
Ok, on the 115grs, if I go FMJ or plated I can load 1K for $114. That's WAY less than $10/50. Actually it's $5.70.

Now, those amounts are based on earlier component costs and you'd have to calculate on today's prices. But then again, you'd be competing against today's ammo prices.

So, is it worth it? Only you can answer that, but I'll tell you, the last 3 trips to the range I've only shot my reloads in 9, 38, and 45 and wasn't at all worried about shortages or jacked up ammo prices.

Another point, if you do go the reloading route and like it, and buy in bulk, then you might be in a better state to ward off another round of market panic.

EM
 
BYJO4 said:
Reloading for the 9 MM has always been a marginal savings as compared to other calibers. My current cost using 115 gr FMJ is $12.90 per 100. Since I load for all my other guns, I have always done so for my 9 MM. Besides any savings, my reloads will shoot as good or better than any factory rounds. At the moment, 115 gr FMJ factory ammo is selling for $20 per 50 in my area so the savings at this time is significant.
My post would have looked a lot like this one.

I bought a press to load 44mag 45acp, and 45colt. Then I got into loading my hunting ammo. Eventually I got into 9mm, just because. I bought components at decent prices, and quickly discovered I was loading premium ammo for slightly less than surplus cost. I think some people value handloaded ammo at junk ammo cost.
 
what do you value your time at though? how many rounds/hour can you process?

For me, my time spent at the reloading bench has no value. Same as petting the dogs, watching television, cooking and eating dinner, feeding and working with my horses, working on my race car, watching the sun rise, and the list could go on. These are past times and are pleasurable. The time spent is priceless and cannot be valued.

For decades, i operated a single stage press for metallic cartridge and MEC 600jr's for shot shell. I can load about 100 rounds per hour on either which is is more than enough to keep me in ammunition for the shooting I do including competitive skeet at one time.

A couple years ago, I bought a progressive and shortly after that two more. Not to make more ammunition faster, but to enrich my reloading hobby and make reloading a bit easier by reducing strokes of the press handle. On two the progressives, I have not loaded anything on them in close to a year. A couple evenings at the press made enough ammunition for the year.

The third progressive, I have settled to mostly loading small batches on it, a couple of hundred rounds or so. It is what I enjoy doing and I have made my process easy and quick to change cartridges.

I still load rifle cartridges on the single stage.

I spend 5 or 6 evenings out of seven doing something in the gun/reloading room for at least a little while.

I have equipment to load 28-30 different cartridges--I always lose count. I have equipment to form cases for a few of those.

As I said in an earlier post, I enjoy reloading.

But, as I also implied, it is not for everyone and that is OK.
 
cfullgraf;

I got my Dillon a few years ago, and I've only had about a dozen sessions on it. When I get low on a caliber, I set it up, and turn out 1500-2000 rounds in a couple evenings.

It's weird because 99.9% of the time that press just sits there looking .. complicated. I don't use it for short runs of anything, takes too long to swap calibers around.

But when I *do* use it I can knock a year's worth of shooting out in short order.

ALL of my other loading, and short runs of 9mm/45 that are at max load (or above), I do on a manual index Lyman turret press.

Pretty much all winter, I've spent most every night doing something down in the gun room. Tonight was sorting 38/357 mag/357 max/45 colt brass that my uncle left behind. MAN he left behind a lot of empty brass when he left us, not many loaded rounds though. He knew he was dying and shot most everything he had left loaded up in his final days. :)

Reloading for some becomes part of your lifestyle. I wake up, I toss brass in the tumbler. I get home from work (or get done working when I work from home), I take the brass out, put it away.

Then I shoot all summer and the bins fill back up. Don't spend much time loading in the summer, but I spend a lot of time unloading. :)

Then winter hits and the basement becomes my second home again.
 
Yeah. What he said. Everyone just needs to quit reloading 9mm, it's not worth it.

(Maybe then I can find some dang bullets to load and shoot before summer)
 
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