CLP
member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2010
- Messages
- 1,397
There are threads that pop up occasionally regarding the potential cost savings of reloading. I'll venture a guess and say that for a majority of people who regularly read this site, handloading is more than just a means of cost-savings- though it often is. It quickly becomes a hobby in its own right that's very compelling. One often buys top shelf components and assembles and measures them with precision machinery and instruments. Like many of you, I'm also in that group. But I still also load up rounds to get the overall price as low as possible when I'm looking for range fodder whose job is to hit minute of steel gong in rapid succession.
So, to convince those who might still be unsure, I'd like to report the cost of a 9mm Luger load I just finished loading up tonight. A couple of weeks ago I took my 300BLK out to zero in a new Leupold scope. During my many trips to measure groups and apply pasters, I noticed piles of shiny nickel brass on the ground. It is second nature for me to pick up brass I see and chunk it in a bag I take with me every time I go to the range. Over my numerous trips to my target, I noticed these piles every 10 yards. I collected 253 freshly fired nickel FC 9mm brass. It was nice to have what was most likely all from the same shooter. I used the same data from a recent lot of IMI brass from a case bought a year or two ago from IMI (which incidentally now costs almost twice as much per 1K at Midway than it did when it was sold at Widener's when it was under its last ownership). Of course, Wideners still has some deals and recently, under its new ownership, I bought a 3500 ct box of Hornady FMJ 100g 9mm bullets for $269.13 delivered (probably more commonly loaded in 380 ACP but Hornady has load data for 9mm). Loaded three dummy rounds, leaving me a very nice remainder of 250 pieces of brass. I loaded them with 6.5gr Power Pistol and a CCI 500.
Brass- Free
Bullet- 7.7cents
Primer- 2.6cents
Powder- 1.7cents
Total- 12 cents per round
30 bucks for 250 rounds
Granted, on a Dillon 650, this took me 2-3hr for everything. I have a 9mm RN gang mold and could cut the bullet cost down significantly still. In fact, with scrap lead and wheel weights (which are still available believe it or not if you make a good effort to find them) I could get the individual bullet cost down to 2 cents per- or even free if you continue to read on. But even if I went with Rotometals Lyman #2 I could cut my bullet cost in half. I could also lower my powder charge and/or use a cheaper primer. Last time I went to the scrap yard for lead, they had a 63 pounds wheel wts, battery terminals, and trot line sinkers in a 5 gallon bucket. The cashier said it was 25 cents per pound. Spontaneously, and without any intention of haggling, I blurted out, "25 five cents?! Last time I was here it was only 15 cents per pound." She lowered the price to 15 cents. I asked, "Can I keep the bucket?" which they allowed.
So, if you're cash strapped, you most likely can still afford to shoot affordably if you just search around. If you're wondering about brass, I'd say that I've never been to any public or private range where you couldn't easily scrounge hundreds of 9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP, and 2.23 brass.
And to even further make my point, the directors at my gun club permit me to come out to the range either prior to shooting hours or if no one is using a particular range and scrounge lead on the berm- just as long as I don't dig. The last time I did that I picked up just under 20lbs of bullets in about 15 minutes. Probably need to credit the BP cartridge shooters and all their 45-70's for that though. I guess it's just how bad you want to go shoot. Funny thing is that I'm blessed enough to have plenty of discretionary income and don't need to do anything like this, but I like doing it.
When I was in medical school, getting progressively nauseous with the accumulation of school loans as every semester passed, I still shot plenty. I mainly shot 45 ACP. I didn't cast at the time, but bought Magnus 200gr LSWC (because they're from Alabama and I wanted to support businesses in my state) and exclusively shot range brass I scrounged from a WMA public range. Prepping and loading 50 at a time on a Lee Handloader. That takes more time than on my Dillon of course. But I also did my resizing in the living room talking with my wife as opposed to being isolated in my reloading room.
I like shooting 77gr SMKs in pretty brass trimmed in a Giraud trimmer. But I love shooting 38Spl 158gr KSWC of 94/3/3 in brass that's been loaded over ten times. Wondering with each loading, "Is this finally it? Are the necks going to finally split?" All the while thinking, even the most cash strapped guy or gal could probably come up with the resources to fund this very rewarding hobby.
So, to convince those who might still be unsure, I'd like to report the cost of a 9mm Luger load I just finished loading up tonight. A couple of weeks ago I took my 300BLK out to zero in a new Leupold scope. During my many trips to measure groups and apply pasters, I noticed piles of shiny nickel brass on the ground. It is second nature for me to pick up brass I see and chunk it in a bag I take with me every time I go to the range. Over my numerous trips to my target, I noticed these piles every 10 yards. I collected 253 freshly fired nickel FC 9mm brass. It was nice to have what was most likely all from the same shooter. I used the same data from a recent lot of IMI brass from a case bought a year or two ago from IMI (which incidentally now costs almost twice as much per 1K at Midway than it did when it was sold at Widener's when it was under its last ownership). Of course, Wideners still has some deals and recently, under its new ownership, I bought a 3500 ct box of Hornady FMJ 100g 9mm bullets for $269.13 delivered (probably more commonly loaded in 380 ACP but Hornady has load data for 9mm). Loaded three dummy rounds, leaving me a very nice remainder of 250 pieces of brass. I loaded them with 6.5gr Power Pistol and a CCI 500.
Brass- Free
Bullet- 7.7cents
Primer- 2.6cents
Powder- 1.7cents
Total- 12 cents per round
30 bucks for 250 rounds
Granted, on a Dillon 650, this took me 2-3hr for everything. I have a 9mm RN gang mold and could cut the bullet cost down significantly still. In fact, with scrap lead and wheel weights (which are still available believe it or not if you make a good effort to find them) I could get the individual bullet cost down to 2 cents per- or even free if you continue to read on. But even if I went with Rotometals Lyman #2 I could cut my bullet cost in half. I could also lower my powder charge and/or use a cheaper primer. Last time I went to the scrap yard for lead, they had a 63 pounds wheel wts, battery terminals, and trot line sinkers in a 5 gallon bucket. The cashier said it was 25 cents per pound. Spontaneously, and without any intention of haggling, I blurted out, "25 five cents?! Last time I was here it was only 15 cents per pound." She lowered the price to 15 cents. I asked, "Can I keep the bucket?" which they allowed.
So, if you're cash strapped, you most likely can still afford to shoot affordably if you just search around. If you're wondering about brass, I'd say that I've never been to any public or private range where you couldn't easily scrounge hundreds of 9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP, and 2.23 brass.
And to even further make my point, the directors at my gun club permit me to come out to the range either prior to shooting hours or if no one is using a particular range and scrounge lead on the berm- just as long as I don't dig. The last time I did that I picked up just under 20lbs of bullets in about 15 minutes. Probably need to credit the BP cartridge shooters and all their 45-70's for that though. I guess it's just how bad you want to go shoot. Funny thing is that I'm blessed enough to have plenty of discretionary income and don't need to do anything like this, but I like doing it.
When I was in medical school, getting progressively nauseous with the accumulation of school loans as every semester passed, I still shot plenty. I mainly shot 45 ACP. I didn't cast at the time, but bought Magnus 200gr LSWC (because they're from Alabama and I wanted to support businesses in my state) and exclusively shot range brass I scrounged from a WMA public range. Prepping and loading 50 at a time on a Lee Handloader. That takes more time than on my Dillon of course. But I also did my resizing in the living room talking with my wife as opposed to being isolated in my reloading room.
I like shooting 77gr SMKs in pretty brass trimmed in a Giraud trimmer. But I love shooting 38Spl 158gr KSWC of 94/3/3 in brass that's been loaded over ten times. Wondering with each loading, "Is this finally it? Are the necks going to finally split?" All the while thinking, even the most cash strapped guy or gal could probably come up with the resources to fund this very rewarding hobby.
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