Practicality of reloading 9mm Luger rounds?

I pay 9.47 per box of 50 Federal at Walmart. The only reason I would consider reloading such a cheap caliber is if there was a heavy tax put on it, short supply etc... It just doesn't make sense right now to buy all the reloading equipment for this caliber.
 

I pay 9.47 per box of 50 Federal at Walmart. The only reason I would consider reloading such a cheap caliber is if there was a heavy tax put on it, short supply etc... It just doesn't make sense right now to buy all the reloading equipment for this caliber.

If you are set up for other calibers it's not that much more to buy the dies. It's not a round that I would start from scratch on though.
 
LOL, Why bother reloading that old cheap dirty bunch of empties. Just box 'em up and I'll pay postage to me. After all, what are friends for.
 
Hello everybody first post on this site.

If you reload for cost savings and reload multiple calibers you will save the least reloading 9mm per round.

I'm going to try to upload a picture of my reloading set up. I don't like to reload so I tried to make it as easy as I can.

Thanks
 
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I posted this a while back on another forum. It's not 9 MM mind you, but .223 is a highly popular round used by many shooters. A few people who were thinking of reloading had asked about costs associated with it. I thought it might be helpful because with the rising cost of ammunition over the last couple of years, many shooters are considering the alternative of reloading to help cut costs. A lot has been written about how much, if any, money is actually saved when everything is taken into account. This is a cost breakdown for the 2,350 rounds of .223 I finished loading a few months back. As I said, a fellow on another forum, who was interested in reloading for his AR-15's had asked me. The brass I used was mixed headstamp. CCI, Remington, Winchester, Lake City, S&B, and a few others I'm forgetting. This brass was obtained from on line sources on the web. I processed it all the same. First I resized and deprimed all of it with a RCBS Small Base Sizing Die. Then I processed all of the primer pockets on my Dillon 600 Super Swage, because some of them were military with crimped primer pockets. I then trimmed all of them to uniform length on my Giraud Powered Case Trimmer. After that they went into the tumbler for several hours and received a polish with ground corn cob and Dillon Rapid Polish added to the media. The final step was to run it through my Dillon and crimp with a Lee Factory Crimp Die. They turned out very good. My total investment in this batch of .223 was:

Brass---------$20.00 total. (It was free, but I paid the shipping).

Powder-------$65.00 for 8 pounds of AA 2230C. (25.0 Gr. per load X 2,350 = 58,750 Gr. 58,750 divided by 7,000 Grains per pound = 8.39 pounds of powder total.)

Primers-------$59.38 for 2,350 primers @ $25.00 per thousand.

Bullets-------$172.21 (2,350 Winchester 55 Gr. FMJBT from Midway)

Boxes--------$52.00 for 100 boxes and trays from Midway. (Actually $26.00 because I used only 47.)

Grand Total = $342.59

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By comparison the 1,000 rounds of Remington UMC FMJ in .223 pictured above cost me $371.00 delivered from Natchez, (a year and a half ago). Reloading can be extremely cost effective but you must find good sources, and buy in bulk. Here are 2 very good sources for brass, bullets, and powder. If you are willing to do a little Internet hunting, brass can be found quite inexpensively. It may require cleaning, and primer crimp removal, but tools to do that can be purchased cheaply, and the amount of time added to the operation as a whole isn't much.

Welcome to Bartlett Reloaders - Jeff Bartlett

Pat's Reloading - Prices

Now let's make some adjustments, then do the math to find out just how much, if anything, I really saved. Before we do that we need to make one critical adjustment. The $371.00 I paid for the 1,000 rounds of Remington UMC is LONG GONE. Rising fuel prices along with non ferrous metal prices have driven that number to new heights. Especially when you include shipping. If you buy locally, whatever you save in shipping you'll eat in sales tax. So it's pretty much tit for tat. The Glendale, Arizona Cabela's 2 miles from me as of last week, charges $10.00 a box of twenty for Remington UMC .223. Let's roll with that figure. Cabela's is a very large retailer, and while others might sell ammo a little cheaper, Cabela's most always has it in stock which is important because you can't very well buy what a store doesn't have when you need it. So, using Cabela's $10.00 a box of twenty price for Remington UMC 55 Gr. FMJ .223 ammo that comes to:

$500.00 per 1,000 plus 8.1% Arizona sales tax. That's $540.50 per thousand. $540.50 X 2.35 = $1,270.17 for 2,350 rounds.

So as I type this it would cost me $1,270.17 to walk out of Cabela's with the same 2,350 rounds of .223 that cost me a grand total of $342.59.

Now let's do the math.

$1,270.17 - $342.59 = $927.58 Savings over what it would cost me right now to buy the exact same thing 2.5 miles from my home from one of the biggest shooting and hunting retailers in the country.

Now let's talk time.

Resize and deprime all 2,350 cases....... 9 hours. (That's only 4.3 cases a minute, but I'm 58, and not the fastest guy when I reload.)

I tumbled all 2,350 cases over 2 nights while I slept. Adding the time to install plus remove 3 loads, (I use a Dillon FL-2000).......2 hours. Again I'm slow.

Run all 2,350 rounds through my Dillon Progressive.......Approx. 300 rounds per hour. Yeah, I know they say 500 to 600 rounds per hour, but that's not very realistic. You have to include refilling powder measures and primer tubes, plus taking a break once and a while. 2,350 Divided By 300 R.P.H. = 7.83 hours. But let's be generous and call it 9 hours.

My wife has nimble fingers and she enjoys boxing and labeling them for me, but I'll toss in another 3 hours for that as well to keep things on the up and up. So, the grand total in time invested runs:

9 Hours (Resize and deprime)

2 Hours (Putting in and removing from tumbler)

9 Hours (Yanking the handle on the Dillon)

3 Hours (Labeling & Boxing)
.................................................. ...........

23 HOURS TOTAL

$927.58 Savings Divided By 23 Total Hours = $40.33 PER HOUR.

$40.33 per hour is a damn good wage, let alone getting it for doing something you enjoy in the comfort of your own home.

So in conclusion I would say reloading is still worth it, but you must buy your components wisely, and use good equipment. As for "earning" $40.33 per hour doing it. Let's just call that icing on the cake. That cake will get more and more "frosted", as ammo prices just keep getting more and more expensive. And rest assured THEY WILL! Bill T.
 
Tax, haz mat fees, bullets dropped and lost, cases lost or unusable.

Currently factory 223 is going for under 300 bucks a 1000.

If you police your brass and any other brass you can pick up and sell it for scrap you can drive the cost of factory ammo down. If you're reloading you'd most likey have to do that anyway.

Most of the time reloading is going to be cheaper but for ghetto ammo (mil surp 223 when it was out there) it was cheaper to buy it than reload it. The more precise you want your load the more you'll save and get the accuracy from. 223 from a lead hose isn't the same as 308 from a bolt gun.
 
Currently factory 223 is going for under 300 bucks a 1000.

If you want to shoot steel cased Russian garbage, then yes. The cheapest boxer primed, brass cased, reloadable .223 that I've seen today is $6.49 a box for PMC at Cabela's. That equates to $324.50 a thousand. Classic Arms has some U.A.E. manufactured reloadable, brass cased stuff a little cheaper, but the guys I've spoken with say it shoots "soft", and won't cycle some AR-15's reliably. It's worth it simply because of the brass, which you should be picking up regardless of where you shoot, or if you reload or not. Leaving empty, cases on the ground is nothing more than pure and simple littering. Someone else is going to have to pick them up if you don't. That is how many shooting areas out here in Arizona are getting closed down. The last thing we as shooters need are more slob shooters than we already have.

No matter how you do the math, reloading is worth it if you buy your components wisely. I've proven that to myself in over 4 decades of shooting. There is no way I could afford to shoot as much as I do if I didn't reload. Component cost is always relative to loaded ammunition cost.

For the guy who wants to go out and bump fire a few magazine fulls of ammo into a hillside twice a month on his lunch break, then no, reloading is not going to pay off. But when you are feeding a total of 10 AR-15 rifles that get shot by 2 people on an average of twice a week, there is no way a person is going to support that without reloading unless they earn a salary far above the average shooter. And even then they are just wasting more money if they don't reload. They will simply be able to afford to waste it easier. Bill T.
 
I too have wondered about the practicality of reloading 9mm, it's pretty cheap at Wally-World. I reload my .38 and .357 and have for over 20 years, but 9mm, I have a simple turret press and to me just handling the small 9mm brass seems like a real effort.

But then one more question, with 9mm dies can one also reload .380's ?
 
I too have wondered about the practicality of reloading 9mm, it's pretty cheap at Wally-World. I reload my .38 and .357 and have for over 20 years, but 9mm, I have a simple turret press and to me just handling the small 9mm brass seems like a real effort.

But then one more question, with 9mm dies can one also reload .380's ?

No because the taper on the cases don't match requiring different dies, unlike the .38 Special / .357 Magnum which have straight walled cases. Bill T.
 
If you want to shoot steel cased Russian garbage, then yes. The cheapest boxer primed, brass cased, reloadable .223 that I've seen today is $6.49 a box for PMC at Cabela's. That equates to $324.50 a thousand. Classic Arms has some U.A.E. manufactured reloadable, brass cased stuff a little cheaper, but the guys I've spoken with say it shoots "soft", and won't cycle some AR-15's reliably. It's worth it simply because of the brass, which you should be picking up regardless of where you shoot, or if you reload or not. Leaving empty, cases on the ground is nothing more than pure and simple littering. Someone else is going to have to pick them up if you don't. That is how many shooting areas out here in Arizona are getting closed down. The last thing we as shooters need are more slob shooters than we already have.

You need to shop someplace else. I don't shoot any steel in my guns. Poorly Made Crap was under 300 bucks a 1000 where I live. Since I shoot between anywhere from 2 to 6 matches a month money is a big concern ( just ask my wife), but so is my time.

No matter how you do the math, reloading is worth it if you buy your components wisely. I've proven that to myself in over 4 decades of shooting. There is no way I could afford to shoot as much as I do if I didn't reload. Component cost is always relative to loaded ammunition cost.

Depends on how much your time is worth and how much time you have vs. the savings on the ammo. If you pick up your brass and sell it it closes the savings gap between loading and buying, too.

For the guy who wants to go out and bump fire a few magazine fulls of ammo into a hillside twice a month on his lunch break, then no, reloading is not going to pay off. But when you are feeding a total of 10 AR-15 rifles that get shot by 2 people on an average of twice a week, there is no way a person is going to support that without reloading unless they earn a salary far above the average shooter. And even then they are just wasting more money if they don't reload. They will simply be able to afford to waste it easier. Bill T.


It doesn't really matter how many rifles you have you can only shoot one at a time unless you're being Rambo and shooting with one in each hand.

Most of the ammo I reload is 40. It is the most cost effective for the time I have to spend and I shoot a lot of pistol, and only 300 rounds of rifle or so a month.
 
If you read my original post I give detailed information on how I reloaded 2,350 rounds of .223 for $342.59. When you can buy it that cheap, please let me know where. Bill T.
 
Yes great savings but not everybody is going to get free brass, but on the other hand not everybody is going to buy boxes either.
 
The main issue with reloading cost is where you obtain your components. Too many people pick up a Cabela's catalog, and using their component prices as a baseline, dismiss reloading as "not worth it". Like anything else you buy in quantity, you must shop around for the best price if you expect to save. In over 40 years of shooting and reloading, I've picked up enough empty shotgun hulls and brass off the ground to fill a 2 car garage solid. Today as more people are getting into reloading it is becoming more difficult, but there is still a lot of brass avaliable for the picking. Especially in the cheaper, more common calibers like 9 MM and .223.

It was the same 25 years ago when .308 and .30-06 was then considered to be common and cheap at the time. I would collect boxes of the stuff because most shooters couldn't be bothered with it. I would even have guys come over and ask me if I wanted their brass, after they saw me scrounging for it. I always said yes, even if it was for a caliber I didn't reload for at the time. Sooner or later I did, and that brass was put into good use.

Many leave 9 MM and .223 on the ground at my local club because they feel it is simply too cheap to bother with. While that may or may not be true today, you can bet the cheap prices won't last much longer. I'm surprised they've lasted this long. The days of factory, brass cased, reloadable 9 MM for under $10.00 a box aren't going to be with us much longer, as the prices of the raw materials used in ammunition keep rising, (Brass, Copper, and Lead). It is one of the main reasons so many manufacturers are going to steel cased ammunition. Especially the Russian manufacturers. Brass is a premium commodity in that country. Even American companies like Hornady are now producing steel cased 7.62 X 39 MM ammo at premium prices.

Another area shooters better start paying attention to is lead. You are already seeing places like Cabela's touting an entire section devoted to "Lead Free Ammo". I have well over 2 tons of lead based bullet casting material stockpiled. Most of it I got for nothing where I worked over the years. I also have purchased many multi cavity bullet molds in various configurations over the years. My wife and I purchased a ton of lead shot, (80, 25 pound bags), direct from Scott Shot up in St. George Utah some years back for $12.00 a bag. We still have a large portion of it. Today it sells anywhere from $30.00 to $45.00 a bag.

Some indoor ranges already do not allow lead based ammunition to be shot, and California has mandated lead free ammo for hunting in several counties. A "lead ban" can only be exercised so far. You'll always be able to shoot lead somewhere. But with that said you have to have it to be able to shoot it. When I'm bored in the cooler weather, I'll cast up a few thousand bullets. It didn't cost me anything for the metal to do it, and that translates into even more savings and shooting.

As I said, I've been doing this sort of thing since I got out of high school in 1970, 40 years ago. Over the decades it has paid off well, and continues to do so. For someone starting out in reloading it still can, you just have to shop carefully for your components. Paying too much for anything negates any savings you might experience from it down the road. Reloading components are like anything else, the cheaper they can be obtained, the "better" they are. Bill T.
 

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