Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading

Research on Reloading 9mm

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bullit:
For comparison in your study.....I've been buying BVAC (Bitter Root Valley Ammunition Company) 1000 round 115 gr FMJ reload bulk for around $8.95/50 (I use 50 to compare to buying equivlent number in the store, etc.).  Buying from Cheaper Than Dirt, throw in $14 shipping I still feel I am coming out ahead.  It is clean shooting, great performing ammo. 
CDNN has NEW Speer Lawman 115 gr FMJ in 1000 round cases for 28 cents per round and $9.99 shipping for as much as you want.

OnTheFly:

--- Quote from: bullit on May 25, 2012, 05:52:58 PM ---For comparison in your study.....I've been buying BVAC (Bitter Root Valley Ammunition Company) 1000 round 115 gr FMJ reload bulk for around $8.95/50 (I use 50 to compare to buying equivlent number in the store, etc.).  Buying from Cheaper Than Dirt, throw in $14 shipping I still feel I am coming out ahead.  It is clean shooting, great performing ammo. 
CDNN has NEW Speer Lawman 115 gr FMJ in 1000 round cases for 28 cents per round and $9.99 shipping for as much as you want.

--- End quote ---

Thanks bullit.  I will look into those.

Fly

sparky0068:
As of right now I am saving $.03 per round on 9mm ball.  My reason for hand loading was to build a load exactly how I wanted, not how remchesterfederal says.

When you have time like sitting in the evenings watching tv, I could crank out ammo on the progressive like no other, on the flip side when I have more ammo sitting around I find reasons to go to the range and turn my money into noise.

Now if you are going to reload rifle, you can save money, but alas your time does equal something.

Ram Ringer:
Reloading is mostly a hobby for me, but some of the stuff I reload is a little more specialized for handgun silhoutte. So I already ahve most of the equiptment, although it has taken me years to accumulate the stuff. One of the things I can tell you is to load a few rounds then go test it to make sure they are going to function. correctly in your gun. Sometimes this does not have anything to do with how you reload, but with the components. I was recently cranking out the rounds of 9mm, same load same bullets, same powder the only thing I changed was the primers I normally shoot federal primers, but trying to save money I tried magtech and remington. I just today finally shot up those loads. The main problems with these brands for me were they are harder than Federal. I had I lot of solid strikes with the firing pin, but no bang. This happened in three different 9's each one a different brand. I compared these loads along side federal primers and factory loads. The latter two showed no problems.

I don't know if this will help and sorry if I got long winded but there you go for my .02 worth

Galen

JTH:
I just noticed this thread, so I thought I'd chime in here---I reload 9mm, since that is almost exclusively what I shoot.

I use Montana Gold bullets, winchester primers, Winchester Super Field powder, and range brass.  :)  Way back when I bought 1000 cases to start with, and have never bought since---and current in addition to the several thousand rounds I have loaded up, have literally 7 buckets of 9mm brass waiting to be cleaned and used. 

So I don't actually factor in any cost of brass for reloading.  :)  If you do need to buy brass, don't bother doing it at the store, just go here and buy a couple thousand---then pick up everything at the range.  :)

http://www.once-fired-brass.com/

I shoot 124gr bullets, but if I were to do the 115gr route, here is what it would cost me:

4000 115gr Montana Gold FMJ:  $303 (includes shipping)
5000 primers (Guns Unlimited, buy by the case):  $139 ($130 plus tax)
8lb keg of WSF (would actually make over 11000 rounds):  $160  (note, this is a guess, I don't remember exactly how much this costs, I think it may actually be less)

Pro-rating this to 1000 rounds,
Bullets:  75.75
Primers: 27.80
Powder: 14.55
Total:  188.10
So....cost per 50 is about $5.91

Now, how much do *I* actually spend?

Well, I buy the primers and powder at those prices, though I buy a lot more.  (And more often.) The amount per round doesn't change, though.

However, when I buy bullets, I buy at the 5-case price from Montana Gold.  Even buying the 124gr CMJ (not FMJ) bullets, I still get a serious deal.

https://www.montanagoldbullet.com/pricelist.html

I normally do my bullet buy at the beginning of the year---this year I bought 5 cases of 124gr CMJ (3750 bullets per case) at $315 per case---so spent $1575 for 18,750 bullets.  (I also bought 7500 .40S&W bullets for my wife, so the mailman HATED me when about 500 pounds of bullets showed up and he had to carry them in.)

My 115gr example above had 115gr FMJ, 4000 for $305 --- .07625 per bullet

When I bought mine:  124gr CMJ, the above price --- .084 per bullet.

So I'm only paying about 39 cents more per box of 50 than what I calculated above.

Bulk buying helps.  :)  If you can't buy that much on your own, get together with some friends, and buy collectively.  Or get together with me at the beginning of the year and we'll buy lots.

So, for me----reloading is a SIGNIFICANT savings over buying factory.  I'll definitely shoot over 18,000 rounds this year (so I'm going to have to buy more bullets), and if each box costs me about $6.50, which is about $3 less per box than cheap factory ammo that isn't as consistent or as useful for competition shooting---after 18,000 rounds (or 360 boxes) I'm saving myself about $1080.  Not including tax. 

Worth it.  :)

As for reloading speed----I started with a single-stage press.  (RCBS Rock Chucker)  Good press, NOT fast.  Bought a Dillon 550, which is a GREAT press. Loads everything, progressive, can get about 400-600 an hour depending on what you are loading, completely reliable.  For most people, a 550 is THE way to go.

I went to the Rogers Shooting School for a week last year, and when I came back, my wife had bought me a Dillon Super 1050.   :o   ;D ;D ;D

I love this thing.  It is NOT cheap---but I can easily reload 1000 rounds an hour.  More like 1200.  It takes me an average of 5.5 minutes to reload 100 rounds.  20 seconds to dump in more primers and bullets, and another 5.5 minutes later, I've got another 100 rounds. 

Tricky to set up, takes some getting used to, but well worth it for me, since I only reload 9mm.  (If you are reloading several different types/calibers of ammo, a 550 or a 650 is the way to go.)  But if you are doing serious amounts of one load, the Super 1050 is fantastic.

But it IS expensive.  (It is their industrial-capacity press.  Make for factory use.)

I'm all for reloading---but it IS a large outlay at the beginning.  A 550 plus everything you need is a nice chunk of change (if you are going to do this, buy from BrianEnos.com!) plus buying the components up front is kind of a kick in the @#$&*^ because all the cost hits you at once. 

BrianEnos:  http://www.brianenos.com/store/dillon.html

After that---it is like free ammo for the rest of the year.  :)

For me----reloading is why I can afford to shoot as much as I do. 

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