Rimfire Central Firearm Forum banner

Cost per round to reload 9mm

5K views 36 replies 28 participants last post by  accooper 
#1 ·
I have been getting the same sale flyers you all have about bulk 9mm Para ammo. This caused me to get out my trusty calculator to try and see what it is costing me now to reload.

7000 grains of powder per pound
Aprox. 5 grains per charge
=1,400 rounds per pound of powder

If a pound of pistol powder costs $22, that's 1.5 cents of powder per charge at the numbers above, right?

Jacketed 115 grain bullets (from Berry's, for instance) seem to be running about $.10 a piece.

Primers are around $0.2 each.

Assuming brass is free, and that my reloading gear and other consumables (lube, tumbling media) are also free or sunk costs (neither of which is true), that gives me completed rounds at about $0.14 per round.

My current conclusion: $0.16-0.17 per completed bulk factory round delivered starts to sound like a pretty good deal. This is particularly true when I consider the time it would take me to make up 1,000 rounds (around 5-7 hours). So that 7 hours of time is saving me about $30 per thousand rounds. Can't remember the last time I worked for $4 an hour.


Anyone else doing this math?
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Agree. Doesn't make enough sense to load 9mm. Multiple reasons.

Savings, not.

Small case. Without a case feed I don't even like handling them with my fat fingers.

Unlike .45 the taper makes solid crimping a little tricky. Doable, yes. Have to be very smart about sorting brass. Not so with .45.

Most my 9mm goes through NFA toys. And those things are perfectly happy with steel-cased. 14 cents/rd right now, shipped. Easy to range clean with a magnet.
Mostly avoid reloads because of a) difficult crimp (telescoping = high pressure) and b) squib potential. Neither concern is hypothetical.
 
#5 ·
This is what I tell someone who asks about getting into reloading...

If you shoot less than 1000 rounds per year, it's probably not economically feasible to reload. Not that economy is the only reason, but the thought of cheaper ammo is usually the primary incentive.

If you buy your components in small quantities, powder by the pound, bullets by the hundred, etc., reloading is going to cost about what flangster shows. To get any substantial savings, you need to buy powder by the 8lb. keg, primers by the case, and bullets by the thousand. Splitting the cost between a few shooting buds for the components is pretty easy to do.

Other things that help lower the cost is buying blem bullets when they pop up on sale, buying surplus powder if available for your caliber, and avoiding Haz Mat fees on shipping by looking for specials like now where both Midway and Midsouth are running no Haz Mat sales if you buy $150 worth.
I am a member in a gun club that buys their shotgun clay targets from a wholesaler that delivers monthly on their company truck. This vendor also has reloading components. As a member benefit, we can order reloading components and they are delivered on the company truck with the monthy order of clay targets. No shipping or Haz Mat charges.
 
#9 · (Edited)
when i got into reloading i was making about 5 bucks/hr.

but i did it for those and the enjoyment of learning how the process works and if i needed to, i could roll my own.

Your numbers are fine, for you, but if you have been buying supplies longer than that, your numbers will be lower, as expected.

my ROT for loading costs was that primers were free. They were < 0.01/per. yes, they cost me money, but in order to show that 0.01 i had to roll more than 100 or even 1000 rounds before that primer price showed.

my powders were < 10 bucks/lb too. and the bullets too.

the cost will depend on when you bought your components and how long you hold onto them. some of my friends beg me to sell (give) them some powders since "they cant get any",but in reality they dont want to spend the 25+ bucks to do so.

same for 22 ammo. my ROT for buying it was for anything < 0.02/round was a good deal. No matter the brand/type since i had enough different toys that i would find 1 that would eat them.

yes, your time maybe worth more to you, but i do it more for the enjoyment and to quality time by myself.

also, you may not remember that at times ammo prices have skyrocketed, like 22LR. you may not remember those times if you are young, but when those times happen, its when you see the "i wish i has bought this or that" to reload when it happens. Its always the people that dont think ahead or the "oh crap" that end up wish/hoping they would have. Its when those times happen, is when i have a big smile on my face and can go out shooting and not break my bank.

also, what it comes down to is that people will justify their own numbers and how they do things. You may not see the 4 bucks as worth anything, but you may drive 100 miles and burn up 1/2 a tank of fuel to save that much for something.

everyone does things for different reasons, no matter what you or i think.
 
#10 ·
Oh yeah, just remembered another reason I am glad I hand load, the powers that be here in Commiefornia decided it would be a good idea to make us register our ammunition purchases. You have to pay a fee, pass a background check and be issued a card that says you can buy ammo in limited amounts. It starts in July. I currently hand load for all the calibers I shoot excepting shotgun, so I don't have to beg, hat in hand, to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights. I have enough cases, powder, primers and shot to last several years.
 
#12 ·
I didn't reload 9mm until the Obama ammo shortage after Sandy Hook. I bought a carton 2000 of Remington 115 jacketed bullets for $100, two cartons of Fiocci primers that held 2500 primers for $25 each. An 8 pound box of H-P 38 that I paid $50 for at a gun show was already on the shelf. I also got about 1000 115 grain cast bullets for 9mm for cheap thinking they were for .38 special, so I had plenty of components at a time when ammo had disappeared from the shelves.
 
#17 ·
There's an excellent writeup on tapatalk.com, czechpistols section on reloading 9x19.

Bunch of good tips. Staying out of trouble with 9mm means more sorting, inspecting, and nit-picking vs .45. I enjoy fussing over .300s, '06, .308, .375, etc. And I'm retired, able to load 9mm on a 550.

Breaking even (best case) to make 9mm practice ammo just doesn't make sense to me. In the event something unforeseen drives factory ammo prices crazy, I'd do it. Maybe. Better answer is to put in a good supply. Bought another 2k Mil Classic yesterday.
 
#18 ·
Reloading doesn’t pay when ammo prices are low and and supply is plentiful.

Anyone remember when that wasn’t the case? Hasn’t been very long, has it?

Reloading really pays on expensive rounds like 45-70.

I never wanted for ammo during the shortage. Reloading was part of that strategy.
 
#19 ·
I have been getting the same sale flyers you all have about bulk 9mm Para ammo. This caused me to get out my trusty calculator to try and see what it is costing me now to reload.

7000 grains of powder per pound
Aprox. 5 grains per charge
=1,400 rounds per pound of powder

If a pound of pistol powder costs $22, that's 1.5 cents of powder per charge at the numbers above, right?

Jacketed 115 grain bullets (from Berry's, for instance) seem to be running about $.10 a piece.

Primers are around $0.2 each.

Assuming brass is free, and that my reloading gear and other consumables (lube, tumbling media) are also free or sunk costs (neither of which is true), that gives me completed rounds at about $0.14 per round.

My current conclusion: $0.16-0.17 per completed bulk factory round delivered starts to sound like a pretty good deal. This is particularly true when I consider the time it would take me to make up 1,000 rounds (around 5-7 hours). So that 7 hours of time is saving me about $30 per thousand rounds. Can't remember the last time I worked for $4 an hour.

Anyone else doing this math?
What i do is batch reload. I do not reload, just to reload unless i need ammo. Since i dont know what i want to shoot as in bullet, powder, velocity. So what i do is to have my brass ready to go. I do all of the prep work ahead when i dont have anything important to do. All of the brass has been sized, flared, cleaned and primed.

I do have about 1K of the various calibers ready to go, but it will be a sprinkling of various bullet types, sizes and velocities.

Then when i do need to reload some ammo, i just put them into reloading trays, drop the powder, place and seat/crimp the bullet.

i think the last time i did 1k, it took me ~1 hr. I have 5 reloading trays so i can get 500 or if i use the spaces between 1000 rounds ready.

I have several LEE Pro 1000s setup for various calibers, but i dont reload progressive since i want to do more physical check of the cases and i do that when im batch sizing, depriving, flaring and such when im handling the brass. I hand prime the cases too and also do the inspections at that time.

What i also do is to have several thousand pieces of brass of each caliber so i can have 1 or 2K primed and ready and the rest just ready, but they will need priming.

I still buy factory ammo, but i havent in 3 years now and about the only time i buy some its the Aluminum Blazer for places i cant or dont want to pickup the brass.
 
#20 ·
Other reloading problems

If you are just reloading for plinking or practice, it may not make much difference to you, but--

Loading your own rounds also runs the (small?) risk of contaminating the primer during handling, and resulting in a misfire. While this has only happened to me one time in all the thousands of rounds that I worked, the point is, it CAN happen.

Not a big deal if you are only plinking but could be a consideration if you are loading for competition or self-defense.
 
#23 ·
If you are just reloading for plinking or practice, it may not make much difference to you, but--

Loading your own rounds also runs the (small?) risk of contaminating the primer during handling, and resulting in a misfire. While this has only happened to me one time in all the thousands of rounds that I worked, the point is, it CAN happen.

Not a big deal if you are only plinking but could be a consideration if you are loading for competition or self-defense.
In 40+ years of handloading, I've had more misfires from factory ammo (not counting rimfire) than I have from my handloads. I've had 2 handload misfires and more than 5 factory ammo misfires, and I shoot handloads 3 to 1 over factory.

Your results may vary....:Blasting_
 
#21 ·
Slightly off topic.....

….back in the late 1970's I shot a lot of skeet and reloaded 12,20 and 410 shot shells. My cost to reload a 12ga skeet shell was a nickel. Penny each for wad, powder [Red Dot], and primer and 2 cents for the shot. For every ten 12 ga shells I loaded I probably loaded two 20 ga and one 410. My 410 reloads were pretty puny, and crimps were a pain, as well as just fussing with the smaller pieces. 28 ga I just shot at meets and used factory ammo, usually Winchester AA.
 
#24 ·
I have been getting the same sale flyers you all have about bulk 9mm Para ammo. This caused me to get out my trusty calculator to try and see what it is costing me now to reload.

7000 grains of powder per pound
Aprox. 5 grains per charge
=1,400 rounds per pound of powder

If a pound of pistol powder costs $22, that's 1.5 cents of powder per charge at the numbers above, right?

Jacketed 115 grain bullets (from Berry's, for instance) seem to be running about $.10 a piece.

Primers are around $0.2 each.

Assuming brass is free, and that my reloading gear and other consumables (lube, tumbling media) are also free or sunk costs (neither of which is true), that gives me completed rounds at about $0.14 per round.

My current conclusion: $0.16-0.17 per completed bulk factory round delivered starts to sound like a pretty good deal. This is particularly true when I consider the time it would take me to make up 1,000 rounds (around 5-7 hours). So that 7 hours of time is saving me about $30 per thousand rounds. Can't remember the last time I worked for $4 an hour.

Anyone else doing this math?
Two things, brass for reloading is not always free and once fired brass from new 16 cent factory ammo has resale value bringing that cost down to maybe 14.5 cents. Also 16 cent factory ammo is not always burk ammo. I've buoght it packed in 50 round boxes, which is what I prefer. I have a Dillon SD press all set up and dedicated to 9mm that never gets used. Not worth my time.
 
#25 ·
I all comes down to what the reloader is setup for and their capabilites. Then it's location/location/location.

Myself, I cast my own bullets & have since the 80's for a bunch of different calibers. I use free range lead which ='s free bullets. Where I shoot at there's always a bunch of brass laying around. I use what I want and either sell the rest off or scrap it. I'm sure someone will come up with the usual wasted time thing or nothing's free/electric, gas, yada-yada-yada.

Well, my time is my own and this is my hobby. At the end of the day I get paid $$$ to cast my own free bullets. A bi-product of using free range lead to cast bullets with is copper jackets. I average 1 to 2 of these a year depending on how much lead I want/need. Buckets of copper jackets.


Every year since 1985/86? I've been selling the copper jackets, the $$$ varies with the prices of scrap going up & down.


This receipt also has scrap brass on it.


There's so much 9mm brass laying around what I don't use to reload with, sell or sell as scrap I turn into bullets for the 38spl's/357's.


When you use free bullets/free brass to reload your 9mm's you end up with +/- $40 a 1000 to make your own reloads.
 
#26 ·
Never did like to pay the factory for their blammo ammo. Some of it's ok but for the most part I'd rather roll my own.

$149/1000 delivered. Not bad & you can get $$$ either selling the cases (+/-$20) or scrapping them. Myself I'd rather go with my $40/1000.

What's $40/1000 get me??
Blammo ammo for a 1911/1100fps 125gr hp's


Those reloads/1911 pictured above does this for $40/1000.


Or this


What that 191 looks like after burning $20+ (500+ round range session) of that blammo ammo.


No brushing needed, that same bbl using 1 wet patch with hope's #9 and 1 dry patch to clean it


Myself I'd rather take the $109 difference between buying 1000 rounds or making my own. That $109 buys a lot of primers (5000) or #4/#5 of powder when it's not on sale.
 
#27 ·
While the cost comparison may figure out for 9mm, it is easily cheaper to reload for the other calibers I shoot. .327 Federal Magnum, .38 special, .357 magnum and .45ACP are all considerably more expensive to buy off the shelf.

Also, buying the bargain ammo means you have no real choice in bullet style, weight, powder charge or type.

I just started handloading last year, and quickly learned that it isn't fast. In fact it becomes a hobby all its own. But it's rewarding to do the work and find a load that is accurate and shoots well in your particular gun. And it's financially rewarding to laugh at the ammo sales because I roll my own. :bthumb:
 
#29 · (Edited)
Dillon XL 650

I ordered my Dillon XL 650 at the NRAAM in Dallas, Texas in 2018. I added the case feeder, which is Dillon's new design for 2018, and the Mr. Bullet Feeder.

I received everything from Dillon in May, but I didn't get it setup until July, due to work and the fact that I was building a new reloading table just for it and my Dillon RL550B.

It took me a little while to get my Dillon 9mm dies adjusted. Then, after about 200 rounds, I had everything fine tuned. After getting used to it , I decided to see what it was capable of, so I started the clock. As fast as I felt comfortable going, I cranked out 1,200 rounds per hour. I have loaded just over 20,000 rounds of 9mm on it so far. On average, I crank out 1,000 rounds per hour comfortably. I usually just load 300-400 rounds at a time and only put enough powder in it to do just that much.

Using The Blue Bullets and VV N350 powder my costs for 50 rounds is just under $6. I could get my costs to about $5 by using a cheaper powder, but I like the Vihtavuori powder.

I got the Dillon RF 100 small primer filler and it works great with my Winchester, CCI, and Federal small pistol primers. It usually takes just under one minute to fill a hundred primers in the tube. It will automatically cut off after two minutes unless you turn it off first. This way you can start it and go back to reloading. It has always turned the primers the right way before letting them drop down the tube.

I buy most of my powder and primers from Powder Valley.

Presses

 
#31 ·
Living in NY state (upstate, actually pretty gun-friendly up here) I can't order ammo from MOST online places without going through an FFL (most that are convenient are GREEDY and would NOT do it for a low cost). So...compared to Wal-mart prices, I do save about $5/100 9mm rounds, using Berry's plated bullets and Titegroup powder and CCI primers bought locally.

I reload 9mm in stages. I tumble them and sort. Then I will de-prime/resize. Then I will bell and re-prime with a hand primer. Then I'll charge and load bullets.


But, I can shoot my airguns at $10/500 rounds...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top