Considering reloading

[Jjwisled]

There's a reason old iron workers are so cranky, they're bodies are wrecked and many live in constant pain.

[Lead Waster]

I dunno, I've spent way more on equipment than any savings I could recoup ever. I have 2 single stages and three progressives.

As time went buy, I bought more "efficient" presses.

Rockchucker single stage, 550b, another 550b, added a case feeder to the 550b, 1050 with bullet feeder.

[Eljay]

He has a Lyman turret press. A Lyman expert I think.

Turret press is perfect to learn on. Go for it!

[Germ1]

There's a reason old iron workers are so cranky, they're bodies are wrecked and many live in constant pain.

I don't know, he's been that way my entire life. It's not that he's mean,although he can be. He's just a loud, opinionated, I know everything and you can't tell me any different kind of guy.Not considerate of others etc. Plus racist and sexist, he grew up in a different time. Also a Bernie Sanders supporter/ Democrat, if that gives you any idea what kind of person he is.

He did have surgery on his back though, and his neck is still messed up.

[hardhead]

When you can reload 9mm for less than you can buy .22LR, I'd say it's a savings. Especially when shooting 500 rounds each weekend. I shoot about 1000 rounds of 9mm per month. I could buy them for about $220 or reload them for about $80.

You really start to see savings when you're reloading any other handgun caliber. It doesn't break the bank to go out and shoot. Some of my shooting buddies ration their ammo due to budget. The cost of ammo never crosses my mind, unless I'm thinking about how much it just cost me to shoot 100 reloaded rounds of .357mag vs. how much it cost my buddy who just bought 2 boxes at Walmart.

[hardhead]

Buy cheap and stack deep!! Pick up as much of these 2 components as you can afford and you'll be reloading for <.08 per round. Powder is pretty easy to come by these days and is your cheapest component for 9mm. You should be able to load more than 1000 rounds with 1 lb of powder.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/shooting/reloading/reloading-powders-primers%7C/pc/104792580/c/104761080/sc/333152280/sellier-amp-bellot-primers-ndash-brick/2002898.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Freloading-powders-primers%2F_%2FN-1109591%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_333152280

https://www.americanreloading.com/en/blowout-sale-section/671-9mm-115-grain-plated-pulled-projectiles-500-ct.html

[orangeusa]

Are you the detail oriented, organized type? Able to remain focused on the task at hand? Reloading isn't for everyone.

My big savings comes with .44 Special and Magnum, not to mention the ability to really vary the load. I load 9mm as well.

OCD helps. Sort of kidding.

But I find it very relaxing and enjoy it. Your first loads - you might be terrified to shoot them, and of course if you follow recipes from books like Lee, ect (all based on info from the powder manufacturers, you will have no issues.

I love shooting knowing it doesn't cost as much, so you can invite friends, but only if they say they will pick up brass.

Getting components at this point is not all that hard. I got started just because I couldn't find commercial bullets and later because 45 Colt was over $1 a round. I can load them for like 15 cents (bullet is the highest cost). $50 for 500. And of course some guys pour their own bullets, but that's a whole nother skillset. And more time.

.

[Divernhunter]

You will not save any money at the end of the year and may spend more.
You will shoot more and it is another HOBBY.
If your time is a concern then do not even start to think about reloading. I know some people who place a high value on their time and they do not or have stopped reloading because of it. To me it is relaxing and a part of the hobby I have of shooting/hunting/reloading and trying new loads to get what I want out of a firearm.

[Germ1]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

[stilly]

Hello people, I'm considering reloading. I already have reloading equipment available to me, all I would need is a 9mm die. I shoot 500 rounds of 9mm every weekend, and at the end of the day I pick everything up. Usually the brass just sits around waiting to be thrown away(cringe if you must). Every time I pick it up I think to myself, I could be doing something with all of this.

So here's my question, is it worth it? So far from what I've found it's 67 dollars for 500 115gr fmj bullets. Plus whatever the primers and the powder cost. So at the end of the day I will be lucky if I'm saving what, ten or twenty bucks? Which comes at the cost of my time. I know nothing about reloading, I'm not the reloader in the family my grandfather is.

Is 9mm worth reloading if you shoot high volumes of it like I do?

My sister was dropping $200 for 1k rds of 9mm about every month.

I had her purchase the components and after dropping about $1500 she has enough powder to charge 26k shells, 10k projectiles and 10k SPP. I gave her the brass for free. (since she bought me a 1yr membership at RMR ).

Now she has her CCW and still goes to the range to practice. She shoots about 200+ per weekend.

So doing the math gets you better than $150 per 1k rds. That means she paid about $75 per every 500 rds.

Probably better than what you paid. But the major difference is she had a choice between WSF and Power Pistol. She chose WSF, and at 5gr with 115gr PRN from Xtreme, the rds fire fine out of her Rami, G-26, Kahr, and Sig...

She can have me tweak the ammo and make it more powerful or not. We have already done that.

That is the NICE thing about reloading, you can customize your ammo for you.

Then if you get into casting, you can make porcelain beauties like these Hot Rim .45 ACP. Pre sized weighing in at 189gr and they only cost me about .06each to make. Do that math and that is $30 for 500 of them. That is the cost of the lead and the coating.

I am quite happy just coming up with cool color combos now.

[MarkG35]

My sister was dropping $200 for 1k rds of 9mm about every month.

I had her purchase the components and after dropping about $1500 she has enough powder to charge 26k shells, 10k projectiles and 10k SPP. I gave her the brass for free. (since she bought me a 1yr membership at RMR ).

Now she has her CCW and still goes to the range to practice. She shoots about 200+ per weekend.

So doing the math gets you better than $150 per 1k rds. That means she paid about $75 per every 500 rds.

Probably better than what you paid. But the major difference is she had a choice between WSF and Power Pistol. She chose WSF, and at 5gr with 115gr PRN from Xtreme, the rds fire fine out of her Rami, G-26, Kahr, and Sig...

She can have me tweak the ammo and make it more powerful or not. We have already done that.

That is the NICE thing about reloading, you can customize your ammo for you.

Then if you get into casting, you can make porcelain beauties like these Hot Rim .45 ACP. Pre sized weighing in at 189gr and they only cost me about .06each to make. Do that math and that is $30 for 500 of them. That is the cost of the lead and the coating.

I am quite happy just coming up with cool color combos now.

Very cool loading for your sister!
Nice Zombie rounds!

[tanks]

...
Then if you get into casting, you can make porcelain beauties like these Hot Rim .45 ACP. Pre sized weighing in at 189gr and they only cost me about .06each to make. Do that math and that is $30 for 500 of them. That is the cost of the lead and the coating.

I am quite happy just coming up with cool color combos now.
...

I did the math. I would save about $0.07 cents a round for 180gr .40 bullets (cost is 3.7 cents a bullet in alloys). However, for the equipment I'd want to get the break even point is 32K rounds, close to a 12-18 months of shooting. I'll run out of bullets in a few months and will evaluate then. Time vs money.

[MarkG35]

Wait until Prince Gavin is anointed.

Prices of ammo and components will be much higher.

[rcslotcar]

I just finished loading 4.5k 9mm rounds. Still have about 7k empty 9mm cases in reserve. I couldn't shoot this amount if I didn't do bullet casting and reloading. (Stilly those are awesome bullets!)

[drkphibr]

...is it worth it?

When I hear the "is it worth it?" question, the following thoughts come to mind:

From a pure numbers or financial perspective, can you save money? Yes, you can. Once you factor in your startup costs and then your supplies, at some point you will break even financially.

But, what is your time worth, so you may save money per 50 rounds of reloads over commercial purchase, but what time did you spend reloading. This is where the hobby aspect comes in. If I do a hobby, it's for my enjoyment, not necessarily profit driven. If I look at my job salary, I would lose a LOT of money reloading. But it's a hobby I enjoy and therefore don't look at from a strictly financial angle.

Then there's what I call the "crisis factor" to consider. The next event politicians jump all over that causes a panic/rush for purchasing/hoarding will make whatever you shoot much more expensive...if you can find it. If you're reloading and have your supplies to ride out the panic, that's worth something only you can quantify.

Personally, I don't believe I save money reloading as I like to try new gear out (that $ adds up) and find I shoot more (that $ adds up). It's a consuming and satisfying hobby I enjoy and focus more on the product I produce for specific loads/performance than for saving $/round.

We all have our reasons, however. You can save money reloading over commercial purchases, especially if you keep things simple.