Surprising 9mm Reloading Cost Calculations
I'm posting this for the benefit of the community and also inviting some criticism as well to use as a learning experience - either to show that I am missing something in my calculations or that I need to consider a different approach.
Bottom line - With my current system, I am basically paying more to reload my own 9mm range/plinking ammo than buying remanufactured. My current system and costs aren't perfect so feel free to comment.
Current costs:
Brass - Starline 9mm Brass is currently $130 per 1,000 (or .13 per case). I shot 300 rounds yesterday and was only able to retain 45% of the cases at the range. I started not picking up other people's brass due to in the past accidentally mixing in .380 rounds and also getting some split cases when reloading due to not knowing how often a case was shot. Decided I would try experimenting with buying brand new cases and seeing how long they would last.
With a 55% lost brass factor, I am able, if my calcs are correct, to get 1,811 shots out of every 1,000 cases (after 7 iterations of factoring 45% retention, you get down to 8 cases left). Basically that equals a cost of .07 per case for Starline Brass purchased new.
Primers - Typically average around .03 per primer locally when you include tax.
Powder - About .02 per round (5 grains of powder at around $30 per lb after tax. I could get this lower buying in bulk but not sure how much difference it would make).
Bullets - Currently using Xtreme plated 115 grain. Lots of 500 run about .08 a round.
Total Costs per round:
Brass - .07
Primers - .03
Bullets - .08
Powder - .02
Cost per round - .20
Remanufactured ammo with any shipping costs and tax is typically around .20 a round. Plus if I reuse 45% of the cases down the road, cost goes down further.
So here is my current thinking - buy 9mm remanufactured ammo (or low cost new ammo like CCI Blazer Brass) and shoot for awhile and accumulate cases. Once I have enough cases, use those to reload and basically eliminate (sort of) the brass cost in reloading.
So fire away - feel free to point out any inaccuracies, areas of improvement, and your own current thinking on reloading 9mm range/plinking ammo.
I may just switch to reloading revolver rounds exclusively until I build up enough 9mm cases since of course you retain 100% of the brass with revolvers.