9mm reloading economics in 2023.

[Molon]

As I imagine that you are aware, you are getting into reloading at what is arguably the worst time in history to do so. There a two main reasons for reloading.

1. To produce ammunition that outperforms even the most expensive factory ammunition that you can by. Cost is irrelevant in this case.

2. To produce ammunition for training that is as good as factory loaded ammunition (or even better) at a price that is significantly lower than factory loaded ammunition.


The trick to accomplishing the second goal is to buy in large quantities at low prices during plentiful times so that you have more than enough components on hand should a shortage occur (duh). I still have thousands of components on hand for just this one particular load alone, shown in the cost break-down shown below.





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[JCN]

No rule that says you can't dry-fire as well as hand-reload and do plenty of live-fire.

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Not at all. It’s just that time spent on one thing takes away from another.

For me it’d be mental currency that’d be limiting. If I were reloading I would burn energy making sure everything was safe and appropriate… after a day of work I wouldn’t want to do that.

There are some times where I can turn off my conscious and still get quite a bit out of subconscious dry fire.

[mmc45414]

I'm working for $20/hr if it takes me 20 hrs all-in to load that 8k.

Yes, 20hr is a lot, but 25min a week maybe not so much. I rarely churn out much more than Qty500 at a time.

[Clusterfrack]

On my 1050, I run about 1000-1200/hr. Add brass prep (wet tumbling) and primer tube loading, it works out to about 1k/hr. I pick up range brass for about 10 min after practice, unless i'm in a rush or the weather is crap.

The biggest hassle is when something goes wrong with the press.

But all that is worth it to shoot the loads I prefer, and have a source of ammo that can support a 15-30k/yr burn rate.

[Spartan1980]

I've been buying Blazer Brass FMJ 124gr for $12.49 per box. Target Sports currently has S&B for the same price. It's just doesn't justify setting up 9mm on my Dillon 650 at this price point. If primers were still $35 per 1K it would justify it. If I had a 1050/1100 with built-in swaging that would change the justification a bit due to time spent in prep.

I still have a decent stash of pre-COVID primers but if I load them I have to replace them, so at this point in time, I choose to load them in other calibers such as .38/.357 or .45ACP which are easily justifiable. If I was shooting more than 1K a month it might help justify it too, but as it is I'm doing good to shoot 300 rounds a month. I hope to change that soon.

[358156hp]

Over the winter I pulled down over a thousand 9mm cast bullet loads to salvage components, I had to devise a new way of pulling bullets because I would be damned if I was going to beat my brains out with a hammer type puller. Anyway, the powders were all mixed so they became fertilizer, the bullets are ready to remelt, and I cleaned my single stage press really good, then resized and deprimed the brass. When I started reloading again I started out with pre-processed cases since I was tired of fiddling around with the original cases at that point. Anyway, the 1000+ plus primers were like finding free money, back when the original batch was loaded they cost around $10.00/K and we all know how much they are now. My new loads are for practice only, and the 1K jacketed bullets for this project were RMR closeouts at around $75.00/K, powder is my new old stock HP38 that I bought for $12.50/lb. In todays money that's practically free, under $100.00 for 1K practice ammo for a fussy M&P, and it kept the pistol off the used gun market.

[Hambo]

The trick to accomplishing the second goal is to buy in large quantities at low prices during plentiful times so that you have more than enough components on hand should a shortage occur (duh). I still have thousands of components on hand for just this one particular load alone, shown in the cost break-down shown below.

Or to cost average over time. I bought a lot of primers when they are cheap ($0.03). Current cost is about $0.10. If I buy the same quantity of higher cost primers, my total primer cost is still lower than current cost. The powder I use cost me X dollars at the time, but the charge in 9mm is so small that the cost is almost 0 per round.

Lies, damn lies, and reloading justification lies.

[mmc45414]

Lies, damn lies, and reloading justification lies.

Sooooo, if I had just kept one box that I paid $28 for, my costs would go down....
I like the (distorted) way you think!!!

[Jamie]

Rationalization is a useful tool and it's served me well going on 69 years now.

I stumbled onto a deal, in today's environment, for some SA (Sevvicios Aventuras) primers from Norma several weeks ago. 20% discount code and free shipping. Not knowing if they would work or not I only purchased 3K. But at $60.00/K total ($180.00 for the order) I took the risk. 4 days to deliver per FedEx.

They worked great! I tried them in a total of 4 factory stock Glocks, 9mm Shield, my LCR and Model 10. I made certain the primers were fully seated in my mixed range brass using my old Dillon 550, and RCBS hand primer and even a Lee single stage. I had 4 primers out of 400 that required a second strike but I honestly think it was my seating the primers and not the primers themselves. 100% ignition in the Glocks.

I will definitely use my rationalization and justification processes to cost average into the < $30.00/k stack of primers I have on hand.

If/when? 9mm reaches closer to $0.22/rd, preferably $0.20/rd I'll pick some up and focus my components on .38/.357 and .32 ammo production.

P-F "enabling" is a good thing!

[mizer67]

I'll agree the economics of basic range fodder aren't great right now. However, my loads shoot better than the usual basic round that goes bang reliably. I don't really want to go looking for cases of a load that will shoot comparably with mine at distance. If I find it, it's probably not going to be the cheapest out there.

Even shooting VV powders and higher grain JHPs, I can get to about ~$0.20 per round in the current market, not counting older components that cost less than current market rates. The equivalent factory practice load doesn't exist, but if it did, I'd expect it'd be significantly more than $0.25 per.

Also, if I had to buy say 4-5 cases of 9mm at one time, it'd hurt a lot more psychologically than just buying bullets or powder or primers that I need at the time to keep reloading. I'm pretty sure I'd shoot less if I "felt" the true costs all at once. Maybe just a small lie I tell myself, but it works for me and how my mind processes spending money.