9mm Reloading, Getting Started, appreciate any advise or wisdom

[CCT125US]

In addition to the above comments, I'll add a few.

I enjoy having the means of production. I can load for anything I want, and not be paying scalpers pricing in lean times. During the summer of love, I was able to shoot 100-200 rounds per week and not bat an eye. When 9mm was $30/50, I was loading for <$7/50. When it started to drop in price and could be found for $15, I used factory and left my stock alone.

I use a forgiving powder (Unique), that can work in .32 HRM, .380, 9mm, .38Spc, .357 Sig, .45 etc. I can make whatever I want.

I buy bullets mostly as needed, as those are not hard to source and not as subject to politics. I also have molds to cast if I choose. Casting is whole separate skillset that brings it's own challenges and learning curve. But, if need be, I can completely remove the bullet cost from the equation.

A benefit of a single stage, or turret press is that it self limits one's usage. Each round is a labor of love and for me, throttles the consumption.

You can't shoot it, if you don't have it. For instance .38Spc, I shoot very little of it, as it is done on a Lee turret press. My hands have taken a beating over the years and the recoil of .38 combined with production speed is a limitation. Contrast that with my D650, and I can have 1k in no time.

Also, once you start cleaning brass with a cement mixer, the "cost savings" sort of becomes laughable.

I've been reloading for 42 years (since age 5) and still waiting for the account with "dollars saved" to be above zero.

[BN]

I've been reloading for nearly 50 years, so I have some thoughts.

No, you won't save money but you will be shooting more. That's a plus.

I would suggest you consider a Dillon press instead of the Lee. A 550 will cost a little bit more, but the better quality will serve you better in the long run. I've been using my 550 for around 35 years or more. I do have a 1050 now that is permanently set up for 9mm. I use the 550 for all the calibers that I shoot less of.

Get a carbide sizing die and spray the brass with Hornady 1Shot for easier resizing.

I sort for bad brass by picking up a handful and loosely shaking them. The split brass will jingle differently. Pick them out and continue on.

I buy components by election cycles. Right now is when to stock up for a couple of years worth or more. Later, when buddies ask you if you have any primers you can spare, you tell them you are just about out. They should have stocked up before too.

I second the motion for a Hundo case gauge.

Good luck.

[Jim Watson]

Get a carbide sizing die

Is this necessary advice any more? I haven't seen a steel sizing die for a straight wall pistol case in years.

[NETim]

I am a range brass hound. Any 9mm brass I find at the range goes in the brass bucket. I bought some slotted brass sorting trays that fit inside a 5 gallon bucket. These allow me to weed out 45, 40, 38 or whatever fairly quickly. The kit I bought also has an insert that will allow those nasty little 380's to fall though but nothing else. These trays also have the benefit of filtering out the rocks n' crap from range brass as well.

I wet tumble w/o pins. IMHO you can get brass TOO clean, i.e., if the brass gets nice n' clean internally, then it tends to grab onto the case mouth expander die. I lube the expander die with Hornady Unique case lube occasionally to help alleviate this phenomenon. Pretty brass cycles better in semi's IMHO.

I dry the brass in one of those big white trays that washing machines sit in to catch drips and water. I set it outside in the sun and the brass dries within a few hours.

I load on a 650XL that has been kinda tricked out with a Mr. Bullet feeder and LED lights. Mr. Bullet feeder sped up the process MUCH more than I anticipated. I load with HiTek coated 9mm bullets. They are tiny and slippery. Placing these slippery little devils in the tiny 9mm case mouths with my left hand slows down the process. Of course, the 650 has the primer and brass feeder on it as well.

The LED lighting allows me to see inside the case better to check powder level before a bullet is seated. Mr. Bullet feeder takes away the Dillon powder check station on a 650, so visual confirmation becomes more important.

I load with W231 because that's what I have on hand. It's a fairly flexible powder that meters well since it's a ball powder. It's dirty stuff though. I can live with that. I load 124 grain HiTek RN bullets. Usually I get them from ACME but there are all kinds of sources out there for coated bullets. Primers are whateve I can get. I prefer Winchester but recently I have been loading Fiochhi with good results.

I have a Hundo case gauge. It takes 100 loaded rounds at a time. It is bored very tight and does an excellent job culling problem child loads. It the rounds don't seat fully, they go in the reject box. Some headstamps are habitual problem children. The Hundo catches them. The Hundo gives me a chance to do a final QA on the ammo before I box them up in MTM boxes. I consider the Hundo an indispensable item, particularly for ammo bound for critical duty, like a match.

I also have a Dillon primer pocket swager bolted down next to the 650 to iron out brass with crimped in primers that some guys just insist on leaving on the ground for me. If I feel undue resistance when seating a primer, I stop and pull the case to check it out. I remove the crimp if that's what's necessary at this point. The mighty Dillon 1050 has a crimp remover built into it.

Since I am a retired bum, I have the time to go through all these gyrations to produce reloads. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to know I can turn out quality reloads that work extremely well for me. Am I saving money? Probably not since I shoot more. Am I having fun? Yep.

[Duelist]

At this point in time, I am not loading 9mm. I cut way back on that when I started graduate school in 2017 - I bought my first 1K round case of ball that month, was amazed at the convenience, and have only loaded for it sporadically since graduation.

I haven’t been to a pistol match since spring break of 2020, though I have attended some classes since then. The annoying aspects of matches (standing around forever to do 30 seconds of shooting) that had been bothering me, plus the lack of availability of components and/or inexpensive loaded ball 9mm, broke me of the habit. That, plus picking up new hobbies like tennis and cycling, have reduced the amount of 9mm I consume per year significantly.

That said, I still have the supplies and can choose to do so when I want to shoot a bunch and not touch my factory ammo. This saves me money per round, even with primers still being priced stupid high.

Most of my primers and powder are reserved for more expensive cartridges, though: .38/.357, .44 Special, and .45 ACP (starting loading large pistol primer cartridges during the price increases for primers was not a smart move, but I did it anyway), plus all of my hunting rifle cartridges. In the future, I only intend to load much for 9mm when the math works in my favor (time/cost per primer + powder + bullet vs. loaded practice rounds). I never buy brass of 9mm.

[JCS]

I'm curious, what are people reloading 9mm for these days with 2024 pricing?

I had to stop reloading due to a move and after buying 9mm for a year, idk if I will go back.

[psalms144.1]

I'm curious, what are people reloading 9mm for these days with 2024 pricing?

I had to stop reloading due to a move and after buying 9mm for a year, idk if I will go back.

I can reload 147gr FMJ for about 17-20CPR, plus my time. Cheapest 147gr range fodder i've found is in the 30CPR range, so there's enough savings there to make it worth my (retired and not working) time. If I were looking for a 115gr FMJ equivalent, I wouldn't reload.

[mmc45414]

I'm curious, what are people reloading 9mm for these days with 2024 pricing?

Here is my breakdown. Pretty sure this is all in hand, shipping for the things that get charged shipping and tax on the things that get tax:

This obviously presumes the brass to be free.

If I were looking for a 115gr FMJ equivalent, I wouldn't reload.

This probably makes sense. My quandary has always been if the gear is sitting there on the bench bought and paid for, do I not use it?...
ETA: Shifting to 115gn only saves me $13.89/1k

[Duelist]

Here is my breakdown. Pretty sure this is all in hand, shipping for the things that get charged shipping and tax on the things that get tax:

This obviously presumes the brass to be free.


This probably makes sense. My quandary has always been if the gear is sitting there on the bench bought and paid for, do I not use it?...
ETA: Shifting to 115gn only saves me $13.89/1k

Exactly. 115gr steel case FMJ ball at $230/1k up to $260/1K for 115gr or 124gr brass case FMJ ball doesn’t leave a lot of cents per round of savings, especially when time has value. $300/1k for the cheapest 147gr brass case load I found, you save ~40% and up, so that’s some more significant savings if your time isn’t measured in the equation.

It’s all marginal in bulk 9mm.

CF hunting rifle ammunition - I’m usually loading for ~25% of new factory ammunition cost. Sometimes its less than 25% of new factory ammunition. I never buy new hunting rifle ammunition as a result, just stock up on deals for components and load it as I need it.

[mmc45414]

ETA: Shifting to 115gn only saves me $13.89/1k

Quoting myself because maybe how I stated it was fuzzy, here is the comparison to 115gn (but maybe not):

especially when time has value

And how you assign value to your time. With my current equipment I can probably hypothetically make $40hr by reloading 9mm, if I was doing it like it is a job. But I approach it more as a tinkering process, as people might that enjoy woodworking (I go buy furniture at IKEA). If a person is a lawyer who could be doing billable hours 24/7/365 or LE with unlimited OT opportunities it would make more financial sense to stay clocked in. OTOH I utilize time that has no value, when I would not otherwise be doing anything productive. As an example I most frequently WFH and often load 300-500 rounds in the window of opportunity between ending my day and my wife getting home and we begin our evening, instead of popping a beer and watching YT.

CF hunting rifle ammunition - I’m usually loading for ~25% of new factory ammunition cost. Sometimes its less than 25% of new factory ammunition. I never buy new hunting rifle ammunition as a result, just stock up on deals for components and load it as I need it.

Or any handgun ammo other than 9mm, using the above costs I can probably load 200gn 45AARP for $210/1k.