$24 per 100 is $240 per K. $75 primer cost, 4 gr of powder @ 7000 gr per lb is 1750 shots. $25.70 will be the powder cost. Berrys plated $120. Total $220.70. Not much of a savings unless you are a home caster. Bulk lead trades at $0.83 a lb. 18 lbs gets you 1008 bullets. Basic cost for home cast bullets less time and equipment is $15 lead + $26 powder + $75 primers $116 per K.
Cost for reloading 9mm vs. buying new ammo
- Thread starter toad67
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Handloaders who enjoy handloading and like to shoot the most accurate ammo for their gun(s) will continue to handload regardless of the small savings (if any) over buying inexpensive factory ammo. I like to keep some factory handgun ammo on hand but seldom shoot it.
Doriangray6
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With the rise in the cost of reloading equipment and components it takes a lot more reloaded rounds to break even but what I've always considered to be the main benefit of reloading, being able to tailor your loads to a specific purpose, remains.
bigggbbruce
Member
Around 1980 iirc, I purchased a Thompson Contender 7mm TCU. I quickly realized if I wanted to shoot it I was going to have to reload for it. From there I began reloading everything I shoot.
If he is starting from scratch meaning he does not have equipment than no it is not worth it. I looked into it just a few months ago and to buy "new equipment" and all the other bit you need just will not pay off when you can get factory fresh ammo for 23 cents around. If you have most of the gear than that changes everything.
shil
Member
How much do you shoot 9mm? I don't shoot enough of it to make reloading it worth the trouble for me, and I am not wealthy.
AJ
US Veteran
My costs are much less than that. Most of the primers cost me $15 on average, powder ranged from $5.00 to $25.00 a pound, and I cast most of my own bullets. Lead comes from old wheel weights and free lead from friends. I bought 300 pounds of lead for $100 last year. Was given this on Thursday: https://smith-wessonforum.com/threads/gifts-from-a-friend.741786/. So my cost per round is cheap. I use light loads for target practice and very rarely full house rounds for any other shooting.
That’s a common, but flawed component of the financial analysis of reloading. Reloading is a leisure activity, and as such, it competes with other leisure activities. Whether one spends their leisure time playing golf, watching TV, fishing, reloading, or any other myriad of activities, the opportunity cost is some other leisure activity, not what one would earn working a job.
I bought some decent stuff the other day for 20.5 cents a round. Reloading to save 75 cents a box? I don't think so
I don’t disagree, but in my particular case I don’t view reloading as a leisure activity. For me it is a chore, like mowing the lawn.
I don’t *mind* doing it, but if somebody will do it for me at a reasonably low priced I’m game.
MoGunGuy
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I started saving all my brass a few years ago when prices were higher. I've got thousands of cases for multiple calibers. Last year I finally got a press started reloading and only because I'd been saving brass for years and I got thousands of primers for next to nothing from an old timer that stopped reloading did it make 9mm worth hand loading initially. Now I reload 9mm because I like developing specific subsonic loads for each platform I run my can on. IMO, especially with 9mm getting down around 21/22 cents per round in bulk currently, there's no good financial reason to start reloading just for 9mm currently but I'd still encourage saving brass for the future just in case there's need or desire down the line.
“Leisure activity” is simply to distinguish from engaging in a revenue generating activity. Whether one sees it as pleasurable or a chore, the opportunity cost (in terms of dollars) for almost everyone is zero.
This isn’t to say that buying reasonably inexpensive factory ammo isn’t a good option - for many, it absolutely is. I’m just pointing out that if one’s decision to buy factory ammo is motivated by the “cheaper” cost of factory compared to reloading, it may well be a flawed analysis if one has included a dollar value for their time that would be spent reloading.
I’m doubly-retired pensioner, so my “revenue generating” activity is breathing…and all of my time is “leisure.”
It is less a matter of placing a dollar value on my own time than is determining how much I’m willing to pay someone to do a job that I’d prefer not to do.
-BTM-
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I don’t reload 9x19 anymore to avoid taking more chunks out of my thumb.
youngolddude
Member
I started reloading after I bought a .44 magnum and discovered the price of ammo. It made sense to reload for expensive retail calibers. The wife and I shoot cowboy matches 3 times a month and wild bunch once a month, so I reload 4 rimmed calibers, 9mm and .45 ACP besides shotgun. If I used retail ammo, we would likely shoot once a month at best.
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Whats the decent stuff,if its 124 grn jhp in brass it might spark my interest, so please share. However my loads are tuned for my gun and shoot to POA and run my gun flawlessly. JHP seem to be more accurate than FMJ. Ammo that's not accurate is no fun to shoot, I like small groups.
I hope your decent stuff is not WWB ammo.
skwchock
US Veteran
I agree. With the price of reloading components rising, it becomes a question of: is it cheaper to buy or reload? Right now, it is cheaper to buy. And if you know of a good/reputable company that factory reloads, it is really cheaper to buy their "reloads". But, having components on hand --just in case-- you get the urge to 'custom' reload-- is a good plan, too.
