Is Reloading for 9mm worth it?

[SMSgt]

Reload because you want to reload or don't. This "save money" issue isn't worth wasting time to ponder. I reload 95% of all ammo I shoot, the other 5% being .22s. I reload because I enjoy reloading. If I didn't enjoy it, no amount of "savings" would make me do it.

I load or have loaded .38 Spec, .357 Mag, 9mm Para, 9mm Makarov, .41 Mag, .45 ACP, .30 Herrett, .223, .30-06, 6mm Mongoose as well as 12 and 20 gauge. Some, like the Herrett and Mongoose are wildcats and cases must be made from other cases. No commercial ammo is available. While saving money might have been an initial concern, that fell by the wayside long ago.

 

[fredj338]

I actually get weery with shooters saying you dont save enough reloading 9mm. Well at 200/week, 10k plus a year? Using todays prices, buying in bulk I can reload 9mm for $120/1000 using free range brass. So if buying on sale & in bulk, say $180/1000 factory delivered, I save $60/1000, $600 a year. Worth it, sure if you like reloading & use a good progressive.
In kalif I can no longer buy ammo cheap on line. So the autonomy is priceless. Throw in I get the ammo I want, not the ammo I can afford to buy. I make my own coated bullets mostly, so I shoot for about $40/1000, but I enjoy making my own bullets & ammo.
Time, well its a hobby, but my 650 is fast, like 600rds per hour easy. So that lets me do the bullet casting/coating, which I actually like doing vs reloading. Its just another way to go. If you are more diy, then yeah worth it.

 

[otisrush]

I'd reload 9mm even if reloading was more expensive than buying.....because that's how much enjoyment I get out of the reloading process itself, having control of my own destiny when the next shortage occurs, and personal satisfaction of having ammo that performs well as a result of my experimentation and tailoring.

"Is it worth it?" is extremely subjective based on economics, enjoyment, availability of time, volume shot, desire for ultimate payback for equipment purchased, etc. etc. etc.

If you ask 10 people you can get 5 answers of "Yes" and 5 answers of "No"....and all 10 would be correct.

 

[STCM(SW)]

I have nothing better to do being retired.
So reloading 9mm & 380 acp are just something to do when not doing honey due list!

 

[Kiwi cop]

I can buy bulk 9mm remanufactured ammo for just under NZ$400/1000. I can reload for around NZ$285/1000m (I've got several thousand cases on hand and access to more, So yes, for me it is well worth the effort

But more importantly I can tailor the loads for my two 9mm pistols to get much better accuracy than the reman loads in my pistols.

 

[TTSH]

Even old, retired and living in relative poverty, my time is more valuable (to me and to family) than for me to be spending it reloading 9mm ammo. I buy 9mm ammo too cheaply and shoot at two indoor ranges neither of which allow you to go brass chasing. They also disallow the use of your reloads in their guns. The rules used to be even tighter than that (i.e., no personal reloads at all), but it appears they dropped that rule for lack of enforceability.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

In general I love the process of loading my own ammo, but I find 9mm tedious to load on my turret press setup. I don't shoot much 9mm anyway and I'm fine with buying factory ammo for that, since it is by far the cheapest center-fire ammo. If I were a serious 9mm shooter and wanted to load for it I would cast bullets for it (I cast for other cartridges) and would have a progressive loader of some variety with case feed feature.

 

[kbm6893]

Saving 4 bucks a box is still saving. I reload 9MM and spend about $13 per 100 rounds. Cheaper to reload for sure. Time consuming? How much do you get paid for mowing your own lawn? Cooking your own meals? You get paid to post on this forum? Isn't that a waste of time, too? Reloading is a hobby. Nobody gets paid for doing their hobby.

After Newtown, 9MM was over $35 per hundred, IF you can find it. Save your brass and start stocking up on components now, or during the next panic, you won't be shooting and I will.

 

[stansdds]

Shooting 250 rounds a week? That's 1000 rounds per month! 12,000 rounds per year! At that rate, reloading, especially using the high-tech coated cast lead bullets and buying powder and primers in bulk, makes economical sense.

 

[dogdoc]

One problem is you cannot always find the real cheap ammo locally. The other problem, with my Smith 929, is that most factory ammo shoots like poop. I need heavy 357 bullets for good accuracy and then it can be stellar. Hell yea it is worth to reload. If I find real cheap 9 ,I sometimes buy it for plinking in my autoloaders

 

[TTSH]

After Newtown, 9MM was over $35 per hundred, IF you can find it. Save your brass and start stocking up on components now, or during the next panic, you won't be shooting and I will.

If some folks didn't learn from the mess post-Newtown, there is no hope for them. We have now had more than enough time to become extraordinarily well-prepared for the next big ammo crisis. It won't be or come to us quite like the last one, but another one will still come someday. Of that we can be sure.

 

[joeintexas]

Like many others here I am retired so it gives me something to do with my time that I enjoy doing. I do load for the 9mm, 38sp, 357mag, 40s&w, 45acp, 308 Win, 222 Rem. At about 1/2 the cost of factory I find it worth reloading the 9mm. I suppose if a person considers their time more valuable watching tv or whatever past time event they do, then reloading the 9mm wouldn't be worth it. Individual preference I suppose.

 

[Johnrh]

I don't but I only have one 9mm I use for carry. I do reload for 38, 40, 45, 223 and 30-06 for the M1. I have free lead and use that in all my pistol rounds. With free lead, and excluding the $$$$ in casting equipment, I can reload for under 4 cents a round for any pistol round.

 

[mikld]

If your only motivation for reloading is money,then nope, it ain't worth it...

 

[MRB1]

My enjoyment trumps the economic aspect. Probably why I'm not rich.

 

[TTSH]

If your only motivation for reloading is money, then nope, it ain't worth it...

I think the many responses, taken together, confirm that you are right. Reloading is a separate hobby onto itself. If you happen to have a whole lot of free unoccupied time with nothing better to do, maybe it's the hobby for you... even to the point of reloading when it doesn't particularly make great economic sense (e.g., 9mm). If you enjoy making your own reloaded ammo for whatever reason, including better-than store-bought accuracy, all power to you.

 

[fredj338]

I can buy bulk 9mm remanufactured ammo for just under NZ$400/1000. I can reload for around NZ$285/1000m (I've got several thousand cases on hand and access to more, So yes, for me it is well worth the effort

But more importantly I can tailor the loads for my two 9mm pistols to get much better accuracy than the reman loads in my pistols.

Shooting in NZ is not a cheap proposition at all. Reloading & its autonomy, yeah the way to go for many of us.

 

[fredj338]

If some folks didn't learn from the mess post-Newtown, there is no hope for them. We have now had more than enough time to become extraordinarily well-prepared for the next big ammo crisis. It won't be or come to us quite like the last one, but another one will still come someday. Of that we can be sure.

It has already come to kalif, most casual shooters though haven't really come up against it yet. With no importation of ammo into the PRC, we will pay a lot more sooner than later. Then they will start restricting how much we can buy in a month. They have been floating 100rds a month as "more than enough ammo for civilians". Yeah, right. That isn't even enough ammo to maintain ones skill level a month.

 

[fredj338]

I don't but I only have one 9mm I use for carry. I do reload for 38, 40, 45, 223 and 30-06 for the M1. I have free lead and use that in all my pistol rounds. With free lead, and excluding the $$$$ in casting equipment, I can reload for under 4 cents a round for any pistol round.

Since you already have gear, why not reload for 9mm???

 

[fredj338]

I think the many responses, taken together, confirm that you are right. Reloading is a separate hobby onto itself. If you happen to have a whole lot of free unoccupied time with nothing better to do, maybe it's the hobby for you... even to the point of reloading when it doesn't particularly make great economic sense (e.g., 9mm). If you enjoy making your own reloaded ammo for whatever reason, including better-than store-bought accuracy, all power to you.

Again proper gear is important for efficient reloading. If I had to make 10K rds of ammo a year on a turret, no not worth my time. On a good progressive, 600rd/hr easy, save $6/100, $36/hr net. That means I have to work a job I am not crazy about & gross $50+/hr minimum to buy the same amount of ammo. So yes time is valuable but so is my sanity. Working a job you don't really like to buy ammo is making your life miserable.