Why reload?

[Mettalikatt]

I was doing some looking thinking of starting to reload for my 9mm Luger 1911 I've been shooting ALOT lately. My grandfather has a single stage press that must be 20-30 years old but everything is there and in order. So i did some searching and it looked like to buy a 1000 piece bulk of bullets, primers, and powder I was going to come in at like 16$$ a box, w/o figuring in powder because I didn't look up how much per cartridge. But WWB is available for $20.97 at Wally World.

So my real question is, is anyone beating 16-17$$ per 100 rounds reloading 9mm? Or was Cheaperthandirt not the cheapest place to find components.

Thanks, Zach

 

[dennishoddy]

Cheaper than dirt is not cheap.
Just do your internet searches for bullets, and look at Powdervalley.com for components. If you can get a group to buy components, and then one person make a road trip up there, it can be a significant savings.
Each person pays for their order by CC, and give you cash for some gas and your time.
I shoot about a 1000 rounds a month or more with different calibers.

 

[Glocktogo]

You have to buy from the right vendors and buy in bulk. Group buys as stated are a great way to do it, particularly on powder and primers, so you can divvy up the haz-mat shipping fee. I pick up 9mm brass for free on the ranges I shoot at, so that's cheap. I order from Powder Valley and have them deliver to the Tulsa Arms Show, avoiding the haz-mat fee, pay in cash and it comes in really cheap.

I can get 8# of Titegroup for $109. At 4.0 grains per round, that will load 14,000 rounds. That works out to $7.78 per 1,000 for powder. Winchester, Federal or CCI primers are $26 per 1,000. Montana Gold 115gr FMJ's are $305 per case of 4,000, or $76.25 per 1,000 (delivered). So, you could load up some very accurate, high quality reloads for about $110 per thousand, saving about $100 per thousand over lower quality WWB. The cool part is you can load JHP's for about $5 more per thousand. If you're willing to do plated bullets, you can load them for about $100 per thousand or less. All you have to do is find someone to split the orders with if you don't want to spend that much money out of pocket at one time.

The added benefits are that you can tailor your load to your intended use and load for best accuracy out of your gun. So is it worth it? It is for me.

 

[ByrdC130]

A powder load for 9mm is going to make a pound of powder last a looooong time. You're going to be spending near 30 bucks for a # of powder and about that for 1k primers buying locally.

Here is a calculator to see what your end cost is to reload. But remember, the fun of reloading is priceless!

http://www.classifiercalc.com/misc_calcs/rc.php

 

[ratski]

1. You can tailor your loading to your gun and shooting. It can be amazing how a grouping will change with a change of one or two grains of powder or even between different powders.

2. Cheaper than Dirt isn't.

3. 20.97 @ Walmart? Haven't seen that price at a WalMart in over a year. Not all of them have the same prices, but the lowest I've seen in Lawton or OKC is 22.97. Usual is 23.97. Add 8.5% tax and you are up another couple of bucks per 100.

4. Walmart doesn't always have ammo in stock. Just look back a few years. Then look back about 10 years. There have been some VERY dry times. Being able to reload might be the difference between a trip to the range and having fun vs no trip to the range for months.

5. Sitting at the reloading bench with several pounds of gunpowder uncapped can help you stop smoking.

Dave

 

[Mettalikatt]

Thanks for all the great replys. I'll be sure to check out PowderValley.com and may be fortunate enough in the future to find group buys organized here on the forums.

 

[superdave65]

Another cost savings is fact that you can reload the same brass many times. I figure that if I'm reloading 9mm lead bullets for plinking I can come in around $5 to $5.50 a box. Jacketed bullets are more expensive. When you reload for more expensive calibers, like .357 .45acp or .44mag then you will notice a HUGE savings.

 

[NikatKimber]

9mm and .223 are the least cost worthy to reload, but still sworth it to me. As superdave said, start loading revolver rounds and larger rifle rounds and it really starts to pay off.

 

[ragsflh]

try grafs,midway,midsouth,,natchez.montanna gold.therse are just a few i use.later you will probaly want a progressive press for rolling lots of ammo.

 

[Stainless]

Because its cool