Never reloaded pistol B4...Have questions

Desert Rat · November 13, 2009, 02:08 AM

Back in the 70s I reloaded tons of 12ga shells with my trusty (and cheep) Lee Loader. But I have never reloaded a brass case of any kind. Can some of you please give me some input?

1. If I can buy a box of 50 9mm for say $15, what would it cost me to reload the same 50 cases?

2. How much do I NEED to spend on equipment to reload 9mm and 380s? I don't want cheep junk, but not the most expensive either.

3. Do any of you sell your reloads? If so what % profit?

4. How would you describe the difficulty compared to reloading a 12ga shell?

Thanks a lot!

kle · November 13, 2009, 02:24 AM

Welcome to The Firing Line.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desert Rat

3. Do any of you sell your reloads? If so what % profit?

Can't do that without a 06 FFL (it's manufacturing ammunition if you sell it). I wouldn't do that without some sort of Liability Coverage, either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desert Rat

1. If I can buy a box of 50 9mm for say $15, what would it cost me to reload the same 50 cases?

2. How much do I NEED to spend on equipment to reload 9mm and 380s? I don't want cheep junk, but not the most expensive either.

If you're used to loading with a Lee Loader for shotshells, a Lee Loader for 9mm shouldn't be that much different, and just as inexpensive--from Lee's website, a Lee Loader in 9mm is about $34. I don't see on for .380, though.

After that, it's components. Past the equipment costs, you'd probably be looking at $35/1000 primers, $80/1000 bullets, $18/lb of powder, $0 for the brass (if you recover all of yours/scrounge for some at the range). Per round puts you at $0.04 (primer) + $0.08 (bullet) + $0.01 (powder) + $0.00 (brass) = $0.13/round, which is $6.50/50 rounds.

Randy 1911 · November 13, 2009, 02:49 AM

Question 1. About half the cost of new ammo

Question2. $2-300 should get you everything you need. IMO Lee makes the bottom of the line in equipment. I would go with RCBS or Hornady. Lee does however make good dies. Once you have the equipment, all you need to change calibers is the dies.

Question 3. kle is right. You have to have a Federal Firarms Lisense to make and sell ammo.

Question 4. If you can pay attention to what you are doing, it is not difficult to reoad cartridge ammo. I have heard of young teenagers doing it with no problem. Just pay attention to what you are doing. It is no harder than shotshell loading.

Sevens · November 13, 2009, 08:58 AM

The money question is the most common question from those who don't reload to those who do. We get asked that in forums and on the range all the time.

It's not that we DON'T want to answer it. We do. We want to help!

It's just horribly difficult to answer. Consider all the reasons that it's tough to accurately answer this question:

We don't know what you want to do with the ammo. Paper punching? Hot loads? Mild? Metal targets? Hunting? Training?
We don't know what you are shooting. Can your pistol eat cast lead bullets? (many give trouble and some recommend that you don't use cast lead in them)
Do you shoot indoors? Will they allow lead bullets? Do you mind the excessive smoke? Are you prepared to do more cleaning than you might otherwise do?
Do you have any brass stored up, or do you have to buy? 9mm is easy to buy used brass in bulk. .40 typically is also. All the others are tougher and more expensive. Some, not too much. Others are horribly expensive. and if you have to buy empty brass new, that's pretty expensive, too.
How much cash are you willing to spend to get started? I'm NOT talking about tools... dies, press, caliper, scale. That's a whole other expense. I'm talking about bullets, powder, primers and your brass. If you buy 100 bullets, you'll pay top dollar. If you can afford 500 bullets, it'll cost less. If you can buy 3,000 bullets, it's a much bigger savings.
Powder and primers are exactly the same way. If you buy one pound of powder at the local gun store, it'll be like $23. If you buy from an online seller and get 4, 5 or 8 pounds, it'll be a tremendous savings. Primers at the gun store in a 100-ct package are expensive... buy them online 5,000 or 10,000 at a time and you'll save big dough.
Do you want to get in to bullet casting? If you have a source for usable lead, your bullets can be so cheap that you won't believe it.
For many folks, time IS money. If you have the kind of job that eats up many hours each week and has you traveling for work, you might not be able to reload effectively. It takes time and a lot of care and that's just to produce a known load. If you haven't worked up your loads to find out what works for you, that takes a LOT of time and trips to the range.

I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom, I'm just offering a bit of what it's really like when we try to put a price tag on the ammo we make. I know that a box of my cast lead 9mm rounds probably cost me about $5 for a box of 50, but there's a heap of money invested in components, there's many hours of time and care involved and there's 20 years worth of tools and toys that I use to make the stuff.

Desert Rat · November 13, 2009, 09:11 AM

After seeing the first two answers to #3 it occured to me someone might think it was a plant to get someone to say something they shouldn't. Not so, just a dumb question from someone who is new to reloading.

The reason I asked question #3 is when I Googled "Reloading Equipment" the following link came up.

http://www.certifiedreloader.com/home.html

Reading through the site sounded interesting, and I thought maybe I could support my shooting habit and make a dollar too.

Desert Rat · November 13, 2009, 09:46 AM

Thanks Sevens, lot of details to think about.
I will be loading 9mm and 380 as I have a Kel-Tec PF9 and am looking at a pocket 380. I'm going to get my CCW here in AZ sometime in the next 60 days or so.

I just want to load a standard indoor range round. I thought I would buy a box of Cor-Bon or HydroShock or something to carry as a SD round, but after reading "Do you trust your hand loads over factory" I might just use my own (after I practice a few hundred rounds).

I'm not in a hurry so ordering on line would be fine. If I went to the range (about 2-3 mi from me) average once a week and shot a box of 50 that would be about 2600 rounds a year. I could order on line in bulk and have supplies for a year. Useing kle's example I'm guessing reloading vs buy at 2500 rounds would save enough to cover the cost of the equipment.

As for the time, I manage (and live on site) a self storage property. My daily commute is walking through the door in the living room into the office. I've got a lot of extra time and need a hobby to keep me out of trouble. Nothing worth a crap on TV anymore, and need to keep my mind working.

reloader28 · November 13, 2009, 09:54 AM

You can save money ( more if you cast ).Pistol loading is a piece of cake. Its actually harder to fine tune shotshell loads than brass loads (in my opinion) and you can use the same "type" of press. I loaded only shotshells for a few years first, than found out shotshell were more complicated.

zippy13 · November 13, 2009, 12:02 PM

I started loading metallic and shot shells with Lee loaders 42-years ago. My equipment has progressed since then.
For handgun ammo, the big savings isn't in reloading, but in home casting your bullets. Using kle's example, deduct the price of the bullets and you're down in the neighborhood of $2.50/50. Ammo and component prices are out of control now; but, typically, I can load pistol and revolver loads with home cast bullets for the price of good .22LRs

medalguy · November 13, 2009, 12:10 PM

Keep in mind pistol reloading is like letting the camel get its nose under the tent. Before long you'll be buying rifles because you got a great deal on a bag of brass at the gun show.......

I would suggest buying an RCBS Rock Chucker as it will do pistol or rifle cases, it's easy to set up, easy to use, and it will last forever. I also recommend carbide dies for straight pistol cases so you don't have to lube the cases. I have four Dillon progressive presses for 98% of my loading but I still use the Rockchucker I bought about 40 years ago, using it for odd calibers that I load once every year or less.

Look at the equipment as an investment. I can today sell my equipment for probably what it cost me years ago or maybe more. It loses hardly any value at all. Check out evilbay for prices.

Finally, you're correct about buying in bulk. It makes good economic sense and you have components at hand, and you can buy when they are available. Case in point: primers have been very difficult to get lately. I order from 10 to 20K at a time generally from Cabela's because they sell at the normal retail price and they accept backorders. Not all dealers do that. So, whenever they get primers in stock, they ship to me. May be a week or four months but then I have more here I'm working off of so even if it's 6 months I still have some stock and I'm just replenishing my own stock.

Welcome to reloading and enjoy.

November 13, 2009, 02:08 AM	#1
Desert Rat Member Join Date: November 8, 2009 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 52	Never reloaded pistol B4...Have questions Back in the 70s I reloaded tons of 12ga shells with my trusty (and cheep) Lee Loader. But I have never reloaded a brass case of any kind. Can some of you please give me some input? 1. If I can buy a box of 50 9mm for say $15, what would it cost me to reload the same 50 cases? 2. How much do I NEED to spend on equipment to reload 9mm and 380s? I don't want cheep junk, but not the most expensive either. 3. Do any of you sell your reloads? If so what % profit? 4. How would you describe the difficulty compared to reloading a 12ga shell? Thanks a lot!

November 13, 2009, 08:58 AM	#4
Sevens Senior Member Join Date: July 28, 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 11,756	The money question is the most common question from those who don't reload to those who do. We get asked that in forums and on the range all the time. It's not that we DON'T want to answer it. We do. We want to help! It's just horribly difficult to answer. Consider all the reasons that it's tough to accurately answer this question: We don't know what you want to do with the ammo. Paper punching? Hot loads? Mild? Metal targets? Hunting? Training? We don't know what you are shooting. Can your pistol eat cast lead bullets? (many give trouble and some recommend that you don't use cast lead in them) Do you shoot indoors? Will they allow lead bullets? Do you mind the excessive smoke? Are you prepared to do more cleaning than you might otherwise do? Do you have any brass stored up, or do you have to buy? 9mm is easy to buy used brass in bulk. .40 typically is also. All the others are tougher and more expensive. Some, not too much. Others are horribly expensive. and if you have to buy empty brass new, that's pretty expensive, too. How much cash are you willing to spend to get started? I'm NOT talking about tools... dies, press, caliper, scale. That's a whole other expense. I'm talking about bullets, powder, primers and your brass. If you buy 100 bullets, you'll pay top dollar. If you can afford 500 bullets, it'll cost less. If you can buy 3,000 bullets, it's a much bigger savings. Powder and primers are exactly the same way. If you buy one pound of powder at the local gun store, it'll be like $23. If you buy from an online seller and get 4, 5 or 8 pounds, it'll be a tremendous savings. Primers at the gun store in a 100-ct package are expensive... buy them online 5,000 or 10,000 at a time and you'll save big dough. Do you want to get in to bullet casting? If you have a source for usable lead, your bullets can be so cheap that you won't believe it. For many folks, time IS money. If you have the kind of job that eats up many hours each week and has you traveling for work, you might not be able to reload effectively. It takes time and a lot of care and that's just to produce a known load. If you haven't worked up your loads to find out what works for you, that takes a LOT of time and trips to the range. I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom, I'm just offering a bit of what it's really like when we try to put a price tag on the ammo we make. I know that a box of my cast lead 9mm rounds probably cost me about $5 for a box of 50, but there's a heap of money invested in components, there's many hours of time and care involved and there's 20 years worth of tools and toys that I use to make the stuff. __________________ *Attention Brass rats and other reloaders:* I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss.

November 13, 2009, 09:54 AM	#7
reloader28 Senior Member Join Date: October 13, 2009 Location: nw wyoming Posts: 1,061	You can save money ( more if you cast ).Pistol loading is a piece of cake. Its actually harder to fine tune shotshell loads than brass loads (in my opinion) and you can use the same "type" of press. I loaded only shotshells for a few years first, than found out shotshell were more complicated. Last edited by reloader28; November 13, 2009 at 02:42 PM.

November 13, 2009, 02:49 AM	#3
Randy 1911 Senior Member Join Date: May 7, 2009 Location: Western Arkansas Posts: 273	Question 1. About half the cost of new ammo Question2. $2-300 should get you everything you need. IMO Lee makes the bottom of the line in equipment. I would go with RCBS or Hornady. Lee does however make good dies. Once you have the equipment, all you need to change calibers is the dies. Question 3. kle is right. You have to have a Federal Firarms Lisense to make and sell ammo. Question 4. If you can pay attention to what you are doing, it is not difficult to reoad cartridge ammo. I have heard of young teenagers doing it with no problem. Just pay attention to what you are doing. It is no harder than shotshell loading. __________________ Been Reloading 27 Years NRA Member Member Old Fort Gun Club www.ofgc.org

November 13, 2009, 09:11 AM	#5
Desert Rat Member Join Date: November 8, 2009 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 52	After seeing the first two answers to #3 it occured to me someone might think it was a plant to get someone to say something they shouldn't. Not so, just a dumb question from someone who is new to reloading. The reason I asked question #3 is when I Googled "Reloading Equipment" the following link came up. http://www.certifiedreloader.com/home.html Reading through the site sounded interesting, and I thought maybe I could support my shooting habit and make a dollar too.

November 13, 2009, 09:46 AM	#6
Desert Rat Member Join Date: November 8, 2009 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 52	Thanks Sevens, lot of details to think about. I will be loading 9mm and 380 as I have a Kel-Tec PF9 and am looking at a pocket 380. I'm going to get my CCW here in AZ sometime in the next 60 days or so. I just want to load a standard indoor range round. I thought I would buy a box of Cor-Bon or HydroShock or something to carry as a SD round, but after reading "Do you trust your hand loads over factory" I might just use my own (after I practice a few hundred rounds). I'm not in a hurry so ordering on line would be fine. If I went to the range (about 2-3 mi from me) average once a week and shot a box of 50 that would be about 2600 rounds a year. I could order on line in bulk and have supplies for a year. Useing kle's example I'm guessing reloading vs buy at 2500 rounds would save enough to cover the cost of the equipment. As for the time, I manage (and live on site) a self storage property. My daily commute is walking through the door in the living room into the office. I've got a lot of extra time and need a hobby to keep me out of trouble. Nothing worth a crap on TV anymore, and need to keep my mind working.

November 13, 2009, 12:02 PM	#8
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	I started loading metallic and shot shells with Lee loaders 42-years ago. My equipment has progressed since then. For handgun ammo, the big savings isn't in reloading, but in home casting your bullets. Using kle's example, deduct the price of the bullets and you're down in the neighborhood of $2.50/50. Ammo and component prices are out of control now; but, typically, I can load pistol and revolver loads with home cast bullets for the price of good .22LRs

November 13, 2009, 12:10 PM	#9
medalguy Senior Member Join Date: August 31, 2009 Location: New Mexico Posts: 1,033	Keep in mind pistol reloading is like letting the camel get its nose under the tent. Before long you'll be buying rifles because you got a great deal on a bag of brass at the gun show....... I would suggest buying an RCBS Rock Chucker as it will do pistol or rifle cases, it's easy to set up, easy to use, and it will last forever. I also recommend carbide dies for straight pistol cases so you don't have to lube the cases. I have four Dillon progressive presses for 98% of my loading but I still use the Rockchucker I bought about 40 years ago, using it for odd calibers that I load once every year or less. Look at the equipment as an investment. I can today sell my equipment for probably what it cost me years ago or maybe more. It loses hardly any value at all. Check out evilbay for prices. Finally, you're correct about buying in bulk. It makes good economic sense and you have components at hand, and you can buy when they are available. Case in point: primers have been very difficult to get lately. I order from 10 to 20K at a time generally from Cabela's because they sell at the normal retail price and they accept backorders. Not all dealers do that. So, whenever they get primers in stock, they ship to me. May be a week or four months but then I have more here I'm working off of so even if it's 6 months I still have some stock and I'm just replenishing my own stock. Welcome to reloading and enjoy.