What do you guys do with 9mm brass?

[Gerry]

if I could buy new loaded ammo for less I sure would!!

I cast my own bullets too, so mine run about the same cost. I just pay for powder and primers, both bought in bulk. Between my wife and I, we shoot about 1,000 rounds per week on average. It would be a significant cost if we were shooting commercial rounds at Canadian prices - at least $15,000 to $20,000 per year.

Many of the world's best shooters load their own, and would continue to do so regardless of the cost of commercial rounds. Shooters like Eric Grauffel or Brian Enos would faint if they were forced to have someone other than themselves crank they press. How much is their time worth?

[hulley]

I reload alot of 9mm. For the obvious reasons of my own load, cost savings and its something I enjoy doing. I'm not much for watching TV so I'll go out to my bench load up a few hundred and be done with it. Also when I go to my buddies property to shoot, I'll give him a couple hundred rounds as a thank you. Its a nice jesture and saves him a bunch because he doesnt reload.

[DFrame]

I save it up until I get enough to take to the recycler.

[BigJimP]

Like others, I primarily load as part of the gun hobby ....and my reloads are way more accurate than most any inexpensive ammo...

I use a premium bullet, Montana gold 115 gr ...my 9mm reloads are $ 5.88 for a box of 50 ....and retail in my area is $10 - $14 for a box of 50 rds.../ so I shoot at least twice as much, with the same ammo budget...

I reload a lot of 9mm ...( and .40S&W, .45 acp, .38spl, .357 mag and .44 mag ) ....but last year I reloaded over 16,000 rds of 9mm....and I'll do at least that much by the end of December this yr.

[Prof Young]

Loaders:
Yea, I haven't cranked all the numbers, but I'm confident that I'm reloading 9mm for less than I can buy it new. 8 or 9 cents for the bullet, a few pennies for the primer and powder . . . cheapest bulk ammo is still around 20 cents a shot.
Live well be safe.
Prof Young

[kron]

I've been selling all the 9mm range brass I get to the local scrap dealer. Might have to keep some back for a new PIF thread. I like that idea.

Scrap dealer gives $2/lb right now for range brass. The 400lbs or so of 9mm I sold to them last month helped pay for the next batches of mixed brass I bought.

It's amazing the chamberings you can find in the range brass from an indoor 25yd range... 45-70, 30-06, 460 s&w, 270, lots of big stuff I wasn't expecting.

[Tinner666]

I was crunching numbers and it looks like MG 115 JHP's will run me about $5.15 a box to reload using CCI 500's and Universal Clays. Best deal I could find on retail ammo was about $14.00 on sale. Not that I've looked everywhere.
Now, I just need more brass too since all I have so far is from my retail buys. LGR sells that for about $40.00 per 1000.

[Tex S]

I remember when I first started shooting 9mm about 10 years ago. You could get a box for $2.50 at Academy. Now the price is just crazy... $14 or $15 for fifty at Cabelas.

I picked up a Beretta 92 on the cheap last year. It came with 300 or 400 rounds but they are all gone now. I will be reloading for this caliber for sure. I can load Berry's 115's over W231 for $6.50 per box.

I'll save the $8 or $9 bucks per box, thank you.

I was out at Front Sight last week and bought Magtech 115's for $11 or $12.

By the way, I will buy any extra 9mm brass you have.


Ready to talk guns and hunting after my yearly summer hiatus. Glad to be back!

[serf 'rett]

Current Wally World price is 23.95 plus 2.16 tax for total of $26.11 per Winchester White box 100 round box.

My cost to reload is around $11.18 per 100 rounds. Plated or lead bullets and buying bulk from online suppliers.

I don't even need my engineering degree to figure which is cheaper. (added bonus is tuned ammo and the fun of tinkering with loads!)

What do I do with 9mm brass? Try to find 'em. The range pixies hide 'em in the grass.

[res45]

Back in the day when I had a public range to shoot at I picked up ever piece of 9mm brass I could get my hands on and everything else for that matter. Even though at the time I didn't own a 9 mm like I do now I had a 9 x 18 Mak. that I converted cases to from once fired 9mm brass,those little guns can really throw the brass out there.

Brass is one of the expensive parts of reloading any cartridge even once fired that you buy but free is free so when you loose one you have lost nothing and since I cast my own bullets for ever cartridge I shoot and have for years my bullet cost is basically 0 to 2.5 cents if I use a gas check bullet.

I probably have more 9mm brass that I can ever wear out I don't loose much either as I use a knockdown net that I run along a cable down my shooting lane to knock my brass down especially the 9 x 18 cases.

[Don P]

I have been scrounging brass since 2006 and took all the 9 mm I could get. Folks thought I was crazy reloading 9 mm. I wonder what they are thinking now? As of now I have 6,500 rnds. of 9 mm reloaded and 7,000 cases waiting for reloading. You could bag them up by the 1k and ask $25-30 per bag if you choose not to reload, or find someone that will reload for you and use the brass that way.

[kealil]

I personally reload the brass. I also cast my own bullets so my reloads are about 2.50 per 50. Plus they're really accurate.

[pgdion]

I reload it. You only save a little (but a little is a lot these days) but I also like reloading it and I can load things I can't readily buy (like the 124gr FP). But with 9mm I do tend to acquire more brass than i shoot. I clean and bag it and leave it ready to go. Haven't reached the point of having to much brass yet (I have a lot of attic space ).

[publius]

I have a couple of wooden wine crates full of it. If I ever get a progressive I'll reload it.

[Wahoo95]

I reload it.....at about $9/100 for my preferred 147gr loads

[orionengnr]

I have never reloaded 9mm yet...but I think I have about 10k tumbled 9mm brass. One day I will get around to it.

In the mean time, I still pick it up. I have given away...I don't know how many thousand rounds to guys who are just getting into loading. But I never seem to have a problem finding someone to take them.

[armoredman]

Like Big Animal said, I reload 9mm and cast my own bullets from scrap lead. Burnt up another 250 rounds today that cost me a grand total of $16, (according to the load calculator i found), to make.

[howlnmad]

I just enjoy the reloading proccess so I keep reloading and firing it until I lose it.

[thedaddycat]

First off, sorry to anyone who sent me a PM or email about the brass. My son has been quite ill and now he has beem in the hospital for over a week so things around here have taken a back seat. He is showing some improvement to the point that he just got transfered out of the ICU so things are looking up on that account.

Here are a couple pics of some of my brass:



This is the 9mm brass. Left to right we have some old range brass with a dark patina, two bags of 500 fully prepped brass, decapped brass, and the two on the right are stuff that needs to get processed. I have not sorted the 9mm by headstamp. Once it is decapped I sonic clean it as this seems to do a fair job of getting the crud out of the case and primer pocket. I gave two bags of this brass to my friend so he has enough 9 mm brass to finish using up his components. Maybe I'll get the dies from him when he's done with them...



Here is some .45 Auto brass. All of it is fully prepped, that is to say it's been tumbled, decapped, sonic cleaned, and polished in the tumbler (with new media). I package these in zip-lock bags with 100 per bag, sorted by headstamp. I also gave my friend four bags of R-P brass and I still have 11 bags left of various head stamps. The small tub inside the tote in the lower left is bags of short-count brass sorted by headstamp. When I get enough of whichever brand to make a full bag, it goes with the others. That way I can load by lots of 100 using various primer/brass combinations.

[okiefarmer]

--as I cast my own bullets and buy powder & primers in bulk I spend 4 cents per rd to load 9mm. thats $2.00 per 50 and $40.00 per 1000.

if I could buy new loaded ammo for less I sure would!! --

Bizzactly biganimal. I cast for nearly everything. I send cast down x39, 30-30, '06, .308, not to mention 9mm, 38/357,40,45 and all those BP toyos to boot. Just a touch of lino, and LSSTUFF lube, and I don't have any problemmo. Savings really add up for the rifle calibers on cast. Smokes a bit at the range, but not enough to keep me from seeing the targets.

I pick up anything I ever see, but in the same motion, don't look just too awful hard for 9mm brass when shooting down in the pasture or the pond in the grass. Too cheap to buy vs. this old man bending over and throwing his back out.

[lll Otto lll]

A single 9mm casing is worth 3 cents, so why wouldn't you pick it up?
If you dropped a quarter on the ground, would you leave it there?

[res45]

thedaddycat,hope your son continues to improve and gets to come home soon.

[donkee]

I load 9mm and shoot it!

I am getting low on 9mm though. I have some .45 i should trade off for some or just buy it. I am not in a club any longer so I gon't get the pick up brass like I used to.