8.2 cents a shot for 9mm . . .

[Prof Young]

Loaders:

I took the time to figure out exactly what it was costing me to reload 9mm with super coated lead bullets.

Here's the figures
Bullet 3.6 cents
Primer 3.3 cents
Powder 1.3 cents
or 8.2 cents.

If I count the original cost of used brass I have to add four cents, but I figure the brass as free since I reload and reload.

At that price it is cheaper to shoot my 9mm than my 22, at least not at the price of most of the 22 ammo I'm running into.

I know there is an argument that reloading doesn't save you any money as you only shoot more, but that's a non-sequitor. On a shot per shot basis, once you've got the cost of your equipment covered, it does save you money.
Live well, be safe
Prof Young

[Machineguntony]

Are you sure those numbers are accurate and reflect S&H and Haz Mat fees?

I made a same calculation, but then when I added in S&H and haz mat fee, even buying in bulk to minimize the costs per round, I realized my cost per primer and powder was higher. I know some people say to buy locally, to save SH and Haz mat, but buying local is ALWAYS more expensive because LGS charge more than online, and the taxes are higher than S&H (online and out of state is not taxed).

Will the super coated bullets foul a gas system?

What is your source of bullets, if you will kindly share? I love buying cheap 9mm in bulk.

[JefferS]

I've calculated some different combinations and some I'm cheaper and some not. Brass price sometimes is the factor, since I bought some Starline cases to have on hand, so I'm using them some.

For me, it's not simply about shooting in a less expensive way, but having enough supplies on hand that if I were to run out of my white-box supply, I would still have access to 9mm. Fortunately, I have not had to rely on my handloads, but I came pretty close at times (got lucky a few times during the worst of the shortages).

I still need to do some testing, but my handloads seem to be coming in more accurate than white-box, so to do a fair comparison, I would have to compare to some more expensive ammo which have some similar accuracies of my handloads. Then I'm usually coming in a little cheaper.

[MarkCO]

You are buying bullets for $36/K, or is that a cost casting your own?

[madmo44mag]

.16 cents a round using range brass is my average cost using a LRN bullet bought in bulk.
Price goes up slightly when using plated bullets to .19 cents a round.
This is range ammo.
Now if I could find some powder in bulk I'd be back to loading 9mm

[PawPaw]

Several years ago, I calculated the cost of a cast-bullet .30-30 round at 5 cents per pop, or $1.00 per box of 20. At the time I used local over-the-shelf prices for powder and primers to avoid the HazMat charges.

[mnoirot64]

I live in Clarksville, TN - home of Midsouth Shooters. I can buy components at wholesale and pick up my powder, primers and other components. I buy 124 gr Xtreme bullets in 500 count boxes. They shoot fine but are not the highest quality by a long shot. My per cartridge cost is close 12 cents a piece, with 8.89 cents being the bullet. I'm curious what brand bullet you're using which only costs 3.6 cents each.

[Prof Young]

Loaders:

Well, I don't pay any S&H or Haz mat fees as I don't buy supplies on line.

I bought the 1000 Hi-Tek super coat bullets from an outfit called Gateway Bullets in MO at a gun show in IL. $36 for 1000 115 grn 9mm.

The whole point of super coat bullets is that they're supposed to NOT foul your barrel with anything including the lead. We'll see . . . .

The reason I got in to hand loading was my 44 mag. A good hunting load was 80 cents a shot off the shelf and this was well before the shortages. Even the plain-jane loads were between 30-50 cents. I figured if I wanted to shoot the gun much at all I'd need to reload.

One thing lead to another and now I reload 9mm, 45c, 44 mag and 223.

Live well, be safe.
Prof Young

[mnoirot64]

Originally Posted by Prof Young

Loaders:



Well, I don't pay any S&H or Haz mat fees as I don't buy supplies on line.



I bought the 1000 Hi-Tek super coat bullets from an outfit called Gateway Bullets in MO at a gun show in IL. $36 for 1000 115 grn 9mm.



The whole point of super coat bullets is that they're supposed to NOT foul your barrel with anything including the lead. We'll see . . . .

I will have to check that brand out. I'm looking for something less expensive for my target loads.

[mnoirot64]

Originally Posted by Prof Young

Loaders:



Well, I don't pay any S&H or Haz mat fees as I don't buy supplies on line.



I bought the 1000 Hi-Tek super coat bullets from an outfit called Gateway Bullets in MO at a gun show in IL. $36 for 1000 115 grn 9mm.



The whole point of super coat bullets is that they're supposed to NOT foul your barrel with anything including the lead. We'll see . . . .



The reason I got in to hand loading was my 44 mag. A good hunting load was 80 cents a shot off the shelf and this was well before the shortages. Even the plain-jane loads were between 30-50 cents. I figured if I wanted to shoot the gun much at all I'd need to reload.



One thing lead to another and now I reload 9mm, 45c, 44 mag and 223.



Live well, be safe.

Prof Young

Thanks for the info Prof Young. I am not a big fan of shooting lead cast bullets in my semi-autos. I think I will stick with Xtreme, Berry's and bulk Speer plated FMJs. They are roughly twice the cost of your lead cartridges, but are still way less than factory new or factory reloads.

[kilimanjaro]

Sometimes you get bargains at the shows and estates. Scored 200 6.5mm bullets at a yard sale last week for a dollar. Oddly, they had no other gun stuff.

[A400 Fan]

At that price it is cheaper to shoot my 9mm than my 22, at least not at the price of most of the 22 ammo I'm running into.

I managed to find 22 at Gander for less than .05, and at Academy for .04, so it is out there.

If you want really cheap, buy a good air rifle and shoot pellets - readily available, 500 typically run less than$10

[tahunua001]

I actually figure in the brass and since much of my bras lasts for about 5 loadings or so, I just take initial cost of brass and divide by 5 then that's my total cost per round, unless I'm using once only brass in which case it's the full cost of the brass.

[Machineguntony]

Most of us choose not to buy locally, so we must buy online to save. Unless you're lucky enough to live near midsouth shooters (but unlucky enough to live in Tennessee haha) then we have no choice but to pay SH and Haz Mat.

And even locally, the tax is more expensive than shipping. My average order is about $1500, so the tax at 8.25% is about $125. Shipping is about $120. It's the Haz mat of $25x2 that gets you (two Haz mats because 48 pounds of powder, ie six 8 lbs containers is one Haz mat then add in primers for a second Haz mat).

Thanks for your calculation. I love seeing other shooters pricing on ammunition reloads.

[dickttx]

Right now I am reloading 38 Super as follows:
5.4gn Hp38 .01226
CCI SPP .03025
Bayou 124gn RN Coated .06600
Total .10851

These prices include shipping and hazmat. The primers I am using are the most expensive I have on hand. I have 15K on the way now for .0286¢ each.
I don't include brass in my cost. All my 38 Super is new Starline, direct from Starline. It was about 15¢ each but in working up my loads I reloaded the first 100 cases 26 times. That would be less than six tenths a cent each. I don't amortize my equipment into the cost either.

[skizzums]

i dont pay for lead or brass for the 9x19, i think i am around 5c a round

i dont have a huge stock of 38spl brass, so i still figure it into my costs, i am around 7c a round

i love reloading, but i didnt really start saving until i started casting, sometimes ill buy a box of extreme plated HPs and that puts me around 15c a round for the 9milli, since ive started powdercoating i probably wont do plated anymore; its proved very successful in reducing leading and eliminating smoke

[Lost Sheep]

Numbers guy, are you? Check out this thread.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=663065
I developed a spreadsheet to figure in component cost, equipment cost, my startup (learning) time's cost and processing time cost.

(To those who decry counting time's cost for a hobby, I would like to point out that crunching numbers is also one of my hobbies. Don't trash the pleasure I get from my hobbies and I won't take offense.)

Prof, 3.6 cents? That IS a good price.

Lost Sheep

[chris in va]

I'm getting about 5.3 cents a round for my LRN 9mm as well. Cheaper than 22!

[leadcounsel]

You've forgotten the basic economic principle:

Time = money.

What is your Time worth? Takes 5 minutes to order 1000 rounds online. Might take an hour or two or even 4 hours to load 1000 rounds. Not sure what your time is worth, but you should factor that in for a TRUE economic analysis.

For example:
I can WALK across America for nearly free, if you factor in only the cost of meals and water. Of course it might cost $300 to drive and $1000 to fly. Now of course flying can be done in 6 hours. Driving done in 6 days. And walking might take 6 weeks. So walking isn't really FREE now is it? How much has your time cost you, walking across the nation versus driving versus flying?

And before the reloaders flame me about "it's a hobby," and "I enjoy it..."
Presumably there is a financial aspect to reloading, hence the question.
If you actually enjoy reloading then the financial aspect of your hobby is moot and you would do it even if you lost money doing it (like other hobbies such as skiing, or raising horses, or whatever).

[Cornbread]

Simple way to figure cost.
http://ultimatereloader.com/tools/re...ts-calculator/

[schmellba99]

Time = money

Only if you choose to apply a dollar figure to your time.

Do you apply a cost to time spent with your kids? What about time spent with your wife, parents, etc?

At any event, I figure the time spent at home doing something I enjoy is, at the very least, a wash when considering the time and money spent driving to the store to buy components, dealing with other people, not buying something that caught your eye while you were out and about, etc.

I can't remember exactly what my costs are for 9mm. I haven't loaded much 9mm in a while - the last time I really sat down and loaded was a few years back when I bought a metric crap ton of components. Pretty sure it was something like this (5 years ago or thereabouts):

Lead projos (bought off gunbroker or ebay or some such - nothing fancy, but good enough to take to the range to shoot for fun) - $.02 per
Primers - $.02 per
Powder - $.01 to $.02 or so
Brass - free. I have a bunch of it that is range pickup. Multiple thousands of rounds, so even if i use it 1x time, it's still for all intents and purposes a zero cost component.

So about $.05 to $.06 per round.

I also have a fair amount of .45 ACP that is in the same ballpark range in terms of cost per round. Again, components were bought a long, long time ago - in some cases they were given to me as well, so zero cost on some of it.

Those days are, however, long gone.

[skizzums]

i dont figure in time because i wouldnt be making $$ at that time anyways, i dont usually leave work early to reload, YET!! but i do figure in my time if i load for someone else, i usually charge them 15$ per hundred rounds, plus the cost, so 20$ per 100 9mm

[Brian Pfleuger]

You buy local so you don't pay hazmat?

Why do you suppose that pound of powder costs $25 instead of $18? Of course you're paying the hazmat and unless you're very, very lucky, your local prices are far higher than if you chose to buy in larger quantities and pay a VISIBLE hazmat fee instead of the invisible hazmat fee in the local prices.

Of course, right now you have to buy what you can find but once we all sop panicking like lemmings running off a cliff, places like Powder Valley will have stock again and very few of us can touch their prices PLUS visible hazmat locally.

8lbs (2 4lb jugs) Power Pistol, $114.70, hazmat $25 plus $12-$15 shipping, 8lbs for $150 or about $19 a pound. Buy 2 8lb jugs of Bullseye, $214.40, plus $40 hazmat/shipping+, $255 or $16/lb. Throw some primers in there (no additional hazmat and almost no shipping) and you've got your primers at $30/1000.

My local prices can't come close to that, I can buy 2 pounds of powder and 1000 primers and beat local prices NOT INCLUDING SALES TAX! In fact, if I bought 8lbs Power Pistol and 1000 primers, I'd be paying about $260 local. Powder Valley saves me almost $75 on that small of an order. Every pound of powder or 1,000 primers saves me another $10-$12 plus tax.

[skizzums]

hodgen pistol powders are 20$ local, 21.40 after tax per pound

i picked up 8# of W231 for 119$ local, +tax 127$, i would say its cheaper than paying hazmat, but i have never ordered online, so i dont know the savings on the powder you get

[leadcounsel]

Only if you choose to apply a dollar figure to your time.

Do you apply a cost to time spent with your kids? What about time spent with your wife, parents, etc?

No, but I also wouldn't expect to go online and ask ... "I took the time to figure out exactly what it was costing me to spend time with my kids and my wife and parents..."

If someone is doing reloading from a PURELY mathmatical and economic analysis, then it's intellectually dishonest to not factor in time. Plain and simple.

If you LOVE it, and would do it at any price point, making or losing money, then of course you wouldn't factor in time.

But the OP is doing it for economics.

I was suggesting that perhaps other endeavors may have higher returns.