[wncchester]

Okay, lets be realistic about the savings of reloading. First, count the cost:

Presses are expensive, especially progressives, plus case and bullet feeders and turret heads to make them work well. Die sets too, including special crimpers and neck dies. Then buy a powder scale plus check weights, case trimmer and pilots, case neck turner and pilots, mouth deburring tool, primer pocket crimp reamers and uniformers, flash hole uniformer/deburring tool, loading blocks, powder measure and stand, powder funnel, powder trickler, hand or autopriming tool, case gages, OAL tools and bullet compairators, precision calipers, micrometer, vibe tumbler, media, media polish, media seperator, primer pocket cleaner, case and neck lubes, a few loading manuals, concentricity gage including a good dial indicator, plastic cartridge boxes and you're all set. (Leave out any items you won't need for a 9mm. ??)

Well, except for a loading room/space, and a sturdy bench, plus good lighting, storage cabinets and strong shelving, HVAC; all that counts too, right?

Then, if you want "free" cast bullets you only need to add molds, mold mallet, lubracator-sizer plus lube and dies, plus nose punches for each bullet. Maybe want a few boxes of gas checks too? If so, get a check seater as well. And a lead dipper, lead melting pot, ingot mold, flux, and a casting thermometer. Then find a source of free casting metal, including wheel weights (for antimony), lead, and solder (for tin) or those "free" bullets are still gonna cost you a bit of money as well as a significant amount of time.

Now, figger out how much all that's gonna cost you. Then figger the price of each rounds components for reloaded vs. store bought ammo. Finally, divide the cost of the tools and everything else by the unit savings to find your break even point. (It WILL be more than a few hundered!) But, after that, you should start to see a bit of "savings" vs. store bought stuff.

Me, I'm an avid loader and do it all, have for a long time, but I've never deluded myself that I'm doing it for economy! Rather, I enjoy making my ammo BETTER, not cheeper; I can get cheep at Walmart and with much less fuss. So, no, I don't suggest people get into reloading to "save money."