9mm vs. .40

[MrDontPlay]

I think I may pick up a semi auto hand gun this week. Right now I have a .357 and a ruger 10/22. I already know I'm going to start reloading for my .357 but I want to buy the right gun this weekend and I'm trying to plan ahead. I've heard that it doesn't pay to reload 9mm because you just don't save enough. Is this true? What's the difference in cost between reloaded 9mm and factory 9mm and reloaded .40?

[Xfire68]

I reload 9mm, .40, .380, .223 and .45 LC and I save money even on the 9mm plus I am loading high end SD loads at the cost of Factory FMJ.

I have much more accurate HP ammo at close to or below that of the cheap FMJ stuff you will be buying to save money.

Loading .40 will save you a little more as the cost of .40 weather it's Winchester White Box or Cor-Bon is a little more then 9mm.

I reload not only to save a little bit of money but, more so to load better more accurate ammo. Yes my ammo is better then what they sell at the store!

[MW surveyor]

Started reloading for the 357/38 spl. Then 9 mm, then 380, then 45. None in the last sentence was purchased until after I started reloading for the 357.

That said, you won't save a whole bunch on the 9 mm but you will have some savings depending on the bullets you buy (and then shoot more!). Using hard cast lead, I can load for the 9 mm at about 13 cents per round. So for lead, near 40 to 50 per cent under the cheapest rounds Walmart sells. Your cost will go higher using FMJ and/or plated bullets.

[hornady]

Savings in reloading is not what it was a few years back, components have increased drastically, and start up takes a big bite out of the head end of most savings.
The real saving is if you cast your own bullets as well as reload.
There are other cheap options on bullets, such as Berry Manufacturing’s, plated bullets.
Reloading after all is said and done, with equipment, components, and your time. Is not the great savings it once was, but most guys that reload do it, because they simply enjoy Reloading, and the hands on development of there own ammo.
If just looking for cheap Ammo, A gunshow or Wal-Mart would be cheaper and less time consuming.

[overkill0084]

If you plan on reloading other calibers, i.e. .357, then by all means get the gear for 9mm. If you were to start with 9mm only, the cost would take longer to reclaim, but still worthwhile in the long run. I can reload a box of 100 9mm for around $10 to $11 w/ plated bullets. Wally world Fed is approx $11 to $12 per 50. Still worthwhile.
The savings on .357 will be much more noticeable. I've yet to see a box of 50 for less than $20. So savings will add up much faster. As previously noted, it's not all about cost. Being able to tailor loads to a specific application is a huge bonus.

[jimbob86]

.... learn to reload on the .38 and .357.

The 9mm and .40 S&W are high pressure cartridges with small case capacitiy: small errors can spike pressures significantly.

You'll recoup your expenses reloading the .357 pretty fast. .40 a bit slower. With 9mm jacketed bullets, you hardly save any money at all (though since not many people reload 9mm, cases are FREE, as nobody picks them up!).

Also, when using lead bullets with 9mm and .40 (or any round, for that matter), you have to keep velocities below 1100-1200 f/sec or so, to avoid leaving lead in the barrel. Harder lead bullets help, but don't solve the problem, and are more expensive. 9mm 115gr bullets (cheapest, usually) were designed for higher velocities than that. Dupicating factory velocities with 115 lead bullets = lots of lead in barrel. .40S&W 135 gr is supposed to run @ just under 1200 f/sec, IIRC......

I re-load 9mm ..... 6.5 grains of power pistol under a 115 gr Winchester FMJ bullet...... 2 cents for powder, 3 cents for a primer, 13 cents for a bullet, cases are free..... 18 cents a round= 9 bucks a box of 50. Buy the bullets in bulk and they get cheaper. Use plated bullets (keep MV below 1200) and they get cheaper yet.

.......AND if you want to run lead through a Glock, you'll need to get an after market barrel: that polygonal rifling and lead bullets don't mix. I don't know a whole lot of people personally that shoot a Glock, but I know one that blew his (.40 S&W) Glock up with cast lead bullets......

[FtrPilot]

The decision on which semi auto hand gun to buy should be based on what you plan to use the gun for...target practice or self-defense, not on how much money you can save reloading.

If the semi auto will be mostly used for target practice, then I would recommend 9mm. As overkill0084 states, you can reload 100 rounds of 9mm for $10-$11. 9mm is a popular round and at most ranges you can easily pick up a lot of 9mm brass.

If the semi auto will be mostly used for self-defense, then the 40 S&W would probably be a better choice.

I am currently loading 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45ACP. I load and shoot mostly 9mm since I am averaging shooting 600+ rounds per week. Reloading doesn't really save me money...it lets me shoot more.

[MrDontPlay]

Is there an easy way to collect your brass from your semi auto? I've see. Some guns that cab throw it quite a ways.

[Xfire68]

Is there an easy way to collect your brass from your semi auto? I've see. Some guns that cab throw it quite a ways.

Not really and if your outdoors on grass it can be a nightmare to try and track down the brass! If you shoot outside be sure to cut the grass in the area short and you can pace off about how far your gun throws the brass and as long as you are shooting from the same spot most of it will land in the same area.

There are some gadgets that you can buy to help pick up brass in the grass but I have not tried them yet and can not comment on how well they work.

[overkill0084]

Is there an easy way to collect your brass from your semi auto? I've see. Some guns that cab throw it quite a ways.

http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Models-P...5379019&sr=1-1

kinda cheesy, I know, but pretty effective once you get it adjusted.

[maillemaker]

As for how to catch your brass, see here:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=435589

As for cost, I have currently just started reloading myself. I'm doing it mostly for cost. I'm not looking to cook up highly accurate, better-than-store stuff right now, I'm just looking to be able to go shooting more often without telling the wife that I blew $150 in ammunition for an afternoon of shooting.

I can buy a box of Winchester White-box .45 plinking ammo for about $24. That is about $.46 per shot. When I reload using purchased, cast Oregon Trail bullets, that cost is only $.16 per shot. When I reload using cast bullets I made myself, that cost is about $.08 a shot.

That means that for .45 ACP, I'm saving $20 per box of 50. That, to me, is a boatload of money. It means an afternoon of shooting goes from $150 to about $25. Since I get $100 a month allowance for "fun money", that's the difference from being able to go once a month to just not bothering to go at all.

For 9mm, a box of Winchester White-box runs about $14 for 50 shots. That's about $.28 a piece. Even assuming the same component cost as .45, if I can make 9mm for $.08 a shot that is still a savings of $10 per box. If I go shoot 4 boxes of 9mm (easy to do with my CX4 in 9mm with its 15-round magazine), that's $56 in store-bought ammo, vs. $16 for home-made ammo - a savings of $40. To me, that's easily worth it.

To me, it's all about money. I went shooting over Christmas, and it was the first time I'd shot in over a year, simply because it's gotten too expensive for me to shoot. Yeah, I could go shoot .22LR, and I've got a pair of Ruger 10/22s and even a Browning Medalist, but to me they aren't very challenging. I like shooting big-bore stuff as I enjoy the challenge of mind and body control in the face of big bangs. I know the 9mm doesn't count as big-bore but that CX4 is fun to shoot - it's my favorite firearm for plinking.

Anyway, that's my rambling on cost.

[Olympus]

Why not find out for yourself? Use a reloading calculator like this one: http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

Do some price shopping for the various components and input them into calculator. It will give you the cost per round, per 50, and per 1000. Then compare that cost to where you'd typically buy commercial 9mm ammo. Do the same thing for .40.

Using that calculator, I'm reloading 9mm for $0.089/round, $4.46/50 ($4.46 per box), or $89.24/1000. That's almost half of what I would spend for the cheapest commercial range ammo.

Since I get $100 a month allowance for "fun money", that's the difference from being able to go once a month to just not bothering to go at all.

You too?!? Are we married to the same person?

[maillemaker]

You too?!? Are we married to the same person?

Could be...that might explain why there is so little money to go around to all the husbands!

Steve

[1SOW]

I've heard that it doesn't pay to reload 9mm because you just don't save enough.

I reload 9mm and shoot 150-200 rds/week.

125gr Zero hollowpoints/124gr Montana Gold JHP and124gr MG FMJ using n320powder(expensive). My total cost is around $6/box of 50.

These are very clean shooting accurate rounds loaded to function well in my light action pistol. I can't buy what I load.

With cheaper components you should be able to save at least 50% of Win Value Pak cost and a lot more if loading 124gr/specialty bullets.

[Tanker6]

My CCW is a .40 S&W, so I started out loading for it. I have experimented and worked with it so I have two or three recipes for lead cast bullets which fairly well replicate the muzzle flip and recoil of my self defense loads. Lead allows me to practice cheaper (or just shoot more whichever way you wanna look at it ) I have about $4 to $4.50/box in my 40 reloads.

I like the ballistics of .40 over 9mm for self-defense, but everybody has their own opinion about that (and there are several threads to prove that ).

Then, I started shooting CAS/SASS and reload a ton (well, probably more like 300 rds/week) of .38 for my daughter and I to shoot. I'm using Titegroup in my .38's (which goes a long way with these low velocity rounds necessary for CAS/SASS) so my costs are less than $4/box.

Good Luck.

[Olympus]

Could be...that might explain why there is so little money to go around to all the husbands!

Steve

So it's your fault!

[DarthNul]

If your goal is to make crappy ammo cheaper than you can buy new crappy ammo, you won't save much $ reloading 9mm.

If you want to make excellent ammo that's at least as good as excellent factory ammo you'll save considerably more $ compared to the above option. You can probably make excellent ammo for about the same cost as purchasing crappy factory ammo.

This all assumes that you aren't injecting any costs for your "labor". If you don't enjoy the time you spend reloading the cost benefits IMHO aren't worth it.