Is it even worth getting into reloading 9mm minor right now?

[ColoradoNick]

As I sit in my dedicated reloading room in my basement looking at 50k primers and over 20lb of powder this original post did not age well.

[Boomstick303]

24 minutes ago, ColoradoNick said:

As I sit in my dedicated reloading room in my basement looking at 50k primers and over 20lb of powder this original post did not age well

 

There is something for having consistent ammo PF.

[Dr. Phil]

I agree completely with the notion that complaining about "time" in reloading is kind of useless. I talk to people all the time that binge-watch TV or spend time imbibing to relax. Reloading is relaxing for me. The other stuff we do wastes more time than reloading, IMHO. Seems like a person could find an hour here and there, especially in winter when the matches die down? For years I have gone into the start of shooting season (mid January some years) with 4-5K loaded.

I retired several years ago and like many seem to be busier now! I go reload for an hour or so and I don't push the total. I load 5-6oo and call it good. For the first 3 or so years after retiring I loaded an hour or so a day and shot 6 days a week.

I think there are some factors I haven't seen noted yet. Many of us know somebody who casts. The guy I have bought an automated casting machine. He makes something around 2K/hr. He powder coats which cuts down on the "smoke".

He charges his "friends and family" $50/K. There are cheaper alternatives out there. Probably somebody out there you know who can cast practice bullets on the cheap?

Yes, it is worth it to reload. From 100PF Steel Challenge loads to 135PF Uspsa to the "extra powder 44 Mag loads so I can win the annual "muzzle flash" competition at the Halloween Shoot. Light rifle loads to teach the kids to shoot or super accurate target loads. That doesn't all come from Wally World.

I stock up on primer and powder when the prices come back down. I have seen this craze before and will again so I try to be ready.

YMMV

 

[motosapiens]

On 12/1/2023 at 12:01 AM, Aceman said:

Nobody factors in their time…. 

says the guy who posted directly below a post by someone factoring in their time.... lolz.

[motosapiens]

On 12/1/2023 at 7:50 AM, mmc45414 said:

Frequently people mention things they would rather be doing, like going to the range, and I can assure folks that I have never not gone to the range to stay home and reload, but many times I have not watched television.  And like mentioned, I only rarely reload for consecutive hours at a time. 

 

i don't think i have ever even reloaded for 1 hour at a time, lol. I suppose during football season i sometimes put a game on and crank out a few hundred rounds. Maybe i have more free time than most people, but i never have any trouble finding 15-20 mins to load enough rounds for a match. I often reload while stuck on a conference call, watching a sports event, or waiting for mrs velo to get dressed so we can go somewhere.

[RangerTrace]

18 hours ago, motosapiens said:

 

i don't think i have ever even reloaded for 1 hour at a time, lol. I suppose during football season i sometimes put a game on and crank out a few hundred rounds. Maybe i have more free time than most people, but i never have any trouble finding 15-20 mins to load enough rounds for a match. I often reload while stuck on a conference call, watching a sports event, or waiting for mrs velo to get dressed so we can go somewhere.

I think shorter sessions are better anyway.  Anything over 500 rounds is almost hypnotic.  While I've done plenty of longer sessions, my new preference is 500 and done.

[Aceman]

11 hours ago, motosapiens said:

says the guy who posted directly below a post by someone factoring in their time.... lolz.

Why don't you quote the rest of my post? Or you just trying to make a joke on the new guy? I can understand someone who has spent 8500 posts worth of time on here and who also doesn't have kids  not appreciating the value of time. 

[mmc45414]

All this time chat, I think it even figures into the time of the year.

When it is dark and cold in my yard, that is a good time to get some ammo loaded.  This is maybe also when my shooting volume is a little lower.

And I work from home, and I can load 5-600 rounds before my wife gets home from work. 

It all works out, for me.  

[motosapiens]

10 hours ago, Aceman said:

Why don't you quote the rest of my post? 

Welcome to the forum. I didn't quote the parts of your post that were irrelevant to my comments. i only posted the part that was completely wrong, and made it look like you didn't read the rest of the thread. I shall reiterate my points:

1. it doesn't take very much time to reload.

2. even so, I get that some people may not have the time, or may not be able to leave their reloading stuff set up and ready to roll.

 

The argument that 'reloading takes too much time' doesn't hold much water for me tho, and it would make more sense if people said 'reloading takes too much effort and I just don't feel like it.'

 

 

[Aceman]

9 hours ago, motosapiens said:

Welcome to the forum. I didn't quote the parts of your post that were irrelevant to my comments. i only posted the part that was completely wrong, and made it look like you didn't read the rest of the thread. I shall reiterate my points:

1. it doesn't take very much time to reload.

2. even so, I get that some people may not have the time, or may not be able to leave their reloading stuff set up and ready to roll.

 

The argument that 'reloading takes too much time' doesn't hold much water for me tho, and it would make more sense if people said 'reloading takes too much effort and I just don't feel like it.'

 

 

 

Naw, you didn't include it because it added context to my opinion and your smart azz comment wouldn't appear as funny.

I shared my opinion without the need to crack a joke on anyone, you on the other hand seem dead set on getting everyone to agree with your opinion so you can feel better about it. Does this forum have an "ignore" feature?

[RangerTrace]

14 minutes ago, Aceman said:

 

Naw, you didn't include it because it added context to my opinion and your smart azz comment wouldn't appear as funny.

I shared my opinion without the need to crack a joke on anyone, you on the other hand seem dead set on getting everyone to agree with your opinion so you can feel better about it. Does this forum have an "ignore" feature?

It does.  You just keep on moving to the next thread.

[nitrohuck]

Nick you’re sitting on 50k primers??? 
 

Im working with rookie numbers here at 8k

[ColoradoNick]

2 minutes ago, nitrohuck said:

Nick you’re sitting on 50k primers??? 
 

Im working with rookie numbers here at 8k

Yep I’ve been shooting 2k-2.5k a month lately. I’m trying to get next years worth of ammo made in the next couple months so I won’t have to reload as much

[nitrohuck]

Just now, ColoradoNick said:

Yep I’ve been shooting 2k-2.5k a month lately. I’m trying to get next years worth of ammo made in the next couple months so I won’t have to reload as much

where’d you snag your primers from? I’m picky in that I only shoot CCIs for the most part, but rarely am I seeing any good buying opportunities 

[ColoradoNick]

26 minutes ago, nitrohuck said:

where’d you snag your primers from? I’m picky in that I only shoot CCIs for the most part, but rarely am I seeing any good buying opportunities 

Reloading Zone but they just permanently closed.

[GrumpyOne]

41 minutes ago, RangerTrace said:

It does.  You just keep on moving to the next thread.

[motosapiens]

14 hours ago, Aceman said:

 

Naw, you didn't include it because it added context to my opinion and your smart azz comment wouldn't appear as funny.

 

I apologize for hurting your feelings, I was only pointing out that many many posters, explicitly factored in their time (both pro and con) in their posts about reloading.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Edited December 6, 2023 by motosapiens

[motosapiens]

14 hours ago, nitrohuck said:

where’d you snag your primers from? I’m picky in that I only shoot CCIs for the most part, but rarely am I seeing any good buying opportunities 

life gets hard if you are pickier. over the last few months I have picked up 5k of cci magnum, 2k of federal and 18k of winchester spp from my local grocery store, between $55 and $70/k. Certainly if your guns will shoot cci, they will also happily shoot fed or win.

 

I still have some s&b primers as well, but at least I finally shot up all the ginex primers i got during the worst part of the crunch (the hardware store across the street from the grocery store has those for $10% off on senior tuesday).

[Dr. Phil]

I wonder how much it will factor in to reloading if the "chat" is correct about our names and personal info will be reported upon buying ammo?

Seems it would be a very hard sell to track reloaded ammo from my basement.

[dtuns]

2 hours ago, Dr. Phil said:

I wonder how much it will factor in to reloading if the "chat" is correct about our names and personal info will be reported upon buying ammo?

Seems it would be a very hard sell to track reloaded ammo from my basement.

https://www.regulations.gov/document/ATF-2023-0001-0001

[nitrohuck]

12 hours ago, motosapiens said:

life gets hard if you are pickier. over the last few months I have picked up 5k of cci magnum, 2k of federal and 18k of winchester spp from my local grocery store, between $55 and $70/k. Certainly if your guns will shoot cci, they will also happily shoot fed or win.

 

I still have some s&b primers as well, but at least I finally shot up all the ginex primers i got during the worst part of the crunch (the hardware store across the street from the grocery store has those for $10% off on senior tuesday).

 

My problem mainly is I run the DAA auto primer tube filler, and that thing hates Winchesters due to their having some factory lube still left on the finished product. It gums up the primer filler and just kinda jacks stuff up in general. I wish it wasn't the case, but CCIs have always run just fine in it

[motosapiens]

11 hours ago, nitrohuck said:

 

My problem mainly is I run the DAA auto primer tube filler, and that thing hates Winchesters due to their having some factory lube still left on the finished product. It gums up the primer filler and just kinda jacks stuff up in general. I wish it wasn't the case, but CCIs have always run just fine in it

makes sense. I waste 5-8 minutes filling up 5 primer tubes at a time by hand, but I usually do it when I am stuck on a boring conference call.

[sloppyrice]

Recently picked up a new Glock 19, after giving my old one to my son some 10 years back. We recently had a home invasion, and thought it was about time.

 

The price where I live in the world is $0.50 a reload from the local shop for 9mm (124g). 

I'm told I can halve the price to about $0.25 if I reload myself (buying uncleaned brass, primers, and powder from the shop).

A whopping $0.70 for a new bullet

 

I shoot rarely (twice a year at the range at most) but have been doing so some 30-odd years. I really only want to stock about 3k-5k rounds. (I do have a bunker, am a prepper, and feel I 'should' know how to do this)

 

• So, 5k new rounds at $0.70 = $3,500 (ouch)
• Reloaded rounds from the store at $0.50 = $2,500
• with reload press = about half that $1,250

 

But I also need to buy the press, lube, correct caliber die, digital scale, calipers, chamfer-deburr tool. Which would effectively bring the savings down to a couple hundred bucks saved (for the reloads).

 

I'm probably not going to be firing much, (unless zombie hoard comes over the hill), so it's a one-off purchase that could be done over the next year. Couple hundred bucks a month.

 

Would reloading my own be worth it? I also considered getting a super basic Lee reloader $42 and doing it by hand when I have down-time (I'm old, so basically the rest of my time on earth is down-time). would just need to get some lube, a better hand-primer, and a chamfer-deburr tool (or maybe not for 9mm shells?)

 

Learning how to reload sounds like a fun hobby, but I have plenty of those (woodworking, motorbikes, gin, family).. I also am not crazy about watching guys hammer those primer in with the tool that comes with the Lee. 

 

Thoughts appreciated.

 

[BJB]

@sloppyrice,

From what you detail above, I would suggest a simple single-stage press. A lot of guys will suggest a progressive press, and yes, progressive presses can produce a lot more, but that isn't your goal. With your above stated metrics in mind I would suggest you look at a single-stage press reloading kit from RCBS as these kits have much of what you need to get started. 

 

Possibilities include:

Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit

(https://www.rcbs.com/rcbs-kits/rock-chucker-supreme-master-reloading-kit/16-9366.html)

 

Rebel Master Reloading Kit

(https://www.rcbs.com/rcbs-kits/rebel-master-reloading-kit/16-9251.html)

 

Explorer Reloading Kit

(https://www.rcbs.com/rcbs-kits/explorer-reloading-kit-2/16-9288.html)

 

 

 

[CZsandSigs]

Or just buy 5k online and be done with it:  https://supervelammunition.com/9mm-luger-124-gr.-fmj-certified-select-/