You think its worth loading 9mm 115gr? Heck, what about 223? Do you load those? I can get 1000rds of 223 brass factory for $360 shipped. Might even be less now, that was my price 8 months ago.
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Anyone load for subsonics 9mm?
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You think its worth loading 9mm 115gr? Heck, what about 223? Do you load those? I can get 1000rds of 223 brass factory for $360 shipped. Might even be less now, that was my price 8 months ago.
I load 124/125 grain bullets, don't really bother with 115 grainers as the 124/125's can be easily loaded to sub-sonic and are reliable in all my pistols.
Bullets are the most expensive component. Not long ago I was getting 55 grain .223 bullets for around $70/1K. Not now. $90/1K is a good deal today. So .223 today around $170/1k but I use to be able to make them around $130/1K. A bit more work though with trimming to length, chamfering necks and often swaging military pockets but heck you do a bit in stages and it's not much work really.
Toss your brass in the cleaner and strain it out a few hours later. Then set in blocks 50/per and I use 2. That's 10 trays of work and it goes fast. Spray it with lube in 3 planes and decap it. I then toss it in a can. When I feel like it I'll trim the brass, unless it has been trimmed recently. Trimming brass is a PITA. After trimming I'll lightly chamfer the necks-goes quick and then hand prime the cases, which I can do watching Spartacus on Thursdays. That gets tossed into a can as well for use later.
If you buy in bulk 1k-bullets, primer and if able 5-8 lbs of powder you save and shoot a lot more.
Sounds like extra steps meaning extra equipments. I saw a nice case trim prep machine by hornady. I think it's another $300+. That would mean spending over $1200 just to start lol.
typically I tell people that if you mainly shoot 9mm and 223 it's not worth it to get into reloading unless you have some specific needs (subs or something similar).
The advantage of loading 9mm and 223 is that you get something specific to your gun, or that you can get nicer ammo for the same price (with a bit more effort).
As an example, you can purchase once fired 5.56 brass that's all set up for reloading (sized, trimmed, cleaned, swaged, etc) for about $170 /1k. Of if you have your own brass they will process it for you for .08/ round ($80/1k rounds to process).
1k primers, $30
3lbs of powder (@.22-25 gr per load) $60 @ powder valley
1k projectiles. I usually use Nosler 69 or 77gr HPBT bullets for my 5.56 loads. I can get 1k for $135-170 from their website usually.
so here's a breakdown of how to reload 5.56 cheaply and have top quality ammo:
brass $68 (brass exchange)
processing $80 (or free if you do it yourself and have free time)
primer $25 (tula 5.56 primers)
powder $60 (@24gr of TAC, 3lbs out of 8lb jug, ~$150/, 7000grains in 1lb of powder)
projectiles $140
$375 for 1k rounds of custom made 77gr HPBT match ammo for your AR. or less if you have brass and do your own processing.
or you can just go buy 1k rounds of brass cased 55gr FMJ for a bit lower price.
The advantage of loading 9mm and 223 is that you get something specific to your gun, or that you can get nicer ammo for the same price (with a bit more effort).
As an example, you can purchase once fired 5.56 brass that's all set up for reloading (sized, trimmed, cleaned, swaged, etc) for about $170 /1k. Of if you have your own brass they will process it for you for .08/ round ($80/1k rounds to process).
1k primers, $30
3lbs of powder (@.22-25 gr per load) $60 @ powder valley
1k projectiles. I usually use Nosler 69 or 77gr HPBT bullets for my 5.56 loads. I can get 1k for $135-170 from their website usually.
so here's a breakdown of how to reload 5.56 cheaply and have top quality ammo:
brass $68 (brass exchange)
processing $80 (or free if you do it yourself and have free time)
primer $25 (tula 5.56 primers)
powder $60 (@24gr of TAC, 3lbs out of 8lb jug, ~$150/, 7000grains in 1lb of powder)
projectiles $140
$375 for 1k rounds of custom made 77gr HPBT match ammo for your AR. or less if you have brass and do your own processing.
or you can just go buy 1k rounds of brass cased 55gr FMJ for a bit lower price.
You can get the lee quick trim dies and the whole setup would be like 40 dollars or go even cheaper and trim by hand. I reload 223 on a lee single stage press and use a forester trimmer. Depending on your goals, you do not need to spend a lot. However, if you want to crank out 300-500 rounds an hour, then yeah you will spend some money.
Well if I had to choose to buy a new car where one got 20 miles/gallon and one got 38 miles/gallon and my drive to work was 6 miles it might be a close choice.
However if my drive to work was 75 miles then the choice would be a bit more clear to me.
So is it worth it? Well how much do you shoot or better yet how much more do you want to shoot. It's been said many a time but bears repeating you don't save money reloading, you just shoot more.
The other benefit is tailoring ammo to specific guns or applications. It still rubs me wrong when attempting to purchase sub-sonic .22's or other ammo that they are much higher in price. Same case, same bullet, less powder-cheaper to produce but add the words "SUB-SONIC" and mark the buggers up to what people will pay.
I only buy .22LR subs because I must for my rifle. Bulk packs shoot sub-sonic out of a 5" barrel, hah! I don't buy center fire "SUB SONIC" unless it naturally is sub-sonic and not marketed as such.
Shooting non-main stream calibers will often save a bundle but in reality allow you to shoot much more. Ever price .44 Magnum/50 each or .300 Win Magnum/20 each. I have watched some guys shoot a few out the box then close it up to conserve ammo....
Sad day to see when it occurs..... makes my eyes all watery.... but only when shooting suppressed and I blame it on back wash through the action.
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You will save quite a bit re-loading blackout. I am loading 147g pulldowns for 300 black for around .27 ea Nice stuff about .40 and 220 subs for around .43
223s you save if you shoot long distance like speed said about 375 for 77 grain price good match 223 you save a lot and you can tailor it to your gun
9mm 124 for .15 to .16 ea
I think my main goal is 300blk and some 9mm subsonics. I might just end up buying the subsonics 9mm since they can be had for $240/1000. Just decap my 9mm and tumble them and sell them for $70/1000, that would leave me around .18 each.
