Do any of you guys load 9mm JHP?
In my experience, brass JHP rounds are waaaay more expensive than FMJ, even in bulk.
In my experience, brass JHP rounds are waaaay more expensive than FMJ, even in bulk.
MOBoost loads 9MM.
When i buy brass I do not want it prepped or cleaned.
Reason for that is everyone has a certain way they like to prep.
If you sized the .223 in your die you may be pushing the shoulder back farther than what I push it back.. or not far enough.
Then you have the neck ID size and did you cut or swage the primer pocket.
I am very particular on how I prep my cases.. and head stamp is sorted.
The only way to make extra cash on the used cases is if you competition prep them and show the groups you can achieve with them.. let a couple people have some free ones to test vs what they have been using.
Once the word gets out about your superb brass they you may make some money on them.
But the time spent on prep will kill you.
Takes me about a minute for each case.. that does not include the cleaning portion of the process.
If anything just deprime clean them and sell them.
Or just sell them as is.
I have a bunch of .308 cases sitting in limbo that I sized for my old .308 10fp and my new savage 10 does not like the size of those cases so It gets brass ran through a different die.
A 1 to 2 thousandths difference here and there. Yea I am picky as is the gun.
When i buy brass I do not want it prepped or cleaned.
Reason for that is everyone has a certain way they like to prep.
If you sized the .223 in your die you may be pushing the shoulder back farther than what I push it back.. or not far enough.
Then you have the neck ID size and did you cut or swage the primer pocket.
I am very particular on how I prep my cases.. and head stamp is sorted.
The only way to make extra cash on the used cases is if you competition prep them and show the groups you can achieve with them.. let a couple people have some free ones to test vs what they have been using.
Once the word gets out about your superb brass they you may make some money on them.
But the time spent on prep will kill you.
Takes me about a minute for each case.. that does not include the cleaning portion of the process.
If anything just deprime clean them and sell them.
Or just sell them as is.
I have a bunch of .308 cases sitting in limbo that I sized for my old .308 10fp and my new savage 10 does not like the size of those cases so It gets brass ran through a different die.
A 1 to 2 thousandths difference here and there. Yea I am picky as is the gun.
Do any of you guys load 9mm JHP?
In my experience, brass JHP rounds are waaaay more expensive than FMJ, even in bulk.
I load 9mm JHP using Montana Gold bullets. (124g)
In bulk, they run me about 9.2 cents each to my door. I haven’t found anything that meets the quality for the price. It is the majority of what I shoot, around 23k rounds this year so far. Accuracy has been outstanding. While it might expand, it is not a self-defense bullet.
I also load some Gold Dot bullets for special purposes. It is what I use in my bowling pin PCC loads.
I buy 9mm brass (and some other calibers) when it is the right deal. Anymore, it has to be at or under scrap price depending on what it is.
I see so much stepped brass and brass plated steel cases, I have to be careful what I’m getting.
I see so much stepped brass and brass plated steel cases, I have to be careful what I’m getting.
If you load lead (blechhh, yuk) or coated lead (mucho better) you can still save. If you load jacketed, even cheap bulk jacketed it's not worth the time invested. Odd calibers or those that don't sell much are much better from a cost standpoint. Rifle the same if you are talking .223/5.56. Above that and you can still save a ton. Most of my .270 WSM ammo runs $35 a box and up! You used to could buy .300 Weatherby for that.
By my calculations, you can save about $40/1000 using coated lead bullets, or about $15/1000 using jacketed.
Bulk .223 55gr you can save about $25/1000. Considering that's about 5 hours worth of work for me, not including brass prep, it makes my time only worth $5/hr. Or in other words, not worth it.
I can load 9mm a little faster, and brass prep is considerably easier; but I figure about $10/hr value for coated lead 9mm which is still only questionably worth while.
Compare that to .300 blk using coated lead rounds for subsonic, and my value calc goes to $33/100rds or $65/hr. Or precision .243 Win where I can save $30+ PER 20 ROUNDS.
Thanks, you just put good numbers to my point. If you shoot a couple thousand 9mm a month I'd say it's worth it...IF you enjoy reloading and I do. FWIW, it works out about the same for 12ga shotshells. Plain vanilla bird shot loads you can buy for about the same cost as rolling your own. But get into more specialized loadings, heavy waterfowl, 28ga, or similar and you can pay back your investment on equipment really quick if you shoot much of it.
I'd even go so far as to say only if you shoot enough to justify a heavy duty progressive press with case and bullet feeders is it worth reloading 9mm/.223. I'd have to get where I could load a thousand every couple hours before I'd think it's really worth it. I will probably continue for the time being since I already have the brass and some bullets and the reloading setup (minus feeders). But I wouldn't start or recommend starting reloading 9mm/.223 at this point.
If those are the only calibers you shoot, it would take 30k plus rounds just to recoup the $1000 (easy) in reloading equipment to load those two in bulk.
That's very true. For just going to the range and blasting for fun, it's hard to justify. Reloading can be used as a means to another end though, the competition loads we shoot in USPSA/IPSC/IDPA are a little bit underpowered from factory, but the recoil is drastically lighter. For 3 gun rifle, your load is as much a part of the "system" as the go fast goodies in your gun. It just depends on what goals you set.
Agreed. I was actually surprised to find that .44 spl / cowboy .44 mag is way more expensive than full power .44 Mag loads are. And full power .44 mag isn't cheap! Pretty much anything that isn't a .mil surplus round can be reloaded cheaper.
