Sensible Ammo Accumulation: Part 2

Last post, I talked about ammo accumulation in a sensible manner and how not to break the budget doing it. Yesterday, I took my own personal plan to the second stage.

 

After 3 hours of alternately watching YouTube videos on reloading, and replicating it on my new press, this was the result! OK, that's just 100 of them, so there are about 25 more in another box, but you get the idea. So, let me start at the beginning.....

Over the course of the last couple of months, pretty much as soon as I bought my pistol, I started buying up reloading equipment. Here's the basics in a dollar and cents way. Practice/ball ammo costs something like $20 to $30 per 100 rounds purchased where normal people do their buying; eg. Walmart, or one of the big box sporting goods places such as Academy, Bass Pro etc. That's 20 cents pull per round for the 9mm that I shoot. So you go to the range and on a good day, you shoot something like 200 rounds. That's $40+, and if you average that over a year; you're looking at something like $480-500. After judicious buying, I've got $150 in my equipment to product 9mm rounds. Based on some rather conservative calculation, that's about 10 cents each, meaning that I'll save about $240-250 in my first year of shooting alone. Uhhhh..... what's not to like here? Let's break this down some.

Since I'm mostly going to be shooting 9mm, I'll use that to start. I bought a cheap and simple Lee "Breech Lock" single stage press directly from Lee Precision as a "factory second" for about $35. I'll be able to use this little press for cartridges up through the 30-06, so it's size and ability is going to be beyond my needs for some time. I found from looking at retailers (both online as well as brick and mortar), and at gun shows, that this was the best price I could get. Plus it's new, factory direct, it would have the Lee warranty. I'm not going to get into a ton of detail, here, but I bought all the other small/smaller items either from Lee, or online some place. They ranged from shell holders which are specific to the cartridge case all the way to the powder measure and scale. Why didn't I buy a whole kit for about $150-170? One reason. 

Notice anything about this fine reloading kit from Lee Precision? No Dies! I'm not picking on Lee here. None of the manufacturers kits come with those.

Ya gotta have a set of those for each and every caliber that you plan on reloading. I also wanted to have a set with the carbide inserts so I wouldn't have to lubricate my cases. These are somewhere between $35 and $50 all by themselves! My total of $150 includes the set I bought on Craigslist. Mine are RCBS as pictured above, but the brand isn't all the relevant. These parts are pretty simple and the price doesn't vary a whole lot unless you want to buy the really expensive stuff, so it didn't occupy a lot of my time. What did?

This!!! Sorting through the bewildering array of supplies just about drove me to distraction! Luckily, I already knew the terminology from my last foray into firearms, but just the variety of what's out there is more than a little intimidating! So, let's break this down.

If you look at the cut open 9mm cartridge above, you'll see 4 components: 

1. The cartridge itself, which is the easy part. I had about 150 picked up from the range in Amarillo, cleaned, with the old primer punched out and ready to load. They do need to be inspected and any flawed ones (like the 2 that developed cracks when I sized them), need to be thrown out. Then the primer pocket has to be cleaned with a little tool designed for that. 
2. The primer, which is that little plug like thing that goes in the bottom of the cartridge. It's the most volatile of the component. The 9mm takes one size which is called "small pistol". No need for the "magnum" type. It's a simple cartridge that doesn't hold a lot of powder. You do need to decide on the brand though. I found a guy locally who had many 10's of thousands of Tul that he hoarded in case the last election went bad. I bought a 1000 for $26. That's $14 cheaper than the nicer CCI or Winchester brands, but it's range ammo and I just need it to go "bang".
3. The powder is next, and there are a bewildering variety of this. I'll probably write a separate post on just this alone, but in this case (literally), I went with an easy to use meaning that it "throws well" out of a powder measure which throws by volume. I used Hodgdon HP-38, which is the rebranded Winchester 231. This doesn't generate the greatest velocities, but is efficient (lots of loads per the 1 pound bottle) and tends not to be very sensitive. Perfect for a first time reloader like me!
4. Then there's the bullet itself. This is the singe most expensive component in the process. Typically, if you run down to Academy, you can spend around 15-20 cents each for jacketed. Or you can order some copper coated/plated for about 10-15 cents each. Why not lead? Many ranges and virtually all indoor ranges don't allow it. Sure you can cast your own, then powder coat it in the oven, but it's a huge hassle. So I went with a polymer coated lead which cost me about 7 cents each at the 115 grain bullet. This can be a huge headache as well since there's quite a range of weights and types, shapes and construction as well. I just went with a weight, and shape similar to the type I routinely buy anyway.

Obviously, there are a lot of factors and the costs can vary a lot. Here's how it come out for this very basic load. The bullet at 7 cents, the powder at 1 cent, the primer at 2.6 cents, equals 10.6 cents per round, or $106 for the thousand.

That's roughly half price for the cheapest ammo to buy! When you start looking at more costly calibers, it's even more attractive.

Let's use another common chambering out there; the 243 Winchester which is the defacto standard for deer in the South. It's sells off the shelf for about 80 to 90 cents per round for the inexpensive stuff. After a quick calculation, it would reload for about 20 cents each. That's saving 60 to 70 cents per round making the 100 round saving in the $60-70 range! Wow! Why wouldn't ya?

I've only discussed the basics and the most inexpensive scenarios. It can get wild if you were to reload exotics, or big bore calibers. For, me, it's not about that. Obviously, it will allow me to be able to shoot more for less money, but there are two other benefits that are just as, if not more important to me. First of all; if things go bad in the next election and we get another "Clinton" in the Oval Office, I can load my own and be more insulated from that situation. But secondly and arguable, more important to me, is that I've found it to be strangely therapeutic. Sure, it's precise and demanding, but it's a fit for me.