Reloading Ammo - Pros and Cons
Jim Rutske
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Ordnance
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August 30, 2022
If you are wanting to discover if reloading is right for you this is your article. On the surface reloading sounds awesome. You can make thousands of super accurate rounds for just a few bucks and all without having to use your traceable debit card at the sporting goods store. I’ve been reloading for about 10 years and love it but reloading certainly isn’t a good choice for everyone. I’ve had the getting into reloading discussion dozens of times over the years and I want to share why I steer some away and some towards reloading. So, what are the basics to wrap your head around in making this big decision? Let’s talk about those basics and a few misconceptions.
1. Brass – When you start out you may need to buy your first quantity of brass. I know a reloader who never reuses brass and always uses brand new every time. I reuse my brass multiple times, inspecting it each time for wear or damage.
2. Primers – These days primers are about as hard to find as unicorn horns. When they do hit store shelves they are gone within hours. You may be tempted to buy online but there is a Hazmat shipping fee ($22-$37.50) added to your order and can make primers stupidly expensive.
3. Powder – There are so many choices for powder, but the good ones can be as hard to find as primers. I can say the last few months I have noticed an increase of powder on my local shelves, and I hope the same is for you. Powder prices run from about $28 to $40 a pound. For 9mm you can get a roughly around 1000 rounds per pound but that really depends on the powder you choose and bullet you put on top.
4. Bullets – Range quality bullets run from .12 cents a round to double that depending on what you like. High-quality precision bullets can be 30-40 cents per round. Is the store-bought ammo starting to look cost effective yet?
The first and main question people ask is, how much do you save in reloading? We all want to stretch our preparedness dollar and make every item in our kits purposeful. Ammo is no exception. When I first started reloading, I could produce high-quality ammo for about half the cost of store-bought ammunition. That margin has shrunk quite a bit in the last couple years. Let me show you what I mean. The pricing is local to me in the Northwest and may vary where you live, but it gives you a general idea.
Store bought 9mm 115gn Winchester Range Pack .40 cents a round
Powder .028 per round
Primer .095 per round
Bullet .22 per round
Brass Case .176 per round
Total .52 a round. If you have reusable brass the price drops to .34 cents a round. That store bought .40 cent round doesn’t look that bad anymore, does it?
Lets assume this is your 10th time making 9mm ammo on your own press. You know what you are doing and understand the basics. Setup should take just a few minutes and you will have your first round made in 10 minutes. Even with a progressive multi-stage press your first 100 rounds can take up to an hour to make. You must check your powder drop, bullet seating depth, neck tension, chamber gauge, etc. It takes a while to get the first 100 out. Once everything is running smoothly you can produce a slow and steady 200-300 rounds an hour. If you own a single stage press where there is only one die station in operation your time can be tripled or even quadrupled. If I have everything running smooth, I can produce about 1000 rounds in a full day. Now I’m taking my time at what I consider my no mistake speed limit. As you get more comfortable and confident your own speed limit will increase.
Here is where making your own ammunition really shines. I have a small notebook where I keep all my ammo recipes. I know the exact measurements and settings for each caliber I reload, for each firearm, and each bullet weight. Lots of testing and range time has been spent getting each load dialed in but my rounds are highly accurate compared to store bought ammo. I know if I miss my target, it’s all on me and never my ammo. I will also add to accuracy is consistency. When you buy a new brand or style of ammo off the shelf you never really know if it will run smoothly in your gun. I know with my reloads I will have smooth chambering and firing every time.
I spent a 4-day training class shooting with a big city lawyer, and he gave me some advice about reloading that has stuck with me. He recommended to never use your own reloads in any defensive or daily carry firearm. Reloading in his professional opinion should be kept for hunting, competitions, and the range. He said if it is discovered you made your own ammo, and they were used in a lethal engagement it would be dragged into court and the opposing side would push to show your rounds were made to inflict excessive damage, pain, and suffering, etc. His recommendation and mine are this, buy nice expensive proven defensive rounds for your defensive firearms. Keep your reloads to the range and for hunting the four legged animals. I might also add reloads will work on the zombie hordes, just sayin.
1000 pages could be written on technical ammo nerd information. In fact, there are a number of great books out there if you want to dive into that pool. Let’s say you just want to reload 9mm and .223 for the range. You don’t care too much about the details, but you just want safe reliable range rounds. If that truly is as far as you want to go, I would recommend having a seasoned reloader help you ensure you are building safe reliable rounds. There are also great YouTube teachers out there who can walk you through visually as well. One accidentally double charged round will result in a catastrophic explosion of your firearm and potentially causing you injury.
All this stuff takes space and as you reload more calibers you acquire more powder, bullets, and brass too. I have a 6-foot workbench dedicated to reloading as well as a fire locker for powder and primers. You will need shelves for your ammo cans and all your range brass you started collecting. As you can see the footprint of this hobby grows pretty quickly.
1. Storage boxes – To organize your different loads and calibers.
2. Case cleaner – Dry tumbler, ultrasonic, or wet stainless steel are the three most common options. My favorite by far is stainless steel. It sure makes for some nice shiny and clean brass.
3. Press – A single stage press will run $400, and an auto progressive press will go for about $600. Although the progressive press is more technical, I would recommend it if you are going to be reloading a lot.
4. Calipers - $25-$45 and is a must to determine your OAL or Over All Length of your cartridge
5. Case prep – Preparing brass requires a few small hand tools that run about $35 dollars, or you can automate with a electric version for $150
6. Dies – To get started at a minimum you will need a resizing die, a bullet seating die, and likely a crimping die depending on caliber you reload. A basic set will run $45-$65. Match grade set of dies will cost north of $200.
7. Chamber check – Drop your finished round into a chamber check to see if it will fit smoothly into your firearm. Some see this as unnecessary, but I have always done it and about 1 out of every couple hundred rounds will not pass this test. I would rather find them at the reloading bench than have a major malfunction at a match.
8. Books – You will want to get a reloading book. Lyman, Hornady, and Nosler all make great books that are updated every year or so, I own all three. These books will give you all the data you need to start making your first rounds.
This is a hobby that takes time and money. I find it very rewarding knowing I have highly accurate and reliable ammunition. If you do not have the time for another hobby I would shy away from reloading. It is quite time consuming and no longer really cost effective. It is however quite fun and if you love to nerd out on firearms and want to get the most out of your guns than reloading may just be your next favorite hobby.
If you looked at the costs involved to get started it would be will into the $1,000 range. Every time you add a caliber you add a couple hundred more dollars for dies, brass, bullets, and powder. Not exactly a cheap hobby to pick up on a whim.
If you want accuracy but don’t want the hassle of reloading I highly recommend a great company https://trustyourammo.com/ I know them personally and if you want the most out of your firearm, these are the guys to talk to. Their combined knowledge of building super accurate ammo is astounding. They have been building custom ammo for some of the top long-distance shooters in the nation. For just a few cents more a round you are going to get a far superior round and no loss of your personal time. Give them a call and tell them what you are shooting, and I bet they already have a recipe figured out for your firearm. Stay safe out there and God bless!
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