I swore, many times, over the years that I would never reload 9mm ammo. It made little to no sense.
Then, the pandemic hit. Ammo is scarce and pricey when you can find it. I am seeing most places selling 9mm at 40 cents per round. That is nuts.
The pandemic also gave me lots of free time.
So, here is the math for 9mm, if you really want to do it well.
-
2.58 cents per primer
-
1.76 cents for gun powder
-
0.00 cents for cases, I just had to go and pick them up outside
-
0.00 cents for projectiles using free lead
-
0.87 cents for powder coating the lead cast bullets
Total: 5.21 cents per round. Yeah, I know, I didn’t take into account the electricity or my time. However, shooting is a hobby and I enjoy my hobby. I can’t even imagine that electricity would drive up the costs that much.
OK, to be fair, free lead isn’t a given. You may have to pay for it. The going rate seems to be about $2 per pound. However, I see lots of it for less, but let’s use $2 per pound.
The projectile math
-
7,000 grains per pound
-
129 grains per bullet, I use a 125 grain mold, but they come out at 129 grains as I use almost pure lead.
-
$2 per pound for lead, while it is actually cheaper in most cases.
The new projectile price is 3.7 cents per round.
The new total: 8.91 cents per round.