Is it still cheaper to reload if you don't use your old brass?

[NWXD40]

I was 9mm reloading about 15 years ago because of the cost. When the cost of 9mm went to 100 per 1k I stopped. Now that it is up there again I was thinking of breaking out the press again.

But is it cheaper to load your own from new brass?Where can I get once fired brass from?

[Loves2Shoot]

There are lots of sources for 9mm once fired. www.brassmanbrass.com generally has 9mm. You can generally find it for $20-$25 delivered and it much cheaper than loaded ammo.

[Violator22]

Check out Cheyenne Brass, 1000 pieces of once fired for 34.00. I get my 40 S&W from them too. Les

[Verk]

You can also buy once fired brass from Midway USA when they have it in stock. Once fired brass is okay if you know exactly where it came from but I stay away from range pickups since there is no way of knowing how many times its been reloaded and how hot its been loaded. I have been using Starline Brass from Midway USA for some time and find it very good brass at a reasonable price.

The key is have a good tumbler to clean the brass and inspect it good before reloading it. If its questionable, I get rid of it. Its not worth taking the risk of damage to a expensive firearm.

[scalce]

Originally Posted by Verk

Once fired brass is okay if you know exactly where it came from but I stay away from range pickups since there is no way of knowing how many times its been reloaded and how hot its been loaded.

The key is have a good tumbler to clean the brass and inspect it good before reloading it. If its questionable, I get rid of it. Its not worth taking the risk of damage to a expensive firearm.

So what is the harm in picking up brass even if it has been reloaded as long as you inspect it?

If it looks suspect toss it.

I will reload my own brass until it gets damaged or lost so what is the difference if it is someone elses as long as you use common sense?

[Dave.H]

Originally Posted by NWXD40

But is it cheaper to load your own from new brass?Where can I get once fired brass from?

Yes and no from my experience. Bought locally it costs more for the FIRST round. Here is my analysis for my .40 cal loads as of late. (this is going of costs of components LOCALY which will be slightly higher than mail order (in quantity).

Cheap target factory ammo: $0.26 per round

Hand Loads WITH NEW brass: $0.36 per round

Hand Loads WITH USED brass: $0.17 per round

If you can use brass 10 times the average cost per round is $0.19, if you only use it 5 times the average cost is $0.21 per round.

Buying mail order and buying in bulk will save more, I just did that analysis with local prices (pre tax) to get an idea of what it was costing me. This is obviously not including the cost of the equipment to reload or the time.

I started the analysis on the 9mm rounds we loaded and the costs where right at about the same per round. I know with new brass it was still at about $0.36 per round so I stopped figuring the rest would be pretty similar. I didn't look into factory 9mm rounds to see what they are going for right now though.

[jdavionic]

My 9mm reloads are down around $0.10 per round (varies a little depending upon what deal I get for bullets).

WRT brass, I was fortunate to have a friend give me all of his saved brass so I haven't had a need for more brass. Plus the folks at the local IPSC match ocassionally just give theirs away too.

That aside, I would just buy once fired brass from any of the above sources or try gunbroker.com.

[fredj338]

The cost to make ammo buying new brass is almost the same as buying factory. You can buy O.F. brass from several reputable locations (BTW, Midway's is NOT O.F.) & it's a good way to go. Range pickups are fine too, just toss the ones that look really worn (lots of rim dings, case head lettering smudged, etc).

[Verk]

Originally Posted by scalce

So what is the harm in picking up brass even if it has been reloaded as long as you inspect it?

If it looks suspect toss it.

I will reload my own brass until it gets damaged or lost so what is the difference if it is someone elses as long as you use common sense?

I agree with you to a point. If you are looking for just some assorted brass to load up for plinking ammo and you do a good job of inspecting it then it probably doesn't matter.

However, if you are reloading for accuracy and separate your brass into lots and keep track of the number of times its been loaded as a lot of reloaders do, then picking up brass off the range can be problematic.