9mm and 45 not worth reloading?

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got cans of ammo i know is at least 15 years old. its stored in a storage shacl that is not heated or ventilated. its sat through temps below zero in the winter and hot and humid in the summer. ive yet to have one round not fire other then a can of 38s i loaded with lee tumble lubed bullets where the heat cause the lube to contmite the powder. after some miss fires i pulled the bullets from a bunch of them an found contaminated powder clumped on the bullets. anymore i wont use tumble lubed bullets and if i was to it would have to be ammo i was going to shoot right up and not bet my familys lives on. its the main reason pc has been such a game changer.

[barnetmill]

ive got cans of ammo i know is at least 15 years old. its stored in a storage shacl that is not heated or ventilated. its sat through temps below zero in the winter and hot and humid in the summer. ive yet to have one round not fire other then a can of 38s i loaded with lee tumble lubed bullets where the heat cause the lube to contmite the powder. after some miss fires i pulled the bullets from a bunch of them an found contaminated powder clumped on the bullets. anymore i wont use tumble lubed bullets and if i was to it would have to be ammo i was going to shoot right up and not bet my familys lives on. its the main reason pc has been such a game changer.

I have had purchased cast bullets fail to fire after a long trip in a car trunk. Before I knew better I have had .22 rimfire go inert from oil. Many members of my club including me had a bunch of .22 rimfire misfire or stick bullets in bore. The vendor had stored them in a trailer.

[barnetmill]

I get that, but one can seal primers & bullets in handloads. Cast/coated, just as good as jacketed for almost free. I have couple cases of 223 in ammo cans, same for 9mm & 12ga but unless i am staying put, not hauling much ammo in a back pack, which is what happens when you can longer drive the 4x4.

I am most unlikely to be going anywhere. I have food and shelter and to be wandering highways or even worst going into woods that are not mine and that will be full of some either very foolish or most unfortunate people sounds like suicide. Also the locals will likely shoot you too and what ever game is present will disappear quickly.

Now I did mention: 9x19, 5.56x45, 7.62x39 & 54 and also 7.62 nato. Of these only 9x19 can function properly with cast bullets. 5.56x45 M193 ammo fully loaded is over 3000 ft/sec. Semiautos in the others might function with cast, but jacketed ammo getting full power and keeping the gas systems going is the better choice.
For the 9x19 I use jacketed hollow points from companies that know how to make expanding bullets. Questionable if I can that from cast bullets. Now if I have no ammo, but did have components I would use cast bullet ammo for self defense if that was all that I had.
If you have to carry ammo, it might be .22 LR, .22 mag, or 30 US car, 9mm and nothing heavier.

[lancem]

I take a different point of view: I cast bullets and reload ammunition because I like doing it. The economics of cast loads vs factory ammo never enters my mind. I try to spend my free time doing things I like, and it is restful and restorative to craft my own ammunition. Shooting is fun, but reloading is also fun. I don't reload as a necessity to go shooting; casting & reloading is a goal within itself. I reload lots of calibers, 45 acp and 9mm included, and even if it cost more to cast my own I'd still do it.

This is me, I look at the store prices and think some of that is pretty good were I buying it. Then I go home pull out an ammo can of reloads and blast away thinking about if I should buy that new mold I've been itching to pull the trigger on, I'm falling in love with my brass molds I just got, and cranking out a couple of K of this or that.

[Cane_man]

time is not a factor for me, i enjoy casting and reloading, all of it, even being a range buzzard scavaging brass... cleaning the gun after shooting not so much Lol

[dverna]

I am most unlikely to be going anywhere. I have food and shelter and to be wandering highways or even worst going into woods that are not mine and that will be full of some either very foolish or most unfortunate people sounds like suicide. Also the locals will likely shoot you too and what ever game is present will disappear quickly.

Now I did mention: 9x19, 5.56x45, 7.62x39 & 54 and also 7.62 nato. Of these only 9x19 can function properly with cast bullets. 5.56x45 M193 ammo fully loaded is over 3000 ft/sec. Semiautos in the others might function with cast, but jacketed ammo getting full power and keeping the gas systems going is the better choice.
For the 9x19 I use jacketed hollow points from companies that know how to make expanding bullets. Questionable if I can that from cast bullets. Now if I have no ammo, but did have components I would use cast bullet ammo for self defense if that was all that I had.
If you have to carry ammo, it might be .22 LR, .22 mag, or 30 US car, 9mm and nothing heavier.

Very similar rationale that I use. For "serious" work, only jacketed bullets are loaded/inventoried. I went with 9mm, .223 and .308. When I was younger (and even dumber than I am now} I bought molds for .223, and .308. But like you said, the loss in performance with cast make cast bullets a last ditch option. In "good" jacketed bullets, I have 2k for the .308's, 10k for the .223's and 6k for the 9mm's. I will not live long enough to use them up.

Cast bullets are shot the most. Only used for training, and fun. The vast majority in .38/.357 and 9mm. Less shooting of CF since primers got expensive.

You are wise to try staying in place if things get bad. Where I live, outsiders will not be welcomed, and I expect it would not take long before they are shot on sight.

For "serous work", I do not need 500 rounds of pistol ammunition sitting on the shelf. Heck, I am still carrying 9mm Gold Dots I bought 15 years ago and have 100 rounds on the shelf. If the need arises, I will load fresh SD stuff. I load 1000-2000 cast bullets at a sitting.

Anthony's rational makes sense for someone who has chosen to use cast bullets for "serious work". Use one bullet for everything. KISS. Also, cast bullet reloads have always been cheaper than factory ammunition if costs are a primary concern.

[gloob]

I don't have much use for loading HP's. Once they've been tested, I only need a few mags of HPs to sit around not-being-fired.

But the cheap copper-washed "FMJ" commercial pistol ammo fouls my barrels with copper and lead. It smokes more than my cast loads. And it leaves the insides of my guns more dirty with residue.

[Lloyd Smale]

For "serous work", I do not need 500 rounds of pistol ammunition sitting on the shelf. Heck, I am still carrying 9mm Gold Dots I bought 15 years ago and have 100 rounds on the shelf. If the need arises, I will load fresh SD stuff. I load 1000-2000 cast bullets at a sitting.

alot of my loading is made easier with electricity so id rather have the ammo done ahead of time. if shtf id want my generator for pumping water no for reloading. yup i could do it without electricity but it would be slower and a guy would probably need the time for more importin things. last summer i went on a mission to load every bit of brass in the shop. after all empty brass doent even make a decent throwing rock. i was almost done but 3 surgerys later the last 500 round of 556 brass and one can of 9mm brass is still sitting there. which brings up another point if you procrastinate and say ill do it when i need to, who knows if you will be physically able to 10 years from now. personally there's no way i could stand behind a press for a hour today without suffering some real pain. makes me feel secure looking at the two stacks of ammo cans with loaded ammo. if i dont need them my grandkids might

[pmer]

I'd rather cast and load flat nose rather than round nose myself because they are more effective on various targets. I don't have any RN moulds. It think economy in reloading lies more in bigger bored firearms where bullet cost is higher.

I'm with Don, I tend to see the value of my components in current replacement costs. it seems more realistic to me; this is why the gas in the ground at your gas station goes up when a barrel of crude jumps in price. The dollar isn't worth what it used be either which makes primers even higher than what you might first think.

[lightload]

I always enjoyed casting bullets. I exerted scholarly effort in studying the process and interacted with many knowledgeable people. For me it was a most rewarding hobby. Age and health dictated giving it up.

[lightman]

I think its worth while to load them and I do. If nothing else my loads are more accurate than nearly any factory ammo. To me its not all about savings.

[slam45]

i haven't bought or shot any factory ammo in over 25 years... see no reason to go back to it ever again... i enjoy making my own... i do use a few jacketed rifle bullets, but shoot my own cast boolits most of the time...it was clear to me over a decade ago that conditions such as we see now would be coming soon and built up enough reserves to maintain enough supply to be able to endure shortages with prudent reduction in consumption in times of low supply... recreational shooting down from 3 times a week to 3 times a month now... these times will change and perhaps better days will return...

[barnetmill]

Ve........
For "serous work", I do not need 500 rounds of pistol ammunition sitting on the shelf. Heck, I am still carrying 9mm Gold Dots I bought 15 years ago and have 100 rounds on the shelf. If the need arises, I will load fresh SD stuff. I load 1000-2000 cast bullets at a sitting.

Anthony's rational makes sense for someone who has chosen to use cast bullets for "serious work". Use one bullet for everything. KISS. Also, cast bullet reloads have always been cheaper than factory ammunition if costs are a primary concern.

I do recycle my carry ammo and I spend time sighting in my 9mm RMR/holosun optics. 500 hundred rounds will last, but not for ever. I am getting low on my Federal +P+ and may soon order some more, I am taking a good look at the bonded speer +P loads since we do have bear, feral hogs, and alligators that might trespass the homestead. The hand gun is what I normally carry, but if I have time I will run for a shotgun or rifle.

[justindad]

If I was really preparing for SHTF, I would have a .35 cal air rifle and a means to recharge it. The bang of gun powder is sure to attract some undesirables who wish to take your gun.

[BD]

This thread lead me to do a little math. If I bought all new powder and primers at today's prices and included some $$ for the tin and antimony I need to add to my alloy, (still have never paid for any lead), and paid myself $25/hr for my time I can load 230 gr .45acps with the BDacp RNFPs I cast for about 10 cents a round.
This is way up from the 3 cents each it cost before I ran out of the HPC-18 I've been using the last 10 years or so and using todays prices for primers, (although I'm still using LP primers I bought for $135/5000).
The cheapest bulk .45 acp I have seen is about 40 cents a round, so it's still worth it to me. Your labor costs may well be higher as I am pretty well set up for bulk production. I make alloy in 200 lb batches, cast using a master caster, make my own lube a years worth at a time, and load on a progressive press.

[Piłsudski]

This is one of those questions that inquires about opinion, rather than fact, I think.

I was just thinking about this very thing lately, when I came across a few boxes of my first reloads with my own boolits made from a Lee 2 cavity mold. I was young, and with four little ones at home with a stay at home Wife to take care of them, money was not plentiful in those days. I concluded that, at a penny a primer and a penny's worth of powder, I could shoot handguns for the same price as shooting a 22 if I made my own boolits.

I found that someone at the range had been shooting up a storm in front of the benches (I've always guessed that maybe they had a Thompson) and the gutter overhead was filled with 45 Auto cases that had been up there for awhile. I might have gotten around 400 or so from that gutter. They were a color resembling what a Lowe's ceiling fan would call "Antique Oiled Bengal Bronze," or something similar. 40 years later, and I'm still shooting them.

The local gun store owner was a friend, and once he had a box of 38 Special cases. I'm not sure how many there were, but I would guess abotu 1200. He sold the whole bunch to me by the pound.

I went out several times with a bucket and a trowel and mined the berm for lead. Each dig was much more 45 FMJ than it was dirt, and with a Lee 45 230 Gr round nose and a 38 140 gr SWC, I was in business. Some of the cable splicers saved some chunks of splice cases and those went into boolits, as well. The 38s were shot up quite some time back, but the 45s still have a couple hundred to go. the 45 RNs got lubed in a Lee pan setup, but I got a Lube A Matic when I started with the 38s.

This kept a poor boy shooting for a long time and on the road to retirement, I always laid a little away for casting equipment and reloading supplies so that I could be self-sufficient when I was no longer working.

I buy carry ammo, but everything else gets shot with cast boolits. I think it is cost effective and besides, I've got too much invested to spend the big bucks on store-bought stuff.

This is what I want to do. I think it works for me. Whether it will for someone else, I can't say -- each person will need to do their own math and value their own time to figure out whether they want to shoot cast or not.

[Lloyd Smale]

If I was really preparing for SHTF, I would have a .35 cal air rifle and a means to recharge it. The bang of gun powder is sure to attract some undesirables who wish to take your gun.

ill take my ruger american in 3oo bo with a can. i dont have to worry about running an action so i load 130 cast with 3.5 grains of red dot or bullseye and its as quiet as my 177 air rifle if not quieter and it still shoots 2moa at a hundred yards. i can carry a couple hundred rounds in ar15 mags and slap in a 30 rounder and shoot the hell out of you while you fire up your generator to get your compressor to pressure to charge your gun. that is even if you have gas to run your generator. if i need more power and range i can feed it my bo hunting load that shoots moa and ive shot deer out to a 200 yards with by simply using the next highest line in the scope with only the crack of the bullet breaking the sound barrier. in a pinch i could put the suppressor on an ar15 and run the action by hand or use a different sub sonic load with 220s that will run the action.

[white eagle]

what is the point of handloading only to make certain cartridges?
I handload all< I repeat All> my cartridges
in my world if I can't make it and make it better I don't need it
just can't see buying ammo someone else made

[dverna]

what is the point of handloading only to make certain cartridges?
I handload all< I repeat All> my cartridges
in my world if I can't make it and make it better I don't need it
just can't see buying ammo someone else made

Your perspective is that of a hobby reloader. Most folks here will concur with you. They are wired that way.

There are others, like me, who love to shoot but do not enjoy reloading or casting. They only reload (or cast) for two reasons.

The first is to save money. I value my time, and if I can purchase plinking/practice ammunition for a reasonable cost, I will buy factory. I have reloaded 10's of thousands of cast 9mm but that was when primers were less than $25/k and powder was less than $20/lb. Today, primers are triple the cost and powder about double the cost. I will save my inventory of components for cartridges that cannot be purchased at a reasonable cost.

The other reason I reload/cast is to make a round I cannot buy. For example, I used mouse phart .38 Spl. loads when I was shooting CAS. If my 10 YO grandson wants to shoot one of the .308's, I can download it.

There is no one answer that applies to everyone.

[schutzen-jager]

not for me - still using primers, powder, cases, other components, + lube acquired during the Clinton administration with my cast bullets