Cost of 45acp vs 9mm

R

Roland Thunder

New member
Most people compare the cost of reloaded ammo vs the cost of factory ammo. The savings no doubt is greater for 45acp than for 9mm. How about comparing the cost of reloaded 45acp vs reloaded 9mm. I figure the cost of the primers is the same, the cost of shipping the same and the cost of the powder is negligible. Most of the difference is in the bullets themselves. So, if I can get 500 9mm's for $30.00 and 500 45acp for 39.00, the difference is $9.00 for 500 rounds. So, if there are 50 rounds in a box, the difference is about .9 cents per round, probably with the difference in powder, it would be an even 1 cent per round.

Sound about right?
 
I shoot with a couple of guys once a week. They each shoot around 20,000 rounds of 9mm a year and they tell me their cost is about 10 cents per. I shoot +/- 8,000 45 ACPs a year and it runs me about 18 cents per. All three of us are using jacketed bullets. I use 230g FMJ Zeros for the most part and they're shooting Zeros or GD pull downs from Rocky Mountain Reloaders for the most part.

I shot lead for more years than I can count but moved to FMJs because they run through my progressive so much better. Tried a few thousand plated and don't like them at all.
 
Sound about right?
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Well, yes and no.

From my personal experience, lead slugs are much - much - better suited for 45ACP. I have never had good luck with lead for 9mm. All I get is flyers and barrel leading. I could live with the lead clean up; but the bullets flying everywhere - not so much. Gave up on it entirely. Jacketed and plated only for 9mm these days.

45ACP on the other hand, shoots lead with no problems. Barrel leading is next to nothing, and they shoot with "gnat's eyebrow" accuracy.

Apples n oranges.

Net result: 45ACP is much more economical to reload.
 
In this cycle of brass for both the 9mm and 45 acp, each are on their second reloads. I deter that cost from them as brass is something that depletes itself after the first reload when comparing to factory loads. My cost are as follows.

9MM:

Bullets: I shoot Missouri Bullets 124 grain small ball round nose powder coated bullets. I have about .06 cents/bullet in them.

Primer: I shoot whatever is cheapest to buy at the time but have a touch over .03 cents/primer in them.

Powder" Lets say .01 cent/loaded round

My 9MM rounds cost me a touch less than .10 cents/shot.

45 ACP"

Bullets: I shoot .452 Missouri Bullets powder coated truncated cone 230 grain bullets. Or .452 Penn's bullet lead bullet. Both come in a 10.2 cents/bullet.

Primer: A touch over .03 cents/primer.

Powder: Lets say a bit over .01 cents/loaded round

My 45 ACP rounds cost me a touch over 14 cents/shot.

None lead. All are very accurate. When compared to factory offerings of White Box Winchester sold by the hundred, which is the cheapest we have around here, I'm saving about $20/hundred rounds on the 9MM (versus the Winchester at $30/hundred round) and, about $23/hundred rounds of 45 ACP (versus $38 on the Winchester/hundred rounds). I'm showing about 4 cents difference in the 9MM versus the 45 ACP reloaded rounds and, about 8 cents difference on the factory loads between the two. Big time savings for a better shooting round. I'll take it.

What I really want to know is where are you getting 45 ACP bullets for 6.6 cents apiece. God Bless
 
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Like Burrhead, I shoot Zero brand bullets in 9mm and 45. The 230 grn 45 is only about 20% more than the 115 9mm. Never did understand that since it is twice as much material, but I'm happy. Every other cost is almost identical so 45 ACP isn't that much more, not for a reloader anyway.
 
I use Berrys 115 gr that cost me .07 each, Xtreme 230 gr round nose cost .12 each, kind of a small price difference, as OP mentioned, primers are th same and powder difference with Titegroup indeed is negligible. I enjoy shooting both calibers, but I don think in terms of cost since they're two different animals to me.

David
 
i am trying to undertand your math. if the cost is 9$ more per 500, then your talking 18c more per round. right? 18$ more per 1000K=18c per round. that's a substanstial difference in my opinion.
 
There is another angle to consider... and this varies wildly across any sample of us you might poll. It has to do with where you typically shoot, how much of your own brass you recover and how much other/extra brass you find & return home with.

I think my 9mm brass is reproducing-- I swear there is more and more of it every time I look.

Anyway, I will have to agree with David as much as anyone. Since I have vastly different handguns in 9mm and .45, they are two different experiences for me and I enjoy 'em both, so I load and shoot 'em both!
 
geez, duh. if i paid only 18 bucks for a thousand rounds, that'd be a heckuva lot less than 18c a round. obviously i was doing 100 in my head. and here i thought adderal was supposed to make me smarter.......
 
My cost for 9 mm is .11 per round-.067-.07 per per bullet .03 for primer, and .01 for powder and for 45 acp .1085-.11 per bullet and the primer, powder cost is the same. So $110 per 1K for 9 mm and $150 per 1k for 45.
At today's prices I can shoot 9 mm cheaper than 22 lr.
 
The most significant component cost is the bullet, and 9mm bullets typically cost less than .45 bullets. My SW439 9mm has no issues with shooting lead at any velocity.
 
9mm cost me $.11 and 45 ACP cost me $.16 I am using HP-38 powder, mixed brass and S&B primers.

I use RMR Plated bullets or Precision Delta FMJ.
 
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I shoot Berry's for both and my costs are already computed in this thread. With that said I have a son who is casting his own. According to him his cost for 45acp is about 8 cents per round. about 1/2 of my cost. I was wondering if more bullet casters would chime in. He pays 75 cents per pound for wheel weights.
 
For me reloading 9mm just isn't worth it. It costs me about $0.15 / rnd and that is not figuring in my time at all (which I do not have much of). And I can buy them for about $0.18 / rnd. So the $30 savings per 1000 rounds just doesn't make sense when I make more than that an hour and I can use that time not reloading shooting
 
Everyone seems to only think about costs to the cheapest degree. I do at least half of my practice with hornaday xtp or whatever premium bullet I am carrying. I can load most of those for around 15c a round compared to almost a dollar a round at the store. I can't telll you how many thousands of premium hollowpoints I have loaded up at the moment. And I still feel a huge cost savings on plinking, but I cast my own
 
the cost of shipping the same
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On what planet??? 500 .45 slugs are approximately TWICE the weight of 500 9mm slugs. Even in zero gravity the cubage is different so the cost to ship has to be different.

Unless some one else is paying the freight, and the cost to you is zero, they cost of shipping is NOT the same.
 
On what planet??? 500 .45 slugs are approximately TWICE the weight of 500 9mm slugs. Even in zero gravity the cubage is different so the cost to ship has to be different.

Unless some one else is paying the freight, and the cost to you is zero, they cost of shipping is NOT the same.
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Everyone I buy bullets/slugs from ship for free. Most of the time it is shipped via USPS flat rate or via UPS ground. If there is a cost difference it is built into the price per thousand which has already been accounted for in the cost difference of the bullets. :rolleyes:
 
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