Reloading primers??

The amount of time spent dealing with pulling the anvil out, punching the indent flat, packing the mix into the cap, and replacing the anvil and then loading that into a case is not worth it IMO. Buy some 9mm CCI ammo from Natchez for $16 and go shoot.

EDIT: Oh, wait, you can't do that because you live in California. You can always try making your own percussion caps. Punch out a cap from a soda can, fill with powder mix, drop of acetone, let it dry and done. Can probably do 50 caps in an hour.
 
TT,

I am retired and I load a lot of ammo. This is for myself and my son (we try to shoot weekly). More than 95% is with bullets I cast myself.

I do not have a 9mm (the boy does) and the last ammo I bought was 22 LR probably some 10 - 15 years or so ago.

I do not remember ever buying loaded centerfire rifle or handgun ammo.

Feeding my 327, 357 mag, 357 Max, 7 Tcu, 30 Herrett, 300 BO, etc. without reloading would be much more expensive (where possible) than popping for a couple of boxes of 9mm.

I have not bought powder or primers since before Covid. I am getting lower than I like on SPP. My average cost per round using pre-pandemic supplies is around $0.06. Cost per round based on current prices for on-line purchase of consumables would be closer to $0.16. Average cost per round with reloaded primers will be under $0.03. My cost for setting up to reload primers will be less than the current cost for 2K primers.

I expect to continue to buy primers when either I "have to" or when I feel the price is right. The price is currently not even close to "right, and I do not "have to" yet. I want to put off the "have to" for a good while longer if possible.

The other piece of the puzzle, is that the raw chemicals are unlikely to get hard to acquire and even if I was worried, the cost for enough for 30K primers would not be a financial hardship. My current powder stockpile is still in good shape. If ammo and reloading supplies ever get harder to find than a year ago, I would be in good shape spend what I had for some more bulk smokeless powder. As previously noted, I make my own bullets.
 
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P Flados said:
TT,

I am retired and I load a lot of ammo. This is for myself and my son (we try to shoot weekly). More than 95% is with bullets I cast myself.

I do not have a 9mm (the boy does) and the last ammo I bought was 22 LR probably some 10 - 15 years or so ago.

I do not remember ever buying loaded centerfire rifle or handgun ammo.

Feeding my 327, 357 mag, 357 Max, 7 Tcu, 30 Herrett, 300 BO, etc. without reloading would be much more expensive (where possible) than popping for a couple of boxes of 9mm.

I have not bought powder or primers since before Covid. I am getting lower than I like on SPP. My average cost per round using pre-pandemic supplies is around $0.06. Cost per round based on current prices for on-line purchase of consumables would be closer to $0.16. Average cost per round with reloaded primers will be under $0.03. My cost for setting up to reload primers will be less than the current cost for 2K primers.

I expect to continue to buy primers when either I "have to" or when I feel the price is right. The price is currently not even close to "right, and I do not "have to" yet. I want to put off the "have to" for a good while longer if possible.

The other piece of the puzzle, is that the raw chemicals are unlikely to get hard to acquire and even if I was worried, the cost for enough for 30K primers would not be a financial hardship. My current powder stockpile is still in good shape. If ammo and reloading supplies ever get harder to find than a year ago, I would be in good shape spend what I had for some more bulk smokeless powder. As previously noted, I make my own bullets.
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I hear you on the calibers you load for being expensive to shoot if you didn't reload, it's why I reload for uncommon calibers too (.32, 10mm) or to just save money (.45), but I've largely put the guns in those calibers off to the side and am focusing on .22 and 9mm.

Unless someone has a product that makes reloading a primer fast enough that I could do a few hundred in an hour, I have no interest and I don't think it's a smart investment to get tooled up to reload primers, but everyone has different needs.

Good luck if you start making your own primers.
 
I believe he said he has started.

PFlados,

I am curious how many times a primer cup can be reloaded before it pierces. When you find that out, please post it. Firing pins can stretch the metal at an indentation so extremely, my assumption is you will probably only get one reload, but I don't know from experience.

The brass cups seem to be 0.020" to 0.025" thick at the bottom, depending on the primer, and about half that along the sides. The anvils may be reusable multiple times, as they look pretty well intact when you find them among your decapped primers. So I am thinking a die like the ones used to make gas checks from tin cans could be used with 0.020" to 0.025" brass shim stock to make new primer cups.

It's more trouble than I would go to in current circumstances because I still have enough primers from before the shortage to last a while (I always try to stock 5 years ahead of need during times of good availability in order to ride out these shortages without buying anything), but I understand wanting the ability to do it in a doomsday scenario or just because you can.
 
Well I have fired probably 500 rounds with reloaded primers and have loaded up a stash of over 2 k rounds of ammo for the summer shooting season. I will be increasing the stash over the next month or so.

I am confident that this ammo will be "good enough", but it will be many months before I will be able to report on actual performance.

My reloads are not 100% bang on first strike in all guns yet. Part of my problem is probably getting some SRPs mixed in with my SPPs. Some of my gun / load combinations have been 100% so far.

For anyone reading this and thinking there is even a chance that they would try this, start stockpiling spent primers that are 100% same brand and same type. Some folks "mix" brands, but for me using mixed brands was a real PITA when it came to seating anvils and poorly seated anvils may have contributed to less than perfect results.

As far as re-using the cups multiple times, some have reported good results with up to 6 reloads. On the other hand, one of my son's 9mms was getting over 5% pierced primers on the first reload. I am thinking the combination of gun and ammo pressure make a lot of difference. A 38 Sp with a relatively light strike, and a nice round firing pin being likely to allow more re-use than a full power 9mm with a firing pin that probably needs some rounding just to get reliable first reload performance.

For me, I have talked to the guys at my nearby indoor range and they are ok with me gathering range brass, harvesting primers and returning the de-capped brass. This will allow me to build a good stockpile of "matched" spent primers.

I do make my own gas checks, so I have a clue about what it would take to make cups. I think it is probably easier just to harvest primers from range brass than to try to set up for making cups with the precision needed.
 
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P Flados said:
Well I have fired probably 500 rounds with reloaded primers and have loaded up a stash of over 2 k rounds of ammo for the summer shooting season. I will be increasing the stash over the next month or so.

I am confident that this ammo will be "good enough", but it will be many months before I will be able to report on actual performance.

My reloads are not 100% bang on first strike in all guns yet. Part of my problem is probably getting some SRPs mixed in with my SPPs. Some of my gun / load combinations have been 100% so far.

For anyone reading this and thinking there is even a chance that they would try this, start stockpiling spent primers that are 100% same brand and same type. Some folks "mix" brands, but for me using mixed brands was a real PITA when it came to seating anvils and poorly seated anvils may have contributed to less than perfect results.

As far as re-using the cups multiple times, some have reported good results with up to 6 reloads. On the other hand, one of my son's 9mms was getting over 5% pierced primers on the first reload. I am thinking the combination of gun and ammo pressure make a lot of difference. A 38 Sp with a relatively light strike, and a nice round firing pin being likely to allow more re-use than a full power 9mm with a firing pin that probably needs some rounding just to get reliable first reload performance.

For me, I have talked to the guys at my nearby indoor range and they are ok with me gathering range brass, harvesting primers and returning the de-capped brass. This will allow me to build a good stockpile of "matched" spent primers.

I do make my own gas checks, so I have a clue about what it would take to make cups. I think it is probably easier just to harvest primers from range brass than to try to set up for making cups with the precision needed.
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How long did it take to make the 500 primers?
 
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