locknloader wrote:
- Better to buy 1lb or bigger containers of powder?
How much do you shoot?
Assuming 4 grains of a powder in a 9mm case, 1 pound (7,000 grains) will yield 1,750 loaded rounds. If you shoot 500 rounds a week, you need to buy powder in larger quantities to get a lower unit cost. If, like me, you only shoot a couple hundred rounds a month, 1 or 2 one-pound canisters is enough to last for a year.
On the other hand, if you're shooting a rifle that uses 45 grains per round, a pound of powder is 155 rounds, so, again, if you shoot more than just during deer season, you might want to buy larger quantities.
- Better to buy components at store to avoid hazmat fees or online in bulk to spread out the hazmat across many items?
I regard the hazmat fee as irrelevant. Most on-line sellers are a little cheaper than local stores so if you purchase a large quantity of primers and powder, the price per pound (or per primer) will come close to equaling out.
Still, I buy locally whenever I can. It's not worth it for a local store to pay the costs to stock primers and powder if the only time someone is going to come buy any of it is when they turn up 100 primers short or a pound of powder short. Treat your local store like a 7-11 and that's what it will turn into; with a similarly narrow mix of merchandise.
- Can you give me some ideas on what typical costs are for bullets and powder? Whats a good deal and whats a rip off? ( i can get brass for free)
What kind of bullets;
- Lead, plated, jacketed?
- Soft point or ballistic tip?
- Match quality or plinking grade?
- What caliber?
The short answer is anywhere from about 3 cents per round if you buy small caliber lead bullets in huge quantities to more than $1 per round for individually machined copper alloy self-defense bullets. If you ask a more specific question, the people here can provide more specific answers.
Powder on-line runs from the upper-teens to the upper-thirties depending on the type and whether or not it is a domestic or imported brand. Note that a lot of powder sold by domestic brands is also made overseas. Powder in the stores will run anywhere between $2 to $10 per pound more than on-line. Just as a couple of quick examples:
- Midsouthshootersupply.com has IMR-4064 for $23.96 per pound (plus hazmat) while the local Academy had it last week for $25.99.
- Midsouth has IMR-4198 for $25.51 per pound (plus hazmat) while to local gun store near my farm wanted $31.00 per pound.
And I paid the $31 because I wanted to try to keep the store going, but that much difference was just too much of a reach for other people and he recently went out of business.
