How many here have used reloaded brass 9mm ammo?

I am looking to save some money when practicing.

Advice welcomed.
BTW, I do not have room in my small condo to do my own reloads.

Some years back before I began reloading 9mm I shot several thousand of 'Atlanta Arms Ammo', they were ok, seemed mild.

Thanks for the advice. I'm retired, with limited income, with arthritic hands. Anything requires any good dexterity is difficult. I have to work to maintain a proper grip at the range when practicing. So far I'm doing well and getting rounds on target.

I've run a thousand or so rounds of 300blk and 500 of 45 ACP from Freedom Munitions with no issues.  I save the brass and it looks good (short of the ones I stepped on...).  Not too light, not tool powerful, seems about right.  

I have also run about 500 rounds of Precision One 45 ACP, with zero issues.   Brass looks good when I'm done with it.  I did notice that it was very  consistent.

Maine Ammo Company I cannot recommend.  They are local to me, so I really want to support them, but with two 250 round purchases of 45 ACP I found one squib, two just won't fire and one entirely missing the primer and thus powder.  Lay them out, and seat depth varies dramatically.

Super Vel has been the best.  A thousand rounds of 9mm 147gr, clean, consistent and the brass looks sharp after firing.  Customer service is top notch too.

So, reloads are fine in my opinion, but you must do some experimenting to know which is good and which is not.

I reload my own. I've heard too many bad stories about reman ammunition and seen some bad examples to even consider it. I'm sure most commercial reloaders do a good job, but why risk being the guinea pig finding out which ones are?

How much are you saving vs. factory? A few bucks a box?

"BTW, I do not have room in my small condo to do my own reloads".

I reloaded for years in a tiny one bedroom apartment on a bench that was about 15"×36". It is completely doable.

Super Vel 9mm

Shows up in stock regularly (currently out of stock) and was $299/1000 last time I bought it.  I have had good luck with it.

If you were my neighbor I would have you over to load a quick 1000 and drink iced tea.

Loading premium ammo for less than .19 a round.

Thanks, sounds like a great way to spend some time doing something useful. Iced tea in the summer, yes please!

I have been an avid reloader for decades.

While the savings in 9mm is small, it is still there. Problem today is primers have about quadrupled in price which now makes the cost savings in reloading less.
Right now my total cost for reloading a 9 is 18 cents a round, so $9 per box. Best price on factory I have seen is around 16, so a 7 per box saving.
With calibers like 38,45 the cost to reload is the same but factory ammo price much higher so definitely worth it.

I use a simple single stage press, bolted to a 2 foot square plywood sheet. I clamp it to my desk when I need to reload and un clamp it and store when not in use not a lot of space at all

My portable set-up

Attached File

I personally would never trust any reloaded ammunition that I didn’t reload myself.

I only shoot my own reloads.

I reloaded using a Black and Decker Workmate weighted down with loaded ammo in 1 br apt.
But starting reloading has challenges...primers and powder.
commercial reloads may be the best path.
everybody makes mistakes even the big boys.  i have seen loaded ammo with no flash hole from a place that is across the river in IL from St. Louis.

This happened to me with factory reloads about two years ago in my P228:

Attached File


It blew the grip screw out of the frame and stripped it as well as leaving black marks on my trigger finger. I posted about it here:
https://www.ar15.com/forums/Handguns/Why-did-my-P228-explode-a-little-bit-/4-193217/

The consensus was that it was weak case possibly from a previous overcharged cartridge that used that case.

This happened once to me in thousands of rounds but I guess it can happen.

I have had that same type of case-blowout maybe half a dozen times over the years. Some with mystery reloads but also with factory (Blazer aluminum 9mm).

I cannot answer the OP because I havnt bought reloaded ammo in many years nor have I reloaded my own in over 20 years (when I was making good ammo for $3 per 50). I would personally look for "factory reloads" that use new or once fired brass and are mild rather than full power. The savings will not be huge though.

As stated above, it's not the big bargain for 9mm but certainly a must if you shoot a lot of 38Spl, 45, 10mm etc.

According to ammoseek as of today, Supervel 115FMJ using "once fired brass" is $290 per 1000. Another place is selling reman ammo for $240 per 1000 but I bet the brass is not "once fired". I recently saw an ad for Blazer Brass for $285 per 1000 (with $36 shipping and $20 tax :(. Naturally shipping will be the deciding factor as some places have stupid shipping charges while some have free or $12 flat rate.

Recently received a case of the SuperVel remain 115gr once fired stuff.  Put 50 trouble free rounds through my M17 this morning.
It was as accurate as any other range type ammo I have used, subjectively it felt mildly loaded, and it fired clean with no excessive fouling like I have had with some new loaded stuff. (WWB I'm looking at you).  All the rounds I have looked at so far have been externally clean, with no mars, dents, etc, and the 50 that I fired felt very consistent, not overly hot, or powder puff loads.

I realize it's a small sample, but my first impression is positive.

Thirty years ago, a dealer paid me for teaching some classes with that ammo.  Never had any problems.  These days, it's factory or my reloads only.