Quoted:
I don't really hate any caliber.

I wanted more capacity than my 1911 .45acp had with all this gang and BLM / Antifa crap going around now. I was carrying Chip McCormick 8rd mags with one in the pipe for 9rds, but I wanted more. I decided on 9mm since it's adequate and has twice the capacity in some firearms.

I started to stick with the 1911/2011 platform since I've been shooting them exclusively for the last 20 years other than a few others that I've had but never kept.

I was going DBL stack in 9mm, but I carried a Para P14-45 for years, and while I had no trouble concealing it, it was really too big for my hands with the LDA trigger it had. I thought about the standard SA trigger models but decided I wanted something different. I started to go with the P320 but it got the drop safety aids right when I ordered them. So, I went HKP30. I was going to get it in 9mm, but they had the P30 with the LEM in 40SW for $200 less, per gun. With me getting two guns, that's $400, plus the 8 free mags. ( One gun is for my son ).

Anyway, I had bought a bunch of 9mm since I was ordering that, and ended up having to sell it. I bought .40SW to replace it from SGAmmo. I paid $1 per 50rd box more for brass cased plinking ammo in 180grs ( replacing the 124gr same brand ), and $3/50 more for 180gr Gold Dots ( replacing 124gr Gold Dots).

Considering the the extra material in the projectiles, that's really not much cost at all.

Further, the dies were the same price, I'm using the same powder, and primers, so that's all the same price. There are 7,000gr of powder in a lbs, and the load data is about 1.9gr difference, so not even enough to make any real difference. The plinking projectiles from Xtreme are within a few bucks per 500, 147gr 9mm is $44/500 and the 180gr 10mm is $55.

There is no cost for brass because brass is once fired from the ammo I've bought. Once it's fired it's free.


So, with 5.0gr of HS6 and 147gr 9mm bullets, the cost per round is 12.9¢, $6.54/50 and per 1000 is 128.71.


And, with 6.9gr of HS6 and 180gr 10mm bullets, the cost per round is 15.7¢ , $7.83/50 and per 1000 is 156.69.

They have .40 on sale right now for $70/1000 so if I used that it would be $116.69, $5.83/50 so if you catch sales, it's not really any difference. I've seen the 9mm on sale for similar or rather a tad lower.  

Also you can get lower weights cheaper in each caliber.


On average the 9mm is about $25-$30 cheaper per 1000. If that's a lot of money, you might be in the wrong sport. Most people don't go through 200rds a year. You're talking about $4 total difference for that. Those same people grab one box of defense ammo and load a few mags and don't fire it for years.

I don't shoot like I used to. I used to shoot probably 5K rds of pistol and the same of rifle a year. Now I shoot maybe 1000rds per at the most. Health reasons for me.

Quoted:


You didn't factor your time in nor the cost of a safe and reliable progressive loading press.

I run average about 100 rounds a week and at that rate 9mm offers considerable savings over .40.

For someone with enough time loading does help negate the cost difference between the two.

Quoted:


lol

I have loaded 75K +++ rounds on a Lee 3 hole turret press.

I paid $100 for the kit in 2001, it was paid for in the first month.

I got out of .45acp, sold all the 45 stuff and used the money to buy .40SW dies and all that. The .45acp stuff is from 2001, and I got as much for it as I paid for the new 3 hole turret and dies. I already had powder and primers for 9mm and am using the same for the .40, also sold off all my 9mm dies and bullets. I've had the 9mm dies and all since 2004.  I pocketed about $25.

I can load and watch tv. And, all I have is time.

I don't charge an hourly rate when I shoot, or when I have sex ( which is unfortunately rarer than I'd like ), or anything else I spend my time on, so why would I charge myself for my time loading? It would be different to stay home from work to load.

As to quality ammo, out of all those rounds, I had one, just one, that had a failure. It wasn't a failure of loading, it was a failure of me. I loaded a dummy to gauge in a barrel, and picked up a primed case beside the one that had a fired primer in it. I loaded the bullet.

I sat it down, and marked it, and was going to pull the bullet, but went to bed. I loaded some to test, and when I picked them up I picked that one up. I fired it and it stuck in my barrel. I got a wooden dowel and some Kroil to get it out.

That is the one and only time I ever had an issue with any handload , pistol or rifle, out of about 200K rounds.

I would need my fingers and toes, yours, and several friends, to count how many failures I've had from top brand factory ammo, and I'm not including Remsux or rimfire. I'm even talking about Gold Dots, HST, and other high quality ammo. Failures to fire, squibs, underpowered, overpressured, bullets not seated right, or no neck tension at all etc.

And, here's the thing, 90% of all ammo I shoot I hand load. So, I have had many dozens of rounds of high quality factory ammo have a problem, and one of mine.

Also, my hand loads are cheaper, by nearly a quarter in many cases, and half or so in others. They are more reliable, more accurate because they are tuned to my guns accuracy nodes, and I am the QC manager.

I am carrying 180gr Gold Dots right now. But, when I get enough cases to load 500 , I will be carrying 180gr Gold Dots, at less than half the cost, tuned to my hand guns, around the same velocity depending on accuracy node ( never  more than 20 + or - in a pistol bullet at @1000fps or less).