backchannel: you are not loading…

I am endlessly confounded by the willingness of people to confidently state what unseen others are or are not doing.

[In a forum thread OP related buying a .22LR pistol because his wife’s .380 ACP practice rounds were relatively expensive.¹ The .22LR pistol was tested and found unfit for their particular use, and returned. ]

I suggested that, if OP has any interest such things, …

• a modest reloading setup to do .380 ACP, and
• components for the first 500+ cartridges

would cost less than the described .22LR practice pistol. After which practice cartridges could cost “less than what [forum] folk pay for decent .22LR”. On that forum decent connotes Eley or similar European match ammo. Entry level Eley² .22lr is about ~20c/ea mail order (MidwayUSA). Keep that figure in mind.

for the last several years a single primer costs about the same as one round of 22lr

I respond that primer availability in 2026 has increased and prices decreased. I link to where I recently bought SPP at 3.3c/each.

Nice. But. Unless you found bullets for about the same price, you’re not loading 380acp for the same price as 22lr.

sigh

• brass (re-used), 0c/each
• SP primer, 3.3c/each
• Xtreme plated 100gr flat nose, 7.9c/ea after 10% vet discount
• 3.1gr MP 132 powder, 1.5c/each

That’s 12.7c/each actual cost, not theoretical. I loaded and fired the above this past week with those components. I don’t want to put too fine a point on it, but 12.7c < 20c. I mean, 12.7c is what entry-level boxed (not bulk) .22lr costs – CCI, etc.

And once a month American Reloading has 100gr FMJ or TMJ pulls for 4.8c/each.³ That’d make .380 practice rounds 9.6c/each, getting closer to bulk .22lr territory.

And of course most folks will use premium components for carry purposes. As of this writing my pet SD load is:

• brass (re-used), 0c/ea
• whichever SP primers are on sale locally, ~6c/ea after 10% vet discount
• 68gr Lehigh Xtreme Defender fluted monolithic (machined), 28c/each⁴
• 4.1gr Win 231, 2.7c/each after 10% vet discount

That’s 36.7c/cartridge. Commercial loads with that projo are closer to $1.50/cartridge.

1. due to limited economies of scale. 9mm and .223 Rem are amazingly cheap because the market demands it by the truckload. ↩

2. Eley for actual competition is about twice that. ↩

3. with free shipping after ~$150, and it’s not hard to make that minimum. ↩

4. these are the most expensive pistol projectiles I use in any caliber. ↩