backchannel: you are not loading…

I am endlessly confounded by the willingness of people to confidently state¹ what unseen others are or are not doing.

[In a thread on Rimfire Central about OP buying a .22LR pistol because OP’s wife’s .380 ACP practice rounds were relatively expensive.² The .22LR pistol was tested and found unfit for their particular use. ]

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 “about what RFC folk pay for decent .22LR”. On RFC decent connotes Eley or similar European match ammo. Entry level Eley³ .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.⁴ 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/each⁵
• 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/catridge.

1. ie, bullshitters bullshitting ↩

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

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

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

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