Rowdy Cooking and Rowdy Math

Well I did some rowdy math and that lead to some rowdy cooking. But not probably how you think. Oh wait, if you're reading this then it probably is exactly how you think!

As a competitive shooter I have to practice often to stay sharp. Much of that can be what is called dry fire, kinda like shadow boxing but shooting. Still though with about 6 matches per month at around 120 rounds each and weekly practice sessions of up to 200 rounds that equals about 900 some rounds of ammunition per month that I regularly shoot. Let's just call it an even thousand to make the math nice.

I potentially shoot 1,000 rounds of 9mm. If i were to buy that locally it would cost 20$ per 50 rounds. That's $400. When I buy it mail order in bulk the best price I can get is $300 for one thousand rounds. And when I guy custom made competition grade ammunition the price varies widely, even though I use the same company, from $220 to $400 per thousand. So best case is about $300 and worst case is $400 for one thousand rounds of the type of 9mm pistol ammo I like to shoot.

Looking at paying $300 per month at a minimum for ammo and theeeeennn I was also paying a hefty shipping charge on top of that, often up to $100 a month.

All this rowdy math lead me to making a rowdy cooking decision. Yes, "cooking" is what I call it now that I am making my own ammunition! Yep from a professional factory to me doing it in my garage. With all the attendant pluses and minuses. But what really sold it was the math. One thousand bullets is $100. One thousand primers is $35. A pound of gunpowder is $20 and I can make 1K rounds of ammo from half a pound, so $10 in gun powder. Tack on $50 for hazmat and shipping fees and my total cost of materials for making my own is $195 buying for quality, not low price.

By doing it myself I save at least 33% versus buying it from someone else. Store bought ammo is 30-40cents each time I hear a "boom". Doing it myself has averaged 18-19cents each time I hear the same boom. The cost to get into this means it won't really start paying for itself until about 7 months have passed.

Like your first time making a cake though, it just quite isn't as good as how mom makes it. Making your own ammo is more akin to making Thanksgiving dinner rather a box mix cake in 6th grade home economics class. (Does that still happen??) My first few batches of ammo have not been trouble free.

Eventually I'll have my recipe and cooking down then I'll be like Gordon Ramsey of this stuff! I probably won't spend any less per month, but I'll definitely get more out of it. And winning matches not with only my shooting skill but using ammo I made myself has a certain appeal to it.