No sense to me, .380 cost

[fxdc]

Makes no sense to me when I see the cost of .380 compared to 9mm.

Paying more and getting less?

.380 use to cost less than 9mm. What has happened in the last 20yrs?
Components cost less so what gives?

Just glad I reload.

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[Guardian 380]

Economies of scale probably. I would imagine 9mm is the most popular pistol round still.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Economies of scale probably. I would imagine 9mm is the most popular pistol round still.

And the 9mm is issued ammo for a whole lot of NATO countries and Latin American police/military units too.

EDIT: the .380ACP was used as a military round in 5 countries' armies before WW2, and replaced by the 9mm Parabellum afterwards, but some police units continued to use the .380ACP until it too got replaced by 9mmPs in the 80s.

 

[fxdc]

Wonder if James Bond had to change to 9mm because of cost?
LMAO!

 

[CamoDeafie]

Wonder if James Bond had to change to 9mm because of cost?
LMAO!

Probably not, if MI6/whatever organization is there now as of Spectre, have a budget that allows them to give the Double-0s luxury things like tailored suits, Aston Martins with a host of weaponry, advanced tracking capabilities, hacking capabilities, communication equipment, and the always nifty gadget wristwatches....

 

[Alexx1401]

Makes no sense to me when I see the cost of .380 compared to 9mm.

Paying more and getting less?

.380 use to cost less than 9mm. What has happened in the last 20yrs?
Components cost less so what gives?

Just glad I reload.

A lot of the price to manufacture something is how much of it you are going to make. 9mm is cheaper because a hell of a lot more of it is made. The cost of the components is almost identical. The difference is how much people buy.
Look at what a box of .44 mag or 45 Colt runs. Sure it's a little more brass, lead and powder but not that much. The difference is how much of it is made.

 

[fxdc]

Economies of scale probably. I would imagine 9mm is the most popular pistol round still.

So. .... public demand sets price?

 

[Joe13]

22mag is $15-16 a box for 50 and there's no way the materials are more expensive.

Like has been said, it's how much is made or not.

Never saw the use for a .380 personally - maybe a good reason to move into a 9mm.?.?

 

[parallax]

.380 more expensive, its supply and demand.. If a bullet company gears up to run production of only 10,000 rounds of .380 to sell on orders to the public ( cabela's, bi-mart, joe blow gun shop),, versus gear up for production of 10 million rounds of 9mm for same vendors. cost per round will be cheaper on 9mm once equipment is set up for particular bullet run.

 

[Medic!]

The whole .380 thing is a lie. And we know it!

It's really only .360.

 

[USMC-03]

Ok, industrial economics 101. (This is basically what I do for a living.)

You have demand for 50k 9mm and 10k .380. Machines producing both are the same and machine change over is say 30 minutes at a fully burdened rate of $100/hour and therefore $50 per batch. Spreading out the change over cost you get $0.001 for each 9mm and $0.005 for each .380. Now add that same cost for each component production step over the cost of materials and machine run cost. Lower demand products usually do cost more.

And this doesn't even take on market economics affecting prices.

Businesses live and die by cost. It pays to understand exactly what is going on.

And by the way I do own a .380 PPK as a carry piece but no current 9mm. Just jump up to .45 ACP from there.

 

[Medic!]

Maybe we should start calling it 9mm Kurs Teuer ?

That would be 9mm short and expensive.

 

[fxdc]

22mag is $15-16 a box for 50 and there's no way the materials are more expensive.

Like has been said, it's how much is made or not.

Never saw the use for a .380 personally - maybe a good reason to move into a 9mm.?.?

Any pistol round is only good to use to get to a battle rifle.
LOL

 

[albin25]

The cost of a run is the same because the units per run are the same...runs are just way more frequent for 9mm. The cost difference is mainly a factor of storage costs (turnover and warehousing).
Heck, if it was possible they'd only produce 1 caliber in 1 load and produce/ship product as needed.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Any pistol round is only good to use to get to a battle rifle.
LOL

Unless that pistol happens to be chambered in 5.56 or 7.62x39 lol

 

[Alexx1401]

[QUOTE="Joe13, post: 1538605, member:

Never saw the use for a .380 personally - maybe a good reason to move into a 9mm.?.?[/QUOTE]

For people who will carry a 9mm it is far better. Again the #1 rule to a gun fight. Have a gun. Many will not. If a .380, .32, or even a .22 is what someone has when they need a gun it beats the 9mm that was left on the nightstand while they went to the store.
The other is recoil. Some (like my Wife) refuse to shoot the small 9mm's. If she has a gun she will never practice with in 9mm, or a gun in .32 she will practice with? Well it's easy to see which will work better. No hand gun made is ideal for defense. All of them are a trade off.

 

[Quartermaster]

The whole .380 thing is a lie. And we know it!

It's really only .360.

Well this thread has come full circle.

 

[Camelfilter]

Just buy range .380 online.

It'll be about $12-$13/50 shipped. We can certainly live with that, when compared with $10/50 of 9mm. We don't plink with .380, but plenty cost effective to gain competency.

 

[Joe13]

[QUOTE="Joe13, post: 1538605, member:

Never saw the use for a .380 personally - maybe a good reason to move into a 9mm.?.?

For people who will carry a 9mm it is far better. Again the #1 rule to a gun fight. Have a gun. Many will not. If a .380, .32, or even a .22 is what someone has when they need a gun it beats the 9mm that was left on the nightstand while they went to the store.
The other is recoil. Some (like my Wife) refuse to shoot the small 9mm's. If she has a gun she will never practice with in 9mm, or a gun in .32 she will practice with? Well it's easy to see which will work better. No hand gun made is ideal for defense. All of them are a trade off.[/QUOTE]

I agree - just for me the 9's are not that much larger and I do what I can to reduce the number of calibers I have to stock.

If my wife's purse is anything like yours though, another 2 pounds wouldn't be noticed and she could shoot a steel framed 1911 style gun with minor recoil.

I agree that the small polymer 9's can be snappy though and have trained all sorts to shoot, some are just shy about larger guns.

 

[Member 5605]

<broken link removed>

Same cost to reload... Unless you are counting the amount of lead.. but when somebody charges you the same for 95gr .380 and 125gr 9mm... you can pick your poison.