Is it worth gearing-up to cast

[wkelley70]

Being new to reloading and hoping to cast bullets in the near future, I am wondering if it makes financial sense to venture too far into casting.

Currently I have about 100lbs if wheel weight ingots. I know that the 100lbs of ingots will create enough bullets to more that off-set the costs of a minimal investment in equipment. The debate I am having with myself is should I invest in the bare minimum, or will lead continue to be available at a cost that makes it worth casting my own bullets. One thing that I should add is that my residence is in the "no-more-lead-wheel-weights" state of Kalifornia. I do not expect to get anymore free wheel-weights.

Minimal Investment:
Lee 6-cavity mould
Lee sizing dies

Moderate Investment:
Accurate 5-cavity mould
RCBS LAM

Currently, a 5-gallon bucket of range lead is $80 in my area.


Should I make a minimal or moderate investment in casting equipment? What are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Bill

[Reload3006]

You ask a good question that deserves better than a on the surface answer. on the surface the answer would be an obvious no. its getting much worse but if your on the constant prowl you will find a lot of lead inexpensive and some free.
But if you dig deeper. for a lot of us its a sence of pride " I MADE THAT" and more than that I MADE THAT THE WAY I WANTED IT. you cant buy some of the stuff you can cast and make for your self. it depends i guess on how involved do you want to be.

[SlowSmokeN]

I am gearing up to cast myself. I started an excel spread sheet so I know exactly how much money I will be saving.
I am looking to do 9mm.
Buy a loaded round is about $.24 (UMC 250 count for $65 at Walt-Mart)
Buy the bullet is .10 (Berry's 250 count for $25)
Make my own:
If I have to buy the lead it is .75 a pound (right now I have access to free lead). I can get 56 boolits a pound using 124 grain boolit (cost is $.013 if I have to buy the lead)

I will literally be able to load a 9mm round for $.04, that is the price of a store bought .22 round.

What this savings is going to allow me to do is, shoot 1k rounds a week for $40. So is it worth it, most certainly, it is well worth it.

[birdadly]

My two cents would be this, to a point anyway. Reload for either a hobby or to save a little money if you shoot enough. Cast only if you want a hobby, and in return you'll also save money if you shoot enough.

If hesitant, I would agree with your Minimal Investment list. I think the only thing you'd have to add is the casting pot. That list should get you going for about $125 or so.

If you run out of free lead, it seems like $70 or so will buy you 60lbs of lead ingots (if you don't want to smelt that range lead you mentioned you could buy). That's (for example) about 2100 200gr 45acp boolits.

If it's simply a matter of saving money, then all you have to do is the math, add up what you'd spend and figure out how much you want to shoot. If you want a hobby, then jump on in, if hesitant, start cheap and slowly buy better stuff if so desired. -Brad

[44man]

It always makes sense to cast. The money saved will far off set buying alloy if you run out and a boolit trap can keep you going longer.
I would buy a Lee Magnum melter, two cavity Lee molds, Lee size dies and a Lyman ladle.
If you want to use a cast iron pot on a stove, you save a lot more. I would suggest a thermometer.
Mold-$18.06
size die-$15.50
Ladle-$15.57
Cast iron pot $12.87 or something from a thrift store for a few bucks.
The thermometer has gone way up to $33.66 but you can get away without it.
Don't jump in with both feet with a six cavity and bottom pour. Simple and cheap will last a lifetime and make great boolits. It is amazing how fast you can make boolits and how perfect they will be with a low cost.
You will want some old cast iron or stainless pot to smelt the weights in and something to make ingots in, guys use old muffin pans. Those old cast pans that made what looked like corn ears make great ingots too.
Just stay FAR away from aluminum to melt lead in.
Yeah, yeah, you can be in business for $60 or so and there is a lot you can get free like an old stainless pot.

[jmsj]

wKelly70,
Welcome to the site.
All the responses so far are very good. One point I would like to make is, if reloading supplies get tight again, like they did back in 2007-2008, you will be able to make your own bullets.
During the last shortage we were stocked up on supplies and were able to keep shooting. Lots of people I know either stopped shooting or felt they had to shoot a lot less than they would normally shoot.
Good luck, jmsj

[knifemaker]

I would think twice about getting into casting due to living in Ca. and not having a good size stock pile of lead already. I also live in CA. I started casting many years ago, when lead wheel weights were free for the asking, and I have about 800-1000 pounds saved up.

If you do not get into casting , but want to save on bullets for reloading, check into the cast bullets from X-Treme bullets in Nevada. They do both cast and plated bullets and the prices they show on their web site includes the shipping charges. I just go over to their plant, out side of Virginia City, Nev. about once or twice a year and buy several thousand of my match bullets at a big savings on the shipping charges.

[fredj338]

It will depend on availability of cheap or free alloy. If I had to pay much more than $1.50/#, I would not cast my plinking bullets. I can get them delivered to my house for a bit more than that @ current rates. There is little downside to a Lee 20# BP & 6cav mold though. As you note, 100# of free alloy pays for that in bullets. At $80/5gal bucket, you alloy cost will be about 70c/#. I would get as much as you can now, it's not gonna get cheaper as other sources like ww dry up.

[johnho]

It's a bit hard to figure this out from what you said so let me make some assumptions for this: I know I know :-P

5 gallon bucket for $80
I will guess this is about 150 pounds of range bullets but have no idea how much is lead and how much is jacketed (by the way you can sell the jackets to a scrap dealer). I say 150 pounds because i know i had trouble picking up a third of a bucket but I am older. Assuming 70% is lead, again depends on jacketed, then you may see about 105 pounds of usable lead. Again, assuming 200 grain bullets then you can get about 3600 bullets (35 bullets per pound x 105 pounds). And this for $80. so this would be about 2.2 cents per bullet. I could be off in any area but at least you can get a feel for this. To really answer this better try a bucket and melt it down and see just how much lead you get out of a bucket as far as weight goes. If you're not interested after that then sell the lead for about a $1 a pound in ingots to someone here.

Now, if the source is an indoor range be horribly careful for loaded rounds in the bucket. Just makes a mess out of you if they go off and you are near the pot.

[Moonman]

Casting setups and stock piles are for the future, Prices will continue to climb for commodities especially the Lead, Tin and Antimony.

[JohnFM]

I'm in kind of the same boat, trying to decide if I ought to start casting.
At least the handgun bullets I use a lot of.
I just found out an old guy in town with a scrap yard has 20 or 30 tons piled up including a lot of linotype.
He told me he'd sell me the old clip on wheel weights for 50 cents a pound.
And melted down soft lead he salvaged for 60 cents.
That sounds cheap enough to get serious about it.










































































+

[wkelley70]

johno, you are correct. I should add some more details. I will be casting 180gr bullets. The buckets are supposed to be 120lbs each. Thanks for the 70% yield figure.

120lb lead x 70% yield = 84lb
(84lb x 7000gr)/180gr = 3267 bullets
$80 lead/3267 bullets = 2.5 cents per bullet

So $80 for a bucket of lead is cost effective to me today. I wonder about long-term, though. Will I still be able to get lead 5,10 or 15 years from now? Kalifornia will probably mandate tofu bullets :). I wonder what the EPA will try to pull on us.

I am also appreciative of all the other comments. X-treme bullets makes sense. I almost paid a visit to them in December. 9mm at 4 cents a round; maybe I need a new pistol. I was planning on getting a Lee pot, but should add a thermometer to the list.

[Roundnoser]

There are lots of ways to think about it. If you buy the minimum equipment, and later get out of it, you could make some of your money back by selling those items (assuming you take care of them).

If you have friends that buy cast boolits, you could trade your boolits in exchange for lead (let your friends do the bird dogging for you). I have also cast some bullets for friends in exchange for powder or primers which has greatly reduced my reloading costs.

If you find a steady source of lead and get more involved in casting, you can upgrade later to "moderate investment" equipment, etc.

[canyon-ghost]

The reason I started casting:

Winchester 22 hornets were $45 a box of 50

My Reloads were $15 a box of 100

http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx228/3rdshooter/contenders/hornet003.jpg

[Bret4207]

Every time I see a question like this I just shake my head. The question isn't if it's worth "gearing up to cast". All that involves for bare bones casting is a heat source, pot of some ferrous alloy (not aluminum), a ladle and a mould. Take care of the mould and even an inexpensive Lee 1 or 2 banger should see you through at least 5K boolits. You can tumble lube them and get by with a PB design or not use the GC. All this for less than the cost of 5 gallons of gasoline!


The question isn't if it's worth gearing up to cast. The question is do you have any interest in casting? If you are one of those people whose time is so valuable or who get's nervous doing anything manual, or that can't abide a learning curve, then buy your boolits and be done with it. If you like to tinker and fiddle around and learn and develop your skills, if making something from nothing gives you a kick, then give casting a try.

[Fishman]

I agree that 2 cavity lee moulds are more appropriately termed the minimum. I cast with one and two cavity lees exclusively until recently. The six cavity use a lot of lead and my ten lb pot can't keep up without help from my Lyman 10 lb ladle pot. A 2 cavity mould is easy to cast with and cheap too. I haven't worn any of mine out contrary to what you might read elsewhere they are pretty durable unless you are hard on tools.

[beagle]

Wrong people to ask. We've been hooked and most of us for years and we do it partly for a hobby and not mainly for the economic savings.

It's a good hobby for sure and if you're planning to shoot a lot of target or recreational shooting, you can probably break even as you'll get hooked and buy more moulds and sizers and better tools.

If you shoot a couple of times of year and only a few boxes then, it's hard to break even.

But, again, there are benefits like if you want to go out and plink 500 rounds of .44 Mag or .357 or take up some kind of shooting discipline that requires a lot of ammo, go for it.

You meet a lot of nice people on here and we poke fun at each other and have fun and good friendly arguments but saving money is something we very seldom do./beagle

[largom]

What Bret 4207 said! If you truly have to justify the cost just remember that as the value [cost] of lead goes up so will the cost of ALL ammo.

Larry

[stubshaft]

Free lead is a minor consideration. I have bought lead from some of the members here that was cheaper shipped to me than I could get it locally.

[runfiverun]

if you buy your lead from the foundry you'll still be ahead of what buying cast boolits will cost.
buying terracorp magnum alloy and pure lead and mixing them 1-1 will be cheaper than commercial guy's buy it for [pure is cheaper than the alloyed terracorp mix].
if you buy 1,000 lbs of each, giving you 2,000 lbs of the exact same alloy.
this will make an alloy of 1/3/96, or approximately what ww's run.
buying quality equipment is never a waste of time or money.
i might give you 5.00 for a used lee 2 cavity with handles.
but i will give you 50.00 for a used lyman or rcbs 2 cavity if it's one i want/need ,without handles. if you tell me what size it casts with your alloy.
it's all beside the point however if all you wanna do is load and shoot, and is time consuming.
buying the right tools will speed up production,and keep the quality, but it's more of an investment. you only gotta buy them once.

[Shiloh]

Alloy is your issue.
Some of the gentlemen here were casting when wheel weights were plentiful and free.
Free WW are becoming scarce so one needs to scrounge other alloys.

Is casting worth it?? In a word, YES!!
I shoot dirt cheap. I also have the advantage of tweaking boolits to my needs.

Shiloh

[dbarnhart]

I seem to have no problem finding people willing to sell ingotized wheel weights or range lead for about $1/pound including shipping. I scrounged a bit at bought a used Lee bottom pour pot and some other misc stuff from another caster. I think I've got all of $200 in equipment and that includes a nice Accurate mold.

Does it make sense economically? unquestionably yes.

[johnho]

Wkelly70. The trick is to get all that range lead you can now. Before I retired I belonged to a range that almost everyone shot lead bullets. I worked a number of days over several years digging the berm and melting the scrap into ingots. When I retired i had just over 3,000 pounds. Now that was a mess to move too but that's another story.

If you shoot 400 rounds a month then out of each bucket of range lead you would have about 8 months of bullets. Try and buy a bucket a month and you see how quickly you get ahead of the curve on having enough to shoot when lead does get scarce or too pricey.

Another reason to cast is what is going to happen politically. It could get to the point where even ammunition and reloading supplies are hard or almost impossible to get. That has turned into a more important reason to cast and stock up on supplies. If the EPA continues to try and control lead in shooting, well you can see where that is going so I will stop there.

[gwpercle]

Yes ... it makes sense to invest in casting. Moderate investment will allow you to make more bullets in whatever time you have. The cheap way will get you started but take longer to make the boolits you need.

It doesn't matter what the cost of raw materials esculates to... you will always be able to make your own boolits cheaper than you can buy them. Don't forget the ability to produce your own frees you from the manufacturer's decision to discontinue or limit availability of a item you like. I'm looking for a few different 41 mag. moulds because Lyman has decided to discontiue all .410 dia. moulds... Who's next ? I want to be able to shoot my S & W model 58 even if no one makes bullets in 41 cal.

And if you decide to not cast any longer there is a good market for used casting equiptment. You can sell everything right here on this site.

gary

[runfiverun]

once you break through and figure out that paper,steel and animals don't know the difference between lead and jaxketed.
and as you learn how to properly manipulate lead alloys to perform on each, it free's you up to get more involved with each gun's capabilities.

[sabrecross03]

It cost me a lot to start-up but now I shoot for pennies on the dollar. Yes, it is worth it. Also, you can dial in your load unlike a factory produced round.

[canyon-ghost]

Also, you can dial in your load unlike a factory produced round.


He's not wrong, I can build better than factory just about any time.

[ricklaut]

I was making this decision in early January. I jumped in when I bought a .480 Ruger that eats 400 grain bullets at about $2.00 each commercially. I did the math, looked at other calibers I could load and jumped in knowing I could shoot that Ruger with 12 cent boolits till my hands got sore.

With a minimal investment, great support here on this forum and with a little time & curiosity, I've cast right at 1000 boolits now - in a month. Most in .357 (a caliber I hadn't shot much of in recent years). Know what? I've put about 600 rounds through it in that month - because I can :). And I chuckle every time I pull the trigger knowing I just sent 4 cents (.357) down range. I've got my .480 dialed in now and will be giving it lots of exercise.

So, about lead... others have chimed in about the cost / availability. Always figure worst case... if you had to buy it and have it shipped to you, would it still be worth it? The answer is yes - and I think it always will be yes. If the price of lead keeps climbing, the price of commercial ammo will climb. Bulk / scrap will always have a price advantage compared to a finished product using the same components. Despite lack of WW, the CA government and a move to be more environmentally friendly, I'm pretty confident that we'll be able to find what we need. If it truly feels like lead will get scarce, hoard fast and smile for many years.

I'm still learning where to find lead, but the more I think about it the more I find. My son runs a tire shop - I keep telling him that they need to do more alignments because he's not bringing home enough (they do have to recycle some...). So, I have a note to talk to my dentist - I have a feeling she has a boatload of lead that she'd have to dispose of. I hit up a couple of other tire stores and made what I considered pretty decent deals (.25 cents / lb for mixed WW). Some said no because they recycle (but there are probably a hundred here I haven't talked to), some want too much, some already have commitments with other reloaders... At our range, every time I check my target, I hand sift a handful of lead from the berm. In a short session last week, that netted me 12 lbs of range scrap and dirty hands. In other words, I've easily found more than enough to keep me busier than I need to be smelting.

In other words... go for it.

[Recluse]

I got into reloading because my dad did and we both liked to shoot. He always maintained that reloading was the only way we could afford to shoot anything centerfire--and he was right. We were pretty strapped for money back then.

I got a progressive reloader so I could afford to make enough ammo to feed my competitive shooting addiction in the 80's.

But somewhere in the early 90's, I quit worrying about how much money I was saving by "rolling my own" and started looking at reloading and casting in the following light:

1. Custom tailored, custom manufactured ammunition for my guns and my shooting needs and preferences. Factory ammo cannot touch my handloads--especially in the .30 caliber rifle loads.

2. Pride of accomplishment and a point of differentiating myself from other shooters. It's fairly easy to tell the shooters from the reloaders from the handloaders at a shooting range. Even after forty something years, it's still kind of neat to have someone walk up to me and ask me, "What kind of ammunition is that?"

3. Self-sufficiency. I keep and maintain the components to manufacture my own custom, accurate, tailored ammunition for each firearm I own. If I could make my own smokeless powder, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Primers are another story, so I keep a healthy stockpile up--probably more than I'd shoot in three or four lifetimes.

If the gunstores went belly up tomorrow, so what? I'll be casting and loading my own ammo for decades to come, provided I live that long.

4. Casting and handloading is pure escape therapy for me. Alone in my reloading shop, I can turn on the stereo to our local classical music channel during the day, or on weekend evenings, I'll turn the TV on to an outdoor/shooting show and can putter around and be completely relaxed. Maybe I'm making up a batch of lube or sizing and lubing some boolits. Maybe I'm prepping some 30-06 or .303 or 30-30 brass. Maybe I'm depriming a large lot of .45ACP brass to go in the tumbler for an extended cleaning session. Maybe I'm on the MEC 650 making some 12-gauge rounds for an upcoming hunt. Doesn't matter--I'm in my own world and no spreadsheet will ever be able to justify, or deny, the value of that to me.

:coffee:

[462]

Bret4207 and Recluse have mentioned all the reasons why I cast (except that the local classic music station changed its format, and I watch no television, to speak of). Thank you gentlemen.

Someone once said that, if you have to ask the price of a Ferrari, you can't afford it. So, to paraphrase, if you have to ask about casting start-up costs, perhaps it's not for you.

By the way, lead wheel weights can still be found, in California, it just takes more effort than prior to the ban.

[MT Gianni]

It will depend on availability of cheap or free alloy. If I had to pay much more than $1.50/#, I would not cast my plinking bullets. I can get them delivered to my house for a bit more than that @ current rates. There is little downside to a Lee 20# BP & 6cav mold though. As you note, 100# of free alloy pays for that in bullets. At $80/5gal bucket, you alloy cost will be about 70c/#. I would get as much as you can now, it's not gonna get cheaper as other sources like ww dry up.

You can only get them delived to your house at the current rate because of the cost of lead. If lead goes up so will your supplier. It will always be cheaper to cast your own. It was when PB was 10 cents a lb and it is @ 1$.

[44man]

Beagle is right but I have been in this so long that I shoot .475's and .500's for about a dime a shot.
Compare with factory loads! Just look at what a .500 bullet costs. $37 for 50 plus shipping. You can get to $1 a shot by buying bullets, then add the powder and primer and if you need brass, costs go way up.
I do not shoot the .500 S&W, I have the .500 JRH but it is close. 20 rounds of .500 S&W can cost $51 plus postage.
I load them for $2.
I do not have one single piece of loading equipment that owes me a cent!

[sabrecross03]

For the lead shortage issue, make a lot of friends at shooting ranges. Bring a bucket and see if you can pick-up some range scrap when they are slow or when they have a bay closed.

One 5-gallon bucket 2/3 full, will produce 75-80 pounds of lead and 16-20 lbs of copper. Sell the copper (currently $2.90 per lb) and buy 20 lbs of Lyman # 2 to mix with the pure lead. You will have 100 pounds of great casting lead.

For instance, this translates into 3,500 200 grain 45 ACP bullets!

If you pick up your brass on the range, you can shoot for the cost of primers and powder. This is what a round costs me:

.02 cents for powder per round (based on 1000 bullets)
.03 cents for primer per round (based on 1000 bullets =

.05 Cents TOTAL COST of a 45 ACP Round( and my time)

[ku4hx]

The way I see it, in today's world anything you can do for yourself and avoid involvement in multi-national corporations the better off you're going to be. Self sufficiency is a worthy goal even if it costs you a buck or two in the long run. Same goes for government involvement. Although that's getting harder and harder to avoid.

If you want to develop a craft, definitely gear up. If all you're looking to do is save money, maybe second thoughts are in order. If you've always wanted to get into the obsession and now have the opportunity ... go for it.

For me there really is no cost justification basis for labors of love. We casters likely can do that but it's pointless. If you figure the cost per pound of fish based on a bass fisher's expenses of his boat and all, you'd likely think you were eating pure gold. Same for the golfers on a per stroke basis. Same for a lot of other hobby-obsessions.

[popper]

Only if you really do want to have fun.

[sabrecross03]

Is the "Pope" Catholic? Yes, definitely worth it.

I started with basic equipment that I still use today. Here is some of the equipment: Lee Turret Press w/ powder dispenser, Lee dies, Lee molds, Lee 20lb casting pot, MTM 750 electronic scale, Lyman pro 1200 tumbler, Lyman calliper, harbor freight micrometer, RCBS powder trickler, MTM green cartridge cases...

[fredj338]

johno, you are correct. I should add some more details. I will be casting 180gr bullets. The buckets are supposed to be 120lbs each. Thanks for the 70% yield figure.

120lb lead x 70% yield = 84lb
(84lb x 7000gr)/180gr = 3267 bullets
$80 lead/3267 bullets = 2.5 cents per bullet

So $80 for a bucket of lead is cost effective to me today. I wonder about long-term, though. Will I still be able to get lead 5,10 or 15 years from now? Kalifornia will probably mandate tofu bullets :). I wonder what the EPA will try to pull on us.

I am also appreciative of all the other comments. X-treme bullets makes sense. I almost paid a visit to them in December. 9mm at 4 cents a round; maybe I need a new pistol. I was planning on getting a Lee pot, but should add a thermometer to the list.

Your return on range lead wil actually be a bit higher, closer to 80%. Consider a 230grFMJ has a 200gr core, there isn't a lot of waste in range lead like ww. I would get all I copuld, smelt it down into ingots & hoard it. 2000# takes up little floor space & you can always sell it for $1/# min.

[WD2A7X3]

I went with a minimal gearup.

Lee 4-20 $70 (could go cheaper with a pot and a fire but I like convienece and the bottom pour speeds your casting up a ton)
Lee 2-cavity Molds $20 each
Homemade Lube $5 per lb

There's a handful of little things but it was stuff I had around so basiclly free, a bucket and towel to drop the bullets into, a little beatstick, ect.. Both the Lee molds I bought drop bullets at the exact diamater so I didn't need to buy any sizers.

So my main investment is around $100 and you can buy lead online for about $1/lb shipped. 1lb is 7000gr so even my heavy 230gr bullets are only costing me around 4.7 cents plus maybe .3 cents in lube fora total of around 5 cents a round. Powder is around 1 cent for 5gr, primers are 3cents. So I'm paying 12 cents per round for .45 ammo, or $6 per box of 50. It's hard to beat that when a box of the crappiest ball ammo that walmart sells is $16 for Tula.

So I'd say yes, it's deffinatley worth it even if you have to order the lead online.

[wkelley70]

OK, I am convinced. There are too many good reasons to start casting.

It is economical viable
A hobby within itself (which will help to feed my reloading hobby which helps to feed my shooting hobby :) )
Another step towards self-dependence (shh, don't tell the government!!!)
Control over the bullet design and alloy composition
Another opportunity for me to teach my kids that they can do things themselves

Now, I don't feel bad about spending a bit to get setup in casting. Again, thanks for all of your comments. Now, on to picking my equipment.

[462]

Well, that was easy enough -- only one day and no long, drawn-out dithering and agonizing.

Onward!

[Reload3006]

lol the funny thing is you ask this question on a cast boolits site ... its like asking an alcoholic in denial if he wants another drink .... YES

[shooterg]

"Some of the gentlemen here were casting when wheel weights were plentiful and free."

HA ! Some of you guys were casting before they had WHEELS !!!

[white eagle]

Being new to reloading and hoping to cast bullets in the near future, I am wondering if it makes financial sense to venture too far into casting

if you look at this like many other things as a way to save money forget it
if your intent is to build better loads and gain more accuracy and knowledge yes by all means get into it with both feet

[Cadillo]

I say that in your case , No! It's sort of like the yacht salesman, who was asked by a potential customer about a yacht's fuel consumption and related costs. The salesman said that if you are worried about the fuel, you can't afford a yacht.

The same goes for any aspect of handloading, but especially casting. It's all an addiction. You will not ever save money by casting or handloading, you will be able to shoot a h!@@ of a lot more, but you will spend more too. Since you seem to be concerned about cash outlay, you should just buy bullets for handloading, or even just buy factory ammo.

I say this only because handloading and casting are never about saving money. They are about shooting as much and as well as possible within the parameters of one's discretionary income.

[supe47]

I laugh every time someone asks that question. I started 35 yrs ago to save money. It's no longer about money, it's about the next generation of shooters. Being a California caster to say lead is hard to find is an understatement. So when I go shooting, I set up my steel, lay out the guns, break out my homemade ammo and tell the group I brought with me to have at it. When we're all loaded up at the end of the session someone always asks to help pay for the ammo. I ask them to find me some lead, that's all. Last score,180 lbs. pure from door frames. Two weeks earlier, 80 lbs of sinkers, more pure. Ya might say I'm mining California lead with kindness. Plus, it's nice to have someone to laugh at besides myself.

And then there's feeling I get looking at my target with 1" groups shot with my cast compared to my neighbors shot with factory loads. The " you shot that with cast boolits?" remarks are....priceless. I don't care the cost, the sense of accomplishment is worth every penny. And then if I really want to rub it in I tell 'em how much I pay per shot. Good way to either start or end a friendly conversation.

Initial outlay of cash could be considered high but when you factor in the years of entertainment and savings per shot, it's all so worth it. Although I have purchased a few new molds .....for guns i don't own yet, I'm still casting with the Lyman pot and the Hensley Gibbs molds made in San Diego I bought 35 yrs ago....used. Well maintained equipment should last a long, long time. The longer it lasts, the cheaper every shot gets. If casting is just a passing fancy to you, don't. But if you want years of entertainment, frustration, learning and a sense of " I made that! ", I'm with White eagle.....both feet.

[a.squibload]

I started reloading and casting long ago to save money...

WHAT HAVE I DONE???:shock:

[Three44s]

If any other lurkers are out there watching, and I am sure there are:

Look at what just happened with this thread!

The issue as an established caster is where and how expensive is my next lead going to be?

AND YET, the members here to a person encouraged a new potential caster to join.

Now, if you lurkers are still doubtful think of it this way: If we are eager to invite another person to compete for "our" lead ......... then our motives must be pure!

We love this country! We want it to remain free!

There is only one tool that does this, but it must be fed!

Any more doubts?

Best regards

Three 44s

[Jim]

Well spoken, Sir. Very well spoken.

[ku4hx]

"Some of the gentlemen here were casting when wheel weights were plentiful and free."

HA ! Some of you guys were casting before they had WHEELS !!!

I resemble that remark! :bigsmyl2:

I wasn't around when the wheel was invented, but I knew a fellow who was.

[ku4hx]

OK, I am convinced. There are too many good reasons to start casting.

It is economical viable
A hobby within itself (which will help to feed my reloading hobby which helps to feed my shooting hobby :) )
Another step towards self-dependence (shh, don't tell the government!!!)
Control over the bullet design and alloy composition
Another opportunity for me to teach my kids that they can do things themselves

Now, I don't feel bad about spending a bit to get setup in casting. Again, thanks for all of your comments. Now, on to picking my equipment.

And as of yesterday, we've all seen you can also use your casting/loading skills to reconfigure your laptop if necessary.

[Jim]

And as of yesterday, we've all seen you can also use your casting/loading skills to reconfigure your laptop if necessary.

That's funny!

[Freightman]

Good reason to cast and load is we are not out of danger as we still have the government that wants us helpless, it is good to know you can make your own boolits, in a pinch powder and if pushed your own primers. It cost to stay free.

[imashooter2]

There is no way I'd pay $80 for 120 pounds of raw range scrap when you can go to the swapping and selling section and get a guy to carry clean ingots to your door for less than a buck a pound.

[Jal5]

Three44's said it perfectly!
Joe

[XWrench3]

well, i would say this. if, and only if, you can come up with at least two good sources for reasonably priced lead, then, yes, it is worth the investment. but, if you have to buy lead at full retail prices, then it is probably not going to be worthwhile. unless you really need a new hobby, and do not mind spending money on it. having a couple of good lead sources is crucial! because without the lead, you have a bunch of worthless tools. and nothing to do with them. my one lead supply has dried up. i still have about 80-90 pounds of lead left, but i need a new lead source, at least one that is both reliable, and inexpensive. preferably two, or more. also, if you do happen to get the chance to jump on a large quantity of lead, buy up every last ounce that you can afford. just in case something happens. lead is not real fussy about where it is stored. under a tarp, provided there is some ventilation will work. it is always easier to store extra, than to scrounge high and low trying to find it when you need it.

[Three44s]

Thank you guys!

Mark

[TNFrank]

I've been casting boolits for quite a few years. Once you get your bottom pour lead Pot and a couple molds you'll quickly make up the difference in your investment so that you'll actually save quite a bit of money in the long run.
Find a friendly tire store that'll let you get wheel weights for free or cheap and boolits will be the least of your worries when you handload.

[SciFiJim]

I started scrounging and casting about 2 1/2 years ago in "no-more-lead-wheel-weights" California. I have still scrounged over a ton and a half of WWs. Usually a half a bucket at at time. The lead to trash ratio is getting worse, but I always ask.

For equipment, I started with a 3 quart stainless steel pot from Goodwill, a steel soup ladle from the dollar store and a Lee 2 cavity tumble lube mold. I used the side burner on my BBQ for heat. Total investment about $20.

It's definitely worth starting to cast.

[Pitchnit]

I have not yet cast a single bullet, but I do have about 200#s of lead accumulated and will soon start. Started reloading 2-3 years ago so I could shoot more. I want to expand my hobby. In these times I think this is a good skill to develop and to pass down to at least 1 of my adult children. Yes I have spent more money since I started reloading but I went from shooting 3-500 rds a year to about 4000. Hopfully I'll spend a little more and learn alot and shoot alot. Come to think about it I dont have a lever centerfire and it is appealing maybe a Rossi 92 45LC. Regards Pitchnit

[Grandpas50AE]

Like many have stated, it depends on your definition of "worth". I started casting in the early 70's with WW's and a cast iron pot and ladle and one 4-cavity Lyman mold for my .44's. I did this because J bullets had just gone to 3.5 cents apiece (wasn't making much money back then). It allowed me to shoot my .44's economically enough to shoot often, so I didn't save any money overall, but did get to keep shooting pretty frequently. Back then WW's were free from just about any tire store.

These days I have a tire store where I know the two brothers that own and operate it, they get all my oil change and tire business, and I get 5 gallon buckets of WW's for about 40 bucks, and very little trash in it. This comes out to about 50 cents a pound. This makes my cast boolits pretty darn cheap.

Many of us cast now not to save money, but to control the quality of the product we shoot, and we can configure the alloy, lube, boolit, and load to be much better than anything we could buy, and that IS priceless.

[wkelley70]

Thank you all for that advice provided.

Here is what I finally purchased to get started. Some of it is still in transit.

NOE:
403 180Gr. RF 5 cavity - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=143488

Lee:
LEAD LADLE
COMMERCIAL MOLD HANDLES
PRO 4 20LB
2 x INGOT MOLD
NEW LUBE & SIZE KIT .401

I will mix up some 45/45/10 and cast the ingots that I have already smelted. If all goes well, there may be a Star sizer in my future ... then perhaps a Pro Melt ... when does it end?

[SciFiJim]

when does it end?
http://dl6.glitter-graphics.net/pub/969/969356n04i0j45gk.gif

Hopefully, it doesn't end. It would then get boring and I would just take up watching TV to pass the time.

[Crash_Corrigan]

It never ends.....it has only begun.


I started out reloading in the early 90's for my two ex NYCPD service revolvers. They were .38's and the ammo costs were killing me.

One Christmas I decided to throw my hat over the fence and I obtained a Lee Loadmaster progressive press, Lee 4-20 melting pot, some Lee six banger molds in the TL configuration, a Lee sizer kit w/alox bottle, a RCBS scale, a set of Lee .38 dies and an old rusty cast iron dutch oven from a garage sale.

Using a coleman stove (cost $10 used) and some gas I melted up scrounged WW's and used broken crayons for flux and empty alum soda cans for ingot molds.

This is a link to a true casting learning curve during my infant days in casting.. It is a sticky http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=41217

Then I hooked up with Midway USA and got some pre owned .38 brass and bought an 8 lb jug of Bullseye powder and a carton of 5,000 primers by Winchester.

I spend some serious money (about $1500) on all this and my biggest regret was the miserable *** Lee Loadmaster Press. Once I got my hands on a Dillon 550 I trashed the Lee and went to town.

Immediately I was able to make my own rounds that went as fast or slow as I wanted and the cost per round was very small....about 2 cents a round. So a box of 50 (I used pre owned boxes found in the range trash cans) cost me a whole dollar.

Originally I did it to save money and have some fun. However over the years I have accumulated probably another 15 to 20 thousand dollars worth of reloading related gear which has allowed me to actually to make rounds cheaper and easier and faster.

To the point where for a time I was selling reloads and making a nice living from it but I wised up about the liability angles of it and the aspects of spending time in jail by violation of various ATF rules so I stopped doing that.

Now my Dillon 550 has a casefeeder and a companion Square Deal press with all the bells and whistles. I also have a Lee Classic Turret Press which I tend to use a lot when big production is not so important, a Lee Challenger, a Lyman Spar T for blackpowder and another no name single stage press for depriming and such.

I still use a SAECO sizer for holy black but a used Star is the current project. I have the press and a heater and recently I added an air lube feeder for it but I am having some problems with a leaking air tank. Next I need to spend about 3 to 5 hundred on Star dies from Lathesmith for my 24 different weapons.

So after almost 20 years I am still spending more money than I am saving but along the way I have probably shot more rounds and had more trigger time than 25 people who buy their gun fodder from the store.

More importantly I have over the years taught probably 20 shooters how to reload and cast their own rounds and I have introduced anoth 50 people into the shooting sport.

I have spread the word and taught others how to appreciate and enjoy many more aspects of life and to enjoy themselves along the way.

It was worth it.