How did you get started in bullet casting?

[45-70 Chevroner]

I have been around guns all my life, I'll be 75 this year. I really didn't get into having a lot of guns until I was about 25. When I did I quickly discovered that it was very expensive to shoot store bought stuff (center fire) even back in the late 60's and on. My older brother was already into casting. We didn't live close enough to convers. He actually got into casting in 1960, he was working for the Arizona State Prison. The prison had a shooting qualifying program. It cost quite a lot for the prison to supply ammo, (mostly 38 and 45 ACP) my brother went to the Warden and suggested that they cast their own bullets and have the prisoners cast the bullets it worked out great. Anyway, in 1970 I decided to start casting and reloading for a 357 Blackhawk I had bought a few months earlier. I paid the huge some of $76.00 + tax brand new. I went to a little gun shop in Avondale Arizona. The owner by pure luck was a caster. He sold me a used single cavity Lyman RNFP 158 gr. mold for the sum of $5.00 including the handles. I drove tanker truck for the Standard Oil Co. (Chevron) in Las Vegas Nevada for the first 2 years and Phoenix Arizona for 27 years. I found a cast iron pot laying beside the road in Las Vegas while making deliveries, at that time I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it but decided to keep it. It was full of lead or tin I'm not sure which it held 25# of lead. I had no problem getting lead when I started casting. The Chevron dealers gave me all I wanted. In phoenix we had about 50 service stations through out the Phoenix delivery zone. I stocked piled buckets of tire weights, and when I got too many I took some of them down to the salvage yard made enough money to buy new up dates for my casting. I also stock piled Powder, primers, and any thing else I needed. You could say by working for Chevron I fell into a gold mine. I also made enough from the tire weights to buy a few guns. Over the years that I work for Chevron I probably picked up several hundred 5 gallon buckets of tire weights I lost count. When I started casting I had that cast iron pot and an old cast iron double burner propane camp stove with the four little curved legs. AS long as there was no wind it worked great. A single cavity 38 mold, a camp stove, a pot and I was in business. My next purchas was a #45 Lyman sizer luber and a .357 H & I die. I think I paid about $20.00 dollars for those and I also bought a used RCBS Jr. Press for I think about $10.00. All that equipment was quickly paid for in loaded ammo savings. I think my first box of 38 reloads cost about $35.00 or $40.00 dollars. My reloads at that time including powder primers lube and cases cost me less than 1 1/2 cents a peace probably less or .75 cents a box not encluding the equipment.. My brother had thousands of 38 cases so I had a good supply of those.

[reddog81]

I got started when my LGS had a box of random 44 Magnum stuff on sale for $30. The box included a double cavity RCBS mold along with 2 LEE hand loader setups, a number of bullets, and other various items. I didn't much about casting at the time but I did know the mold was worth at least $30 so I bought the whole package and it has been a down hill slide since then. This was only 2 years ago and now I have at least 20 molds and at least 1 in every popular handgun caliber from .32 to .45 and a couple of rifle molds.

I have been able to purchase most of my equipment for very reasonable prices at local thrift stores. A large cast iron pot for smelting $5, a single burner cooktop for pre-heating molds was a couple bucks.

Thanks to this website I have been able to pick up on volumes of priceless knowledge. I imagine it would have been much tougher to trouble shoot issues back in the 70's without having a forum like this one.

[nagantguy]

Just like you being poor liking to shoot a lot, like to.fimd deals and like to make things by hand, after my daughter was born my casting really went into high gear cause to keep shooting idpa at the level I was I had to, bought most my gear cheap from yardsales, and flea markets. Then did a pig hunt with some friends and I used cast loads in a .44 mag ruger super Blackhawk, 9 of us killed 11 ops in 3 days, I got two with cast and finished one with my pistol that we found wounded by an arrow, a light went on in my head my cast loads killed as quick and clean as the rifles and jacketed loads my friends and brother were using!

[toallmy]

I started casting a couple years ago due to the little darling getting me a touch screen kindle , I have lived 45 out of 47 years without using a computer . I thought it was a fad , still might be. But loading my own was a must , around 16-17 I picked up my first center fire a 243 win m 70 with a box of shells on my way home I stopped to try it out and ran out of ammo . Well I had to wait till I got paid again to get some more ammo . So the next week I walked into the gunners shack and the fellow behind the counter talked to me about loading my own ammo , and sold me a lee 3 hole press with a Redding scale set of lyman dies the Speer and Sierra reloading manuals . Still using them now a long the way I ran across more dies and guns , but casting well I thought that was hard to do or magic ..so I always bought Speer 500 ct swag or jacketed for hand guns . Because of this site I now have the ability to cast my own , you all made it sound easy so I tried it . when you are on the outside looking in it seems more complicated . I have 30 years to catch up on now .

[hickfu]

I purchased a 45-70...

[starnbar]

My first casting was for lead soldiers I got the kit for Christmas in 58 and started casting them in 65 I moved on to casting for my uncle and then for myself. I had an old model 10 heavy barrel the rifling was almost gone but if I didn't resize the bullets it shot great. that was the start of my downfall and I have been casting ever since.

[Digital Dan]

How did you get started in bullet casting?



I bought this beast...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/muddler/Guns/Black%20Powder/DSCN4283_zpsd9e0787f.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/muddler/media/Guns/Black%20Powder/DSCN4283_zpsd9e0787f.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/muddler/Guns/Black%20Powder/DSCN4274_zpsbb43d253.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/muddler/media/Guns/Black%20Powder/DSCN4274_zpsbb43d253.jpg.html)

[mold maker]

Necessity created the need in 1962 when I bought a 38/357 convertible.
PO folks have to do Po ways.

[Ed_Shot]

Reading Guns & Ammo in the early 1960's and bought a Ruger Blackhawk.

[Budzilla 19]

Like so many others here, we started casting and reloading to be able to shoot ,for four people all firing all sorts of calibers, it took a lot of rounds! And that's not even the shotshell stuff! Thanks to my dad,(RIP Baldy) we now do it all!

[JSnover]

I taught a buddy how to reload. He got hooked and said, "Hey man, we oughtta try castin' our own."
The rest is history.

[Smoke4320]

Like most of my ventures .. I will save Money.... yea right
But Hey I don't chase skirts, hit the bars or go to overpriced sporting events so theres some good in it :) :)

[s1120]

wile I haven't started as such.... I have kinda started, because Ive started collecting, and getting ready. My dad always did for his bullseye loads. Well when he passed away I got all his stuff. Have a few molds, some lead, a Lyman pot, lyman lubesizer, and other bits and pieces. Im going to cast for A) saving money. Ya ya I know.... but still 50 bucks for 500 pre made ones is still pricy, and when your shooting matches it goes fast. B) make what I want... just gotta find a mold... C) I like learning new things, and not have to rely on others...

[NC_JEFF]

Poor folks have poor ways. So we cook our own and we roll our own.

[Seeker]

I used to load only jacketed bullets. Back when everything went whacko and components became hard to find, I started looking for brass trading sites and came across Ammobrasstraders and made some pretty good swaps. I ended up with lots of brass, but bullets were hard to find. Every time I logged onto brasstrader I seen the castboolits site advertised and decided to check out why in the hell they couldn't spell bullets right. I got to reading all kinds of great and interesting stuff. The rest is history. I shoot a few jacketed bullets still, but haven't bought any in years. I cast every chance I get, and shoot even more. Thanks to all the great reading and the guys here at cast boolits. It's been great and still is. G.

[georgerkahn]

A fellow Bullseye shooter took me to his uncles's house -- maybe 1973 or 74? -- the uncle was retiring to another state, and chose to sell all his handguns. Jim bought a couple of Colt revolvers, and I couldn't keep my eyes off the S&W Model 52 on the table. I did not own a single center-fire pistol, and would shoot .22 during those match legs. Well... the 52 followed me home, my having spent perhaps more than my budget should have allowed. A lot more. Leonard, the seller, gifted me two boxes of factory wadcutters, but what would I do when they were shot? Still another shooter had a plumber's pot and lead casting set-up in his cow barn, and I graciously watched him cast about 1,000 bullets using a 10-cavity H&G mould. He said he'd give them to me the next night or two, as they needed cool. I never thought they'd need to be sized and lubed. Anyway, Mike dropped off ~850 lubed and sized bullets, and a real old (I wish I still had it) RCBS press. I mail-ordered from Gander Mountain what else I thought I needed ;), and have been casting ever since...
geo

[bedbugbilly]

The first boolit casting I ever did was in my grandfather's 44 cal. round ball "bag mold". He was born in 1867 and when he was young, he bought a half stock percussion plains style rifle from a gentleman who had come into the Michigan Territory just before it became a state. The rifle and mold are still in the family . . . when my folks passed, I wanted my brother to have it as he has kids to pass it down to.

The second mold I ever cast and the first one I ever bought, was a Lyman 575-213 58 Caliber Minie Ball mold. I bought it new with the handles and I think it cost me around $30. I needed it for the used reproduction Remington Zouave that I bought from an old, close to 90, gunsmith who taught me how to shoot C & B revolvers and muzzleloaders. I think I was about ten so that would be around 54 years ago. The rifle cost me $65 - took me a long time to earn the money. My Dad made up the shortage and I worked mowing lawns at $1.00 a lawn to pay him back. I still have the rifle and I still have the mold. The mold has cast thousands of rounds and the rifle has sent them down range.

All I have ever used is a 10# pot, a Lyman bottom pour dipper and now, a propane hotplate to cast over. Back when I started, I used an old plumber's pot and when that finally broke, I cast over a wood fire which worked fine until I got a propane hot plate. My Dad was not in to muzzle loaders but he encouraged me in my interest and I have never stopped shooting them. A lot of good memories and a lot of good people along the way who helped me out, especially when I was a kid.

It was only a few years ago that I discovered the new fangled metallic cartridges. Now I enjoy casting for those as much as I do the Minies and RB.

[dverna]

I was in college and could not afford to buy bullets to shoot Bullseye. My mentor told me to buy an H&G 10 cavity mold and Star L/S. It was a lot of money for me but it was great advice. He let me load on his Star reloader. That was over 40 years ago

Don Verna

[jimb16]

I was already a shooter when I met my wife. Her father and uncle were shooters too and were casters as well as reloaders. They taught me the basics and I've never looked back.

[Brad Cayton]

I found a hardback copy of Sixguns by the old master Keith in a house I rented in 1980 and have been casting ever since.

[PS Paul]

When I was just 19 or 20 I had a few old Mausers. After shooting up a bunch of factory ammo, I had a bunch of 7x57 and 6.5x55 brass, so I bought a single stage Lee press and started reloading. Nobody to teach me and I shot alone, so I read voraciously on the subject......
soon enough I had a Model 70 in 458 win mag and a Blachawk in 45 Colt, but shooting jacketed was pricey and store-bought cast bullets in 45 and 458 were those awful hard-cast things with terrible crayon-lube. Then came the pot, molds and more guns!
I'm 48 now and have nearly 50 different molds and I still have those same old Mausers that started it all. Life is good!

[Kraschenbirn]

In the mid-70s, I was involved in Civil War re-enactments and, as I had a source of free lead back then, bought a couple of Lee moulds - a .58 Minie Ball and a .44 conical - and began casting to feed my 'issue weapons'. Wasn't long before it seemed like I was casting bullets and balls for our entire battery (Battery 'A', 1st Illinois Volunteer Light Artillery). By the time our crew went our separate ways, I'd acquired molds for .38/.357 (Lyman 358156) and .45 ACP (RCBS 45-200-SWC) and the rest, as they say, is history. (Btw...I still cast a couple thousand boolits a year from those same molds.)

Bill

[dikman]

I've only been shooting (seriously) for the last 3 -4 years. For a very long time before that I used to go fishing, so cast my own sinkers and lures. Pure lead was easy to get back then. Once I started shooting (muzzleloaders) it seemed natural to cast my own, which led to smelting to make ingots. Later, when I got into cartridge guns - Winchester levers and single action revolvers - it was inevitable that I would cast and reload my own ammo.

The thought of buying factory ammo never even occurred to me.

[VinceG]

I started casting at 16 for a CVA muzzle-loader. Later started casting pistol and rifle bullets for everything I shot as it was cheaper and I am lacking in money. I like to do everything I can for myself. It keeps the cost of shooting reasonable.

[45-70 Chevroner]

It is a very relaxing hobby, and after 40 + years it's starting to wind down. I still love reading about it on here and giving input. I have congestive heart failure and a-fib, (I'm not looking for sympathey ) as I have had lot of fun for a lot of years. The Dr's tell me if I take care of my self I can live 10 or more years. My dad died at 69 and my grand father died at 79 so I think I'm doing OK. The biggest problem I have is lack of energy. I haven't been out target shooting in couple of years. Hunting is out of the question. I still do some reloading for my son he doesn't have a lot of time for casting or reloading, he is changing jobs though and will have more time to get back into doing those things. I bought my first custom made TC barrel in 44 mag last year and I'm hoping to get out and see how it shoots. You guys just keep on casting and shooting and then write about it, I love reading stuff on this web site. I was a better than average caster before I found this web site while learning to use a computer. I have learned a wealth of info on here, although I am still computer challenged.

[Thin Man]

I got really tired of buying factory ammo. That got me into handloading in 1970. By 1973 I got tired of buying factory bullets and boolits. That got me into casting. Between handloading and casting, I wanted to save money, add versatility to what components were available to me, add the convenience of being able to load sooner rather than later, add the creativity to load ammo for firearms where factory ammo is scarce or discontinued, and the list goes on. I came out on all of these goals with the possible exception of being able to limit my addiction to adding more molds to the pile. Currently I have about 170 different molds, with plans to add others. Addiction??? What addiction?!?!?

Thin Man

[Hickok]

Back when old Noah and I just got off the ark, I was not yet 21 yrs old and could not buy a centerfire revolver. I bought the next best thing, a Colt .44 cap and ball revolvers, and a Lyman single cavity mold to make round balls. Soon after, got a .357 Mag Blackhawk and needed boolits for it.

[dudel]

I got into it sort of by accident. I had been shooting for a while. Store ammo was expensive so I started to reload. Always preferred/tended to be self sufficient. Casting came later. During the crunch when components were hard to come by, I had a supply of FMJ and plated. I could see them getting lower, and the prices going up. SWMBO got me a Lee 4-20 pot and some molds for my birthday. I just wanted an alternative to FMJ and plated if needed. I can cast for all my guns, and have worked up loads. I have a supply of lead and boolits put up.

I'll cast if I have to; but it's not my preferred projectile. I also have Lee whack-a-mole loaders for most of my calibers; but it's not my preferred way to reload either.

[therealhitman]

For casting, and my entire firearm addiction, I blame my Father (and reruns of Gunsmoke and The Rifleman). When I was a kid, in the summer, Dad would leave a list of chores to finish before heading out to cause trouble. Almost always included sorting or depriming brass.

[Outer Rondacker]

Years ago I headed to buy a progressive press. When I got to the guys house he would not let me in. Said I was to young and didnt care anything about how a bullet was made. His wife got him to settle down and he asked me son do you even care how a bullet is made. I said yes. Duaaaa I had been reloading for a while. He said how to make the projectile and so on. Well yes I do I replied. I was asked in and made it about two feet in the door when his wife now jumped on my back and said what do you think your doing. Once again I am dumb founded. You get out there and ask your wife to come inside and have coffee while you guys go down stairs. So I did and she did. Four hours later and $500 dollars less I left with 22 bullet molds. 800-1000 pounds of lead in both bullets and raw. Casting pot, progressive press, lyman 450 with loads of sizing dies, totes full of 357-44mag brass. A five gallon bucket of lyman lube, all sorts of dies, a thumbles thumber, lyman Mag pot. The list goes on and on. I got home and had no frigging clue what I had got into. At the time I had a short bed truck and my wife hand to hold the press since it would not fit in the back of the truck.

So I told my buddies what I got and fired up the pot. They all said my dad said lead will lead up the barrel. Told me it was no good and what not. Forced me to make it work. That is the short version of my story. By chance and an old man not wanting the ways things he did to be forgot. Many years later I can now not find lead and wish I had more money when I had met the old man. He had 1000x more stuff then I bought that day. He was a professional shooter.

Like a fool the day after I got home I sold seven of the molds to get back my 500 bucks.

[Poygan]

In 1964 I was new to the Air Force and the pay wasn't great in those days. I bought a Lyman Ammo Maker in .45acp which included a single cavity .452374 mold and the dies for the 310 tool. Bought a can of P5066 for I think a bit over $2. The kit came with a powder scoop for the 5066. Overall a slow process but I had more time than money!

[Lead Fred]

Been shooting muzzle loaders since the 70s. Store bought round ball was hard to find and costly.
Asked a bud what he did. Invited me to his house, and I cooked up a milk carton full of round ball in a few hours.
I was happy, then came the 45/70s. Then me finding this website. Then I got a 357 mag and learned about Elmer Keith.
Dont buy store boughts any more for these calibers and 30WCF.

[6622729]

The federal government and President Obama introduced me to guns, ammo and now casting. When they banned 7N6 surplus ammo, I got started with an AK74 and purchased a lifetime supply of canned 7N6 before it was gone. I was not a gun person at all before they did that.

When they banned M855 ammo temporarily, I loaded up for my son and this in turn led to buying plenty of SS109 projectiles in case the M855 ban comes back. This of course led me to learning to reload and that led me to building my first AR-15. Building that first AR led to another which led to another, etc. Now I'm into 5.56, .223 Wylde, 300AAC, .22LR and 9mm. I cast and reload for 300AAC and 9mm and reload for .223. Every time Obama opens his mouth about gun control, he leads me into guns/ammo and casting deeper and deeper. Now I have a lifetime supply of COWW and Foundry lead as well as primers, powders, brass and projectiles. They have a lot of banning and confiscating to do before I'll have nothing to shoot. I didn't need another hobby but I'm really enjoying the technical and black art aspects of working up loads for target shooting. For the record, I'm not a prepper or a hunter. I'm a paper target shooter enjoying the hobby before they take it all away.

[Malheur]

I learned from my father in about 1965 how to cast 38 bullets. Now all these years later I cast from 22 to 50 cal.

[L Erie Caster]

I learned on my own the hard way, through trial and error. At first I couldn’t make a good bullet or boolit to save my life. With no one to ask and no internet, I got frustrated and quit. Months later I decided to give it another try, boolits were better but still not worth loading so I got frustrated and quit. This went on for about two and a half years. Now many years later I can cast a decent looking boolit that shoots well, so I am happy. Still not as talented as some of you guys but good enough.

[rintinglen]

I was first introduced to casting when I was 13, back around 1966. My friend Jerry's father was casting one saturday afternoon, and after showing me how it was done, he let me cast up a few dozen boolits for his 30-30.j I believe they were 311-291's. That fall he also showed us how to reload those boolits into fired cases and took us out and let us shoot some up. That set me off. My friend Rick's dad had a MEC shotshell reloader, and he showed me how that worked. My Father disapproved, so my reloading came to a halt until 1970 when I bought a LEE Loader set for my own 30-30 and learned to load my own ammo, strictly by reading, trial and error. In my teen years, I did cast up a bunch of wheel weight sinkers for bottom fishing in the Lake where we had a cabin.
In 1974 I bought a old electric plumbers pot and a pair of molds at a yard sale in Vista California, and have been casting ever since. I have cast well over a ton of 148 grain wadcutters, and a fair few hundred pounds of various other calibers.

[Michael J. Spangler]

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away DukeInFlorida was known as DukeInMaine.
He was generous enough and passionate enough to put on a couple casting seminars for New England.
After than and a ton of reading in here I picked up a lee 4-20 and a MP 454-200HP
The rest is history. Going on 4 or 5 years this month.

[sigep1764]

Wanted to shoot more. Bought a Square Deal B as a first press. Learned quickly. Also learned in the craziness that happened from 2010 til recently projectiles were hard to come by. Stumbled across here and read. Then I read some more. Then I bought in and made 9mm work and now i am looking to make the rifles work. No regrets.

[TXGunNut]

I purchased a 45-70...


Same here! Spent over $100 on mail-order cast bullets that didn't work. Then I spent a few hundred more and got a furnace, a few moulds and just enough stuff to get started. I'd been reloading for about 25 yrs by then but soon found I still had a lot to learn.
Several years ( and thousands of $) later and I still can't get that rifle to shoot...but my first attempts worked better than those I bought. I've had tons (almost literally) of fun over the last several years.
Turns out that rifle was actually chambered for 45-90. Maybe some day I'll get it to shoot.

[reloader28]

Been shooting as far back as I can remember and have never really shot much store ammo. I had an uncle and a friend of Dads that reloaded for us.
Around 1999 or 2000 an old man I know that reloaded showed me how and gave me a 12 gauge MEC and it was all downhill. My brother started reloading rifles and pistols.
We were shooting more and he couldnt keep up with both of us so my wife got me a complete Rock chucker kit. The old man had a couple molds and a Lyman pot and I thought it was neat because we always like to make as much of our own stuff as we can.

He showed me how to cast bullets and before long I picked up a couple molds myself and barowed his pot and lube sizer. He said they were good for nothing but plinking and he made very ugly wrinkled boolits.
It wasnt long and I had my own pot and lube sizer and more molds. Then I found this site and really learned alot. I started playing with alloys and hollow points, gas checks, hardnesses, diameter sizes. I found out that a cast boolit will do everything an expensive name brand bullet will at a fraction of the cost. The old man started asking about it and I taught him way more about it than he did me. Now everyone all my friends and family get their boolits from me including the uncle that loaded for us when we were kids. Our pistols shoot nothing but cast boolits and I've shot cast boolits in most of my rifles. Several are cast only shooters. We've killed several deer and various other critters to.

About 3-4 weeks ago the old man that got me started, gave up and gave me all his guns and reloading/casting stuff. I am VERY grateful to say the least. It took 2 truck loads to get it here. Most of his equipment had gotten damp so I've very busy stripping it apart and cleaning everything. The ammo was very sketchy as hes old and had gotten sloppy so I've pulled apart about 1200 rifle loads with another 300 or so to go.
So, I aint got much casting done lately.

[.22-10-45]

When I was 16 Dad bought me a used Navy Arms 1851 .36 Colt copy. Bought a dbl. cav. Lyman .375 round ball mould and taught myself how to run ball over an old cast iron wood range.

[corbinace]

I bought a Swiss Vetterli and then a .577 Snider.

[wadcutter]

I started out making 0.36" round balls with my great grandsfather's old brass mold for use in my sling shot. I've been casting since I was about 8 years old (as a father now, I can't believe the things my dad let me do). Later my grandfather passed down to me all of his ideal equipment along with a Winchester 43 in 218 Bee which forced me to get into reloading and casting. I honestly didn't even realize you could buy jacketed bullets until I was about 20.

[Spector]

1979 I started casting round balls for a muzzle-loading rifle I'd made with a Douglass barrel. Then in either 89 or 91 I bought my Glock 21 and began casting the Lee 200 grain TL SWC. It has just continued from there............Mike

[45-70 Chevroner]

Back when old Noah and I just got off the ark, I was not yet 21 yrs old and could not buy a centerfire revolver. I bought the next best thing, a Colt .44 cap and ball revolvers, and a Lyman single cavity mold to make round balls. Soon after, got a .357 Mag Blackhawk and needed boolits for it.
Hickok! I've owned three cap and ball revolvers, a stainless Ruger Old Army, a 1851 Colt Navy replica, and a 1860 Colt Army replica. I never shot the Colts. I did shoot the Ruger a lot though until I decided I had to have something else. Sure wish I had kept the Ruger. As for the boat I think I was on the same one but it's been so long ago and my memory is failing me. By the way I gave the Colts to two of my grandsons.I had a .457 Lyman double cavity mold for the Ruger.

[Blackwater]

I got started casting because at the time, I was going to college on the GI bill and had a wife and son and up to 3 jobs at a time, all to take care of, and little money to do it with. I also needed a pastime in which to "puddle out" and relax in, and a .45 to feed as cheaply as I could manage to do that with what little $$$ were available for it. Got lead for free, and powder and primers were pretty cheap back then, so casting just offered a combo proposition of learning to do something useful and relaxing while also saving much money - something that was necessary at the time if I was to get and stay as good as I could be a the time. It worked on all counts!

[djgoings]

My father and I started casting about 8 years ago when handgun factory bullet supplies were non existent.

[John in AR]

Full disclosure - haven't cast any boolits yet. Have acquired the equipment and materials, and have cleaned up the raw lead (mostly COWW's) into muffin-pan ingots. Hope to do some actual casting in the next week or two.

As for "why" I'm getting into it, it's a combination of economics and disliking dependency on normal supply-chain sources. Started competition pistol shooting (actually revolver, not 'pistol') in the mid-70's and reloading in the early 80's, and finally see casting as the next logical step. Basically, I'm simply tired of buying something that can fluctuate in price, quality, and even availability; when I can make it fairly easily & cheaply for myself instead.

[Hickok]

Hickok! I've owned three cap and ball revolvers, a stainless Ruger Old Army, a 1851 Colt Navy replica, and a 1860 Colt Army replica. I never shot the Colts. I did shoot the Ruger a lot though until I decided I had to have something else. Sure wish I had kept the Ruger. As for the boat I think I was on the same one but it's been so long ago and my memory is failing me. By the way I gave the Colts to two of my grandsons.I had a .457 Lyman double cavity mold for the Ruger.Sounds like a lot of casting started with Black powder!

Hey, that ol' Noah was a pretty good fella!:-D

[Char-Gar]

Around 1959 I bought a Trapdoor Springfield (45-70) for $25.00 and an Ideal tong tool with the bullet mold for another $10.00. Some pig lead, Dupont black powder,primers and some old Lyman black lube and I was good to go. I used an old plumbers furnace to melt the lead and smeared the black lube in the grooves by hand. It works rather well.

Within a few months my shooting buddy picked up a primo Winchester 92 in 25-20 want wanted to cast bullets and I picked up mold (311291) for my Winchester 94 in 30-30 and so we cast. I bought a Lyman 45 and that is how it all got started.

This was the only way a couple of high school kids could shoot all they wanted.

[brstevns]

When I was 16 I got a EIG brass frame Navy Colt and a EIG brass mould that made the ball and conical bullet. Shot the EIG til frame was bad and no timing left. Had to cock it and the hold the cylinder in line. Had to wear a leather glove to keep it from burning fingers at the cylinder gap.

[bullseye67]

WoW! I thought I had a twisted start to casting :) It all seems so long ago(1980), another trend on this post. I was an avid air pistol shooter and had started competing locally. OK mostly in the machine shed with my friends, but a few organized events as well. Due to Gov rules 14 year olds couldn't have "real" handguns and had to beg to shoot them from the older guys at the range. I was lucky and our neighbor had a S&W 38 revolver and was OK with giving a couple of us young guys lessons. He also reloaded and cast WC for it. I can remember heating the pot with a torch, dipping the lead and pouring it into a one hole mould. Yep most of the first 50 or so went right back into the pot. To wrinkled ect. They were all examined with a careful eye before being fed one at a time through a luber/sizer. We were told constantly. Boys there is no sense putting a bad bullet on top of good powder and wasting a primer. Fast forward to the late 90's and walking into the LGS and no WC available and factory reloads were pushing $15/50. I went over to the reloading section and picked up something I had never seen. An aluminum 6 cavity mould...it was light and 6 boolits at a time...then I saw a melting pot that had a handle thingy that let lead out the bottom.... As they say the rest is history. Three years ago I started shooting ISSF and have a 32 S&W long for CF. Last year 300 lbs of 100gr. WC went down range! This site and reading all the info has made the process so much easier. I now shoot and cast for .30 and .35 rifle. I have collected a couple dozen moulds and a lot of WW and sheet lead. When I think back to the slow process of a one hole mould and the patience our neighbor showed us boys, I am so grateful. Now when I am at the range I always ask if they reload and if they use cast boolits.

[robg]

My wife bought me rcbs 158swc GC mould for my birthday ,I'd always loaded she thought I might like it .she was right shoot lead in every thing I shoot ,rarely use jacketed except for hunting ,must use expanding over here.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I got started when I bought a Model 29 S&W Revolver when I was 26 years old. I got the big one with the 8 3/8" bbl.

I figured out rather quickly that I had to reload for it as I couldn't take but about 12 Factory loads in one sitting. Lee Loader! yeah!

After going thru a couple of boxes of Speer Bullets I figured out that I should cast my own as they were much cheaper and I had a bunch of WW in the garage. So I bought a small RCBS Pot a Lyman Ladle and a Lee Mould and figured it out on the stove in my Apt.. Still have all of them. bought a Lyman Cast Boolit Handbook and still have that too! Shortly thereafter I got real refined and bought a small Lee Melting Pot. Still have that too. So I was in business and then started casting .30 cal boolits too. still have that mould too!

I had more fun with that gun, shooting boolits made, than anything else I owned, and shot it a lot. I still have new brass I bought back then and still shoot the Lee .44-240 GC's. My best group at 25 yards back then was a smidge over 1" and I could do it frequently.

When you get into the Big Revolvers the need to cast boolits gets obvious pretty fast. It has been a fun thing to do for a long time.

The M29 was sold along time ago but now there is a SBH Bisley and a BH Bisley as well as a Marlin 1894CB, don't shoot as many of the Lee boolits as back in the day as I have Keith Boolit moulds now. But they got me started and that's Lee's Primary Function in the gun world. IE: to get people started!

He done good on that front.

Randy

[gwpercle]

The father of one my best school buddies owned a tire business, and my buddy went into the tire business....Both of them gave me free wheel weights, all the free wheel weights I wanted !
So what else are you going to do with an unlimited wheel weight supply....cast boolits that's what.
I had absolutely no choice in the matter...especially since they charged good money for 100 of the cast boolits in a little box. Those didn't last long at all , so a single cavity mould was purchased and I've been at it ever since.
Gary

[JMax]

Started with my grand father in 1958 casting for 45ACP, 38 Spl and 45-70. Had me apprentice one summer for a printer and to bring home all of the old lino type. Had an uncle that was a plumber so we alloyed 1 part lino and 3 parts lead. Had a grand time with a Lyman C press and a couple Lyman single cavity molds. Now I have 2 Dillon 550's, a Redding T-7 with 2 tool heads, a Lee Classic cast and a MEC 600 plus I make my own gas checks. Still loads of fun but adult sons never wanted to cast or reload, just shoot them up:-)

[Cherokee]

Back in 1956 I bought a 1917 Enfield and started reloading for it with a Lyman 310 set. Then a GI Carbine from DCM which I loaded for on an old C press and B&M measure, all acquired used. Later acquired Ruger BH 10" 357 Mag. Bought cast bullets from Green Bay Bullets until 1968 when Dick couldn't ship to me any more and I got out of the Army. Bought some bullets from Hodgdons store in Shawnee Mission while shopping around for casting stuff in the KC area, acquiring a 358495 WC mold and #45 sizer, Lyman pot and ladle. Went up from there, learning everything on my own and from the early gun mag writers (Keith, Cotterman, American Rifleman, etc). Would have been nice to have a friend interested but no such luck. After casting for so many years, this site has been a boon of information and my abilities have increased considerably; wish it had been around when I started.

[Preacher Jim]

We had a 92 winchester and a 1917 45 my grandfather was cheap said if I wanted to shoot it had to load my own. I had helped him so I cast some bullets sized them loaded 20 rounds of 44-40 for my first solo deer hunt.is killed a 4 pointer. Sure beat the muzzle loader 36 been casting and shooting since 1957 that year dad bought me a bare action and granddad and I barreled it and uncle John and I made the stock, my 30-06 was borned still have it in the safe

[country gent]

Well after spending many evening building a renegade kit into a rifle. It was a percussion model. Alot of hours spent drwfiling and polishing the barrel sanding polishing and handrubbing oil finish into the stock it was done and I realized I had nothing to shoot in it. A local shop had black powder and caps, along with the main thing a knowledgable owner willing to offer information. I left with a adjustable powder measure 1lb of 2 f powder a 2 cavity round ball mould. Along with a coulpe 5 lb ingots of plumbers lead. We had a pot on the farm and that weekend I set up and cast the 10 lbs of lead into round balls. On Sunday the measure powder and caps went into use. I now cast for several rifles from 38-55 - 45-90.

[Abenaki]

I was about 13.
I found a bunch of lead.
Sooo, my Dad says "let's have some fun.
We went down to the creek bank and dug up some red clay.
He then showed me how to make molds'.... army men, buttons and such.
We let the molds dry in front of the fire place. And then melted the
led in the fire place. We were then making all sorts of stuff!

And, yep....I burned my self good with a hot item from a mold!
I can still hear my Dad telling me "now you learn!"

I then worked my way up to casting for muzzleloaders.
Then I got a 41 mag. and been casting ever since!

[Victor N TN]

I started handloading for a rifle in 1972. When I started shooting NRA Bullseye in 1976 I really started shooting a LOT. I borrowed a 6 X 45 acp H&G mold and a 8 X 38 spl. H&G. A few years later I switched from Bullseye to IPSC and MORE casting and practicing.

I had to slow down and eventually stop in the mid 1990s.

From working 28+ years with hazardous materials I got a hand full of money 3 years ago and bought a bunch of new molds, a new RCBS pot and a bunch of other pretty toys. Unfortunately my health hasn't let me play with them since I bought them. But maybe now with the 45-70 I'll actually get to cast a bunch. I DO have a new NOE 4 X mold for it.

I hope this year is better to me than the last 5. I have about 8 molds... I haven't cast anything in 20 years.

I hope everyone else has a better year also.

[JWT]

About a year ago I stumbled on the copper enhanced thread. It took me 2 evenings to read it all. I'm up to 17 molds... I guess I'm hooked.

[Petro58]

I've been reloading off and on for 40 or so years. A few years ago I met a Guy online a bit older than me that's been casting for years. We became friends and he'd cast Boolits for me. I joined Cast Boolits back in 2010 and have asked questions and learned from you guys and things from him while I got my own Casting Equipment together.

[Hickok]

I see some new fella's and some older joiners who have been pretty "low profile" in the discussions, glad to have you with us!

[Adk Mike]

I started around 1980 when I started shooting handguns . Today its mostly 30-06 and a 45-70 . I rarely shoot a jacketed bullet .

[Grantb]

I started casting fish sinkers in 1973 with an antique .55 round ball mould and an original Winchester .32 WCF mould picked up in an auction sale junk box for next to nothing. Started reloading my own ammo in 1997, but bought jacketed and caste. Then the old fellow that I was buying my caste bullets from retired about 5 years ago. With four .455s to feed, plus several .38s and a Ruger old army, it was time to start casting. I spent many hours reading this forum then bought a Lee bottom pour, several moulds, pewter from thrift stores and mined lead from the handgun range backstop. My only regret is not taking up casting years before. It is fun and a great stress reliever after a day at the office.

[Sheldon]

I started off by casting lead head jigs for fishing plastic swimbaits. I bought and sold used reloading equipment off local classified ads and in the process aquired various pieces of casting equipment. I kept the casting equipment figuring sooner or later it would be something I would have to do. Back then 1000 rounds of cast 45acp bullets ran $35 or so and the 38 and 9mm ran $28 in quantities of 10k or more, so I didnt see it being worth my time casting and lube/sizing. Now the fishing leadheads cost about $0.25 each and didnt require the extra steps of sizing and lubing so I saw that as being worth the time. I bought a Do-It brand leadhead mold and a couple sinker molds and a guy off a local fishing board gave me some lead and I did that way before I ever cast a bullet. I even bought out a small time commercial sinker maker in 2002, who worked out of his garage. Got a bunch of molds (sold on Ebay which more than paid for the lot of equipment), an 80 lbs electric lead pot partially full of lead on a nice welded cart that has temperature control.

When the cost of the cast bullets approached $70 per k, I started casting bullets....2011, I believe. By then I had discovered this site and knew about the Star sizer and had bought one as well as a 4 cavity H&G #68 mold. Now I mainly use the 6 cavity Lee molds. I take pride in casting but if i could get cheaper bullets, would not miss doing it!!

[scarry scarney]

I was stationed in Germany, shooting pistols with a bunch of other Americans on one of the Air Bases. We built our own range. We would de-lead the impact area once a year, and split the lead with everyone who worked. Anyhow, one of the members bought a Magma Master Caster. He sold me his old RCBS furnace, molds and luber. Back then, We didn't have all the restrictions that the GI's have over there now. Those were some fun times.

[Earlwb]

I first started reloading as a teen way back in 1966. I was reloading for my old 7.65 Argentine rifle at the time. Norma was the only one making ammo for it, and it was quite expensive and the gun stores didn't always stock the stuff. So reloading was a big plus. I got into bullet casting using wheel weights at the time. The gun store had a bullet mold and gas checks and a used bullet sizer luber for sale. So I got a cheap Lee melting pot and I was in business. it worked fairly well too. No complaints. Since I was young I was just using iron sights so I couldn't really tell if the bullets were all that bad at the time. They worked fine. I actually took a couple of deer with it using my cast bullets.

[David2011]

In 1981 or '82 my wife and I were shooting at the Texas City Shooting Range. Another couple was there doing the same. We got to talking, found that we had many common interests and became friends for life. I'm the only one of the four of us still alive. Our wives both got and died of brain cancer within months of one another (different types but still a frightening coincidence) and helped each other through the recovery. Later, he just got old. He and his wife were about 20 years older than me. They invited us to their house. He had lead furnaces, molds, sizers, reloading equipment and machinery. He taught me to blend metals and cast beautiful Saeco wadcutters that were the most accurate boolit I had ever seen. I still have a few and they still look like machined aluminum, as they did fresh out of the Lyman 450, 30 years later. We shot them by the thousands. He taught me as much as I could absorb (there was SO MUCH to learn from him) about metallurgy and casting. Cast, load, shoot, repeat. Wheelweights were free back then and we collected all we found. As he got older I bought all of his casting, reloading and gunsmithing tools including the lathe and mill. The RCBS Pro-Melt is still going and I use molds that he used regularly. He went to the other side on July 4 seven years ago. I think of him frequently. Thanks, Mac! You are missed.

David

[porthos]

bought a m-29 smith (44mag) to shoot handgun silloutes. bought cast bullets from a local gun shop. used them for a while before weighting them. wow!!! I know that I can get more consistent weight than that. I tooled up to cast and the rest is history. wish that I still had the 6.5 inch smith

porthos

[flyer1]

I decided to cast to save money. Yeah, that worked out very well......

[imashooter2]

I was pretty much born into it. Dad and Mom were Bullseye shooters and Dad cast to keep them in .38 wadcutters. I started "helping" at 4 or 5 and my fate was sealed.

[rwadley]

I bought a muzzle loader and needed to make boolits for it.

[clum553946]

Just decided to jump into it one day about a year ago and after many mistakes (of which I still make from time to time but not as often) I find that I really enjoy it! I did have to recast a bunch of culls in the beginning & I'm still learning! I started shooting Steel Challenge last year & shoot my cast & reloaded ammo for practice & in matches, kinda gives me the warm fuzzies that I'm self sufficient! Lol

[chsparkman]

My dad was not into guns, so when I got my first Blackhawck .357 in 1990, I depended on factory ammo. A few years later, after I started teaching high school math, there was a biology teacher some years older than me who first taught me to reload, and a little later, to cast. I can't emphasize enough the value of a good mentor. I think we all should be a mentor to at least one reloader/caster in our lifetime.

[Handgunr]

I started casting fishing sinkers for my uncles back in 64-65' over a Coleman stove. Once they saw I enjoyed doing it, they supplied me with more lead to start doing their bullets.....lol. Other than a few years here & there chasing women, I never really stopped.

From my mid twenties on, it's been an obsession.....and at 58, it hasn't subsided at all. Matter of fact, it's gotten far worse.....lol.

[chumly2071]

My immediate family was not at all into firearms. Back about 2008, my youngest brother was getting into 3 gun matches, and had bought his first handgun, shotgun, and very basic AR. I was curious, but didn't really pay attention. Went to a birthday party for my then wife's uncle about that same time, where afterwards the last of us hanging out went down by the farm pond, and they talked me into shooting some clays. I was hooked. Then shortly after, I watched another good friend casting and loading some 45acp, and saw that even though it was both art and science, reloading was not "magic"... Those two events caused me to jump off a very steep and very high cliff... I'm still very much a noobie at casting (have acquired quite a bit of equipment and supplies) as I have not really had a good chance to "practice". Life for me has changed a lot in the years since 2008, and some of those changes have caused a lot of things to be put on hold. Things are settling out for now, and I am trying to get situated so as to start doing those things again for relaxation and education. Not to mention my desire to be self sufficient as others have mentioned regarding political whims of the uniformed trying to ban things.

[Shiloh]

Got interested when I saw targets showing nice tight groups from both piton and rifle. This was mid 80's and the guy was about 60 years old. Took about 20 years to finally get around to casting my own. My Lyman 450 was purchased in the late 80's used. It sat for almost 20 years.

Fortunately wheelweights were still available and free. Now I shoot free boolits. Haven't fired J word bullets from a handgun for years.

Shiloh

[Possum Lickaa]

I was talking guns with my wife's uncle at a birthday party. He started talking about casting and I mentioned that I had always been curious, but it all seemed complicated. What diameter to size them to, what top punch to use (what's a top punch?", a furnace seemed expensive, "lead poisoning", etc...
-He disappeared for about 1/2 hour, and returned with a .38 cal Lee mold and told me this. "Go home and get some lead wheel weights. Put them on a pot on your coleman stove until they melt and are good and hot. just use a big soup spoon, some heavy gloves and pour a few bullets. You'll know right away if this is for you."

- He was right, and I have embarked on a new chapter in my favorite thing in the world (well, second-favorite anyway). I have thanked him several times, and now we have something else to talk about at holidays.

[dsbock]

A few years ago a friend gave me his deceased father's reloading stuff. Included in the mix was an Ideal .45-70 mold and a ladle. After doing a bit of research I found this site. The rest was history

David

[45-70 Chevroner]

I started handloading for a rifle in 1972. When I started shooting NRA Bullseye in 1976 I really started shooting a LOT. I borrowed a 6 X 45 acp H&G mold and a 8 X 38 spl. H&G. A few years later I switched from Bullseye to IPSC and MORE casting and practicing.

I had to slow down and eventually stop in the mid 1990s.

From working 28+ years with hazardous materials I got a hand full of money 3 years ago and bought a bunch of new molds, a new RCBS pot and a bunch of other pretty toys. Unfortunately my health hasn't let me play with them since I bought them. But maybe now with the 45-70 I'll actually get to cast a bunch. I DO have a new NOE 4 X mold for it.

I hope this year is better to me than the last 5. I have about 8 molds... I haven't cast anything in 20 years.

I hope everyone else has a better year also.

Not really trying to restart this thread but just hoping that you have gotten well enough to get back into casting and shooting. I've also have some health problems that have kept me away from it to. Good luck.

[725]

Back in 1975 my uncle, Oakley, made me a .45 round baller. It needed to be fed a lot.

[Bent Ramrod]

I bought a Navy Arms 1860 Army replica from Arizona Al's gun store in 1974. Al had round balls available, which he cast himself. (No commercial offerings back then.) I went through the round balls in one shooting session and went back for more. Al apologized, saying he had been too busy to cast any more. I promptly ordered Lyman's 450229 mould, a pair of handles and a dipper. First boolits cast were from a lead brick I swiped from the X-Ray Lab. I melted the lead in a steel crucible with a Fisher burner in the chemistry lab. My Professor made one of his rare visits to find the entire bench covered with boolits while the burner roared away and I dipped more molten lead.

Had to buy a 10 lb Lee temp-controlled pot and take the operation home after that. But I never looked back!

[Quickdraw4u]

I do a lot of recreational and target shooting. I think I like reloading just as much as shooting- maybe even a little more. Obviously I can't make my own smokeless powder or primers but I can control what is done to my brass. I wanted that same control in what bullets I sent down range so I made the decision about a year and a half ago to get into casting. At that time I had found a few boxes of very dusty, true Keith 357 bullets cast from an H&G mold on the bottom shelf an old gun shop going out of business. Two boxes were very hard lead and two were very soft. Loaded them up and they shot great with no leading! I soon realized you can't buy Keith bullets just anywhere, did a lot of reading and spent some time and $$$ acquiring the molds and needed equipment. Now I'm off to the races. I shoot almost exclusively 1:20 Keith SWC's out of my revolvers and WW's with 2% tin out of my autos. For me casting just seemed the next logical step in my journey.