cheap is expensive!

[fat_46]

Several years ago I looked into casting boolits and wrote it off as too much work. Fast forward to a week ago, when a good friend that works at a scrap metal place called..."hey, we got a bunch of bullet lead. Buck a pound if you want some"

I met up with him, gave him a hundred dollars, and waited. Fully expecting COWW, SOWW, or range scrap. He then brings out Saeco ingots marked "LINO"!

Ordered a Lee 4-20 pot and a .452 mold plus accessories from Midway...built a bench...bought PID stuff...just ordered a 4-20 upgrade kit.

Sheesh, my fun fund is GONE! Still have some stuff do get done, but should be casting in another week's time.

Thanks to all for the info I've read so far. I'm sure I'll make mistakes, but this place is a goldmine for learning.

[308Jeff]

I know what you're saying.

Turkey burner, cast iron smelting pot, ingot molds, ladle, bottom pour pot, molds, handles, hot plate... Haven't cast a single bullet yet. I need to start casting to start saving all my money!

[Taterhead]

...convection oven, PC, airsoft BBs, non-stick aluminum, sizing die and bushings...

Then you start noticing molds you didn't know that you needed. Best to stay clear of the S&S forum!

Congrats on a great deal on lino!

Being a new caster myself, I can say that the first 100 pounds of lead went quickly!

[308Jeff]

Oh yeah. Forgot about the toaster oven. That was only 5 bucks though.

[Reddirt62]

And molds.....so many molds, so many options, so many so many. Just threw my first worn out lee away....and I NEED more.


Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[jeepyj]

The savings will continue until all accounts are empty! Good luck you've only scratched the surface. keep us posted

[Oklahoma Rebel]

just don't tell your friends, people for some reason , if you reload, think, wow, all the ammo they make is free, then soon will be asking for you to make some loads for their 30-30 or whatever. they don't get that means a mold a set of dies, not to mention time sweating over a furnace lol

[gundownunder]

It gets better.
Every time you snoop around these forums you come away with the knowledge that there is another good bullet mold out there that you've just gotta have, but after you get that one the savings will start to pile up :-D :-D :-D

[Oklahoma Rebel]

oh and powder and primers, the boolit aint going to move itself. but really it is more about shooting way more for the same price, for me

[RogerDat]

And since lino is premium alloy way over what you need for most bullets now you need some plain lead or COWW's to stretch out that lino so you don't waste it.

It starts with one caliber, and grows to cover everything you shoot, then expands to buying dies or molds for calibers you want to buy "someday". This also leads to the need for a "stash" which can absorb money to fill all available storage space with lead, powder, and primers. If space is tight avoid loading for shotgun, wads and hulls come in bags big enough for the grandkids to make forts out of.

It IS fun, it IS NOT saving money. If it was I would be rich rather than broke with a garage full of lead :-)

[bangerjim]

This hobby is a "black Hole" for money!

The melting and stuff to do it is the cheap part.

All those darned brass molds is there the $$ go!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hardcast416taylor]

I remember all those years ago when I started casting that I wouldn`t need many molds to cover all my needs. Now fast forward to this Winter when I did a mold count of what I had. I believe I came up with 77 molds, some of which I have never used. What ever happened to my thought of only needing several molds?Robert

[dverna]

It can save you money if you are smart. It is easy to let your wants overcome your needs.

[KenH]

This hobby is a "black Hole" for money!

You think this hobby is expensive, try pricing a bass boat!!! or golf?

The casting is so bad, it's the guns that go with it.

[Shiloh]

Now you need lead to cut the lino with.

Shiloh

[fat_46]

Goodwill had a toaster oven for $6, so now I need powder and bbs...need a hot plate too, which is why I went to Goodwill, but they didn't have one. Need to find a mold for the 375 now, too. And the 6.5x55, and the 280, and the 9mm, and the 10mm, and and and:killingpc

[Mk42gunner]

I remember all those years ago when I started casting that I wouldn`t need many molds to cover all my needs. Now fast forward to this Winter when I did a mold count of what I had. I believe I came up with 77 molds, some of which I have never used. What ever happened to my thought of only needing several molds?Robert

I remember thinking that too. The last time I counted molds I was pretty close to that number, so I decided to quit counting.

Robert

[Garyshome]

77 molds is a LITTLE over the top.

[Iowa Fox]

77 molds is a LITTLE over the top.

I got a hunch 77 is about average around here. Those Lee, Noe, and MiHek group buys really stacked them up fast for me. Not to mention all the old Lyman molds I picked up cheap around here when the old guys were giving it up.

[LenH]

I wish I could get lino for a dollar a pound. The last I got was a bit over $2 shipped.

[jeepyj]

It can save you money if you are smart. It is easy to let your wants overcome your needs.

^^^^^^^^^^^^Isn't this the truth!!^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Seems like the voices in my head never stop.

[mold maker]

Some folks deal in stocks and bonds. Some play golf. Many have a hole on the lake they call a boat.
I have safes full of stuff that require boolits. The support for them fills more time than enjoying making holes way down range in unsuspecting paper plates.
I am convinced that there is no end to this madness. It is self perpetuating, and cost small fortune, regularly.

[Shiloh]

I got a hunch 77 is about average around here. Those Lee, Noe, and MiHek group buys really stacked them up fast for me. Not to mention all the old Lyman molds I picked up cheap around here when the old guys were giving it up.

I'm below average, but nothing to sneeze at. No doubt someone else picks up m slack. ;)

Shiloh

[Whitespider]

Actually I have kept the expense at a minimum... I make boolits on the cheap, that was my primary goal.

I do all my "hot work" on our old electric kitchen stove/oven that had been retired/replaced a couple years before I started casting. I use old cast iron cookware that that we either had lying around or picked up cheap at flea markets and such... I pour with a ladle. I sold/traded no longer used (or never used) firearms related items to acquire a used Lyman lube-sizer, sizing dies, top punches, and a few molds. I made my own boolit lube. I made my ingot molds from scrap steel I had laying around. In the course of making trades/purchases I acquired a few molds I really didn't have any use for, and I just recently sold a three to fund needed boolit making items for my latest firearms acquisition (1911 .45 ACP). Heck, I've never even bothered to get a casting thermometer... I've not really seen the need for one. I don't play around with several boolits in one firearm; I just work up 1 (sometimes 2) loads for each gun using boolit... if the mold I'm using ain't working out like I hoped, I try to trade it, or sell it to fund a different mold. If you're careful and pay attention there's some really great mold deals on Ebay, I've purchased molds as cheap as $12... even if they ain't something you can use or want, they are great for trading stock or even reselling (two of the ones I just sold were Ebay purchases I never once used).

I get all my wheel weights for free... and I have a few tons stashed away in 5 and 10 pound bricks (made in my homemade ingot molds). In fact, I'm planing on picking up a 30-gallon barrel about two-thirds full this afternoon.

It can be done cheaply, but that has to be one of you're objectives... I cast boolits to feed my shooting addiction, the actual casting itself is not the addiction. Every dollar I shave off the production of boolits can be used to fund the other things needed to feed my shooting addiction I cannot make myself... such as power, primers, brass, and firearms.

Yeah, a fancy bottom-pour pot and 6-cavity molds would be nice; but I don't mind ladle pouring 1 or 2 boolits at a time... rainy days are made for spending with a ladle in your hand.
*

[mdi]

Hold on fellers. It's only as expensive as you want it to be. I started with a 1 qt. SS pot, a single burner Coleman stove, a Lee dipper and a Lee mold. I used paraffin to flux, stole a slotted spoon from Ma, found a large serving spoon at the dollar store. My first ingot mold was a 9 hole muffin pan I found i the trash. I saw a dip lube kit by Lee on ebay and bought it. I had access to a bunch of wheel weights and cast up a lot of bullets. Total outlay? Around $25 dollars. Yep a bunch of dedicated casting tools would have been great, but I made perhaps a couple thousand bullets with this set up before I got an electric pot and all the other stuff one "needs" to cast good bullets...

[TexasGrunt]

I don't have 77 boolit molds....yet. But I've got somewhere around 140 lure and sinker molds. Some of that lure making stuff is a bit on the expensive side. 5/32 solid brass beads are over $50/1000, spinner blades are $90/1000, glass beads are $30/1000, wire forms are $37/1000. I've got something like 40 lbs of powder paint, four airbrushes, airbrush paint, 3D lure eyes, the list goes on and on.

I can purchase smaller amounts but the price goes way up. So I buy in bulk because it......saves me money!

195121

This is the most used lure on my boat for whites, hybrid and striped bass. I make them 100 at a time in each color.

195122

Another favorite.

195123

Box of work.

195124

A day's casting.

195125

A couple more slabs.

[Springfield]

I have a row of cast boolits on a shelf to remind me of what moulds I have, whenever I think of getting a new one. It isn't totally complete, but it does come to 75 bullets! Most of them I use, some of them a great deal. I still have to start casting for my 6.55 Swedish Mauser, my .303 British rifles, and need to shoot the Webley hollow bases bullets, that I have moulds for but haven't really used yet. I am just planning ahead, so that's smart, right? :) I am currently involved in only one GB, a Mihec 8 cavity 9mm mould, so that isn't too bad.

[rintinglen]

I am only a smidge over average--I have 83 molds--but I have an excuse--I am an addict.
If only Hilary had been elected, I could get treatment...for free.

[fredj338]

Good casting equip is cheap compared to good reloading gear. It lasts forever, almost, & the return on investment can be pretty damn quick if you shoot big bores or just shoot a lot. For me, casting is like therapy time, where reloading is almost a chore after 40yrs worth. Though I would do less if I had to pay much more than $1/# for alloy. Welcome back to therapy.

[Tenbender]

I'm thinking of selling out. I'm to old for this anymore.

[sawinredneck]

Good casting equip is cheap compared to good reloading gear. It lasts forever, almost, & the return on investment can be pretty damn quick if you shoot big bores or just shoot a lot. For me, casting is like therapy time, where reloading is almost a chore after 40yrs worth. Though I would do less if I had to pay much more than $1/# for alloy. Welcome back to therapy.
I shoot 10mm, started back in the mid 90's, factory ammo hit $1 a round shortly after! That's what started me reloading, and the statement about the equipment being costly isn't a joke! I bought a Redding single stage, scale, Lee PPM, etc., kept it minimal and I could easily keep up. Now my son is shooting, we've added new pistols and rifles as well as friends found out and wanted some ammo. No sooner than I buy a Lee classic turret to up production, I come across a steal of a deal on an RL550B and MEC Jr. I hadn't even considered loading shotgun shells!?
So $55 to ship the Dillon back, $70 for a refurb and $120 for the conversions just for the hangun conversions I needed, it was set up in 9mm. Still have more to buy for it, spares etc., but it all adds up, fast!
I've only got 3 molds, so far, but......
Then the Lee 4-20, I was also going to go the way of a pot and ladle, but was talked out of it. But it just goes on and on, like every other rabbit hole we follow!

[MKN]

Actually I have kept the expense at a minimum... I make boolits on the cheap, that was my primary goal.

I do all my "hot work" on our old electric kitchen stove/oven that had been retired/replaced a couple years before I started casting. I use old cast iron cookware that that we either had lying around or picked up cheap at flea markets and such... I pour with a ladle. I sold/traded no longer used (or never used) firearms related items to acquire a used Lyman lube-sizer, sizing dies, top punches, and a few molds. I made my own boolit lube. I made my ingot molds from scrap steel I had laying around. In the course of making trades/purchases I acquired a few molds I really didn't have any use for, and I just recently sold a three to fund needed boolit making items for my latest firearms acquisition (1911 .45 ACP). Heck, I've never even bothered to get a casting thermometer... I've not really seen the need for one. I don't play around with several boolits in one firearm; I just work up 1 (sometimes 2) loads for each gun using boolit... if the mold I'm using ain't working out like I hoped, I try to trade it, or sell it to fund a different mold. If you're careful and pay attention there's some really great mold deals on Ebay, I've purchased molds as cheap as $12... even if they ain't something you can use or want, they are great for trading stock or even reselling (two of the ones I just sold were Ebay purchases I never once used).

I get all my wheel weights for free... and I have a few tons stashed away in 5 and 10 pound bricks (made in my homemade ingot molds). In fact, I'm planing on picking up a 30-gallon barrel about two-thirds full this afternoon.

It can be done cheaply, but that has to be one of you're objectives... I cast boolits to feed my shooting addiction, the actual casting itself is not the addiction. Every dollar I shave off the production of boolits can be used to fund the other things needed to feed my shooting addiction I cannot make myself... such as power, primers, brass, and firearms.

Yeah, a fancy bottom-pour pot and 6-cavity molds would be nice; but I don't mind ladle pouring 1 or 2 boolits at a time... rainy days are made for spending with a ladle in your hand.
*


Like it Whitespider !

I have not gone to the extent you have, but, I dig my range scrap lead, pick my brass, bought some Lee molds, 9 mm , 30 cal , and 45 feed my needs. spend my bucks on re-loaders, firearms and primers, powder. Here's a beer to you and all others casting and shooting !!!! It is fantastic casting a boolit, loading a cartridge and shooting an accurate round !!!

PS I don't like to watch sports on TV, or take naps on the couch, I like to keep busy, so, yes bad weather days are great casting, lube, load days
Matt

[Hardcast416taylor]

I don't have 77 boolit molds....yet. But I've got somewhere around 140 lure and sinker molds. Some of that lure making stuff is a bit on the expensive side. 5/32 solid brass beads are over $50/1000, spinner blades are $90/1000, glass beads are $30/1000, wire forms are $37/1000. I've got something like 40 lbs of powder paint, four airbrushes, airbrush paint, 3D lure eyes, the list goes on and on.

I can purchase smaller amounts but the price goes way up. So I buy in bulk because it......saves me money!

195121

This is the most used lure on my boat for whites, hybrid and striped bass. I make them 100 at a time in each color.

195122

Another favorite.

195123

Box of work.

195124

A day's casting.

195125

A couple more slabs.


Remember back in the `old days` when you went fishing with a 1/4 stick of dynamite?

The last molds I got, before Drs. started taking all my money, was several .416 molds and several paper patching molds for the 8mm. I still don`t know why or when I got most of my molds.Robert

[sawinredneck]

Remember back in the `old days` when you went fishing with a 1/4 stick of dynamite?

The last molds I got, before Drs. started taking all my money, was several .416 molds and several paper patching molds for the 8mm. I still don`t know why or when I got most of my molds.Robert
Ha! That reminded me of the old joke about the fisherman and game warden, "You gonna fish or write me a ticket?" I'm sure most know the rest.