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biscot
12-04-2010, 08:00 PM
Used to be, shooting factory ammo, the more I shot the more it cost, a fact brought home every time I went to Wally World to buy ammo at $12 bucks a box.
Now that I'm casting boolits, every boolit I cast is cheaper than the one before, because I have one more boolit to amortize my equipment costs against. So, the more I cast and shoot, the cheaper it is. :drinks:
:holysheep

mannyCA
12-04-2010, 08:10 PM
my thoughts exactly, am I the only one anal enough to keep an excel spreadsheet with formulas about ammo cost breakdown by component price? :wink:

NSP64
12-04-2010, 08:14 PM
Biscot, make a boolit trap and recycle your lead and it will get cheaper yet.
mannyCA, I am afraid so.

geargnasher
12-05-2010, 03:31 AM
Three dozen moulds, three pots, two ladles, two Lyman lube-sizers, 600+ pounds purchased lead, lube supplies, custom casting bench, eight Lyman H&I sets, four push-through sizers, 23 top punches, seven custom-made cast-boolit-only expander spuds, countless customized sizer dies, yeah, I'm saving money! Keep telling my wife that!

Gear

HighHook
12-05-2010, 05:00 AM
Three dozen moulds, three pots, two ladles, two Lyman lube-sizers, 600+ pounds purchased lead, lube supplies, custom casting bench, eight Lyman H&I sets, four push-through sizers, 23 top punches, seven custom-made cast-boolit-only expander spuds, countless customized sizer dies, yeah, I'm saving money! Keep telling my wife that!

Gear

:drinks:My Thoughts Exactly!!!

x101airborne
12-05-2010, 07:58 AM
Well, I only have basic equipment, but i load for 9 pistols, 3 shotguns, and 4 rifles. Factory 357 mag was 33.99 at my local sporting goods shop. I reloaded better ammo and got more satisfaction out of my box costing around 8.00. And thats cause I have to buy my lead.

Charlie Two Tracks
12-05-2010, 08:24 AM
I used to play golf. That was a hobby that was very expensive, frustrating and time consuming. I don't play much anymore. Reloading and casting is a hobby for me that also provides a very useful end product. I get to shoot more for less and in a troublesome world, is a very good thing to know. IMO

biscot
12-05-2010, 10:23 AM
Charlie Two Tracks, that about sums it up for me, too. I'm not a golfer, but I have and have had plenty of other interests, and none of them have been cheap to pursue, at least since I left elementary school. Reloading and casting is about as interesting, fun, and rewarding as any of them, and it does have the added benefit of feeding my guns.

NSP64
12-05-2010, 10:33 AM
and it does have the added benefit of feeding my guns.

I got rid of a Desert Eagle years ago because it couldn't shoot cast (leads up the gas port)

justingrosche
12-05-2010, 11:01 AM
I had the opportunity to buy a Desert Eagle in 50 AE, but turned it down for the same reason. If I can't shoot cast out of it, it's not a good buy at any price.

Three44s
12-05-2010, 11:04 AM
My wife supports my efforts to horde lead! ....... twenty bucks for each five gallon of wheel weights ....... two pizza's for each three buckets of weights for lunch at the tire shop ......

....... an enticer! (The owner does not drink whiskey) ........

Average cost per bucket = $28.00!

Life will be good until my home State's lead ban goes into effect on July 2011!

Bullet trap in my head ..........


Three 44s

ghh3rd
12-05-2010, 11:13 AM
Biscot, make a boolit trap and recycle your lead and it will get cheaper yet.
I was about to reply with the same thing -- sure wish that I could do this!

white eagle
12-05-2010, 11:24 AM
I have my own range and reuse all the lead that I shoot and can find
seems as though my lead consumption should remain the same as long as I shoot
I love this cast,shoot ,cast,reload,well you get the idea

NSP64
12-05-2010, 11:29 AM
the range I shoot at has cowboy action matches once a month. They use big steel plates. The steel plates make nice neat piles of splattered lead for me to harvest the next day.

justingrosche
12-05-2010, 01:34 PM
My wife supports my efforts to horde lead! ....... twenty bucks for each five gallon of wheel weights ....... two pizza's for each three buckets of weights for lunch at the tire shop ......

....... an enticer! (The owner does not drink whiskey) ........

Average cost per bucket = $28.00!

Life will be good until my home State's lead ban goes into effect on July 2011!

Bullet trap in my head ..........


Three 44s
I had heard about the PB ban coming into effect in Washington at the beginning of the year.
If they could only keep the California Condors from eating the WW off the cars. LOL

stainless1911
12-05-2010, 02:20 PM
I thought the EPA backed off of lead this year.

AZ-Stew
12-05-2010, 07:23 PM
I thought the EPA backed off of lead this year.

Unfortunately for Three 44s, the EPA does not have total control of what goes on in WA state. The state can make its own rules (just like restrictive gun laws among the states) and can ban anything it wants, if the legislature votes for it.

Regards,

Stew

jeff100
12-06-2010, 12:38 AM
mannyCA nah, yer not alone...

I built a spreadsheet w/formulas to help me decide if it was worth it to spend the $$ to get into boolit casting. That helped me a lot. Buying two big bore Marlin lever guns last year helped too. Having a half dozen .44 mag revolvers didn't hurt the decision making process either...lol I 'need' lots of cast boolits to feed my guns.