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Thread: Is it worth it to cast bullets?

  1. #61
    Boolit Master GabbyM's Avatar
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    Is it really worth it to spend a good portion of our lives aspiring to shoot small groups on paper?
    After all. What's the point in it all? We could be playing golf. Knocking balls across the grass. Growing flowers in widow boxes.
    Or work from sunup to sunset then dream of work in our sleep.

    Our sport is a luxury we indulge ourselves in. Like Art and fine food. Something to be enjoyed while we are alive and active in this wonderful world.

    In other words. If you have five children at home under the age of twelve. You may or may not have time in your life to cast boolits. But you are still OK.

  2. #62
    Boolit Grand Master

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    There are several reasons to cast your own bullets other than cost, savings, or economics. First is that you can use a bullet style thst isnt available otherwise. Some bullets molds are available but finding them cast sized and lubed is almost imposible. I ounce found some 225 grn 45 cal ( sized .4525) full wadcutters I bought a couple 1000 at the time. My 625 and 1911 loved them and they literally threw bowling pins off the table with solid hits. The company went out of buisness and I never found any more, though I have seen the mould listed. Second you have the benifit of varing hardness of the alloy to get expansion obtration from the bullet. Third you can vary lubricants for the powder / load / velocity. With Black powder most alox or hard lubes arnt that good, Nasa SPG, DGL and a couple others are made to work with Black Powder. With older rifles bores may be oversized or vary in dimensions and a softer bullet will seal these better. Fourth it is a relaxing way to spend an afternoon sitting casting and experimenting. I ussually invite a couple friends to cast with me around my big pot and we cast chat about things and when weve had enough we go to the local resturant for lunch. Pistol bullets I normally buy when I can get what I want. BPCR bullets are harder to find and also more expensive when you do find them around .40 - .50 cents each. What I usually recomend is test purchased bullets find what works then find the mould for that bullet.

  3. #63
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    Is casting worth the time?

    That is a personal and subjective question that only you can answer.

    I have asked myself the same...and I answered YES. YMMV

  4. #64
    Boolit Master facetious's Avatar
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    For me reloading and casting got to be a hobby at first so I could shoot more but I think what really got me hooked was what I call the fiddle factor. There are so many things that you can try that you could never do other wise. It is no different than guys that like to tie flies. Thy may not catch any more fish than you but it gives them a reason to go see if the flies thy make them selves work better then the ones you get at the store.

  5. #65
    Boolit Master
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    I bought a 500S&W Handi rifle for the express purpose of developing a quiet, subsonic load that will hit hard. Since It can use the Lee 501 muzzle loading stuff I can really try out stuff. I was not looking forward to casting and am still kind of ambivalent about it. But I have a personal drive to do research just for the heck of it.
    Closest recorded range Chrony kill (3 feet with witnesses)

  6. #66
    Boolit Master


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    One important point to remember is independence. Casting your own cuts the cord to bullet makers.

    Thus, every time a new freshly cast boolit hits the casting pad, somewhere a liberal feels a little shock of fear. That alone makes it worth it to me.


    Cat
    Cogito, ergo armatum sum.

    (I think, therefore I'm armed.)

  7. #67
    Boolit Master

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    For me at least YES ! you have to get your alloy at the price the scrap dealer is paying or slightly higher or possibly barter for some or even better for free !
    I dont usually sell boolets but i do sell some to a perhaps 1 friend and 2 relatives on occasion ,and what i have sold over the years have more than paid for my equipment about 2 to 3K per year.

  8. #68
    Boolit Master dh2's Avatar
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    If it was only about things like .38 Spl. , 9mm , and 45 auto I would most likely not be in to casting my own boolits. they are easy to buy cast bullets for. and I do shoot many commercial cast bullets.
    But casting my own there is options to work with .375, 9.3mm. and many boolit weights for common calibers that I can not just order from midway, and if I want to improve things like a .30 cal. boolit that is .310 not the normal .308 no problem , just change the sizer die.
    It may not be for every one but it is for me

  9. #69
    Boolit Buddy
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    The mould is about all you need to add to your equipment. Be warned you will buy a lot more if you stick with it. Always do what gives you the most pleasure.

    Dave C.
    Distinguished, Master,2600 club, President 100 badge holder.

  10. #70
    Boolit Master waco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Catshooter View Post
    One important point to remember is independence. Casting your own cuts the cord to bullet makers.

    Thus, every time a new freshly cast boolit hits the casting pad, somewhere a liberal feels a little shock of fear. That alone makes it worth it to me.


    Cat
    Preach it brother....
    The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
    Proverbs 1:7

  11. #71
    Boolit Master Handloader109's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Catshooter View Post
    One important point to remember is independence. Casting your own cuts the cord to bullet makers.

    Thus, every time a new freshly cast boolit hits the casting pad, somewhere a liberal feels a little shock fear. That alone makes it worth it to me.


    Cat
    Wow, I couldn't say it any better than this. Similarly the reason I built an AR from an 80% lower. Because I could and government has no record of it. Besides it is a fun thing to do, I love casting.

  12. #72
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    This political fun that we are in got me into casting. I was happy buying lead from Missouri and Bayou boolits... Then you couldn't find any, none zero zilch. Much less for a 8mm Mauser. If I want to make 400 8mm and then 300 429's for my 44 mag and some food for my 30/30 I can and I don't have to factor in shipping or buying an extra 400 that I wont need till next summer. Try buying a gas check boolit, you might as well buy jacketed. So yes, get the pot and start the stream. Let the good times roll.
    About the only rounds that are not cost effective are the 7.62x54. 7.62x39 and the 22LR. But I still load those because I can, except the 22. Wish I could find a way to do those too.

  13. #73
    Boolit Master
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    There's a bunch of reasons that casting bullets is worthwhile other than cost. I think most have been covered, but for me it opens the avenue to special purpose loads and outside the box shooting. You can't buy subsonic .30-30 ammo, or feed a BP bench gun with over the counter bullets. It is also a good alternative to wasting jacketed bullets for case forming or running old CF guns that may have never been loaded with jacketed bullets such as the .25-20 SS, or the odd Sharps rifle here and there.

    If your only reference is saving money, well, yes you can, but you won't.
    I have danced with the Devil. She had excellent attorneys.

  14. #74
    Boolit Master BNE's Avatar
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    It ain't about the money!
    1) It's about doing it yourself
    2) It's the thrill of the hunt for Lead, Antimony, and Tin. (Beeswax, carnuba wax.....)
    3) It's the fun of smelting
    4) It's the fun and comraderie of this site.
    5) It's just fun that ends with a shooting session.

    Welcome to the forumn.
    I'm a Happy Clinger.

  15. #75
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    Quote Originally Posted by beeser View Post
    Just the advice I would expect from my friends over at the Bullseye-L Forum, and good advice too considering my current BE abilities. But the folks here made some good points about the benefits of casting your own bullets. I'm not a good enough shooter to realize most of those but considering that I have much of the equipment already it might be interesting to give casting a try. As mentioned before I have a Lee melter, some lead of unknown quality and an RCBS Lube-A-Matic. I realize that a mold is needed but what else without getting too carried away? The bullet that I would like is a .45 ACP, 185 grain SWC.
    Mold and ladle would be required along with some lead. Lee has a 200 grain SWC 2 cavity for $25 or $53 for 6 cavity plus I think $17 for handles.

    You might just buy ready to use ingots from folks on the forum for approx. $1 a pound OR ....

    You may decide to purchase a used or new propane fish/turkey fryer ($10 - $50) which makes sense if you go for any bulk lead such as scrap yard or WW's from a tire store. Cast iron dutch oven (HF $26) or possibly cut down propane tank for a smelting pot. Face shield and/or safety glasses, some welding gloves, maybe a welding apron should come in at less than $75 assuming you have to purchase it all. Might want a slotted spoon or two, and a couple of soup ladles from the thrift store for stirring in flux and making ingots, some used muffin tins to use as ingot molds. Less than $10.

    In either case it is like having staples in the pantry. You know what you have, what it can provide in terms of meeting future needs. Is that worth it? If you pursue a "cost saving" model you can save money on stocking that pantry by purchasing quantities when you find a good deal and not paying too much for equipment. Must control lead addiction! Also need to consider if "doing for yourself" has value. But like any hobby you can take the costs as high as you desire by going after specialty items or pushing the craft to it's technical limits. Or going for higher production efficiency. Pair of 6 cavity molds and a 40 lb. bottom pour pot will speed production but cost more.

    Some folks have a $200 table saw, some folks have a $2000 table saw both have it for the same "hobby" of making stuff out of wood. Casting is not much different.

    Me I like looking at a full pantry of stuff I have put up, and knowing I have the supplies on hand to meet future needs. Not much different than canning tomatoes from the garden. Just feels good. Might feel good if that pantry was full of store bought canned goods but not the same.

  16. #76
    Boolit Bub nixpap's Avatar
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    Component Number Cost
    Powder (lbs) 1 $ 28.00
    Powder Charge (gr) 3.00
    Primer 1000 $ 40.00
    Case $ 0
    Bullet $0
    Cost / round $ 0.052
    Cost / 50 $ 2.6
    Cost / 1000 $ 52

    This is a close ball park for my 38/357 target loads. free lead with oil change.cheap heat source.free or trade brass.
    The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher plain.

  17. #77
    Boolit Grand Master
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    If you have to ask the question then it probably isn't right for you.
    I don't cast to save money, I cast because I enjoy it. I enjoy doing for myself, I enjoy making things, I take pride in doing everything I can to make my own ammo.

    Some here do cast bullets to save money. Many of us do it because we aren't capable of not doing it. Why would I buy what I can make for myself?

    It isn't about saving money, it is a state of mind.
    You will learn far more at the casting, loading, and shooting bench than you ever will at a computer bench.

  18. #78
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    If I had to buy my lead at $2/lb its not worth it. Even at $1/lb it means my time is worth nothing. But if you try you can get free sources of lead and than its worth it. I never save money reloading though, as reloading just means I shoot 5 times too much.
    Quote Originally Posted by beeser View Post
    I recently acquired a Lee melter and an RCBS Lube-A-Matic and thought about casting some .45 ACP 185 grain SWC bullets for the first time but have a hard time making sense of the economics. I pay about 8 cents for lubed bullets now and I figure it will cost about 6 cents to cast a bullet based on the lead alone. It doesn't seem to make sense to cast or am I missing something?

  19. #79
    Boolit Grand Master







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    Regardless of cost, much of the factor of casting for long time casters is the satisfaction of producing your own projectiles. Just my opinion!
    1Shirt!
    "Common Sense Is An Uncommon Virtue" Ben Franklin

    "Ve got too soon old and too late smart" Pa.Dutch Saying

  20. #80
    Boolit Master

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    I cast and buy. I cast for ALL my milsurps as ammo for them is expensive and I'm chee.....frugal. 7.7 and 6.5 Jap are at least $1 per round. When I cast for these it's @.10 per. But... for plinking rounds, 32 swc or 38 rn, I buy as I can't keep up with my usage otherwise. It's the best of both worlds.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check