Is it worth it to cast bullets?

[Buck Neck It]

Should you even have to ask that question after the last two year ammo shortage?

The commie-pinko scum will be right back in our faces as soon as they regroup.

[williamwaco]

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?

If you are paying 6 cents each for the lead you need to find another source.

I pay about one dollar per pound for nice smelted and carefully fluxed ingots delivered to my front door. That is two and a quarter cents each for 160 grain bullets.


AND:

I have had very unhappy results with commercial cast bullets.
I would cast my own if they cost a penny more.

[bangerjim]

I do not do this to save money. it is fun and relaxing.

Your cost of lead is extremely high! That is your problem. I acquired commercial cast & lubed boolits several years ago (just to try them) and was not happy with the performance and leading. I have since melted them down to what I want and powder coated them.

Still, I love to shoot 45LC's and around me, factory loads run well over a buck a round! I can do them for less than 10 cents, not counting the brass because I recover all of it.

I cast 9,30,38,40,45 in many weights and find I can cast, powder coat, load, and shoot for less than commercial rounds cost. The key is your lead cost. I average 90 cents/pound for pure and all the alloys (including Sn and Sb) at local yards.

One big reason to roll your own is you have total control over kick-back and performance. I load extremely light plinking loads all the way up to full factory-like loads.

You will have to make your own decision on casting your own, For me and thousands of others on here, it is fun, relaxing, and saves money.

Enjoy whatever path you take to make your own!

bangerjim

[dondiego]

Ask that question on a jacketed bullet site. I think that these guys might be biased!

[Ickisrulz]

Only you can determine what is right for you. How much do you shoot? How much free time do you have and how do you want to spend it? How much free money do you have and how do you want to spend that? Casting and reloading is not for everyone. But for those that shoot a lot and have some free time they want to devote to this hobby, it can be reward and cost saving. You don't need to have 5 custom molds for each gun or a lot of other things that other guys have. It can be simple and relatively cheap.

[zanemoseley]

I just got into casting and reloading. I bought a lee pot, RCBS mold & handles, and a stainless cart to use. With miscellaneous stuff my total was probably $325 plus $50 for a 120 bucket of COWW. The 45-200-SWC bullets I would have bought would have been about $.12 each, I have only $.017 and got 2888 of them from the bucket. I saved almost $300 on this batch alone which paid for almost all of my start up costs right off the bat.

[Ickisrulz]

Only you can determine what is right for you. How much do you shoot? How much free time do you have and how do you want to spend it? How much free money do you have and how do you want to spend that? Casting and reloading is not for everyone. But for those that shoot a lot and have some free time they want to devote to this hobby, it can be rewarding and cost saving. You don't need to have 5 custom molds for each gun or a lot of other things that other guys have. It can be simple and relatively cheap.

[MGnoob]

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?

Your math or calculation must be off, Then you have to figue if there are none to buy it isn't even about saving money.
The last 2 year buying anything had been difficult.Also i won't buy anything if it isn't the cheap price available, not the "cheapest stuff" but the best price for quality components.

That said. my entire loaded rounds cost $.06 for 9mm, .08 for $.45, and $.10 for .223.
Then you have top figure in time and equipment. I love doing it(most of the time) so that is worth money to me.
Then your equipment costs have to recouped over some kind of period of time.In my case i went all out on equipment so i could make stuff faster than most.

so after one year instead of buying ammo my equipment was paid for, and now i can produce the lowest priced ammo for the rest of my life.It's only worth it if you shoot. Will you save money? Not really if you shoot more than you would have, but now i can shoot as much as i want for less than it cost me to occasionally shoot before. Now i shoot as much as i want as often as i want without even thinking about ammo, Add that i just got into full auto shooting and that my friend is priceless.

[gwpercle]

If you have to ask that question, then the answer is NO.
I do it because it's my hobby, I enjoy doing it, it's satisfying and therapeutic....and I don't like golf.

Writers have to write, singers have to sing, musicians have to play music and casters have to...you guessed it ...cast boolits.
Gary

[Love Life]

Thanks to Xtreme plated bullets, I have really been slacking on casting the majority of my pistol bullets.

[MGnoob]

Thanks to Xtreme plated bullets, I have really been slacking on casting the majority of my pistol bullets.

Very true, when first reloading i when through 10,000s of plated and various jacket style.
It was kindof nice to be able to buy and load reasonable priced plated projectiles..
I would feel really spoiled now. that i have scrounge the lead, smelted to ingot,casted,culled,plated,sized so many now. It defiantly adds alot of steps to the reloading process that already has alot of steps as is.

[7Acres]

Having the capability to make Boolits and not being dependent on market availability and pricing is worth something too. Plus if you shoot into a lead trap your initial price per boolit is reduced every time you harvest from the trap.

[fredj338]

If I have to pay much more than $1.50/# for lead, I am buying bulk bullets instead of casting, not worth my time & effort & wasting my lead that I use for specialty bullets I can't buy. Time is also a factor but it doesn't take long with a 4-6cav mold to make 1000 bullets. Hobby or not, time is still valuable to many of us.

[Vulcan Bob]

Is it worth it, well that depends on the individual and what they want from it. For myself I enjoy the whole process but above all is this. I get the bullet I want, the alloy I want and the lube I want when I want it. Being independent from a commercial source of bullets is very nice too. No waiting for a week or two or months to get what I want or need. For me yes it is worth it.

[big bore 99]

Only speaking on my own. It's worth it. I scrounge all my lead. I shoot a couple 45-70's a few times a week, so the cost would be restrictive. I'm retired and never was much for golf or tv. I enjoy working with the variables and keeping records of my results. For me it is well worth it in many ways.

[MT Chambers]

When you cast, you have control over bullet design, size, consistancy, type of lube, hardness, etc. I scrounge alot of lead for free, but can buy it for 25cents to 40 cents/lb. around here, so it's a no brainer for the amount that I shoot, almost daily.

[sthwestvictoria]

Like alot of other posters I feel it is the difference between being a consumer and shooter or developing mastery over all facets of my shooting.

[USAFrox]

A lot of people have made the extremely important point that in a crunch where you can't find bullets for love or money, if you cast your own, you can still shoot. During this last crunch where all of the ammo shelves were bare at every store, I never had to slack off on my shooting, because I had components and could cast my own bullets. That right there is priceless.

[trixter]

OOOOOOOOOOO! OOOOOOOOO! I know I know this one, call on me, call on me! (Hand up waving frantically)


YES

NOTHING ELSE TO SAY.

[RED333]

Ya dadburn right it is worth it, as in
"Hey yall look what I did" to all my friends, people I meet at jobs and my family.
Then you get into shooting a cast boolit that you made,
powder coated that you did and make it go at 2500 + FPS.(still working on this)
Now that is something.