Using Already Made Cast Boolits

[BrianL]

I buy bulk 9mm from a casting company because they size my bullets to .358 which is what my old pistols like. They also work great in my 38's. I have only bought rifle bullets twice. Once for 30 carbine and one lot of cowboy 30-30 just to get me by while my casting area was being refurbed. They shot ok.

[bangerjim]

Used to buy com-cast boolits but once I got into really casting and then in the past 2 years powder coating, it is too much work to strip all the greasy lube off the boolits so I can PC them.

Besides for the cost of a couple hundred, I can buy the mold and make as many as I want!

Com-cast is for people living where they cannot run a casting pot and all the smells & smoke related to it.

Only boolits I now buy are FMJ's for my 223 full loads.

banger-j

[fredj338]

The biggest drawback to casting is getting cheap alloy. Much like reloading, you can spend as much or as little as you like to produce bullets. Get cheap or free alloy, doesn't take long to pay for a good casting/sizing setup.
Lee BP pot, 6cav mold & Lee push thru sizer, about $120? That isn't even 2k bullets. If you want coated, buy a $50 pizza oven & some hi-tek. I scrounge most of my alloy, but even at $1/#, 1000 coated 200/45 cost me $37-$38! Compare to buying them at $100, yeah, worth the 3-4hrs to make them if you shoot a lot.

[ascast]

xvigauge - As a small time commercial caster, I think your on the right track. Buying lets you try out a whole bunch of different styles, hardness etc. When ( if ) you ever find one that is really what you want, you can get a mold and duplicate.

[BrianL]

It is sometimes just a matter of time and the value and demand that we put upon it. I cast all of my rifle bullets but at $26 for 500 9mm sized to my bore, ready to load it is a no-brainer to buy.

[ioon44]

I buy some commercial boolits from a local commercial caster un lubed un sized and lube or HI-TEK coat then size to fit my guns, also I cast a lot of my own depending on what boolit I want or how many I will need.

[Janoosh]

+1 BrianL.
I cast for my milsurps and 45/70 Rolling Block. I buy for my 38/357 lever and single shot rifle because the boolits available from MBC are reasonable and work. I also buy 31/32 ish pistol boolits for 30/31ish milsurp plinkers.
I find myself shooting them faster than I can cast them.

[Eddie2002]

I bought two 500 boxes of cast boolits for my .380 ACP last year at a gun show. They are 115 grain and work well enough over 2.4 grains of Greendot. The price was right and they make a good target round for shooting at the range. Otherwise I cast for my rifles and muzzle loaders.

[MT Chambers]

As a Canadian cast bullet supplier, I try to cast bullets in diff. alloys and diameters to match the customers specs, I don't believe in those extra-hard cast, bevel base bullets, I also find that most makers use simple, easy to drop designs, which benefit the caster not the purchaser. I make and sell what I use including molds from the best makers esp. LBT, Accurate, Saeco, NOE, Hoch, etc.....So yes, you can buy anything in the way of cast bullets, in most cases they will be as good as you can cast yourself, maybe without the pride that "you made them yourself".

[Three44s]

Plinker quality com-cast can be a bargin but once you move larger bore sizes+gas checked+custom sized ........ you are way in over your head in cost.

I started with a little casting equipment ...... did not cast much .... bought the hard little pills with the hard lube that falls out all too easily ...... but economics and this web site ended all of that!

And those inexpensive plinkers you can buy ......... ? Well, get yourself a Lee six cavity tumble lube mold and lube with a liquid alox product and blaze away with them as cast .... I don't bother to size them just for plinkers.


Three 44s

[BrianL]

I am a dipper and do not find the 6 cavity molds to be conducive to my style of casting so I generally will run 2 or 3 double cavity molds for a couple of hours at a time. Figuring a rate of about 150 bullets an hour it takes me 3 1/2 hours to cast the bullets, another hour to lube, another hour to size if necessary. The cost of the lead, electricity, inhaling the fumes.........etc. That is 5 1/2 hours for 500 9mm bullets that I can buy for $26. I do no longer have the 'I made it myself' syndrome with pistol bullets. Rifle bullets are another matter. So nope, but you can have at it, to each their own.

[BruceB]

I generally will run 2 or 3 double cavity molds for a couple of hours at a time. Figuring a rate of about 150 bullets an hour it takes me 3 1/2 hours to cast the bullets,

I don't recall ever buying a cast bullet, in about fifty years of handloading.

For my own casting, ONE two-cavity mould yields 400-500 good bullets per hour. Buying 'em just doesn't make sense for me.

[BrianL]

I don't recall ever buying a cast bullet, in about fifty years of handloading.

For my own casting, ONE two-cavity mould yields 400-500 good bullets per hour. Buying 'em just doesn't make sense for me.

I would like to observe your technique. That figures out to about 4 pours per minute.. I assume that you are not dipping

[gloob]

I can order 1500 bullets in 5 minutes, tops! And I know guys that can order 10,000+ in the same amount of time!

I don't size my pistol bullets, and I tumble lube a batch in just a few minutes. But I still can't beat the cost and time efficiency of buying cast pistol bullets. When I hit the free lead lottery, I might cast all my plain base pistol bullets. As long as the price is right, I buy what works and make only what I need.

I'm experimenting with some commercial 9mm bullets, now, to try to wean myself totally off of home cast pistol bullets.

[fredj338]

I am a dipper and do not find the 6 cavity molds to be conducive to my style of casting so I generally will run 2 or 3 double cavity molds for a couple of hours at a time. Figuring a rate of about 150 bullets an hour it takes me 3 1/2 hours to cast the bullets, another hour to lube, another hour to size if necessary. The cost of the lead, electricity, inhaling the fumes.........etc. That is 5 1/2 hours for 500 9mm bullets that I can buy for $26. I do no longer have the 'I made it myself' syndrome with pistol bullets. Rifle bullets are another matter. So nope, but you can have at it, to each their own.

As with anything, time value is negated by buying better gear. Casting with a 2cav mold by hand takes along time to do even 500 bullets. Using a 5-6cav, things move a lot faster. Not unlike reloading on a progressive press vs ss press.
Bottom pour pot, 5-6 cav mold, I can cast 600-700/hr once the pot is up to temp (3 pours a min). An hour to size & lube on the star, so 3hrs for 1200-1400 bullets, not a bad deal if the alloy is free.

[spfd1903]

A few years ago, I purchased a lot of good quality boolits from SNS. Ordered and loaded 9 x 19, .38 Special, .40 S & W, and their 115 grain M1 Carbine by the 500 lots. I am not sure which year I went wrong, but now I fritter away my time sorting wheel weights, driving around looking for beeswax, chopping up bars of Ivory soap, and creating a hazmat zone smelting roofing lead with globs of tar attached. Some how I am surrounded by dozens of molds, a hardness tester, numerous sizing dies, a hot plate....... I don't know if I can stop.

[gwpercle]

The reason I started casting was in 1967 the only way to get cast boolits was do it your-self. The gunshop sold J-words and soft swaged lead but no hard cast . They did sell Lyman moulds. After reading Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton thoughts on reloading and shooting , you bought a mould and made up some SWC's like they touted.
After getting into casting I found I really enjoyed it, like therapy. I don't play golf or tennis, a few hours spent turning out shiney silver orbs of destruction is very enjoyable and satisfying. To me it's fun!
Gary

[Janoosh]

+1gwpercle. I find it very relaxing using a single cavity mold, either 30 or45 cal, and casting, or trying to, one perfect boolit at a time. Just taking my time.
I just find it easier to buy the 38/357 boolits bulk, and they aren't my target loads.

[Love Life]

I buy from vendors for limited use bullets. Examples would be to have some for load testing or specific bullet types like the ones I use in my webley.