Years ago I purchased the Ballisti-cast Mark IV on a group buy. The guys actually delivered it in person and set it up. I have been told by some that purchasing the equipment was a waste of money and that I could have simply purchased plated bullets instead and I would probably have a life time supply. Working the pencil figuring the calibers the wife and I shoot has me thinking that I could have purchased about 15K bullets for the basic price of the machine. Trying to justify the purchase I compared it to filling a itrous bottle as opposed to having a supercharger on the car. Sure I could fill the nitrous bottle cost back about 15+ years was $30. The supercharger package I had put on the car back in 2000 was around 9K. Anyway, when the bottle is empty you re-fill it and your good for a while and sooner of later the $30 fills and the cost of the bottle and controls equals the cost of the supercharger. When you reach the break even point the supercharger keeps on giving and so does the bullet caster. If I had purchased 15K worth of bullets the money was gone and I would have nothing to show for it. This year alone I probably went thru 3K worth of 9mm and 40 cal bullets along with a lot of cast 9mm bullets and some cast 40's.
Sure, its work to cast and size even with the Star and Magma sizers and the Ballisti-cast bullet caster but when the store shelves were empty I had thousands of rounds of 9mm and 40cal and other assorted calibers in my storage rack.
So, is it really worth it?