Considering getting into casting but have questions

[fredj338]

Unless my alloy was free or under $1/#, I wouldnt cast my practice bullets. So that is part of the "should I cast" question. Gear is still available. One thing about casting is it can be done pretty inexpensively. Lee 6cav mold, Lee sizing dies, Lee 20# bottom pour, maybe $150 all in. That is like 2000 comm cast bullets. Its the cheap/free alloy thing.
Your dive weights could be pure led or could be zinc or lead & zinc. 70# is about 3000 bullets so a good start but without add'l alloy, might be an issue. As noted, its a hobby unto itself. I enjoy casting & coating my own bullets more than reloading. Yet I still wouldnt cast my own practice bullets if my alloy cost was over $1/#.

[Don1357]

Unless ny alloy was free or under $1/#, I wouldnt cast my practice bullets. So that is part of the "should I cast" question. Gear is still available. One thing about casting is it can be done pretty inexpensively. Lee 6cav mold, Lee sizing dies, Lee 20# bottom pour, maybe $150 all in. That is like 2000 comm cast bullets. Its the cheap/free alloy thing.
Your dive weights could be pure led or could be zinc or lead & zinc. 70# is about 3000 bullets so a good start but without add'l alloy, might be an issue. As noted, its a hobby unto itself. I enjoy casting & coating my own bullets more than reloading. Yet I still wouldnt cast my own practice bullets if my alloy cost was over $1/#.

I'm sorry but what you are saying makes no sense. Basically if you have to pay for lead that would make boolits cost you under .03 cents each you rater not do it and just buy precast boolits at 4 to 10 times more? Boxes of premade boolits are not cheap.

[Three44s]

Welcome!

It always pays to get into casting!

....... if you intend to stick with it ...... and if you start out cheap!

Your first cartridge is the the 38/357’s. There is no better place to start!

I would acquire a 6 cavity Lee Tumble lube design mold for 158 gr SWC and a small lead pot or better still one of those drippy little Lee bottom pour electric pots.

Get your lead however you can.

Dig bullets out of dirt or build your self some fashion of bullet trap and recycle and re-recycle your lead!

You likely will not need to size those TL bullets, just use Lee’s Liquid Alox.

You will not be making first class hunting bullets but they sure will fill in for cheap practice fodder.

You can start with a 2 cavity mold of the same bullet design but as you shoot a lot, I think that spending the extra money for the six cavity makes sense in your case.

If you want to get into bullet sizing later so be it.

I would shoot unsized for now until you know how far you will go.

Enjoy your stay.

Three44s

[LenH]

Welcome aboard. first off I would suggest you down load a book on this site. From Ingot to Target: A Cast Bullet guide for Handgunners and a copy of of the Lyman Cast Bullet Manual.
These 2 together will answer most of your questions. I hope this helps.
I printed out a copy of this book and unless you print front and back it takes a whole lot of paper.

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_textonly2.pdf

[William Yanda]

STOP. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. You will find any further venture in this direction frustrating, time consuming, and a veritable warren of rabbit trails to pursue, not to mention a hole down which untold quantities of money will disappear. Besides, I don't need any more competition for the limited supplies available. Purple font off.

[popper]

I started with a Lee bottom dripper, Lee 170 2x mould, Lee 401 sizer and LLA for 40sw. Shot a few and got a 30/30 mould, 311 sizer. Already had the press and dies. Bought ~ 100# rotometal lead. So about 200$ initially (that was a while back). Cast 40sw is ~ 11$/100 and 308W is ~ 18/100. Yes, I have more $ invested now. Now it's prob. 3-400$ to get started so it depends on how much you shoot and (several states now ready to outlaw lead) where you live.

[fredj338]

I'm sorry but what you are saying makes no sense. Basically if you have to pay for lead that would make boolits cost you under .03 cents each you rater not do it and just buy precast boolits at 4 to 10 times more? Boxes of premade boolits are not cheap.

Sure it does if you do the math properly & buy comm bullets at a decent price. I can buy coated lead 9mm for 7c delivered to my door in bulk, click of a button. So at $1/# it cost me 2.5c in alloy, call it another 1/2c for coating, to make them. If I had unlimited time, maybe. It takes me about 4hrs to cast, coat & size 1000. So to save $40, probably not, but maybe, why I said $1/# was my cut off. If alloy was $2/#, now my bullets cost 5c each, nope, not going to cast for that. Now free alloy, totally diff math. Most of us have some time value, even if retired, which I am yet not. I do like being able to have my fav bullets anytime I want to just go cast some.

[Don1357]

Sure it does if you do the math properly & buy comm bullets at a decent price. I can buy coated lead 9mm for 7c delivered to my door in bulk, click of a button. So at $1/# it cost me 2.5c in alloy, call it another 1/2c for coating, to make them. If I had unlimited time, maybe. It takes me about 4hrs to cast, coat & size 1000. So to save $40, probably not, but maybe, why I said $1/# was my cut off. If alloy was $2/#, now my bullets cost 5c each, nope, not going to cast for that. Now free alloy, totally diff math. Most of us have some time value, even if retired, which I am yet not. I do like being able to have my fav bullets anytime I want to just go cast some.

That's a bit better.

.44 and above you can't find anything anywhere that cheap plus I don't powder coat so even paying for lead it is ridiculously cheap. Heck if you look at the uncommon sizes prices can be really stupid, and then there is the factor that you get to fine tune them to whatever application I want.

[fn1889m]

I am a relatively new caster, and I don’t have a lot of wisdom to offer. I know it looks overwhelming to start with, when you first jump in. Then after a couple casting sessions, things start to come together and it makes sense. I get a lot of satisfaction out of making even 100 bullets. That’s about all I load at any given time in any event.

I am sure your journey will be different than mine. But I started with a 10 pound pot, and soon upgraded to a 20 pound Lee pot. I didn’t want to mess with bottom pour, so I’ve been filling the mold by ladle from the beginning. I started with Lyman molds, but I’ve recently purchased a Lee 45 ACp mold. I would recommend that you start with a two cavity mold. There’s a learning curve, and you have a little more control over the heat with a two cavity mold.

I started with lead purchased off the Internet, and probably paid a little too much. I’ve since found a lead source, which I melt into ingots for later use. It might be helpful if you just bought clean led to start with, just to make the learning process a little easier. Keep it simple to start with.

You need some safety gear: gloves, glasses, and an apron. (And did I say to cast outside? Ventilation is a safety thing.) I would also recommend the Lyman casting book. It has loads for cast bullets, and a lot of good articles at the beginning. There are other free manuals you can download off the Internet, referenced above by other posters. But the Lyman casting manual is a good place to start.

For sizing I use the Lee push through sizer on my press. It’s simple and cheap. For lube I use 50% Lee Liquid Alox (came with the Lee Sizer,) and 50% Johnson’s Past Wax, diluted with mineral spirits. I tumble lube in a Tupperware container. This works great in slow bullets. I’ve been loading 38/35745 LC, and 44 special. I keep the velocity under 1000 ft./s. Probably more like 800 to 900 ft/s. .38 Spl is a great place to start. Casting, sizing and tumble lube instructions are in the forum under those topics. It’s a craft for most of us, not a science.

The point is, keep it simple to start with. Pick one mold for a bullet that you like, don’t worry too much about the specific alloy composition. Just practice casting a few bullets, till you get the feel for it, and most of them come out OK. The parts want to work together. You just need to give them an opportunity to do so.

None of this is “advice from the master“. I am a beginner. But the way to casting is to just start, keep it simple, and work through it. I like casting bullets for its own sake, much as I like reloading. It’s not an effort to make as many bullets as possible. But it is really nice to be self-sufficient. You have control over a larger part of the process. No one can take your those things away from you.

[fredj338]

That's a bit better.

.44 and above you can't find anything anywhere that cheap plus I don't powder coat so even paying for lead it is ridiculously cheap. Heck if you look at the uncommon sizes prices can be really stupid, and then there is the factor that you get to fine tune them to whatever application I want.

Sure large bullets or uncommon bullets, casting is very economical, even paying $2/# but common 9mm or 38sp, I would just buy them & not worry about saving the $40/1000.