Casting RB Versus Buying RB

[cas]

I'm sort of an odd duck on this forum, I hate casting bullets!
So I buy my round balls, even though lately I've thought about casting. But I choose to save my lead and casting time for things I almost have to cast for. Odd stuff... calibers, sizes, weights, things that you just can't buy or are cost prohibitive.

Though casting .58 mini balls was what got me started 30 years ago.

[brewer12345]

I started casting so I never run out of projectiles. I like doing stuff myself as well. I find casting to be fun and the economics for stuff like conicals is great. Round balls is decent, ditto cartridge bullets. If someone else does not want to cast it is no skin off my nose.

Last summer I shot hundreds of round balls in 50, 54 and 58. I need to cast some more 58s soon, and I think the ammo can of 50 balls is maybe a third full, so could stand to bang out a bunch of those. I probably shoot more 50 than anything else simply because I got my hands on a Lyman 4 banger mold that is extremely well broken in and just rains balls. Keep meaning to figure out if Lyman ever made a 4 banger in .530.

[charlie b]

While I have a bullet mold for my Lyman ML, I rarely use it. The few times I shoot it I just buy some Hornady Great Plains bullets.

PS I do cast a lot of bullets. 210gn .30 cal bullets for my .308win bolt rifle.

[Edward]

Edward,

SMH.

I don't charge for guys who want to stop in and cast with me. I never said nor insinuate that.

Your opinions are of no value to the discussion. Except to poke me cause you can from your key board.

You guys here, some of you need to step into reality and look at the avg shooters time vs cost.

An avg. guy who works 60-70 hours a week will not spend a hours looking for lead and tools to cast.
He wants to shoot in his off time.

I don't watch any kind of ball games haven't since they went on strike back in the 80's.

No one is forced to make a purchase or stop by to see the casting or reloading process at my place.
I offer to them to stop by when they ask about reloading. They have already spent hours on the internet pricing and watching videos.

I give them prices and advice. Then tell them any questions call me.

I didn't start casting or reloading to save money. I started so I would never run out of shooting.










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My opinion is worth as much as the next guys and it cost you nothing . I cast a lot yesterday 21lbs of 452 TC and (44 mag mistake ) grabbed the wrong mold 20 degrees in garage/ 4AM and got the right one and 9Lbs more . close to 30 lbs and I will do more the end of week as 6 bangers go quik ! I am not average nor are the guys I shoot with but we all like to shoot short 200/long 800 but after hunting season it is a sport we appreciate . I don"t know you and don "t care to but I think you need to get out more often . I Like casting and would not be shooting if not for reloading and do not need lectures from you about casting /shooting/reality /ect cause you seem to be lacking experience in all 3/Ed

[Prairie Cowboy]

I find it a bit sad that on a bullet casting forum, and especially with regard to traditional muzzle loading, that so many are indifferent to the simple process of pouring their own lead balls.

As a cash-strapped 18 year old with my first black powder gun (an Italian replica .44 C+B Remington revolver) back in the 1970s, I had no choice but to cast my own .451" round balls. Nobody was selling round balls back then, and I wouldn't have missed out on the fun of casting my own if they were.

For the price of a 10# iron pot and a Lyman egg ladle, and a bullet mold, I was in business. I still have all of these today. That 50 year old Lyman mold is like new after thousands of cast balls, and will never wear out. A heck of a good investment. The Lee aluminum ones are much cheaper and will probably last a good long time. I own several.

With my trusty Coleman camp stove, a stick and a spoon, and a towel to catch my cast bullets and balls, I made huge quantities from lead salvaged for free from my high school basement .22 range.

Today you will likely have to buy soft lead, but what you cast is still cheaper than the commercial round balls from Hornaday and Speer. I notice that Speer is cheaper, at 10 cents per .454" round ball, with Hornaday costing .16 cents, at Midway.

The Speer balls are a good price. Unfortunately, most Speer and Hornaday lead round balls are out of stock at Midway, like most of their ammo and reloading components. It's the Covid-19 world that we live in. So if you want lead round balls to shoot you will have to cast your own or scrounge to find anything, or not shoot at all.

BBB tells us that the average guy works 60 or 70 hours a week. Average? Uhhh...No.
Most of us still work a 40 hour week. Some a few hours more. Some do work longer, but not most. Many of us are retired and have ample time to do whatever we like.

In any case, I will never run out of lead balls or bullets. I will never curse because everything is out of stock due to hoarding. A few casting sessions a year will keep me amply supplied.

But if you shoot very little then just buy lead balls, if you can find any.

[indian joe]

I shoot some of both - cast the stuff I use the most of - buy some other - but the buy stuff is getting more difficult and more expensive, we pay over $30 a hundred now for swaged roundball but can buy ingot lead for around $6 a kilo - a LEE 2 holer is over $50. Self sufficiency is more critical to Aussies too I think and that wasnt part of the original argument - time for a couple more molds!!

[GregLaROCHE]

When I asked a friend how much he paid for his round balls, I did some rough mental math and thought that was really cheap. I have free lead (range scrap) and most of all enjoy casting, so I’ll stick with it. However, if someone says it makes more sense for them to buy them, I wouldn’t argue with them.

[Edward]

When I asked a friend how much he paid for his round balls, I did some rough mental math and thought that was really cheap. I have free lead (range scrap) and most of all enjoy casting, so I’ll stick with it. However, if someone says it makes more sense for them to buy them, I wouldn’t argue with them.

Me neither cause molds /lead keeps going up with demand and all those noobies will make it worse ,or maybe we need the noobies to survive the progressive wing nuts ?

[Maven]

Why I cast my own RB's? (1) I enjoy it; (2) I cast for 6 different calibers of ML's; (3) I have enough Pb for the near term; (4) Almost all of my equipment has paid for itself over the years; (6) There are no local stores that are remotely familiar with muzzleloading items, thus I would have to rely on expensive mail order (postage); and (7) I find my home cast and weighed RB's are more accurate than the store bought ones. E.g., several years ago, I was given several boxes of Speer .451" and .457" RB's. When I tried them in my Rem. NMA and Ruger OA revolvers, I noticed a significant loss of accuracy compared to the RB's I cast and typically used. After remelting the Speers, and returning to cast RB's, things went back to where they were; i.e., better in the Ruger OA, than the Rem. NMA, but nonetheless an improvement in both.

[dondiego]

Maven - What do you feel is the cause of the cast RB's shooting better than the swaged RB's? I have heard this statement on here more than once.

[Soundguy]

I cast my own .451, .454 as well as 36 cal and 69 cal balls.

WAY cheaper than buying commercial.