I've been wrestling around with rather I want to get into casting or not. One of the first things I did was to hit some tire shops and rattle some friends cages and find out that free lead, or even scrap lead to buy, is going to be hard to come by in my parts. Most every source already has many more people after it already than they have scrap anymore. Not a big deal or deal breaker, seems availability in the $1.50-$2.00 /lb. range on the doorstep is still pretty easy.
I kind of put the notion to bed after not having much luck sourcing lead a couple months back and instead pursued commercial casters. It is amazing to me how many people are selling CB's. I've never even heard of most of these places, yet everytime I turn around I find a new one now. Anyway, I order some bullets commercially as well as from a couple hobbyist casters willing to sell a few. Long story short, all the home cast CB's out shoot the commercials. The commercial cast performance isn't bad necessarily, just bested quite handily by the home version. I think alloys, bullet types/shapes, and sizes are all playing a factor here of course but afterall that's part of what you'd be gaining casting your own so even if not apples/apples it's a fair comparison I think.
So, to bring this full circle, it seems like I should maybe look at casting for myself again. Dollar wise, it's not much of a gain for me. I've figured and figured and I think best case for .44 and .45 caliber slugs I might save .03 to .04 cents a bullet after I pay off my investment in my casting equipment and figure my time is worth nothing. I get that money isn't the only concern and it's not to me either, however it is part of the equation worth considering IMO. A better product is what has me looking at this again for the most part though. It does come down to money and time though somewhat as well. I love to tinker when I have time, but for some reason I'm not sure how much I'll enjoy bullet casting. Also, not sure how much of my time it will take and how much will be left for loading and range time.
I've looked at the Lyman Master Kit and am not really sure about some aspects of it. It seems I'm buying a lube-sizer and a good book and they are throwing in some other junk I'm gonna out grow quickly if I decide to keep casting. If it had a bottom pour pot I'd be much more interested in it. If I'm gonna ladle anyway I've got a hot plate and an old pot that won't cost much of anything other than buying a ladle. The other option I've considered is the much talked about Lee 20# bottom poor and tumble lubing for a while then just buying the Lyman book and then a ways down the road if I stick with it a lube-sizer. I'd be doing without a lube-sizer for a while I guess, but the second approach seems like I'd end up with better stuff for about the same if not a little less money in the end.
I'm intersted in what some of you veteran casters have to add to the thought process and how you would approach casting your own today knowing all you know. Save me some money and help me to avoid some mistakes.