Too late to start casting?

[6622729]

Best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago , second best is right now . Get started now .

One thing I think we have established, it's never too late to start casting and there is no shortage of sources for lead. Jump in!

[fredj338]

As for lead, maybe the old ways of finding lead for free at the corner service station are gone but you can buy appropriate lead on eBay all day long for well under $2.00/lb and from here in the Swap and Sell forum for $1.45/lb. There is no issue with getting lead.

If you want to cast and reload to save money, unless you are shooting some very obscure caliber that you can't buy commercially, forget it. Casting and reloading is a hobby in and of itself. If your time means anything, it will never be a cost saver. Casting and reloading is independence and the ability to tailor a load for a particular gun or use.

I would probably not cast my own if I had to pay more than $1.50/#. That would be $45 for 1000-200gr 45s. About 3hrs work to produce them. Right now, still working, that would not be worth my time, even though I really enjoy casting my own. If you shoot a lot, then the $$ saved is quite a bit reloading & casting your own, even if you buy lead. I try to scrounge a lot, do some trades for lead, keeps my cost slightly above free. So at 8-9k rds a year, I prefer to cast & now coat & reload my own. I can load 1k rds of 45acp for about $50 at todays costs. If I had to buy bullets, that would jump to $130! If I had to buy factory ammo, $330!!!! I would certainly shoot a lot less.

[kmw1954]

I certainly can't argue your economic view of this. It does make sense. For someone that's working 40-60 hrs. a week or on a schedule were they have to work a weekend day then free time becomes more valuable than money saved. I know this from experience when I was working 55 hrs. and every other weekend.

Now being retired time is a commodity I have lots of. Excited about getting started on a new pastime.

[Biggs300]

I've got too many hobbies…reloading, hunting (hogs, deer, elk and turkey), sporting clays and skeet shooting, fishing, golf and guitar. I'll soon be 65 and will be retiring in less than 2 months. If I picked up the hobby at this point, I think my wife would shoot me with anything I might be able to cast. With two 45-70's and a 358 Win, I've thought hard about it. If I was just a few years younger…..

[6622729]

I've got too many hobbies…reloading, hunting (hogs, deer, elk and turkey), sporting clays and skeet shooting, fishing, golf and guitar. I'll soon be 65 and will be retiring in less than 2 months. If I picked up the hobby at this point, I think my wife would shoot me with anything I might be able to cast. With two 45-70's and a 358 Win, I've thought hard about it. If I was just a few years younger…..

Now there would be some irony, to be shot by a boolit you cast!

[Texantothecore]

The current prices for ammo are outrageous. I bought 4 boxes of .45 lc this year: $25.00 for each box of 20. 20? Ridiculous

I think that all the new shooters that have come into the sport will keep the prices high for a long time and I don't see any relief on the horizon.

Other than the above purchases, I haven't purchased ammo since 2006 when I started casting.

My accuracy is much better than with the jacketed because casting allows me to shoot several times a week rather than once a month.

Casting, along with reloading, makes it possible to do shooting sports every night if I have the time. Great!

I have found it nearly impossible to burn through $10.00 of ammo in a shooting session. Frequently the guy next to me at the range is burning through $100.00 to $120.00 per hour. Unacceptable.

I suffered not one bit during the Great Ammo Shortage. I expect to see shortages of like severity sometime in the future as many new shooters come into the sport. 76% of millenials intend to buy an ar-15 or ak and as the economy turns around they will be doing so.

As an older friend of mine recently said "the younger guys burn through 200 rounds a minute, the older guys burn 1 round every two minutes."

The satisfaction of using your own bullets is great enough to make it worthwhile without any real thought about cost reduction.

[6622729]

The current prices for ammo are outrageous. I bought 4 boxes of .45 lc this year: $25.00 for each box of 20. 20? Ridiculous

I think that all the new shooters that have come into the sport will keep the prices high for a long time and I don't see any relief on the horizon.

Other than the above purchases, I haven't purchased ammo since 2006 when I started casting.

My accuracy is much better than with the jacketed because casting allows me to shoot several times a week rather than once a month.

Casting, along with reloading, makes it possible to do shooting sports every night if I have the time. Great!

I have found it nearly impossible to burn through $10.00 of ammo in a shooting session. Frequently the guy next to me at the range is burning through $100.00 to $120.00 per hour. Unacceptable.

I suffered not one bit during the Great Ammo Shortage. I expect to see shortages of like severity sometime in the future as many new shooters come into the sport. 76% of millenials intend to buy an ar-15 or ak and as the economy turns around they will be doing so.

As an older friend of mine recently said "the younger guys burn through 200 rounds a minute, the older guys burn 1 round every two minutes."

The satisfaction of using your own bullets is great enough to make it worthwhile without any real thought about cost reduction.

Love your last line and it's something I take great satisfaction in. I have come to take for granted the ability to reload and the ability to cast. Doesn't eveyone do this?! Lol. In casual conversations with others (shooters and non) I quickly realize and again appreciate the skills I have learned.

[dudel]

I haven't purchased ammo since 2006 when I started casting.

My accuracy is much better than with the jacketed because casting allows me to shoot several times a week rather than once a month.

Interesting. You haven't bought factory ammo in 10 years; but you shoot better with Boolits.

I suspect you probably shoot pretty darn good with factory ammo as well after 10 years of practice!

FMJ, plated, Boolits. I don't seem to shoot one better than the other. Practice counts.

[kalison]

I asked myself the same question when I first started casting just a year or so ago.

What sold me on "going for it" was calling my local metal scrap yards. I can get WW for .65/lb and Hospital lead for .75/lb. The savings are still there. I can cast for 2-3 cents a projectile, which is well under even some of the best bulk deals out there lead or FMJ.

Time isnt money with me, as long as I enjoy it.

[Shiloh]

Free lead sources are drying up. Other than that, you can be in charge of making your own boolits

Shiloh

[William Yanda]

"The guy who cast boolits mentioned that in his opinion because it's become so difficult to scrounge lead, it's almost not worth casting anymore."

Disinformation published in the interest of reducing competition for his lead sources.

[paraord]

I know Im late to the party but you will never know what you are missing unless you give it a shot. Its totally worth it IMHO. And I live in NY where lead wheel weights are slim. Youll find a source. This is a wonderful hobby and its great to be darn near fully sufficient in what you feed your firearms.

[bangerjim]

Have they nailed the lid on your coffing yet???????????????

If no........then it is NOT too late!

Lead is everwhere. Different states and different rules. Here I can buy all the Pb and alloys I want for a buck a pound. I do NOT use COWW's anymore. Too dirty, too time-consuming, too much Zn/Fe.

But casting is FAR better than buying what someone else thinks you want to load.

Look around. Lead is out there. And you can buy it on here from good people.

[Frank V]

Don't give up on casting, I have a friend who now buys lead from a lead supplier. He gets it in the exact foumulation he wants & casts great bullets with it. As the price of ready made bullets goes up it'll become even more viable to cast. Plus in handguns & some rifles you can get bullet from your lead pot that you can't get off a shelf or mail order catalog.
I'd say go for it it'll be worth it.
Saving money MIGHT be a result, but I've found not in my case what I am doing is shooting more for the same money, not spending less?