How much money do you have in each cast boolit?

[45 Shooter]

Well i've figured my scrap coww prices and how many 230 gr. .45 acp boolits I can cast per pound of lead and i'm comming out to .15 cents per boolit. Right now all i'm casting is 230 gr. .45 acp, i'm sure once I start up on the 9mm it'll get a bit cheaper per round since the boolits will be lighter.

Does this sound about right, or high to you? What is too high of a cost per cast boolit? I started this little hobby to save money and I think I am, I just don't want it to start costing more than what I can buy factory pre-made copper jacketed boolits for.

[45 Shooter]

Oh, forgot to mention. That .15 cents I figured dont include electric for my pot or propaine for my smelting.

[khmer6]

That sounds high to me. Commercial would be cheaper. You should be able to make 30 per pound. That means your paying 4.56$ a pound for alloy???

[45 Shooter]

I got my math wrong somewhere along the line. .016 per 230 gr. 45acp boolit at 30 boolits per pound. That sounds more like it.

[khmer6]

If its 15 cents per boolit its definitely expensive

[Bo1]

Sounds high to me.
I can cast, and load a box of 9mm for around 5.25 per box of 50

[Sgtonory]

ya i figure i spend around .015 ish per bullet if i buy my lead. But its less than that because i buy about half and get my own coww and range scrap. Only started casting a month or so ago and up to over 250# of ingots and a few k casted 9mm and 45

[45 Shooter]

He indicates it is .15 cents per bullet NOT 15 cents per bullet !
I will buy all he can make at $15.00 per 1000 !

Jerry

Correct Jerry, Point One Five Cents. Not Fifteen Cents. ;)

[jmort]

I have around 500 pounds of lead - soft, magnum shot, COWW, and commercial Hardball as well as 10 lbs of tin. I have around $700.00 in cost for the lead/alloy/tin. I have enough of a mix to end up with 95-2-3 alloy. Zeroing out my time and energy costs and equipment costs, I could produce around 15,200 230 grain bullets for .046, about a nickle/5 cents each, so if you are at 1 1/2 cents per bullet, you are doing real good as far as I am concerned. I simply cannot get free lead here in California. Since I do .38/.357 and .30-30, I can get about 23,300 150 grain bullets for cost of 3 cents per bullet.

[felix]

In actuality, you NEED to include the fuel cost of going to the range (and back) where you TYPICALLY shoot. Figuring 15 cents a round is NOT out of the question. A CPA type, bean counter, would include transportation as the Cost of Sales. ... felix

[Land Owner]

BASED ON 2,000 [QTY.] ROUNDS

ITEM..................COST......SHARED W......COST...........TIMES ....PER ROUND
......................................./ ITEMS.......PER ITEM........USED.........COST

HAZMAT FEE.......$27.50...........4...........$6.8750.... .........1........$0.0034

SHIPPING...EST...$30.00...........4...........$7.5 000.............1........$0.0038

45 COLT...........$220.00.......2,000.........$0.1100 ............10........$0.0110
CASES; ONCE FIRED; BRASS VARIES; Kevin Rogers; Inverness, FL w/ship.

45 COLT..............$0.00............1...........$0. 0000.............1........$0.0000
255 GR LRN; KEITH; CAST50/50 FREE LEAD AND WW's!!!!!

IMR 700X.........$110.26.............8..........$0.002 0...........7.5........$0.0148
POWDER................................LBS........P ER GRAIN........GR. EST

CCI 300............$25.69.........1,000.........$0.025 7.............1........$0.0257
LARGE RIFLE PRIMERS
.................................................. .........................................$0.0586 PER ROUND CAST

NOT PER BULLET

Compared to nearly $0.50 per Mfg. rounds, that is quite good and in the vicinity of 9 to 1 in favor of reloading and CAST!

[khmer6]

He indicates it is .15 cents per bullet NOT 15 cents per bullet !
I will buy all he can make at $15.00 per 1000 !

Jerry

Hahahahhaah good call. So yeah cheap enough it is

[45 Shooter]

In actuality, you NEED to include the fuel cost of going to the range (and back) where you TYPICALLY shoot. Figuring 15 cents a round is NOT out of the question. A CPA type, bean counter, would include transportation as the Cost of Sales. ... felix

Going deep there Felix. Lets figure in electric to run the pot, propaine to run the smelter, gasoline as you mentioned to go to the range AND the gasoline to actually go collect my COWW along with a minimal price for my time. Heck i'd probably be in the range of a buck per boolit! [smilie=b:

I don't think I want to figure it that way. [smilie=1:

[NoZombies]

He later corrected it, He's paying $0.016 per, meaning 1.6 cents per bullet. I'm probably around there, depending on how good my scrounging was the day I got the lead.

[felix]

Yep, 45Shooter, you are correct, especially when the cost of the gun is amortized as well. Including all that makes the so-called factory ammo a bargin!!! ... felix

[454PB]

The Lee pro-4-20 uses a 700 watt heating element, and figuring it ran constantly (which it doesn't) it costs around 8 cents per hour to run @ 12 cent per KWH. Even casting big heavy boolits, I crank out 300 per hour, which is 27 cents worth of electricity per 1000.....hardly worth worrying about.

[Beagle333]

If you try to figure out mold costs per boolit...... I don't even wanna go there. 8-)

[jcwit]

Being as I help clean the backstop at our local indoor range and get all my lead for free, my only cost is the white gas I use in the Coleman stove to smelt and cast the boolits. Don't factor in the cost of gas going to and from the range as usually there is a meeting anyway and as I'm on the BOD its more or less a requirement I be there. Actually scrapping the copper jackets pretty much pays for the fuel to do the smelting, so that's a wash.

Reloadable cases are all range p/u so there is no cost there.
Primers? Purchased years ago for $40/$45 bucks a sleeve of 5,000, comes out to .0085 cents each.
Powder? IIRC again purchased on sale for $75 bucks an 8 lb jug, some surplus powder for $50 bucks an 8 lb. jug. Using 5 grains as an avg. that's $ .0066 cents if using name brand powder or $ .0044 a load.

Does it get cheaper than this?

Factor in the cost of equipment? Neh, some was given to me, some was purchased used, some new even, and the way things are going my wife will make money at the auction when I die.

[popper]

Actually I put it into Bumpo's lead spread sheet so I don't figure much of anything. Doesn't make any difference, just so I know when asked. Bout $7 for pistol & $12 for rifle/100, purchased lead.

[Shiloh]

I got my math wrong somewhere along the line. .016 per 230 gr. 45acp boolit at 30 boolits per pound. That sounds more like it.

Sounds more like it.
I picked up 13-15 lbs of cast boolit/bullet lead at the range today. Every time I went to the berm, I would pick up only cast lead.
I now have 3/4 pot of free lead. I figure almost 500 200 gr SWC .452 boolits from this free lead.

Shiloh

Shiloh

[357maximum]

I tell my wife they is all free.......I get that look that only a WOMAN can deliver.

[Shiloh]

Sounds high to me.
I can cast, and load a box of 9mm for around 5.25 per box of 50

.30 cal GC 3¢, LR primer 4¢, lead WW scrounged, 15.5 gr surplus SR7641 (4759 Clone) 2.7¢. I loaded 100 .30-30 for my son at less than 10¢ per round. This does not include shipping and hazmat for the powder on a bulk group order, or driving around looking for WW.

I just purchased two boxes of factory Remington .30-30 for $34.22 tax inclusive. Plus gas to the store.
Incredibly economis to cast and shoot.

Shiloh

[white eagle]

I always get a kick out of these threads
when you start equating the costs involved in a venture it always seems to stack against you
how do you put a price tag on being your own source of manufacture?
what is the cost of satisfaction?
some things we do no matter the cost

[blikseme300]

Let me ask you this: How much does it cost to watch TV? I once proved to the wife that my hobby costs less than hers. It took a while before she spoke to me again also. A win-win![smilie=1:

[skeettx]

Mine are free now!!
Hoarded bullet moulds for 40 years
Hoarded lead for 40 years
Hoarded gas checks for 40 years
Hoarded Javalina Lube for 40 years
Now retired and trying to work down the mountain of stuff
Electricity not counted, it is part of the household expenses and not against GUN STUFF
FREE :)

Mike

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/MVC-048S.JPG

Four of these
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/MVC-049S.JPG

And I keep the linotype handy :)
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/MVC-055S1.JPG

[mroliver77]

I buy everything on sale, clearance, garage sale, auction, barter etc. I am very patient! I try to keep capital saved back for things I want. When I get a flyer that So & So's Shooting supply has overstocked or have clearance sale including shipping even hazmat at times I jump. I like IMR 4895. AA2520 is close enough when I save $10. lb.
Sometimes at a garage sale telling the owner that you will take it all right now for CASH will get you a smokin deal, relieve one of our members widow or kids of all the "junk" that "Dad" left and help our friends by pimping some of it to them.

I doubt that I have two cents per pound in my lead stash. A lot is range scrap and has a lot of jacket material in it. It was a pain in the back to smelt it until copper hit $3. lb. ;)

And really, I invest less time and miles doing it my way.
J

[mroliver77]

And my smelting dont cost much either!
73689

[shadowcaster]

Correct me if I am wrong.. You are paying approximately 45 cents per pound for your scrap?

Shad

[Shiloh]

Is that an army foot locker full of the ohaus ingots??

Shiloh

[runfiverun]

even at 15 cents a boolit that is still about a nickel a bullet cheaper than store bought jaxketed.
I just figure mine all at 2 cents a boolit propane/electricity included.
gas checks and mold is another additional expense.

[detox]

I enjoy the hobby and do not look at price. I have bought a couple hundred pounds of lead from Rotometals so that should tell you something.

Cheap Bastard i am not

[jmort]

"I have bought a couple hundred pounds of lead from Rotometals so that should tell you something."

It tells me you supported an important sponsor of this site and got clean alloy you can count on. Even paying "retail" at RotoMetals saves you a bundle over commercial ammunition. I buy my tin from Roto.

[otter5555]

i have several tons of free ww from the clinton years. my cabin is solar powered so i have zero electricity cost to run my pot, i never use gas checks and i have gallons of alox left over from the 70's and 80's, so, i have zero cost in my boolits.

[MrWolf]

Felix, don't drag us CPA's into hobby discussions [smilie=1: -somehow we are misunderstood

[HATCH]

$1.07 per pound for foundry lead shipped.
so a 230 grain cast boolit cost me 3 1/2 cents to cast

Lets play with 110 grain 38sp wadcutters...
boolit - .017 (almost 2 pennies)
powder - .007 (yes less then a penny)
primer - .032 (a little over 3 pennies)

so cost for loaded round (minus case) is $.056 (almost 6 pennies)
so 50 rds is $2.80

Powder cost and primer cost is CURRENT cost using material purchased within the last two weeks (sportsman warehouse)

[khmer6]

$1.07 per pound for foundry lead shipped.
so a 230 grain cast boolit cost me 3 1/2 cents to cast

Lets play with 110 grain 38sp wadcutters...
boolit - .017 (almost 2 pennies)
powder - .007 (yes less then a penny)
primer - .032 (a little over 3 pennies)

so cost for loaded round (minus case) is $.056 (almost 6 pennies)
so 50 rds is $2.80

Powder cost and primer cost is CURRENT cost using material purchased within the last two weeks (sportsman warehouse)

Care to share foundry lead source?

[fecmech]

Over the last few years I've paid $10/ 5 gal bucket of wheel wts. Before that I got them for nothing, just for asking. I have a plumbers pot that uses propane and a 20 lb. fill will do at least 5 buckets of wheel wts. Before zinc I would get about 100 lbs of good metal from 1 bucket, I won't be doing anymore because NY has gone zinc. So what metal I have cost me at most $.15/lb smelted into ingots. With .38's and .357's running on average 40/lb that means my bullets are about 3 for a penny. Add in the lube and electricity maybe 2 for a penny. My molds have been amortized long ago and are worth more than what I paid for them so that's a wash. I have not purchased more than 4 or 5 boxes of factory centerfire ammo in my life and sure won't buy any .22's at today's prices. My primers average $25-27 delivered and powder is about $13/lb. So a loaded .38 spl with 158 gr RN over 4.2/BE costs me just under $.04/per round or $1.95 for a box of 50 rds. My .45's would be about the same and .357 mags we'll need to add $1.39 for the additional powder so that takes them up to a whopping $3.45/box of 50. Casting, is it worth my time, you betcha!

[bigfelipe]

I figure it out to about 6 cents for rifle rounds, 9 if gas checked, and less than 5 for pistol rounds. The boolits all cost about a penny give or take...

[skeettx]

Shiloh,
Yes, Army locker with wheel weights.
I cast these up out of old GOOD ones,
I have 10 or so ingot moulds (Lyman, Ohaus, RCBS).
and would melt about 90 to 100 pounds and then
cast up 80 ingots, turn off the furnace and load the
pot up again, etc, ect.
Have four of these locker loaded when I quit
making ingots.

Mike

[gunoil]

i have free brass, free lead. Sold 400$ in cast month ago and they want more. Plus guy brought 100 lbs of nice lead over and i made him some cast boolits and have lead left over and boxes for myself made up. Primer are plentiful from 35 to 40$ and 26$ for powder. That 400$ plus all these other boxes round here and ingots left over i guess iam shooting for free. Sweat equity that i truly love to do, a real good hobby getting up in age.

Also made a bunch of beautiful free ingots yesterday morning,, Kieth gave me out at the truck tire store. Now those will make a bunch of boolits to keep. I work at ft bragg and anytime i want, go dig in the berms for plenty of spent range bucket fulls. Just mailed a member a 40 lb box of skimmed off copper jackets i cooked off to PA.. He sent me a check. I dont know, u tell me if iam shootin free.

[mikeym1a]

My last two scavenging trips got me 560lbs, gross. after culling, smelting, and casting ingots, I had a net of approx 300lbs. According to my handy-dandy calculator, those 300 will make me appox 15000 boolits. I paid $146 for the 560lbs. So, each of those 15,000 will have cost me $00.0096 each. I do not include the cost of LP, or electricity, or moulds, or my time. I have no way of assigning a value to those. If I were anal, I reckon I could estimate the amount of electricity used/KWH, and reach a figure, mayby $5.00/mo. So far, I have no way of figuring the amount of LP I am using. I would have to wait until the tank is empty, figure the time elapsed, and then reach a figure on how much LP I used a month and assign a value, which is unknown as of this date. The cost of the burner is mote, as it will also be used for deep frying. Years ago, I came to the figure of $0.03/loaded round for my .32 S&W Long, and about $0.07/loaded rd for my .45ACP, and the greatest cost per round was the primer.

[45 Shooter]

Correct me if I am wrong.. You are paying approximately 45 cents per pound for your scrap?

Shad
You are correct shadowcaster. Alloy in my neck of the woods is liken to gold it seems. I've ran across a couple of deals which has brought my price per cast boolit down, but generally it's in the neighborhood of 30 to 60 cents per pound. The 'ole addage, "Nothing's free" seems to apply.

[khmer6]

That's about the current price around. 50$ for a 5 gal bucket and cull it.

[Oreo]

I'm invested in quality equipment far beyond my ability to justify the expense by cost per round, at least for the foreseeable future. I don't shoot enough. On the other hand, I have the ability to outlast even a permanent ban on ammo and components so I figure as a 30something yo guy I'm well positioned.

Some buy fish. Some buy a net.

[dromia]

Never bothered to work out the cost per boolit as I cast for the challenge, pleasure, satisfaction, and fine shooting it gives me.

[ku4hx]

Oh, I'd guess maybe something on the order of 3¢ per boolit on average for all boolit weights. But to be perfectly honest I don't put much stock in what it costs. I scrounge when I can, mine when my back lets me and buy what I need at the best possible price. I do the economic analysis thing at the time of procurement and then forget about it. But 3¢ each makes me feel good and seems about right.

As to equipment costs, my stuff was all amortized years ago so no cost contribution there. Lubes and such do add a bit, but that gets rounded off in some distant decimal point.

[RayinNH]

Now try convincing your wives that you are saving so much money you can now afford to shoot much more than you are :wink:...Ray

[ku4hx]

Now try convincing your wives that you are saving so much money you can now afford to shoot much more than you are :wink:...Ray

A few years back my wife wanted to buy a small sailboat. She did and rather quickly learned a boat really can be a hole in the water you throw money into. Also a few years rearward, she wanted us to get into motorcycling. I had two: entry level 750cc and then a final one I really liked. She cycled through either five or six, I don't remember. About two years ago she felt the need to be a better shooter: rifle, pistol and shotgun. She had reason to want to do this and of course I agreed.

She is now an avid shooter of all sorts of guns, and has become so in a manner that required us to get a larger safe.

The last thing I remember her saying about ammunition was something to the effect she had only a half a quart freezer bag of 9mm ammunition and didn't I think she needed more. Sometimes a question from your wife is tantamount to an order. :grin: She fully understands there is no financial justification for a hobby. Recalling just the boats and motorcycles, casting and shooting is a cheap hobby. She's now voicing an interest in fly fishing, bass fishing and jewelry making to name a few.

With my wife, the only convincing I need to [sometimes] do is to slow her down. I do love that woman!

[shadowcaster]

You are correct shadowcaster. Alloy in my neck of the woods is liken to gold it seems. I've ran across a couple of deals which has brought my price per cast boolit down, but generally it's in the neighborhood of 30 to 60 cents per pound. The 'ole addage, "Nothing's free" seems to apply.

Ok then.. If you are getting approximately 30 boolits per pound at 230 grains, and are paying approximately 45 cents per pound for your scrap lead. Then lets forget where to put the decimal point in the price per boolit and end the confusion, and call it 1 and 1/2 cents per boolit. Math is not my strong suit, but I think I got this one right. :)

Shad

[Forrest r]

These threads pop up every now & then & always have a lot of different answers. I guess I'm 1 of the few that gets paid to cast my own bullets.

I've used nothing but range scrap for years, pick some of it up every time I go to the range, free. I was at the range today & picked up 10#. Local scrap yards buy the copper jackets as #2 copper, last year I got paid over $300 for the copper jackets.

I usually process around 400# of range scrap a year to fill all my casting/shooting needs. Out of that 400# I usually get 100+# of copper jackets.

[Harter66]

4C NOE mould $96 the 1st 3 runs netted 400 keeper boolits half of which have been launched 1/2 of those recovered. Initially here its .24xxx dollars .0024xxx when I get to 4000. My Lee moulds have cast 1000's of 45s,38s,9s,32s,31s and 30s at 20 bucks a pop. If I cast 100 boolits in each mould today amortized cost average would be down under a penny 5 moulds were given to me so thats pretty cheap casting.

My current cost average $5.70/100 for pistol and rifle target/plinker ammo serious hunting loads tip in more like $6.00 for pistol and $8/100 for rifles,depending on powder choice. My shop is on a separate meter that runs $26-35/month , the fridge works pretty hard when its 100 degrees and pulling the swamp cooler . I bought the house because it came w/the 2700sqft shop. Lets not depritiate that by the boolit,or milage to pickup berm lead......

[Green Lizzard]

i would cast them even if they cost more

[82ndMedic]

I picked up a half bucket of free COWW and SOWW's the other day, and paid $50 for another bucket and a half for a grand total of 306lbs after sorting them out. Each cast .45 ACP in 230gn TC out of my 6 cavity lee mold is costing me $0.0054466230936819172113289760348584, but whose going to that decimal point anyway? ME, that's who.......

[Baryngyl]

I sorta amortized mine out, I added all the equipment costs together (guns included) and figured that's what it cost me to shoot my first boolit, now everything after that first $5,000.00 boolit just costs me the lead/primer/powder. :kidding:



Michael Grace

[uscra112]

I sorta amortized mine out, I added all the equipment costs together (guns included) and figured that's what it cost me to shoot my first boolit, now everything after that first $5,000.00 boolit just costs me the lead/primer/powder. :kidding:
Michael Grace


So ya better get to shooting to amortize the investment and get that per-round cost in line, eh ?

[fredj338]

eah, that would be ridculously high. I can buy 230gr LRN delivered to my house for 7.5c. If I have to pay more than $1.50/# for alloy, about 5c each, I am not casting.

[Shiloh]

Never bothered to work out the cost per boolit as I cast for the challenge, pleasure, satisfaction, and fine shooting it gives me.

Me too.

I would cast anyway. I like the guy being in charge and not dependent on bullet suppliers.

Shiloh

[WILCO]

i would cast them even if they cost more

Yep. Ditto for me.

[jcwit]

I sorta amortized mine out, I added all the equipment costs together (guns included) and figured that's what it cost me to shoot my first boolit, now everything after that first $5,000.00 boolit just costs me the lead/primer/powder. :kidding:



Michael Grace

Good answer. I'm gonna have to remember this.

[dverna]

I would NOT cast if I could purchase factory bullets for less. In that case, I would do two things.

First, I would buy as many factory bullets as possible as there are no current restrictions on storing bullets. I have purchased as many as 50,000 commercially cast bullets at a time when prices were "good" and I was working too many hours to spend time casting.

Second, I would buy molds, lead and reloading/casting/sizing equipment at bargain prices for the day when others need them. This would afford the opportunity to make a profit when others need to cast/reload to shoot.

Now, there is NOTHING wrong with looking at this as a hobby that has no cost benefit - but most of that talk is BS. For most of us, we do it to save money. If money did not matter why are you scrounging WW's and range lead? Is that fun??? Jeesh, get a life!!! So, do not tell me money is not a huge factor, or would see a lot more use of purchased alloys. BTW, my last alloy purchase was 2000 lb.

I am planning to build a sand trap at the new property to reclaim bullets because I am cheap. Not because I enjoy building bullet traps, maintaining them, digging them out, sifting out the bullets and smelting scrap into ingots. Even as a retiree, I have better things to do with my time. At least I will not have to bribe anyone and sort $50 buckets of filth from tire shops or be dependent on WW as a continuing source. YMMV.

[Dusty Bannister]

I am not one of those that tries to figure out the exact cost of componants along the way. When it comes to alloys, those figures are spread over a very long period and I could not swear what I paid for anything anymore. What I CAN do is determine what it will cost me to replace it and that would be a realistic figure. That is what makes bullet recovery systems desireable. If you re-use it, what did it actually cost to make that bullet?

[ku4hx]

I would NOT cast if I could purchase factory bullets for less. In that case, I would do two things.

First, I would buy as many factory bullets as possible as there are no current restrictions on storing bullets. I have purchased as many as 50,000 commercially cast bullets at a time when prices were "good" and I was working too many hours to spend time casting.

Second, I would buy molds, lead and reloading/casting/sizing equipment at bargain prices for the day when others need them. This would afford the opportunity to make a profit when others need to cast/reload to shoot.

Now, there is NOTHING wrong with looking at this as a hobby that has no cost benefit - but most of that talk is BS. For most of us, we do it to save money. If money did not matter why are you scrounging WW's and range lead? Is that fun??? Jeesh, get a life!!! So, do not tell me money is not a huge factor, or would see a lot more use of purchased alloys. BTW, my last alloy purchase was 2000 lb.

I am planning to build a sand trap at the new property to reclaim bullets because I am cheap. Not because I enjoy building bullet traps, maintaining them, digging them out, sifting out the bullets and smelting scrap into ingots. Even as a retiree, I have better things to do with my time. At least I will not have to bribe anyone and sort $50 buckets of filth from tire shops or be dependent on WW as a continuing source. YMMV.

So, the only reason you go married was because two can actually live cheaper than one? Considering what the wedding to my current wife (of 22+ years) cost I'd have been better off just buying companionship on Saturday nights.

I believe we all do certain things purely for the satisfaction and in many cases the cost is just not relevant. I know my kids and grand kids seem to appreciate that view.

Yes, when it comes to hobbies like ours there is the potential to save money ... the potential. But if I were to add up all the investment I have in casting and loading equipment, I could buy an awful lot of factory stuff. But I enjoy many intangibles associated with casting: satisfaction of mastering a rather difficult task, developing new skill sets, the link to my American ancestry, an appreciation of less modern times and what people had to go through and etc. As someone once said, "If it were easy, anybody could do it". Or words to that effect.

I have a buddy who is a real blacksmith. He "performs" at renaissance events and he in fact has both a full size permanent shop and a portable setup. Trust me, he didn't get into his hobby just to save money ... and neither did I . The way he tells it, it just seemed like a fun thing to do at the time. That pretty much fits for me too.

[bikerbeans]

I have a friend who owns a scrap yard and I don't have to pay for my lead. I don't think this actually saves me any money, it just lets me spend the cash I "save" not buying lead on the other components. I, my wife and my son get to put more rounds down range, so all is good.

BB

[Dave C.]

I cast because I can make better than I can buy!

Dave C.

[BSalty]

I figured it out last fall at prices I had into it back then. It cost me $0.06 per round for all of my handgun calibers as powder cost/weight used cost about the same across the board.

My 30 cal rifles all cost about $0.09-$0.12 per round for cast depending on the caliber and powder load used. .223 was around $0.07 per round if memory serves.

I have some interesting circumstances as I got a lot of my lead/lino for free, almost all my equipment is hand me down, and most of my brass was free or traded for other items which I did not factor into the cost. I love the whole casting and reloading thing as a hobby, but if jacketed gets cheaper, I will be buying that and saving my casting components for the next rainy day.

[Jailer]

I've got somewhere north of 3k or so of various lead and after scrapping the copper jackets from berm mining I'm money ahead. That doesn't count any of the other components of reloading, just the lead.

[dverna]

So, the only reason you go married was because two can actually live cheaper than one? Considering what the wedding to my current wife (of 22+ years) cost I'd have been better off just buying companionship on Saturday nights.

I believe we all do certain things purely for the satisfaction and in many cases the cost is just not relevant. I know my kids and grand kids seem to appreciate that view.

Yes, when it comes to hobbies like ours there is the potential to save money ... the potential. But if I were to add up all the investment I have in casting and loading equipment, I could buy an awful lot of factory stuff. But I enjoy many intangibles associated with casting: satisfaction of mastering a rather difficult task, developing new skill sets, the link to my American ancestry, an appreciation of less modern times and what people had to go through and etc. As someone once said, "If it were easy, anybody could do it". Or words to that effect.

I have a buddy who is a real blacksmith. He "performs" at renaissance events and he in fact has both a full size permanent shop and a portable setup. Trust me, he didn't get into his hobby just to save money ... and neither did I . The way he tells it, it just seemed like a fun thing to do at the time. That pretty much fits for me too.

Bless you sir. Like I said in my post, there is nothing wrong with doing all this for 'fun' of that is what turns your crank.

The ONLY reason I reload is to save money or make a round I cannot purchase. The ONLY reason I cast is to save money as I can easily beat the accuracy and velocity of any cast bullets with factory bullets. If I could buy SMK 175's or Gold Dots for $5/100 or I would never cast. But that is me. I prefer shooting to casting, lubing and sizing. If I could buy a box of factory ammo for $5/box I would not reload either. But I reload about 15-20,000 rounds a year because I cannot afford to shoot that much factory ammo.

I stand by my claim. MOST people do this to save money. Look at all the threads about saving money. Using Lee equipment (I suppose using "good" equipment makes it too easy??), scrounging lead (a lot more fun than using a known alloy that needs no alloying or smelting), making lubes (because none of the commercial ones are either good or cheap enough for these pesky lead pills), etc. etc.

Now, the other reason I do this is to be self sufficient. I think things will get to the point that will be a primary concern. But again, I would never cast again if I could buy factory bullets less than the cost of factory.

I am not suggesting you are "wrong" - you are different. I have no great love for casting like you and others do. For me, it all about saving money and being self-sufficient. I buy the best equipment to make the process as simple and consistent as possible. I am not "wrong" either - just different.

BTW, I do not understand your comparison to marriage wrt casting. But if you really want to piss money away - get a divorce.

[Jailer]

I'd still cast even if my lead had to be purchased. It's the whole tinkerer part in me that just can't resist.

[shadowcaster]

dverna.. ku4hx.. you guys are just too funny! Especially since the original post asked if price of 1 and 1/2 cents per cast boolit was too expensive. lol...

The answer: No, it's quite economical actually.

Shad

[jmort]

^ Agree with Jailer. I like the whole deal, looking for and buying lead/tin/alloy, smelting, casting, reloading, learning about all of it, and shooting. A whole lot of people like fishing, golf, whatever, not me.

[MT Gianni]

I have bought a lot of lead @ .10 a lb up to $.30. I have $5 molds and $125 molds. There is no way I am going to figure out amortization or bullets per mold. I know that they are cheaper than j words and that I shoot a lot more because of it.

[DRNurse1]

I cast because I can make better than I can buy!

Dave C.

+1 for known quality versus hoping the mfg is not Lee-sing their quality [sorry, I could not stop my fingers].

Felix, the bean counters would sort the costs into capital, labor and expendable (per unit) costs so the fuel, transportation and electricity which has other (frangible costs) uses is treated differently than the actual time in production (labor) and actual parts used (expendable) costs. Just my $0.02.

I look at what I would pay today for the same thing I make and figure my capital costs are retrieved after 2000 to 3000 rounds.

[Shiloh]

Any of you guys golf?? Shooting is cheaper.

Shiloh

[khmer6]

Yeah it is. Shooting is cheaper than a lot of other things like golf, bowling, drag racing. A day at the range is a lot cheaper than any of my other hobbies.

[zidave]

If we're not including the price of equipment to make said boolits then all of mine are free.

[DxieLandMan]

I figured mine up and the cost per cast is around $.028 each. Add primer and powder and it jumps to $.057 a round. This is for 124gr 9mm LRN.

[DRNurse1]

Making your own ammunition is a great use of our time. White Eagle is one of many in this thread to express this thought.

I would consider it thrifty use of our time, and since my time is not free, these boolits are not cheap.

I am estimating about $0.085 per 45ACP cartrige but that includes only the expendable costs: fuel, alloy, lube, powder and primers. Cases are recycled so I did not include their value. Since the alloy is scrounged during trips with other goals, I did not include the cost of scrounging in the final cost. And my valuable time is given freely to this endeavor....right?

For you CPA's, how do I amortize the accumulation and dispensing of my casting and reloading knowledge? It 'cost' some one to learn what was taught to me, and I have passed that along several times. Hey, If we can quantify this value, and pay the appropriate income tax, the national debt may be wiped out! :kidding: :kidding: :kidding:

[Shiloh]

I cast because I can make better than I can buy!

Dave C.

And size to fit.

Shiloh

[donald duck]

As I used to tell people who asked about my mileage in my motor home , "If I have to try and figure it out, I probably can't afford it and should sell it." If you have to try and figure your cost to shoot per bullet, then sell all your guns, equipment, and pay the head shrink, because you probably are better off just shooting and enjoying it. Head shrinks are probably expensive like lawyers. What is the name of that trout fly pattern with a red or pink head and a black body?? It is the lawyer fly. Bunny leach!! dd

[MaryB]

I don't bother figuring it out, it gives me a hobby plus cheap ammo to take care of my shooting addiction. Scrounge/barter for lead when I can, buy a little lino or mono type for tin. Biggest cost has been primers.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I got my math wrong somewhere along the line. .016 per 230 gr. 45acp boolit at 30 boolits per pound. That sounds more like it.
I think you are a lot closer with your last math equation, and yes "that sounds more like it".
100% of my lead was free so even with the heating sorce I think mine are more like .0025 cents each maybe a little more.

[novalty]

Equipment being all paid for, my cost per boolit with lube is about $0.02. Which works out good when I want to give someone my $0.02 worth. :bigsmyl2:

[45-70 Chevroner]

I'm not sure how this works out but, our cost for electricity is about .33 cents for 401 to 800 kwh. I guess that would be .33 cents per hour to use my Lee Pro-4 20 lb. 700 watt furnace. My normal casting time is about 5 or 6 hours, from startup to shut down. Which is a little less that $2.00 for that period of time. I can generally cast about 1000 boolits in that time. With free alloy that is very very cheep boolits.

[Kraschenbirn]

I've accumulated a pretty good stock of COWW, all at less than $1/lb, and quite a bit of Lino at $2-$2.50/lb along with a couple hundred lbs. of range scrap that cost me nothin' but a little time. Last time I did the math, my gas-checked .30 cal. rounds were running about $.011 each and most of my handgun rounds in the $.05-$.06 range but that was before the most recent price increases for powder and primers.

Yesterday, at the range, as I was loading my gear I overheard one of the guys from the handgun line telling his buddies that he'd found 100-round cartons of .45 ACP at one of our 'big box' stores for $40-something a box and I recall thinking that I'd spent the whole morning on the high-power line for less than he'd burned through emptying his first two or three magazines.

Bill

[DeanWinchester]

I can't figure out how to calculate electricity costs for the pot.
For a plain base boolit I have only the cost of the lube. For a gas check I have the check and the lube. Now, for .30 cal, I make my gas checks. I never count equipment costs, and I was given a 50ft roll of roof flashing so they are essentially free.

I figure for my average cast boolit I have less than a penny each in them.

[DeanWinchester]

Yesterday, at the range, as I was loading my gear I overheard one of the guys from the handgun line telling his buddies that he'd found 100-round cartons of .45 ACP at one of our 'big box' stores for $40-something a box and I recall thinking that I'd spent the whole morning on the high-power line for less than he'd burned through emptying his first two or three magazines.

Bill


I slipped up a little while ago when I was at the range. There's a young fella there I enjoy talking to and he loves hearing about casting and such. I spoke a little too loud I suppose because I was overheard telling him that for the (50) rounds of .308 winchester I had just fired; I had maybe $7 or $8 in them. I regret saying THAT out loud. Took me 20 minutes to get rid of the people begging. I used to try to help folks but you explain what you're doing and THEN you gotta argue with the experts. I just tell them the address to cast boolits and tell them to come here, read EVERY SINGLE sticky in every one for the sub forums before you start posting your questions. Chances are, you'll have MUCH fewer questions if you do.

[novalty]

I picked up some factory stuff from Walmart over the past few months for friends and family that don't reload. If I had to pay those prices, I couldn't justify shooting as a hobby. Winchester White Box 45acp was $40.77 and 9mm was around $26.00. If it wasn't for my kids, I wouldn't care about .22's not being readily available, when I can shoot 45acp for less than what CCI's were selling for.

[Iowa Fox]

If I factor my time in from picking up the 5 gal buckets of ww to the holes in the paper or dead critters I probably have a dollar per bullet. Well, maybe not quite that much but think about the amount of work that goes into this even if you run out big batches. We all have our hobbies and this is one of mine which I enjoy very much.

[gunoil]

nothing, free lead, i got enough brass for 10 years. I sell a box or two of cast for some primers and powder. My cast are great, I shoot pistol rnds only. I worked on a mans LLM (LOADMASTER) month ago, he gave me hundred dollars.

[DRNurse1]

I'm not sure how this works out but, our cost for electricity is about .33 cents for 401 to 800 kwh. I guess that would be .33 cents per hour to use my Lee Pro-4 20 lb. 700 watt furnace. My normal casting time is about 5 or 6 hours, from startup to shut down. Which is a little less that $2.00 for that period of time. I can generally cast about 1000 boolits in that time. With free alloy that is very very cheep boolits.

Math check: $0.33 per Kwh x 6 hours x 700 watts per hour=$1.38 per session, right?

Not bad, as I am running about 0.03 for material (powder and primer) per cartridge right now.