During the last panic...

[brewer12345]

I seem to recall that even cast boolits from commercial suppliers were scarce/priced up/required a waiting list to get. Did anyone sell some of their home cast to non-casters?

[lightman]

Not me. I was still working during the last shortage and could just about keep up with my own needs.

[Thin Man]

I am starting to get low on WW ingots and only cast for myself and a few close friends. The products that go to friends are gifts, I will not allow them to pay me. I have never had the ambition or lead supplies to go commercial.

[trapper9260]

I just do it all up for myself no one else. Less problems that way also. SO ask me to load some up for them and I told them to get what is needed and need to be there when to load and not one took me up on it.

[dverna]

I believe it is illegal to sell home made cast bullets. ITAR regulation if I recall.

So if someone did, it would not be wise to post that information.

[starmac]

I have never had the urge to sell them, but I seem to recall you have to have the proper license to do so legally anyway.

[Hickory]

Panic? What panic?
Did I miss something?

[Smoke4320]

I believe it is illegal to sell home made cast bullets. ITAR regulation if I recall.

So if someone did, it would not be wise to post that information.

agree

[waksupi]

I believe the guy who is in trouble for selling ammunition to the Los Vegas shooter is being held on the charge of making and selling bullets without a license.

[KCSO]

Supposedly Armour Piercing bullets... It is impossible to tell just what from the news reports. Just like they examined his brain to see why he did it???? A tempest in a tea pot, full of sound and fury but signifying nothing.

[Steelshooter]

You need a license to sell loaded ammo. You can sell components (bullets,brass,etc.) all day long. You just can't ship it out of the country.

[brewer12345]

You need a license to sell loaded ammo. You can sell components (bullets,brass,etc.) all day long. You just can't ship it out of the country.

Always been my understanding you can sell loaded ammo as well, you just cannot manufacture it and sell without a license.

[bob208]

yes and you can load for other people as long as they supply their own brass. then your not selling ammo.

[Steelshooter]

If you are putting the components together and making loaded ammo and selling it you need a license.

[mold maker]

It appears their definitions are fluid to fit the situation. If you cast, swage or make any portion of ammo for anybody else it is subject to interpretation. Discussing doing so in a public forum is risky. I personally won't even entertain the idea of selling, giving, or loaning, my handmade ammo to anyone except my son who helps me. At 76, I'd never out live the trial, let alone any time I might have to serve.

[brewer12345]

It appears their definitions are fluid to fit the situation. If you cast, swage or make any portion of ammo for anybody else it is subject to interpretation. Discussing doing so in a public forum is risky. I personally won't even entertain the idea of selling, giving, or loaning, my handmade ammo to anyone except my son who helps me. At 76, I'd never out live the trial, let alone any time I might have to serve.

This is mostly my idle curiosity. Banging out boolits 2 at a time with my iron molds would be a great way to starve if I planned on making a profit, heh.

[trapper9260]

That is why I stated that they need to come up with the supplies and do it with me to reload that way I am only help them and it will be on them after.I am also with you brewer12345 I would not be getting a profit also for how I cast boolits .I stay how I am doing it and go from there.

[fatelk]

I can barely justify taking the time to make bullets for myself. At times I'm money ahead to just buy ammo. Anytime OT is available at work I can make more in an hour working than I could save in several hours of making bullets. Casting is not always cost effective, and making them to sell would (for me) be a huge exercise in futility.

The only time I've sold or given away bullets in the past was if I had a bunch in a style or caliber that I no longer used, and they were too nice to go back into the pot. But then I'm not engaged in the business of selling them and it's certainly not profitable.

I've had people over the years ask me to make bullets for them, thinking it was some cheap, easy, quick way to save money. I remember a friend asking me years ago to make a couple thousand 9mm bullets for him. When I explained the process he started to get an idea of what he was really asking and understood why I wouldn't. It's kind of like asking a friend who is a mechanic to rebuild your transmission for free. I cast my own because I have always enjoyed it and had the time for myself. Nowadays I don't have so much time and enjoy it a lot less, so I've been toying with the idea of just getting out of it altogether for a couple years now.

[Skunk1]

I don’t cast or reload for anyone but me. Not even family. If they want to get into it I have the extra to get them going. And like most not one has ever taken me up on it. I’m sure my daughter will when she moves out and wants to continue shooting.

[David2011]

You need a license to sell loaded ammo. You can sell components (bullets,brass,etc.) all day long. You just can't ship it out of the country.

This is not correct. A retail store can sell ammunition without a license as there is no license other than a locally issues retail sales permit. Same with reloading components. Any retailer can buy them from a wholesaler and resell just on their retail sales permit. You are correct about not being able to export ammunition or components.


yes and you can load for other people as long as they supply their own brass. then your not selling ammo.

Not correct. Making ammunition for hire for others requires an FFL for manufacturing ammunition and components and the $2500/year ITAR export license even if you are not exporting. Thank you Hillary Clinton and John Kerry!


If you are putting the components together and making loaded ammo and selling it you need a license.

Yea! A correct answer. The licensing is the same for making cast bullets as it is for making cartridges and other components or loaded ammunition. FFL+ITAR.

[starmac]

This is not correct. A retail store can sell ammunition without a license as there is no license other than a locally issues retail sales permit. Same with reloading components. Any retailer can buy them from a wholesaler and resell just on their retail sales permit. You are correct about not being able to export ammunition or components.



Not correct. Making ammunition for hire for others requires an FFL for manufacturing ammunition and components and the $2500/year ITAR export license even if you are not exporting. Thank you Hillary Clinton and John Kerry!



Yea! A correct answer. The licensing is the same for making cast bullets as it is for making cartridges and other components or loaded ammunition. FFL+ITAR.

Exactly my understanding. I do not think the feds make a habit of going after small guys selling a few cast boolits they have made and wind up not using, but still wouldn't make a habit of advertising over the net.

[RogerDat]

I have swapped, or given away components. Fellow is nice enough to loan you a mold the least you can do is return it with some of the cast output or something you have cast they might want to try. Sort of like the girls swapping accessories for each others outfits, or trying out a friends power equipment to see how well it does the job. :-)

Family has gotten a box or two from time to time. Sometimes some "pretty" ones with PC coats just because they are fun to make and they find them amusing. Or lighter loads for wives or youngsters. I can't see making money on it. I have bought cast from a fellow that does exactly that, casts up thousands in bags of 500 for sale. His father had a shop so between that and gun shows maybe he made it pay for the higher end equipment he uses.

I really don't like loading for other people. I figure I'm comfortable with taking on whatever risk is associated with my own work, being responsible for the risks taken on by family and friends is less comfortable. I weigh every 5th charge for myself, every single one if going to be used by others. In a way it doesn't make sense. I'll drive with family in the car or motorhome and while I take the responsibility serious it never bothers me. Maybe because I'm right there I feel like I can "handle" whatever comes up. Someone takes a box of bullets off to the range I'm not there. IDK just feels different.

[dbosman]

That would be manufacturing ammo. At the very least, the feds can get you for not paying the 11% excise tax. Gun Control Act of 1968 bans the loading process you describe.


yes and you can load for other people as long as they supply their own brass. then your not selling ammo.

[dbosman]

ITAR under President William Clinton, was only a re-interpretation of part of the Gun Control Act of 1968 and imposed a license that is a yearly tax.
It's the GCA 1968 is the law that prohibits selling your cast bullets. ITAR is a tax on licensed bullet manufactures, not the ban on selling cast bullets.
For a while, after the passage of the GCA, it was illegal to purchase and store smokeless powder. It's the GCA that banned ownership of explosives. That was amended after an industry consortium, that included Proctor and Gamble, experimented and pointed how just how many home cleaning products were explosive by them selves or in combinations. For a while storing gasoline, such as in your cars gas tank was actually illegal.

For anyone who cares to know the history of much of this, Neal Knox's book The Gun Rights War

He also wrote most of what was going on, in Handloader magazine at the time.

[fatelk]

Here's a question for the experts: say a guy makes a bunch of bullets for himself and for whatever reason never uses them and decides to sell them. It's a one-time thing that he's not doing for profit or livelihood. Is this illegal?

Personally I don't see where it is. Same as selling reloads. If someone is selling off their old reloads for whatever reason, not making a business of it, I haven't seen where that is against the law.

Now legal liability is another story. Even if it's not illegal, it's sure not smart. If Grandpa's old reloads that you sold to your neighbor blows up his gun and he loses a couple fingers or an eye, his lawyer is going to come looking for a payout.

I've heard people scared to load for anyone else because they think it's illegal, but unless you're doing it to make a buck what you should actually be concerned about is liability.

[firefly1957]

I have given people cast bullets & swaged bullets I don't sell them if they want reloads i will let them use my equipment while i watch but i do not sell them .

[mold maker]

It's kinda like machining 80% lowers. If you are involved for your own use, it's OK. Even allowing others to use your jigs or doing it for them is a NO NO. The Gov wants their unfare taxes.
To say your only a small potato doesn't get by. They still want the big bucks and a reason to inspect.

[472x1B/A]

Well I didn't sell any, buy I gave away a lot. I do have to explain some here. My neighbor works at a lumber yard/home improvement store. He whips up deals with the roofing contractors and gets all the soft lead roof caps from them. He brings them to me and I make up our boolits from them. So no I don't sell them to anyone.

[root]

Like others I don't get enough time for myself to cast.

With the companies that have the commercial casters like the other poster said good way to starve! LOL

Rich