Would you buy this Boolit?

[pdgraham]

I’m trying to come up with something to sustain my hobbies.. The only thing I can think of doing is selling cast bullets.

http://home.insightbb.com/~pdgraham/Boolet.jpg

This bullet is made from wheel weights with an RCBS 45 – 225 – RN mold.. That’s all the mold says on it. It’s a 45 ACP mold that RCBS no longer sells. This mold casts to exactly .453 in both barrels. Naturally I got a heck of a deal on it.. because nobody else wanted it.

It’s kind of a “funny” configuration in that it seems to want to be seated to the max of 1.275” otherwise it looks like it might be seated too deep.

If you were going to sell these bullets at a gun show would you lube them with a high temp lube or would you lube them with Super Moly and try to explain why they are sort of goopy?

Would you bother trying to sell these bullets at all??

Should I sell this mold and get a more conventional 45 ACP bullet mold like Lee 452-228-1R and try to sell the boolits I cast from it?

What would you do? :lovebooli

[45 2.1]

I have this mold along with the LEE versions and the Lyman. BUY THE LYMAN 452374 AND DON'T LOOK BACK!

[pdgraham]

I have this mold along with the LEE versions and the Lyman. BUY THE LYMAN 452374 AND DON'T LOOK BACK!

I will be scouring ebay for 452374 from now until I get one.. :)

Thanks

[The Nyack Kid]

I too have the lyman 452374 in a four cavity .
lymans boolit has a more round profile.
the booilt design is supposed to be the lead copy of the old military hardball boolit . they feed great in about all 45 autos. termanal proformance isn't as good as other stuff out there ,but still , i wouldn't want to stop one . i does make a good plinker and practice round . if your going to lube and sell them use a standard lube , they won't be going much over 900 fps exept with top loads.

[sundog]

453274 is a great boolit, but if you are going into production then it seems that two (yes, 2) 6-banger Lee 228 RN would put out the quantity you would need. Two boolits at a time is awful tedious! Besides, it's not too bad a boolit (the Lee, that is), comparable to the Lyman, but not the best accuracy wise overall - but it works good - and like the Kid said, wouldn't want to shag any. Either will feed and function in just about any 45 auto with no problem. Anyhow, that's what I would do.... btw, feeding two 6-bangers drains even a big pot pretty quick. Know how I know???? sundog

[pdgraham]

............. btw, feeding two 6-bangers drains even a big pot pretty quick. Know how I know????

How? :)

[wills]

Make the bullet and lube real hard to withstand shipping.

[pdgraham]

Make the bullet and lube real hard to withstand shipping.

That's pretty much what I was thinking also.. I've already had to explain to my wife why the bullets I'm making with room temp lube are so goopy..

[Edward429451]

I thought that boolit looked familier. I have that 452374 mould in a double cavity. I switched over to a hard lube & heater awhile back to try n cut down on the smoke and so the boolits wouldn't feel tacky when handling them.

I think for commercial purposes that hard lube is the way to go. First impressions and all that.

[robertbank]

If it were me and I assume you want to come out with a profit of sorts then I would cast the H&G 200 gr bullet lubed hard. Less lead, pot of lead will last longer and I would do it with a four cavity mold. Probably a more popular boolit I think as well.

Stay Safe and good luck

[sundog]

PD, awww, I really was hopin' you wouldn't ask.... But I can tell you this, Felix is going to help me get some of them used up. Kinda got carried away one day when they were dropping real good. sundog

[pdgraham]

PD, awww, I really was hopin' you wouldn't ask.... But I can tell you this, Felix is going to help me get some of them used up. Kinda got carried away one day when they were dropping real good. sundog

Ah.. I see :lol: when the pot is at the right temp it's hard to stop...

[Willbird]

If you want to sell bullets, find a guy that loads his own ammo for a machine gun or two, they buy 5k to 10k bullets without batting an eye. Price your bullets based on shipping them in the 70 pound flat rate USPS box...that way you can quote shipping up front anywhere.

even a 4 cavity mold sucks rocks for making lots of boolits, lee 6 cavity, one of them, with BruceB method will produce 1000 bullets an hour and be easier on your arms and back than running 800 per hour with a Saeco 4 cavity on saeco handles...the Lee 6 pop is just lighter, and it makes 2 more bollits per throw.

I made 10,000 9mm 125 grain roundnoses for a guy, on the saeco 4 cavity, I do not think fondly of doing it again.

Also you might to just do a little test run of say 1000 bullets and see how long it takes you to cast them, and then lube size them (I have a Magma-Star lube sizer and wouldnt even want to think of doing 10k boolits on an in-out lube sizer like lyman or rcbs, saeco, etc.)

If you can find range lead you can alloy it 50/50 with your WW and still have the bullets get hard when water dropped. and it is often way cheaper than wheelweights, and one can easily get a ton at a crack once you get hooked up.

Bill

[pdgraham]

................
Also you might to just do a little test run of say 1000 bullets and see how long it takes you to cast them, and then lube size them (I have a Magma-Star lube sizer and wouldnt even want to think of doing 10k boolits on an in-out lube sizer like lyman or rcbs, saeco, etc.)
...............................

Bill

Good suggestion...

So far it's looking like a $5 an hour job.. maybe less..

I can make more fixing computers...

I think my idea of casting and selling bullets is starting to .. well... let's just say that it might have been sort of ill concieved...

[StarMetal]

My suggestion is fix pc's. Hell of alot more money in that then selling cast bullets.

Joe

[Bullshop]

Believe me its a labor of love.
BIC/BS

[9.3X62AL]

Making my own is largely a labor of love, for sure. It seems to me that the stone most of these commercial casters stumble over is the shipping part of the venture--it costs a LOT of money to send lead by mail. I think the days of the flat rate USPS mailing boxes will end soon. I also don't think the harder lubes do as good a job as the softer types like Felix's and Javelina over a wide range of usage venues.

For me--the casting of boolits saves enough money to make the hobby affordable. Once I combine the cut-rate surplus powders, cheep WW's, and LACK OF SHIPPING CHARGES on obscenely expensive j-word projectiles, the deal gets a lot less pricey.

[pdgraham]

I agree.. I'm only casting for myself... and my wife...

[pdgraham]

My suggestion is fix pc's. Hell of alot more money in that then selling cast bullets.

Joe

Actually it's been averaging $8 an hour.. and some of the people you have to deal with in when you run your own business.... geesh... :neutral:

Oh well.. I still get my pension .. I hope that never stops...

[waksupi]

PD, it's kind of like playing bluegrass music. We figure if we really work at it, we may be able to clear 35-40 cents per month.

[btr-cj]

Hey Waksupi.

You ever go to any of the Blue Grass festivals?

I work with a guy who is constantly going to the ones here in Louisiana and surrounding states. He used to play the mandolin with a group of his relatives. He said that is really a labor of love.

From what I understand most people into bluegrass know of each other. One of the people I hear him speak of is Pop Cooksie. He runs one of the local festivals in Louisiana.

C.J.

[tall grass]

Waksupi

There are a lot of analogies between bluegrass and cast bullets arn't there.

Jim

[Springfield]

I cast bullets as extra income as I am a stay at home dad, and it is difficult to make any real money at it. So far I only sell bullets I can cast with LEE 6 holers. Except one guy I agreed to make some long range bullets for, with his SINGLE cavity mould. Never again. Even though he paid me enough an hour, sort of, it was so dang boring doing one at a time and inspecting them ONE AT A TIME. And if you don't get a Star lubrisizer or 2, forget it. And finding enough wheelweights to keep up any sort of volume has been increasingly difficult. And then getting all the wheelweights melted down without pissing off your neighbors is another problem. Keep fixing computers, it's much easier. I would still do that but there is too much competition here in Silicon Valley, everybody and their uncle is a computer expert around here.

[waksupi]

I've went to festivals over the years. There is a pretty big one in this area every year, and several others scattered around the NW.
One of the more interesting ones I went to was in Iowa a few years ago. The area where it was held, is very conservative, and in the heart of Amish country. The music was leaning heavily towards gospel. What had drawn me to the festival, however, was they had Special Concensus listed as a headliner. I was familiar with them, and thought it a strange selection from this area. When they hit the stage, the locals about freaked out! These guys were out of Chicago. They came in, in zoot suits, and dyed spiked hair. The locals reactions were priceless!

[Char-Gar]

Naahh! I would not buy that bullet, but I would by Lyman 452460.

[Cayoot]

PD, it's kind of like playing bluegrass music. We figure if we really work at it, we may be able to clear 35-40 cents per month.

Yeah,

Like the old question goes......

"What's the difference between a banjo picker and a savings bond?....

The savings bond will eventually mature and earn money!"


Cayoot.....You can pick your banjo...you can pick your nose, or you can pick between your toes (all 12 of them), but never, ever use your banjo to pick your nose or between your toes! That hurts too much...don't ask me how I know! :holysheep :redneck: