Lead round balls

[Life Member]

I've been buying my lead round balls and my other muzzle loader need's at Track the wolf. Just went to order more and the prices are much higher. To high for me. I'm looking for another place to buy. Suggestions

[mooman76]

Everything is going up. Maybe time to start casting your own.

[FLINTNFIRE]

What sizes are you shooting ? And casting them is the way to go , but let the membership know what sizes , post a ad in swapping and selling and I would bet you will get responses .

[rodwha]

I got in to casting because I wanted revolver bullets for hunting, and the ones I bought were Kaido’s bullets that he charged $40/100 + shipping and then raised to $50. The cost in lead is about $3 and I’d never be at the whim of a supplier. And for balls it was about half of that. Doesn’t take long to recoup your money if you shoot a lot.

[BlackPowderWarrior]

Casting is the best decision ive ever made in regards to my firearms hobby. The most expensive thing I've acquired in my casting equipment was a bullet mold i designed for hunting that I had tom over at accurate molds make for me.

I suggest buying roundball/boolit molds and the Lyman big dipper set. The lyman set is 120 $ and worth every penny.

Over time youll build up a nice array of stuff to keep your guns shooting as long as you own em!

[Darth-Vaj]

As everyone else has already said, cast your own! You’ll be better off making your own than to be at the mercy of others.

[indian joe]

I got in to casting because I wanted revolver bullets for hunting, and the ones I bought were Kaido’s bullets that he charged $40/100 + shipping and then raised to $50. The cost in lead is about $3 and I’d never be at the whim of a supplier. And for balls it was about half of that. Doesn’t take long to recoup your money if you shoot a lot.

You wont beat LEE molds for roundball - they make the best ball with no sprue so long as you dont have an oddball size and they are cheap.
Pedersoli makes a better size range and almost as nice of a cast as the LEE mold. Lots of old fashioned molds out there with a longer sprue channel - they shoot fine but always fiddling to get the sprue up top.

[GregLaROCHE]

Start casting your own. The only thing you need is a mold, old pan, soup ladle and a heat source to start. Lead too of course and if you are patching, it doesn’t need to be pure lead.

[megasupermagnum]

Yes, unless you are only shooting 100 a year, it makes no sense to be buying muzzleloader balls. They are so easy to cast, you could cast them from a big spoon for a ladle. Lee molds are top of the line in round balls. They cut the sprue flush, which is nice, but the real benefit is that they cast a more round round-ball than any other manufacturer I've used. Lyman, Dixie, and Jeff Tanner molds are all quite good, but are usually about .003"-.005" out of round. Lee round balls are often .001" or less out of round.

That's exactly how I got started casting. In fact my first ever mold was a buckshot mold I made myself from a block of wood. Yes, you can cast balls in wood. They look like raisins, but they work. I found a spoon, and a heavy steel bowl, and I cast them beside a small fire, didn't cost me a cent. Exchange that for $25 Lee mold, and you have a fine muzzleloader ball making factory.

[indian joe]

Yes, unless you are only shooting 100 a year, it makes no sense to be buying muzzleloader balls. They are so easy to cast, you could cast them from a big spoon for a ladle. Lee molds are top of the line in round balls. They cut the sprue flush, which is nice, but the real benefit is that they cast a more round round-ball than any other manufacturer I've used. Lyman, Dixie, and Jeff Tanner molds are all quite good, but are usually about .003"-.005" out of round. Lee round balls are often .001" or less out of round.

That's exactly how I got started casting. In fact my first ever mold was a buckshot mold I made myself from a block of wood. Yes, you can cast balls in wood. They look like raisins, but they work. I found a spoon, and a heavy steel bowl, and I cast them beside a small fire, didn't cost me a cent. Exchange that for $25 Lee mold, and you have a fine muzzleloader ball making factory.

Interesting ! I never measure checked my LEE RB molds (not compared to others anyway) Shot a lot of Hornady swaged ball in matches before I switched over and the LEE stuff did just as well for me - I really like the flush sprue - put the cast balls in a canvas bag with some powdered graphite - tumble it around for a couple minutes, the sprue mark is gone, the balls stay shiny new in storage, easy loading.........

[toot]

I just ordered .455. LEE, hollow base Minnie's, and they were $11.80 per 25 count. when I ordered them on the tele, and they went up to $ 18.11 per 25 count. the good news is that they arrived in 4 days! can you believe it?

[Sasquatch-1]

As mentioned, getting into casting is easy and use to be cheap. The only thing you had to buy was a mold. When I started I used an old soup can on top of the stove. That is until I had a steam explosion and my wife banned me from the kitchen. If you watch the old movies (that are somewhat accurate) they actually are melting and casting from a shallow pan ladle of sorts over a camp fire.

Get your self a mold and some lead and go to it. Next thing you know you will be casting for modern hand guns and rifles.

[mooman76]

I started as a teenager doing slingshot pellets. Found an old pot and mad a ladle with a stick and a metal top to a spay can on a coleman stove. A friend of the family was a plumber and told me how to do it. WWs could be had from most gas stations for free.

[taco650]

I agree with the others that casting your own will save money in the long run. I've been casting my own for over ten years now and found it very satisfying. I've bought buckets of ww's from a tire store and collected my own over the years. I also collect spent ones at the range now and then. Takes some work so be prepared to do it.

[Rickf1985]

Casting is the way to go BUT, When was the last time any of you saw molds for sale? I have been looking for 430 and 545 molds for a year now and I sure as hell am not paying 100.00 for one!

[Edward]

Casting is the way to go BUT, When was the last time any of you saw molds for sale? I have been looking for 430 and 545 molds for a year now and I sure as hell am not paying 100.00 for one!

Probably in todays market (supply/demand )and based on your statement your right ,you probably never will .Expect yester yrs prices in one hand and in the other / see what fills yer hand 1st/Ed

[Buzzard II]

Cast your own. Cheaper in the long run.

[Hellgate]

biglube.com sells 6 cavity ball molds (as does TOW) that make casting a quick and speedy process. A couple of days ago I spent from about 9 to noon and cast up 600 .454 balls for my Cowboy Action matches where I use percussion revolvers. Most CAS shooters use smokeless powder and load suppositories (cartridges) into the rear of their cylinders. I load from the front. The multi cavity gang molds sure shorten the sessions but I have cast many thousands with the LEE double cavity molds that are very affordable.

[Bphunter]

I buy the expensive $3/lb lead from Rotometals and cast .530 RB's with a Lee mold for about $0.10 a piece. Smaller calibers are much more economical. Lee molds are great for RB's, but at the moment can be hard to find. I just received a .350 mold I ordered 6 months ago from TOW. Lead has always been easy to find, so once you have a mold you will have an endless and cheap supply. Lee RB molds run about $22 for a 2-cavity. Almost invisible sprue and very accurate and consistent, at least in my guns.

[Edward]

Lead is no longer easy to find ,and it will only get worse with new regs . And we all heard about primers/powder too but everyone said never happen ,but here we are same (stuff) different day!/Ed

[taco650]

My lead source for the past few years has been tire shops and range pickups. The range lead is soft although not as soft as pure I suspect but works fine for me in both RB and regular bullets

[2152hq]

Scrap lead is not as easy to find as it once was. The 'free' sources are few now.
Lead has been given the hex that Mercury recv'd a while back. Touch it and you and everyone around you will die. The ground it falls on will never be able to be used for 2 hundred yrs.
The stuff comes out of the ground,,but no matter...

But unless/untill they ban the stuff outright for any use, it'll still be available somewhere. You'll just have to pay the going price.
What ever that price is for the lead in bulk form is will still be cheaper than lead ball/bullet in finished form bought retail from a maker.

It's not 1962 anymore.

If lead is $3 a pound, it's still cheaper to buy it and cast my .40 and .45 cal RB w/my LEE moulds than it is to buy already made Hornadys.
..and I can have them when I want them and no shipping or tax.

Even buying a #25 bag of lead shot at todays price ($60/bag!) and using it as the lead source is cheaper than buying lead at $3/pound thru the mail.
It doesn't have to be pure lead to make a good ML RB.

I still have scrap lead,,still pick up scrap at the range and where ever I find it.. just like most everyone else.

If it ever comes to the point where the empty suits and Greenies ban the stuff from use,, you certainly won't be able to buy lead projectiles off the shelf or order any from Hornady for sure.
There won't be a 'price of lead' cause there won't be any bought or sold retail.
What you happen to have will be it.

[mooman76]

I'm glad I started saving mine years back. It's still around but like stated harder to find. Put the word out, you might be surprised where you get some from. I knew a guy that said he wouldn't even keep lead in his house, it's that bad.

[rfd]

I'm sure I'm echoing posts in this thread - cast your own lead balls.

A cheap Lee 4# furnace, a Lee ball mold, a simple ladle, lots of sources for lead.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e65KE3i4RnE

[Buzzard II]

Glad I stocked up years ago. Still always looking though. A little is good, a lot is better and too much is just enough!

[sharps4590]

I get all kinds of lead given to me fairly regularly but, lots of folks know I cast.

rfd, that is exactly how I started some 46-47 years ago and still use that little 4 lb. Lee pot for RB's...and all but one of my RB molds are Lee.

[32-20]

As to buying, MidwayUSA puts them on sell often, so just keep looking. Casting is a good route, and I'm so glad I swapped over to a Lee bottom pour pot ages ago.

I was shocked to find a local recycling center recently that said they had lead for $1 a pound in ingots. Supposedly pure and various hardness options. I need to get over there and grab some. We have lots of local industry that dumps it on them as scrap.

[Hanshi]

I started casting every ball I fired from the beginning some 55 years ago. A couple of decades ago I had a friend gift me a box of Hornady balls. I fired about half of them at the range and they were very good. But I still have many of them left for "just in case" and continue to cast and fire my own.

[Hellgate]

You can often find sheet lead at garage sales (just ask for it) or scrap yards. It is plenty soft for muzzle loader bullets like round ball and probably minie balls.