Its all about the time involved. You can make one yourself with some practice and research, its best to use a lathe and mill. A mini-lathe is not ideal at all, a little bench mill is fine though for making the small items. A 10x28 or so lathe is really small, but it can do the job. We started out with a Precision Matthews branded lathe, much better than Grizzly in our experience. Same machines, different paint and quality control. The small mills are pathetic cutting tool steel, I would say you need around 1 hp at least. The mini machines are rated in watts, some are only 250 watts. So, be careful comparing the small machines.
When I made these to sell I just used a bandsaw to cut the slot.. Use a light shining in the end and watch the blade. When the blade cut into the other side of the id it was good to go. I was so worried about this operation but it was actually pretty easy. If a guy had a nice grinder and some heat treating furnaces you could sell boat loads of these. I made and sold a few hundred sets.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |