Can anyone recommend a good book (the standard if you will) for someone interested in casting their own bullets? Been buying bullets for quite a while, and I think its time to start making my own.

Bflobill69

Cast bullet reference on lead alloy's, min / max pressure, lube, shrinkage,


A pretty good online place to start.

Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook

^^THIS^^ The gold standard for the begining bullet caster. There is a good section in the Lee manual as well. It's fairly straight forward. The biggest thing about casting is getting a good source of free or cheap lead for alloy. With lead ww going away sooner than later nationwide, cheap & free is just not gonna happen anymore. If you have to pay for alloy, much more than $1.50/# & you can buy commercial for a bit more.
The next thing is what kind of equip & how much do you want to spend. Lee is cheap & some of their stuff is pretty decent. Then to shoot as cast or lube & size. Lots of decisions in there. Like reloading, you can spend a little or a lot.
I actually find casting more fun than reloading. It is a bit mroe relaxing, rquires a bit less diligence. Any mistakes are just easliy returned to the pot later.

I highly recommend buying the newest edition and the previous edition. They contain different, very good information. The newest edition has some great, up to date load data. The previous edition (which I think was out for decades) has IMHO better information on the basics of casting.

Get a copy of the new Lyman cast bullet handbook and while they can still be found get a copy of the older Lyman handbook. They are different but the older has a lot of still relavant data ( I still use the older one a lot ) and the newer has data for some of the newer powders. Get both.

Another good one is the RCBS cast bullet book...I don't know if it's still available new but check used book sellers ... it has some good info on casting and loading also.....gary

Google Cast boolits and spend a few days reading.

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Front sight and squeeze

Here is one of the best cast bullet references available, period! Further, the author has made it available in a PDF download for FREE!

From Ingot to Target: A Cast Bullet Guide For Handgunners, Table of Contents - Fryxell/Applegate

I suggest you download the pdf (look at the upper left of the opening page) onto a CD, then take it to Staples and have it printed and bound. That's what I did. It's a GREAT book. Or, you can print it out, then have it bound.

Glen Fryxell is one of the most knowledgeable people about cast bullets, ever.

Dale53

Okay I'm joining in the fun! Got my copy of Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook and have a question:

What is your preferred cast bullet forum? I figure there will be advise on all sorts of gear and technique and instead of asking the classic noobie question: "What do I need to get started?" I'd read what others have to say.

Thanks in advance!

Second this book. Very easy to read and covers everything.

+1 Tremendous!

Also visit the CastBoolits forums. Best cast bullets forum on the net.

FN in MT

Go to Castboolits.com Cast Boolits - Dedicated To The World Of Cast Bullets! and look around there. Read the stickies in all the sub forums, about 24 of them, and if you don't find something in the stickies, ask. Everything from general casting to molds, to lubes and alloys, equipment/tools, even paper patching and military arms cast bullet shooting...

Yep, A BUNCH OF READING comes first. LOTS!!!!!!

There are some Really Smart Casting Folks at the Cast BOOLITS forum to help.

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NRA Pistol/Rifle Inst. RSO

beside the Lyman cast bullet handbok I find this site very useful

NRA - IHMSA Handgun, Rifle, Air Pistol Silhouette Shooting. The Excitement Of Reactive Steel Targets At The Los Angeles Silhouette Club

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Semper FI

If they're that smart you'd think they could spell "Bullets"!

Good advice above with the Lyman book and visiting the cast boolit forum. If you want to try casting I'm sure you can purchase the basic equipment to give it a try for less than a hundred bucks. If you enjoy it you can upgrade from there or sell your equipment. Start scrounging lead right now. I just finished sorting 8 - 5 gallon buckets of wheel weights and sure had a lot of steel and zinc mixed in. Lots of stick on weights but they are almost pure lead so they are shootable. For me casting is a very rewarding hobby in itself.

+1 For the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. In the front is tons of information that is easy to understand in well organized chapters and the load data is spot on.

The latest Lyman Handbook is good. But, if you can find a copy of the Phil Sharpe book The Complete guide to Handloading you will find a wealth of information on not only bullet casting but anything else that has to do with handloading. Most of the tools are outdated but still serviceable. I espececially liked the section on cooking off loaded ammunition in a gas stove. A plethora of useful information!

Big difference between bullets and Boolits!

Boolits= as God laid it into the soil,,grand old Galena, The Silver Stream graciously hand poured into molds for our consumption. . .

Bullets= Machine made utilizing Full Length Gas Checks as to provide projectiles for the masses.

Amen...

The cast bullet forum and the lee/ lyman books are where I started a few years ago.

Bill, I have to get on the band wagon that lyman book is the casters bible and its fourth edition just came out. As for casting equipment the lee 20 pound pot is the way to go. (if only there molds were that good)When it comes to molds Well let me just say Lyman did write the book On a safety note when using wheel weights be careful some maufactures now are painting their wheel weights silver to match the rims Its a high temp paint that won't burn off and boy does it smoke & stink leaving a nasty thick gooey residue on the lead surface.Good luck casting is a blast.

If you save money reloading, then you will save four or five times as much casting your own bullets.

To cast bullets you need: heavy weight long sleeve 100% cotton shirt, leather gloves that extend above the shirt cuffs, box of band aids (you will get burned).

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S&WHF 366

^^THIS^^ It is the place for cast bullet shooters. If they can't help you, no one can. I will only add, getting cheap/free alloy is the trick in todays bullet casting world. With the death of the lead wheel wt, cheap/free alloy is getting tougher to find. In another 2-3 yrs, tougher still as the national ban will be in affect & all the old ww will be gone. So get your alloy now where you can & stack it deep.

WOW TY for all the input... This whole reloading thing is most certainly a disease... with my luck NOT degenerative =P

Bflobill69