After shopping for rifle bullets and seeing nothing but 'Out Of Stock And Don't Know If We Will Ever Get Them' notices I ordered some cast bullets from an outfit that says that they can get them to me in a couple of months. I've avoided cast rifle bullets but fortunately, I've been using reduced loads so maybe I won't have to use the Lewis Lead Cleaner-Outer too much. As long as they are available I don't want to invest into casting, but I may be backed into that corner yet. Does anybody think they will be getting into casting to bypass this shortage business?

I have been thinking this one over for awhile now. I have been watching a ton of videos on youtube about it and the process does seems to fairly simple. I am just concerned about getting the alloy's and such at the right precentages. I have not done any casting at all. But I'm sure if and when I do get into it, if I have any questions, I could ask them here on the forum. I would like to try casting .308 and 9mm to start with.

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15T,15-22,5946 & some not S&W

I have been casting for decades. But not to avoid shortages, Originally it was to shoot more on the money that I had

Today it is because I want projectiles that do not exist commercially.

Be patient. Shortages are always temporary. Just start buying larger quantities and keep a 6 month supply on the shelf at all times. Leave stuff on back order

Don't sweat the alloys too profusely. A bullet is a lump of metal that will literally be thrown away. The difference made in a lead alloy by a couple of percentage points probably isn't visible in the field. If you've calculated an alloy you wish to use, and put it together with your best hobbyist's measurements, it'll be close enough ! Have fun !

Larry

Well, I cast because I can have what I want, when I want, in the number I want, to do the work I want, for the load I want, even if there is a shortage, which I don't want!

As long as my neighbors have cars, I can make bullets. They wouldn't stand for their tires to bounce all over the road, so when I take their weights, they will get them replaced. Kind of like a renewable resource!

All kidding aside, I have some really cool bullets that I cast and they are not available commercially.

With this and other aspects of reloading ammunition, all this year, I have been asking: What shortage?

Started casting last spring, and should have started a long time ago. Easy to do, and safe if you pay attention to the pot of 600 degree molten metal in front of you. Frees me up from buying online. Cost is way less. My newest mold is for my new 27-2, and a 158gr bullet costs me .02

In Mo. primers are the problem, well Starline is running about 2 months out to, anyway bullets aren't the problem. I may start casting when I retire but right now there isn't the time.

You should be able to find a caster more local to get bullets sooner.
Btw. I make & shoot cast in lots of calibers and leading is not a problem. Even out of a M1 garand.

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S&W Accumulator

Skip always takes the time to type what I was already thinking when I read the original post.

As a side note, for reduced loads to not require a gas check I find that Trail Boss is the only thing that works good as a routine. But if you have gas checks then I've not had any leaded barrels yet.

If you keep a plain base 18 BHN bullet under 1800 fps you should see no leading at all if the bullet is the right size for your barrel.

Yes,yes, I know it's pressure that counts but since most of us have no way of testing pressures I'm using velocity instead.

If you use gas checked bullets or bullets with a BHN of 22 or more you can push them even harder although I rarely feel the need to push a lead bullet that hard. I have been shooting Missouri bullets' 165gr plain base bullet in my 30-30 @~1400 fps with no leading at all. (with H4895) I haven't taken any Deer with that load yet but I have no doubt it will do the job well.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

There is not real problem finding cast bullets and to get them in a reasonable time. Maybe 3-4 weeks instead of 3-4 days

They are so much less money than FMJ for range shooting it's the way to go.

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Still Running Against the Wind

everyone should have a few cast rifle loads.
While not all calibers and rifles will take to it, the many that can make for some interesting loads that fill roles you never thought a particular rifle ever would.
Imagine a 30-06 load with a 150G flat point at somewhere between 1000 and 1300 FPS ...
in the beginning you might laugh off such a notion in a rifle that wound produce 3000 FPS in the same weight.
Really, you get to extend the rifle into the lower range of game animals and varmints this way.
30-06 can make a fine squirrel rifle, bunny buster, yote harvester, p dog popper, chuck chopper, paper puncher, and still make its way back up to its generally accepted roles with deer, big cats, bear, elk etc.
Embrace cast rifle bullets.
While they do not replace BTSP's, they themselves are irreplaceable.
Hope you chose your rifle well. after this foray into reloading, it might never leave your shoulder

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it just needs more voltage

You may also check out your local Wally-World parking lot at the beginning of each month--to avoid any confrontation with neighbors.

The most important tool a caster can own.

Keep shopping around, you can still find some out there with product; I placed an order with Rim Rock Bullets on Wedensday and they shipped the order (500 pcs) Thursday...

I've been casting (and collecting lead!) for about 17 years and have a good stock of lead on hand (mebbe 1200 lbs). Starting casting now may be a bit problematic, but shopping around and K.I.S.S., is can be done.

With the current run on everything firearm related, lead for bullets may get hard to find too. Wheel weight alloy (or anything slightly harder than pure lead) is still relativele easy to find. Bullet fit is more important for good, clean accurate shooting than a hard BHN. You'll need to know the groove diameter of your gun's barrel (slug it) and the diameter of your bullets (.002" over groove diameter is a good start). Before you buy any lead or equipment do some research; Lyman's 3rd Edition Cast Bullet Handbook (if you can find a 3rd Edition. Much better for beginners than the 4th). Also read Frixell's From Ingot to Target http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_textonly2.pdf Casting may be too involved for you, some folks don't enjoy it much...

That's why I'm always missing wheel weights

Glad I carry every day I'll be watching now

Be sure to look at the roof (ruff for your Northerners) all those Wally Worlds.

There are more surveillance cameras than the Pentagon.

Be sure a wear a good disguise.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Watch out for falling wheel weights!

It is like any thing else............
If you get to see it done in person or have some one tell you the little secrets needed to make everything work right ,you will be turing out bullets that look as good as factory bullets.

I have the money to do it but but will hold off right now,since things are not that tight around here as yet.........but the gas prices sure have me ticked off !!

One of the reasons I have bullet moulds and reloading tools for every firearm I own is so I don't have to worry about "Sold Out" , " Not In Stock ", " Not Available" etc. every time a panic happens...which is happening a lot. Whenever I need ammo or bullets I just make all I need or want. Lee products can get you started very economicaly. The only "alloy " I use, and I mean for all rifle, revolver and semi-auto handgun bullets is straight air cooled wheel-weights. The only thing I buy when on sale and readily available is primers and powder and these items have a long shelf life. When you are the manufacturer you no longer are dependent on others.
gary

I've always looked at shooting hand cast lead rifle bullets as a graduation course in handloading. When you cast your own bullet and then work up a load that hits very close to the same POA/POI as your jacketed bullet loads for a fraction of the cost it just makes you feel you've accomplished something.
Casting and handloading to me are a form of meditaion and relaxation. It's work and time but I get a great deal of enjoyment from it. I don't watch alot of TV, not a nightclub person so if i spend a few nights in the shop or an afternoon outside alloying then I've spent my free time the way I like.
I'm about to start casting .222/.223 gc bullets for a Model 53 as these are getting harder to find, I've got hundreds of pounds of Lino and printers type material to play with, I'm looking forward to a load of around 1100fps in this 8 3/8" gun.
That's the other joy of casting, being able to make oddball stuff you just can't find. I like getting an old rifle that hasn't been fired in 40 or 50 years shooting again for friends, puts a big smile on thier faces to shoot Granddads old gun.
RD

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Got a Phd from Hard Knocks U

I've been casting for almost as long as I have been shooting & reloading. I find it relaxing & enjoyable & if you can get cheap or free alloy, way cheaper shooting. A good cast bullet gives up nothing to a jacketed bullet in any handgun caliber. None of my magnums see jacketed bullets. You can even make good LHP for hunting & SD.
Some rifles respond very well to cast bullets too. My 45-70 rarely sees jacketed. Many are shooting lead in their 308 & 06, certainly the 30-30.
My lates new venture into self reliance is swaging 223 bullets for my AR using 22lr cases. It's pretty cool, a bit time consuming, but you get good bullets for literally free. Scrounged lead & swept up 22lr brass from any range = 53-60gr bullets, good to any range you are likely to shoot w/ a 223.
FWIW, the lead ww will be extinct in a couple more years. They are getting banned in more & more states & the ww manuf are not going to make diff wts for diff states. So the zinc & steel ww will be the norm sooner than later. SO 1200# is a good start. BTW, if you must pull ww from cars, don't go to Wally, some poor gun owner may be their trying to find ammo. INstead hit the college parking lots, perferablly the professor's lot. They should be riding bikes anyway, & what do those college kids need w/ cars anyway? They will have no job to go to & can walk to Starbucks.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I started casting a couple of years ago, and I did it for a couple of reasons. One, I really could not afford with as much as I wanted to shoot, to pay someone around $20 or more for every 100 bullets, hat sounds like not a lot of money, but when you are on a fixed income like I have been, $20 is groceries. So I sold a few things I owned and bought a small Lee furnace and some essentials and my first mould. I was given a couple of five gallon pails of wheel weights which I still have quite a lit of and have been making bullets ever since. I did it for a couple of reasons, mostly because I really like having my own bullets when I want them. I cast a hundred or more at a time, lube them and the next day size them and within a week I have some loaded up ready to go. I have not done any rifle bullets but I just picked up a .30 mould for a .308 and a 7mm is fast behind it, even though I have plenty of bullets for both right now. Casting bullets gives you some freedom, which is getting scarce here in NY, a lot of people are looking at the ammo background check coming up and buying everything in sight, whatever was left, and reloading supplies are even more scarce. I know at the only shop that sells reloading stuff which is an hour plus drive for me, I bought the last 165 grain .308 bullets, there was no brass of any kind for .308, .38 Special, .357 and other popular calibers, and no dies for any either. It's getting a bit too much for me so I am glad I have what I need. Casting is fairly simple once you are used to it, I had a lot of fun last summer testing my .357 bullets.
Still there is nothing more stress relieving than to be able to go out and cast up your own bullets in an hour and then know you have them, they will work and they cost you nothing at all other than time and labor.

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Vaya con Dios

Does anybody use mercury still to remove lead ? Thank you

OK, how long does it take to cast 500 bullits ? I may have to start casting. How much will I spend to get setup ?

Depends on how many cavities your mold has and how big the pot is. If your goal is mass production, then 6 cavity Lee molds and a 20 lb pot are your best friends.

Me, I cast because I like it so "how long" isn't an issue. But, I guess I can cast 500 in a couple hours, using a 2 cavity mold and my 10 lb Lee pot. The real delays for me come from having to refill the pot and wait for the alloy to melt and then come up to the right temperature. The actual pouring, waiting for the sprue to solidify, opening the mold process takes about 30 seconds. All in all, 500 bullets is an enjoyable couple of hours.

Thanks, what about cost to get started ?

My concern too. I can only afford a few small items each month and most of that goes into just shooting. If I start now maybe in a few years I'll be slinging that lead.

It's a really dangerous practice. Far better IMO, get some copper ChoreBoy at the grocery. Wrap a bit around an old bore brush & 4-5 passes down the bore pretty much removes any normal leading. Seriuous leading may take some oil & 10-15 strokes, but it doesn't hurt the bore & it's safe & cheap.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I would if I could find some.
Now a days, we use copper chore boy pads or there is a concoction of 50/50 vinegar and hydrogen peroxide that'll make some magic happen as well.
Mix it fresh, plug the bore and fill completely.
leave it sit not more that two minutes, preferably only one minute, dump the stuff out and immediately clean the bore and oil the snot out of it.

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it just needs more voltage

There are plenty of jacketed bullets on the auction sites. The prices are pretty rough sometimes, but they're out there. You didn't mention what caliber you're looking for.

I clean my bbls when the groups tell me to. I do not get leading with cast bullets that fit and use a good lube. My accuracy goes south in a clean bbl or a filthy one. Casting allows me to ensure that I have fit and a good lube.

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Front sight and squeeze

FredJ338,
I too have been fabricating my own jacketed 223 bullets using spent 22 brass. This process is pretty time consuming but results in cheap unlimited projectiles. I start by picking up 22LR casings at the range. Then I clean them in a liquid tumbler using orange juice, vinegar and water. Rinse and let dry. Then I swedge off the rim using a die I made and this also sizes them to .224. Next I melt pure lead and mix in different alloys to set my desired hardness (depending on the amount of bullet fragmentation I want). I pour the lead into a mold (also made myself) which makes about 2 inch long .195 dia round lead rods. I then cut the rods to desired length so that they fit into the swedged 22LR cases. Next is to press the lead filled casings into a die that forms the point. I made three different dies that form different bullet shapes. All of them rolls the tip and forms a lead point.
This process takes literally days to complete batches of 100 projectiles through each process but yields almost free ammo.
They shoot well and I can push over 3000FPS with great grouping.
Good to see someone else does this too!

The problem with buying bullets, no matter where it is from, whether they are cast or jacketed is that you feel like you are getting a prostrate exam from Paul Bunyan with Wolverine as a second opinion. You can find some excellent second hand moulds (my little #358156 HP mould says Ideal on it so it has got to be forty years old if not more) and it is my best casting mould. It drops lead pretty quickly and hollowpoints take a bit more work but I can still put out 100 bullets in an hour from that little one cavity. When I was casting my .45 Colt bullets I was dropping 100 bullets in thirty minutes but that was a two cavity mould. I figure with 100 bullets costing over $25 cast for that .45 Colt I was making pretty good money myself. I have one local shop wanting me to cast for them but they have not supplied me with lead, and I don't want to use my own since here in NY we don't use lead WW's anymore. If they give me lead then I might cast for someone someday, but it will be a while and maybe by then some of this lunacy will be over.

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Vaya con Dios

There are shortages in this part of the hobby too... Molds lubrisizers etc along with all the other reloading shortages... Don't think it's all green on this side

Been casting since the early 80's

The use of lead in wheelweights is quickly becoming outlawed - ny recently went that path, most companies that actually manu WW's for tire dealers are switching as well to zinc type alloys which are a no-no for bullet use.

A 5 gallon bucket is 30% - 45% at this point of useable bullet casting material, better stock up now on lead cause it will be gone in the future.

Never made any rifle bullets just lots of handgun bullets.

You are right about that. My father-in-law runs a garage, and casts with the wheel weights he gets in, but he says lead wheel weights are showing up less often.

I've bought 200lbs of lead wheel weights a month or so ago. Should last me a long time with the amount of shooting I do.

I pickup a 80lb bucket of used tape weights and gave it to a buddy that casts. Should have a decent supply of .38's and .44's.

I found a couple other ways to go too, one is to take some lead round balls cast them and water quench them which hardens them up some, not to the BHN of air dropped wheel weights but in slower moving .38 Specials they do ok. I look for oddballs at the gun shows like .45 and .58 round balls. I get them for next to nothing and they work fine. Another thing I have is about 1,000 old .38 S & W's reloads and .38 Specials. Those will all get pulled eventually and the lead melted down for what I want. I will use my WW's first for my hunting bullets and then use up the rest. I plan on visiting my scrapyard, they still have some WW's in pails and have told me I can buy whatever I want whenever, they are in no hurry to get rid of it.

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Vaya con Dios

Started casting bullets in 1971 using a single-cavity Lee mould and punch-die sizer-lubricator set up that cost around $20 total at the time.

Now I have moulds for everything that I shoot (except .22LR), two press-type lubricator-sizers, several dozen sets of dies. These things were acquired over the years, a little at a time. I would not want to have to go out and purchase everything at retail prices today!

Salvaged wheel weights have always been a good source for me. Expended bullets from indoor ranges have also been a good source, but you have to be willing to do the work digging, cleaning, etc. Many major cities will have metal foundries where you can purchase commercial-grade lead alloys such as Linotype, Monotype, Stereotype, etc, that can be used for very hard cast bullets or blended with scrap lead from other sources to achieve desired results.

STAY AWAY FROM OLD BATTERIES. The lead-acid batteries contain a lot of lead but require specialized processes to recycle safely.

All of my pistols and revolvers can be kept going with cast bullets for a long time with the supplies I have on hand. Most of my centerfire rifles are also fed cast bullet loads. I have also kept a few 19th Century Winchester and Sharps rifles going with cast bullet loads in calibers not seen commercially for many decades.

Primers just about have to be purchased, so I always try to keep a good supply on hand of everything I use. Powder has gotten pretty darned expensive over the past 20 years or so, but the small canisters are not the only option; kegs (8 lb., etc) can be purchased and several friends can go together on each purchase to stay well-supplied for long periods at reduced cost (dark-colored sealable plastic containers or new unused paint cans work well for storage, keep them in a dark corner of the basement away from sunlight and large temperature variations and they will stay good for many years). Not a bad idea to check local fire codes and your homeowners' insurance policy before you start stockpiling powder; you may need to be conservative on this, or build an approved powder magazine, or arrange for off-site storage.

On the brighter side, I remember after the First Gulf War when there was a mountain of GI surplus bullets, powder, primers and other components readily available at very reasonable prices. Perhaps we will see the same thing again.

With the current administration? Got to love an optimist.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Reloading saves me more money now, than it did when I first started but casting has always saved me lots more money than every other facet of handloading but only because I have a source for (almost) free wheel weights.

But I do it because it's fun.

A good source of known composition alloys for casting, if you don't have a source for WWs: Casting Bullet Alloys from Rotometals

A mix of half of Lyman #2 and half of 1:16 alloy results in a Brinell hardness of about 12.5. It works well in handguns and rifles if well fitted to the groove diameter of the barrel or .001" over. 40# of that alloy is $122 (shipped) at today's prices and will throw about 1200 boolits at 230 grains per, 1400 boolits at 200 grains per or 1772 at 158 grains per. That's a spread of ten cents to seven cents per boolit.

Then you have to cull them, lube and size them and don't discount the time necessary to actually do the casting as well as learn the techniques and what-not to cast decent projectiles. Don't forget the moulds, furnaces, ladles, protective clothing and other equipment. And the better moulds are expensive.

Or, you can just order a thousand carefully crafted and consistent 158gr cast bullets from Oregon Trail for $117 plus shipping. Or check out Missouri Bullet company 158 grain SWCs for $70/1000 not including the cost of shipping. That's almost as cheap as buying the metal!

But like I said, I do it because it's fun (and I get free WWs).

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Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

I haven't done any casting in years, but when I started reloading I also started bullet casting as well. That was in the mid 60's.
I got away from it eventually. It all got to be more work and hassle than it seemed worth the time. I really hated the thought of sizing&lube'ing the things.
I still have a couple of moulds around but got into the habit of buying cast bullets when I started Bullseye shooting.
The only thing I ever got to complain about was their ever increasing prices over the years.
But if you keep your eyes open, especially at gunshows, you can pick up some very good values. Odd lots of cast bullets, even if you're not going to use them immedietely (that means you don't have a gun in that caliber right now) can be found quite often for very good prices.

I still scrounge lead (and brass & copper). Old habits die hard. I either sell it at the local scrap yard and buy what I want, or in a couple of instances I've found local casters that would take the scrap lead in exchange at a certain price/lb toward their bullets.
A better price than the scrap yards and the bullets were priced right, w/no shipping costs, ect.

I might get back in to casting to feed my newest (renewed) interest in muzzle loaders. But so far those red boxes of round lead balls have been workin' out just fine.