Just up the road from you in mission Viejo. Drop me a pm, happy to show you the casting ropes.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

A bullet mold and casting bullets is a bit farther than I'm wanting to go right now as I'm wanting to stay with either plated or jacketed bullets. Yes someday I'll be trying some of those 700gr T-Rex "Thumpers" but I will most likely be getting them in a sample pack that Matt's Bullets sells:

500 S&W Sample Pack 50 Cartridges [500swsample] - $115.00 : Matts Bullets Ammunition

And Jeez guy's, Lay off the compliments willya??!!!! I'm gonna start blushing shortly!!!

Way back when, handloading for the 44mag got me bullet casting. Now with custom mold makers, you have unlimited options. Now with coatings, you can have a better bullet than most plated for 1/2 the cost, even paying $2/# for alloy. Shooting big bores, it doesn't take much in casting/sizing equip to pay for itself.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

All of that is true Fred however one thing I'm trying to avoid is barrel "leading"... Yes I've done some reading on casting but, for right now, I'm gonna stick with the set-up/product's I'm using mainly because, with the round processing I've set up, it works very well for my purposes!

Except for the powder Dealie!! I'll be doing some more research into that!!

coating means no leading.
For something that more or less equates a heat set paint, its hard to believe the claims. But, it does what it says, and more.

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it just needs more voltage

I was gonna go there, but starting to feel like I am beating a dead donkey.
I'm sold on coating for lead bullets; hi-tek for bulk pistol, just faster & easier for volume coating, & PC for high vel pistol & low vel rifle. I've had some decent results with my 6.8 & PC bullets at 2000fps. Still need to tweak the alloy I think, maybe try quenching out of the oven?

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

yeah, the dihydrogen monoxide treatment has been used to some effect.
I kinda like what it does for a round ball flat sided in a size die though. I really need to chrono that animal.

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it just needs more voltage

You guys in Calif. still have lead wheel weights !!
Back when I lived in that state, it was "Green" now it is brown.

Not a friendly ammo, gun state, now............
one reason I crossed over the boarder.

Good luck on that molding. It is the only way to fly...........

No, kalifornistan banned the lead ww about 4yrs ago which started the decline nationwide. I get most of my alloy now from berm mining at my club or trading. Some guys even keep their pulled down stuff for me, got 10# last month. I had about 400# of ww stashed before the ban, some Lino & X-ray sheathing. Anymore, berm mining is the way to go, unless you know someone in construction that can get you roofing or plumbing lead. You can also buy from a few good guys over at castboolit forum. Ww at $1/# delivered isn't bad.
Yes getting out of this fd up state is a must, already in the works. Nothing will fix kommiefornia but a really big earthquake.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Occasionally you might find the odd batch of lead WW here but the days of hauling off 200# from the local tire shop are long gone.

I did come across 100# at the scrapper a couple years ago.

The year before the ban I was getting 3gal buckets full from the nearby big-o tire, about 100# for $20. I would stop by every other month. The take off that was about 70# of ingots ready for casting bullets. After the ban, the total useable alloy dropped with every new bucket I got. Then he raised the price & I was out. Even at $20, the take home weight was down to less than 30#. Not worth the propane to melt it, when I could get it for $1/# already in ingots, delivered to my door! Ahh the good old days.
The one club I shoot IDPA at has quite a bit just laying around the target line. I'll pick it up while waiting to shoot or when pulling down the stages after the match. I usually come home with 4-5#, all useable alloy. At 11-12 matches a year, 50-60#, enough for 2-3000 bullets depending on caliber. Alloy is free, no real time involved, I am standing around the range anyway.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I used to cast my own bullets (this was 30+ years ago) and being a dealership service manager, had all the free lead I wanted. I then bought 26-pound ingots of used linotype from a local printing company and blended the two metals about 75% lead and 25% linotype. That made some nice bullets but as Fred mentioned, today's wheel weights aren't like the ones I used.

Today in retirement, I buy my handgun bullets from Missouri Bullets and Precision Delta. Besides now living in a condominium community where melting lead would be frowned upon, the damned stuff is too hard to find and pricey when you do. I sold my furnace and molds to a friend several years ago and he recently told me the furnace finally died after all those years of use. He's considering not replacing it given the challenges and costs involved in casting today.

Ed

Yep WW are going the way of the do-do.

I used to go to the scrap dealer and pick from 55 gallon drums. Occasionally I'd find bunches that were probably up to 6oz apiece and were very clean. I can only guess they came from tractors.

I recently took up casting again and resigned to buying commercial alloy. I don't have the time to scrounge or the inclination to smelt scrap.

Even at $1.50 a pound, my home-cast cost about 60% less than commercial cast boolits and I can taylor them however I want.