A question for bullet casters

[epj]

Here is the result of about an hour's worth of casting. I would estimate 500 bullets or better. The Lee aluminum 6-cavity molds are far less expensive than a 4 cavity mold from Lyman, and is light enough that I don't get fatigued like I did with the big steel mold. There are those who consider all the Lee products junk, but having used both I would have to disagree.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Forgot to add that the only time I ever timed myself on the progressive Dillon(SDB) was 9 minutes for a box of 50 ea. 9mm cartridges using my cast bullets.

 

[ChuckS1]

I guess this has already been said, butI like casting because I get the bullet I want, at the size I want, when I want them. Besides, I have molds that you won't find with the commercial casters, which makes it fun. Granted, jsut about all the commercial bullets available will work, but for me casting is part of the fun of handloading my own custom cartridges.

 

[LAH]

With this I cast 1000 bullets in an hour on average.

With this I lube 1000 bullets in 20 minutes.

With this I load 1000 in about 3 hours counting filling primer tubes & such.

These times are approximate figures except for the casting. I can do 20 bullets per minute but can't average that over an hour……………Creeker

 

[AH-1G]

I have the same set up creeker but I am just too old for a 1000 a hour .I hope your doing well.
txpete

 

[LAH]

Doing fine here but like you not getting any younger..........Creeker

 

[nicky4968]

I don't come anywhere close to 1,000 bullets cast, lubed, sized, or loaded an hour. In fact, some bullets I hand lube. I mostly use Lee Liquid Alox. Nevertheless, I've got all the bullets I need. I cast a 148 grain wadcutter out of lead. I cast a 148 grain tumble-lube Lee wadcutter out of #2 Alloy. I cast a 200 grain round nose, a 158 grain round nose, and the original 173 grain "Keith" semiwadcutter out of #2 Alloy. A lubrisizer wouldn't really save me much time, as I only lube 15 to 20 bullets at a sitting. I just don't have the time to set up another machine. When I finally do get spare time (when people stop misbehaving and divorcing each other) I go shooting.

 

[easyrider604]

I estimate that it takes me 4.5 to 5 hours to cast 1,000 .45acp bullets (Lee .451 230 grain TC TL 6-cavity mold) from raw clip-on wheel weights, meaning straight from the tire shop so to speak. This includes setting up my Lee 20lb bottom pour pot, mold, bucket of water, table etc. and putting everything away after molding.

I've never timed the tumble lubing/resizing process.

I can load 150 rounds/hour average on my Lee Classic Turret, continuous relaxed pace.

I did 350/hour on my Dillon 550B when I had it, again continuous relaxed pace.

I haven't timed my Lee Loadmaster but I suspect it is slightly faster than the 550B.

 

[epj]

I rarely load more than a hundred rounds at a time on my Dillon 550, but the 100 rounds only take 10-12 minutes.

 

[LAH]

I can load 150 rounds/hour average on my Lee Classic Turret, continuous relaxed pace.

When loading on my Lyman All American Turret I also do 150 per hour.

 

[snowman]

Thanks for all the very informative responses. One of the posters wondered if I was hoping that "casting was an economical use of my time". No, I was virtually certain before raising the issue that it wasn't. I was just curious to get an idea what kind of time you folks were consuming on the practice, and particularly what proportion of your total loading time was spent on it. After reading all the posts, it was clear to me that casting is something I will never do unless for some reason bullets become difficult to obtain.

It's evident to me that my approach to reloading is considerably different than most of the regular posters here. I got back into handguns around eight years ago for primarily one reason: to be able to defend my life and that of my wife-to-be. I knew at the time that a certain amount of practice was essential, but also that my time and available funds for ammunition were limited. Some here have stated categorically that we don't save money by loading, but just end up shooting more and thus spending just as much or more than if we had used factory ammo. In my case that is not true. I've saved a great deal of money loading, because my practice time is quite limited, and I don't go over the limit. And I actually shoot less than when I started, since I learned to stop frequently and analyze my errors and determine how to improve.

More power to all of you who enjoy experimentation, who find casting and loading to be pleasurable hobbies, and so on. My only interest, really, is in making essential practice affordable without spending more hours on loading than is necessary. Thank you again for taking a little of your valuable time to share a bit of your hobby with me.

Keep that lead flowing!
Andy

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Time spent casting, loading, and shooting is not counted against a man's alotted time on earth.

 

[AH-1G]

I really got into casting when I was stationed in germany the first time.bullets were hard to find and if you did expensive.we started out with a coleman stove,lee 1 cav mold,old cast iron pot and a lee cookie cutter sizer.for lead a old german at the PX gas station would save WW for me for a exchange of a few beers .life was simple back then.
pete