I have to agree with you. I like the idea of being able to make my own but I don't have a source of free lead. When I run the numbers I see no real savings from buying already made.
Can sombody help me justify casting?
- Thread starter Wee Hooker
- Start date
I have to agree with you. I like the idea of being able to make my own but I don't have a source of free lead. When I run the numbers I see no real savings from buying already made.
Wrong! Its very cost effective. I don't have to BUY or DEPEND on anyone for bullets..........Because I make my own......Cheap!.....Plus.......Sometimes I "mine" the berm on my personal range and recycle the lead.....So.....Some of my "bullets" may have been down the barrel several times.
Beemer-mark
Member
No such thing as free lead anymore. If you have a connection to free lead you sell it on forum or eBay. Most tire places either give it to long established friends or (big box stores) dispose of it as hazardous waste. 20+ years of casting and I now buy all my bullet alloys from a known certified source. Yes, more expensive but I'm no longer in it becuase I'm looking to save a few pennies.
I reload for many reasons but bottom line I enjoy it as much (maybe more) than collecting firearms. I can spend months custom tailoring a bullet and load to a firearms.
The one that really irks me is people that say I can buy el cheap ammo that goes bang really cheap, why shoot I reload. I guess if all you care about is the gun can make a loud bang than cheap ammo is just the right thing. But please don't compare my reloads to el cheapo ammo. Compare it to what it is for pricing. Say, Buffalo Bore for example or Hornady Critical Defense ammo.
I reload for many reasons but bottom line I enjoy it as much (maybe more) than collecting firearms. I can spend months custom tailoring a bullet and load to a firearms.
The one that really irks me is people that say I can buy el cheap ammo that goes bang really cheap, why shoot I reload. I guess if all you care about is the gun can make a loud bang than cheap ammo is just the right thing. But please don't compare my reloads to el cheapo ammo. Compare it to what it is for pricing. Say, Buffalo Bore for example or Hornady Critical Defense ammo.
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fredj338
Member
This really is the defining point. Unless you are making a special bullet not readily available, cost of alloy is the make or break point. For me it's less than $1/# for clean alloy. More than that I am not casting practice bullets & I already have all the gear, including bottom pour pots, star sizer & even a magma caster. Time is still $$ for me so the alloy has to be cheap.
The newer coating processes may change that for me. You can now effectively make plated bullets for the cost of lead + 1/2c or less. Something to consider.
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Vulcan Bob
Member
Well I may be a control freak but, I get the bullet I want, the alloy I want, the diameter I want and the lube I want. As a bonus my Lewis Lead Remover has lain unused ever since!
GypsmJim
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I started reloading .38 almost 50 years ago. Always bought commercial bullets and always had a leading problem. Since I had a free source of lead I thought I would give it a try.
A little lead pot for a couplabucks, a homemade stand out of angle iron and a propane bottle torch. The Lee mold cost (if my memory serves me correctly) 10 bucks, and maybe another $5 for a hand sizer.
Problem solved - have not seen any leading since. Also have not bought a store bought lead bullet since.
I still have the 148 grain .357 wadcutter mold and it still casts as good as the day I got it. Over the years I aded an electric melter and a dozen other molds and sizers. I only wore out 1 mold. All my equipment is the value priced Lee. For $400 today I could buy a heck of a lot of stuff.
When the free lead supply ran out I started making friends with gas stations. The usual price for a 1/2 full 5 gallon pail was about 5 bucks. When the writing was on the wall that lead wheel weights were to be banned I accelerated my search. My basement now holds a lifetime supply. Boy I hope I never have to move...LOL.
The last few buckets were had for a buck a pound.
When its too cold and snowy to go outside to shoot, reloading and casting help make Summer come quicker. It would be hard to convince me to NOT cast my own. If lead goes to $5 a pound and it is no longer cost effective it'll still be better than watching TV!
A little lead pot for a couplabucks, a homemade stand out of angle iron and a propane bottle torch. The Lee mold cost (if my memory serves me correctly) 10 bucks, and maybe another $5 for a hand sizer.
Problem solved - have not seen any leading since. Also have not bought a store bought lead bullet since.
I still have the 148 grain .357 wadcutter mold and it still casts as good as the day I got it. Over the years I aded an electric melter and a dozen other molds and sizers. I only wore out 1 mold. All my equipment is the value priced Lee. For $400 today I could buy a heck of a lot of stuff.
When the free lead supply ran out I started making friends with gas stations. The usual price for a 1/2 full 5 gallon pail was about 5 bucks. When the writing was on the wall that lead wheel weights were to be banned I accelerated my search. My basement now holds a lifetime supply. Boy I hope I never have to move...LOL.
The last few buckets were had for a buck a pound.
When its too cold and snowy to go outside to shoot, reloading and casting help make Summer come quicker. It would be hard to convince me to NOT cast my own. If lead goes to $5 a pound and it is no longer cost effective it'll still be better than watching TV!
Beemer-mark
Member
I got tired of buying scrap "lead" with all the unknowns and un-repeatablility in my loads. I buy commercial for some calibers, espicially the smaller 32 caliber. There are a lot of good casters out there and pricing is very competitive. However almost all of them cast a very hard bullet, too hard for my taste. For 44 and 45 Colt I cast with 1:16 alloy at $3.40 a lb. I figure about the same cost (or less with shipping) as a commercial caster but I get the bullet I want from my custom designed molds (most custom molds like Accurate Molds aren't that much more than off the shelf molds).
The highest, or maybe second highest, cost is the brass. But for the common revolver calibers (45 Colt, 45 ACP, 35 special, etc.) the brass seems to last for ever in these low pressure rounds.
The highest, or maybe second highest, cost is the brass. But for the common revolver calibers (45 Colt, 45 ACP, 35 special, etc.) the brass seems to last for ever in these low pressure rounds.
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Geo. T.
Member
My 2 Cents!
There is one issue that has not been mentioned much and that is the health exposure! There is a lot of NRA information about this. There needs to be high air flow and even then you will pollute your home , garage or anywhere you do the casting. I might add that it's most risky for the children!
Understand that I have everything needed. I shot muzzle loaders way before factory swaged balls were available. I have molds for 45 , 38 ,32 , 40 cal round ball and 50. I buy them now. No air bubbles no casting flaws and I use the bullets from Precision Bullets on Line that are coated with a coating that eliminates leading. They are cheap and from time to time they have free shipping.
Back in the day I was younger and information about the health hazards were known I did cast. Not today! Mu bottom drop furnace and molds are clean and ready if required. Until then I'll buy bullets and round balls!
There is one issue that has not been mentioned much and that is the health exposure! There is a lot of NRA information about this. There needs to be high air flow and even then you will pollute your home , garage or anywhere you do the casting. I might add that it's most risky for the children!
Understand that I have everything needed. I shot muzzle loaders way before factory swaged balls were available. I have molds for 45 , 38 ,32 , 40 cal round ball and 50. I buy them now. No air bubbles no casting flaws and I use the bullets from Precision Bullets on Line that are coated with a coating that eliminates leading. They are cheap and from time to time they have free shipping.
Back in the day I was younger and information about the health hazards were known I did cast. Not today! Mu bottom drop furnace and molds are clean and ready if required. Until then I'll buy bullets and round balls!
I am lucky, I have never had to buy any bullet metal. The area
I live in had many industries that used lead and tin. I have never
bought a ounce. Conservative estimate of lead on hand is over
a ton, and several hundred pounds of tin. Then I have drywall
buckets full of type, 50/50 bar , all kinds of Babbitt and other
bearing metals. Casting equipment picked up dirt cheap over
the years. I cast over 50 bullets, over 100 fishing lures, and
even some buttons, battery lugs, and toys (tin).
I live in had many industries that used lead and tin. I have never
bought a ounce. Conservative estimate of lead on hand is over
a ton, and several hundred pounds of tin. Then I have drywall
buckets full of type, 50/50 bar , all kinds of Babbitt and other
bearing metals. Casting equipment picked up dirt cheap over
the years. I cast over 50 bullets, over 100 fishing lures, and
even some buttons, battery lugs, and toys (tin).
GypsmJim
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I started casting in 1974 in an unventilated basement. When I switched to wheel weights, with all the dirt and such, I moved to the garage with the doors open in the Summer to do the ingot casting. The bullet casting was still done in the basement in the Winter.
Never thought about lead poisoning until somebody mentioned it. I obtained a copy of a report done by an independant testing agency that showed no particular air contamination hazard when using an electric melting pot and hand held molds. Of course, I admit that the work was sanctioned by a bullet casting equipment company.
Earlier this year when I took my annual physical I told my doctor about all the indoor range shooting I do, plus the bullet casting. He ordered a lead screening along with the lipid profile, etc. My lead results were so low they hardly made the chart.
My guess is that the health hazard has more to do with touching the lead with your hands, and then blowing your nose or smoking, etc., where ingestion could occur. But from all I know its not from lead vaporizing in the air.
I know I've been a little googy in recent years, but on the basis of those tests It's not from lead poisoning...
Don't start! I began in 1980 when a box of 240-grain SWCs from Marksman Bullet Co. wouldn't stay on a paper plate at 50'. I weighed a handful and they were as much as 11 grains apart! Shortly after that, at a Houston Gun Show I found a four cavity Lyman 429421 with handles for $35, and off I went. A buddy's pot and a Lyman 45 sizer, and I was casting bullets that would shoot to an inch if I did my part.
Now, some 35 years later I am about $15K deep in casting, sizing, and lubing equipment. I have ~35 Hensley and Gibbs gang moulds in every size, shape and weight imaginable, several thousand lbs. of lead, alloy, and lino, and I own at least one mould for anything I load for (some 30+ cartridges)...
Over the years when times were hard I have sold some of my own hard cast to help pay the bills, and I have learned how to make what I cast fit my own application. But it has taken me 35 years and I am still learning.
But I have to admit: there is some sort of very sweet pleasure and self-satisfaction that comes from watching five projectiles you made yourself cluster into one ragged hole at 100 yards from your own handload.
Now, some 35 years later I am about $15K deep in casting, sizing, and lubing equipment. I have ~35 Hensley and Gibbs gang moulds in every size, shape and weight imaginable, several thousand lbs. of lead, alloy, and lino, and I own at least one mould for anything I load for (some 30+ cartridges)...
Over the years when times were hard I have sold some of my own hard cast to help pay the bills, and I have learned how to make what I cast fit my own application. But it has taken me 35 years and I am still learning.
But I have to admit: there is some sort of very sweet pleasure and self-satisfaction that comes from watching five projectiles you made yourself cluster into one ragged hole at 100 yards from your own handload.
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OP
Wee Hooker
Member
Thanks for the generous offer Sir! I'm down near the RI/MA border so it would be a good ride. That said, I have had an offer from a local acquaintance to do the same. I just ordered molds and sizing dies in 38 and 9mm so it looks like I'm at the point of no return anyway.
Vulcan Bob
Member
Thanks for the generous offer Sir! I'm down near the RI/MA border so it would be a good ride. That said, I have had an offer from a local acquaintance to do the same. I just ordered molds and sizing dies in 38 and 9mm so it looks like I'm at the point of no return anyway.
Good for you novalty! Pop over to Cast Boolits.com for a lot of good info and help. There like here is a lot of good folk willing to help. Also check out the "From ignot to bullet" link most helpful! Another good thing about all this, you are your own master in lean times, when the rush is on and even the commercial casters are three months behind, you are only one casting session to having ammo to shoot. Good luck and have fun.
novalty
Member
Thanks for the generous offer Sir! I'm down near the RI/MA border so it would be a good ride. That said, I have had an offer from a local acquaintance to do the same. I just ordered molds and sizing dies in 38 and 9mm so it looks like I'm at the point of no return anyway.
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Sorry, no help here. I'm moving away from lead as soon as the last few boxes are gone. One reason is I don't like wearing latex gloves when I load the stuff. I've had high levels of lead and mercury in my system and had to be treated for it.
I'm really not sure if casting is toxic or not but I'm not going to find out.
I'm really not sure if casting is toxic or not but I'm not going to find out.
fredj338
Member
Lead poisoning issues are as much about personal hygiene & one's own physiology as anything else. Normal bullet casting has very little issues, just wash your hands. There are no lead fumes at normal casting temps, but anything you put into the pot for flux may be an issue. One reason I like sawdust for flux. When I cast, I just stir with a wooden paint stick to flux. The alloy is clean going into the pot. I would bet shooting indoors is more of an issue than bullet casting for lead issues.
I don't do that either.
Our private club is considering a substantial expense to upgrade the ventilation system at our indoor range. I suspect the cost will be too great and they will demo the building.
If you work around lead or shoot a lot indoors you should probably have your levels checked.
If you don't have a cheap supply of lead, it's probably not worth the effort. You can buy commercial cast in bulk pretty reasonably. If you do have access to low cost lead, and the time to cast, it can represent a good savings. If you need bullets that are not readily available, that's a whole different deal.
fredj338
Member
I have been casting & shooting lead bullets for 40yrs. My test last year had my lead level in high single digits. I almost never shoot indoors. I do NOT smoke, a big issue with lead absorption, I watch my diet, am pretty fit, all issue with raising lead levels in your blood.
GypsmJim
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In my early days of casting I used Lyman #2 alloy, which meant I had to buy pure lead, linotype, bar solder, etc. When I got free wheel weights I switched to them exclusively and had results just as good. I find in my area the composition was quite consistent.
Looking at EBay now, the typical WW buy-it-now price is about $1.50 a pound (some are less). Figuring an 85% yield that's $1.76 for the lead. For a 230 gr. .45 ACP bullet it comes to $29 per 500. Add a few more pennies for lube.
For the few store bought bullets I've bought in recent years, I learned to use only good ones since I've been burned before. Right now 230's from Penn Bullets are $66 / 500 delivered.
So, bottom line is that casting your own reduces the price about in half.
