Okay, so it's cast bullets

[fredj338]

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.

 

[David LaPell]

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.

 

[Old Seabee]

Lead

Does anybody use mercury still to remove lead ? Thank you

 

[glider1]

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

 

[ChuckS1]

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.

 

[glider1]

Thanks, what about cost to get started ?

 

[rwsmith]

I can relate

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.

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.

 

[fredj338]

Does anybody use mercury still to remove lead ? Thank you

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.

 

[venomballistics]

Does anybody use mercury still to remove lead ? Thank you

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.

 

[358156hp]

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.

 

[mtgianni]

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.

 

[Predator2U]

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.

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!

 

[David LaPell]

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.

 

[tallpaul]

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

 

[Bugs Bunny]

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.

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.

 

[novalty]

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.

 

[MikeyB]

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.

 

[David LaPell]

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.

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.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

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.

 

[Rule3]

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.