casting your own bullets ?

R

rebs

New member
Is it cost effective to buy the necessary equipment to start casting your own 45 and 38 cal bullets ? With the average cost of buying cast bullets at around 48.00 per 500, is there enough saving to start cast your own ?
 
If you can find a steady supply of free lead then definitely yes. If you have to buy the lead then some cost comparison might be in order, particularly when you factor in the time it will take.

So far, all of my casting has mostly just cost me my time. I got almost all my equipment free from my dad or grandpa and have manged to keep using free lead for the last 35 years or so. I am about to run out of free lead and then will have to do some cost and time calculations to see if it is still worth it for me.
 
I had watched a friend hand cast fishing weights once and that had me stay clear of casting for years, as the time involved didn't appeal to me.

Having a good source of free lead had me making ingots until I had so many I just had to start casting.

I didn't want to spend a bunch of money but didn't mind spending a little time up front if it would save me a lot down the road so I wound up building automated machines to cast and size bullets used mostly stuff I already had.

video of the caster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2U1ujg_nzo

Video of the sizer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eANEMBS_V_0
 
it's very cost effective. but like he said, it depends on what you do for lead. I live in west Georgia, a good bit away from the city, and I have found a couple of tire shops that wait until their weight buckets get full(which can take a couple a months) and then sell me the hundred or so pound bucket for 20$. after smelting to ingots a full bucket yields me about 75-80# of lead.

as for the equip to start, I only bought a side burner from walmart for ingots(about 20$), some spoons a pot(20$) and a lee 20# bottom pour(60$) and your in biz. molds are about 20-25$ a piece for cheap lee mold which work just fine. I also recommend getting a cheap toaster oven and some powder coat, but not 100% necessary, but I wouldn't ever go back to tumble lubing. time can be a big negative too, once you get all set up and preheated to cast bullets, can take about an hour per 200 bullets, maybe more, I don't really keep[ track. but it is very enjoyable and lead goes a long way if your just doing you standard sub 200gr pistol rounds.

if I had to pay more than 40-50c a # for lead, I do not know if I would call it economical. unless of course, you are shooting an uncommon caliber.
 
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I believe, like any hobby, casting shouldn't be determined by costs; If you wanna try it, go ahead! Several ways to start casting but I had little money to spend so I used a 2 qt. stainless steel pot ($.50), a single burner Coleman stove (already had it), a slotted spoon (Mama never missed it), a Lee ladle (a couple bucks), a paint stick and parrafin for fluxing (less than a dollar), and a Lee mold (I think it was around $20.00). Total out of pocket; less than $30.00. I had a bunch of fishing sinkers and a source for wheel weights and lubed with alox. You could go the other way too; $350.00 for a first class electric pot, $100.00+ for a premium mold, $180.00 for a lubersizer plus dies and top punches, mebbe another $50.00-$100.00 for misc. tools. You can spend from about $2.00-$3.00+ per lb. for good bullet alloy (Rotometals), or on some forums' swap and sell you can find "range lead" for $1.50 or so. Like the other fellers mentioned, the biggest cost is the alloy. I once had a place I could "mine" bullets so that cut my costs waaaay down.:D. Once I got into casting, lead sources seemed to appear (meaning ya gotta be aware and look!).

I enjoy casting and don't determine how much I wanna do by costs (I ain't stingy nor a spendthrift, but won't limit my enjoyment if I can afford it), and it's prolly the most satisfying aspect of my shooting hobby; turning some gunky scrap lead into precision sized and lubricated bullets custom made for my particular gun...
 
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As mentioned, it's about how easy it is for find lead where you are, but you also need a well ventilated place to do it. No closed garages or your pencil will, eventually, get excessive lead in it.
I think I'd go for swaging before casting.
 
Even with purchasing lead on the internet, as close as I can calculate, 1000 sized and lubed 120g 9mm bullets cost me $34.90 or less than $0.04 cents each.
 
I just bought off of ebay 50 pounds of lead for $62. That is 350,000 grains of lead. That is 2,822 124 grain 9mm bullets for me. I'd say that is economical to me.
 
I cast for all my guns but 22lr and I can get the boolits I want for what ever gun I have.There is some size of jacket that is not the size I want and casting is what I can do just that.I have some molds that I can use for 38/357 and also 9mm.All you do is size them to the gun you will use them in.Just like my 32cals.the same for all the ones that I will use it in ,Jacket bullets are high and if you like to do some shooting or anything else you are limeted with jacket of the factory will put out at the time.With cast you just do up what you like and then you are good to go in the end.It is cost less after all is done and you have all you need to do it all.After you have all the things for sizen and lube and mold all you need is the alloy and some test eq. .then if you have a bullet stoper to collect your bullets that you can reuse by melting them then you will be ok and just to shop around you can find some deals on alloy to use and make it all work out.
 
Is it cost effective to buy the necessary equipment to start casting your own 45 and 38 cal bullets ? With the average cost of buying cast bullets at around 48.00 per 500, is there enough saving to start cast your own ?
Click to expand...

Well to me if you can justify loading your own bullets in the first place your usually shooting enough or your wanting something better than you can buy off the shelf.

Similarly if you are shooting enough or shooting high dollar calibers you can easily absorb the cost of casting equipment and alloy to pour your own.

That said, if your really only shooting a few boxes a month it is a toss up, unless those boxes run you $35-45 per 20 like some of the ones I shoot do.

I initially started out my casting with only a bucket of wheel weights, a Lee bottom pour pot, and some copper and SS tubing I used to make 4,6,8, and heavier wire legged surf weights for surf fishing for Redfish and sharks.

Then along came the itch and a Lee 6 cavity 452300 RF mold in order to feed the appetite of my 454. I managed to pick up 2K of older Hornady GC's off evilbay for about 25 bucks which I thought was wonderful. Today however, I have close to two dozen molds, (probably more) for different things, don't even want to figure up how much alloy I have stashed in piles here and elsewhere, and enough GC's that I have managed to squirrel away that should last into my three grandson's mid thirties or so.

But for what your looking at, as mentioned you could probably round up some cheap lead or even free if you look hard enough, that would serve you well for target loads in your 45 and 38's. With a minimal expense you could easily be pouring up your own. While the Lee products aren't known for top end quality on the message boards, their molds can and do turn out some great shooting bullets for a very good price. You will not find a custom mold for less than roughly $100 even in a 2 cavity usually, where you can get a 6C Lee in just about all of the favorite type bullets for around $60 delivered. Trust me when I say, you CAN make a PILE of bullets in a short time with one of them. Throw in the push through sizing kit for about $20, and you will have your lube and sizer covered as well. Don't take all of the Alox bashing too seriously it has been and will continue to be one of the cheapest, easiest, and most effective lubes, no matter what comes along. The biggest thing is most folks use too much of it and then gripe about all the smoke and stink. It only takes a few drops to lube up 100 or more bullets, then you size and lube again. It all only takes about an hour from start to finish with a little heat from a hair drier.

You can take the above for what it is worth and what it cost you. I have a closet with 6 - 3'x4' shelves full of jacketed bullets in numerous calibers, and I have, like mentioned above plenty of casting equipment, including Lee, Lyman, and others. In fact I haven't even loaded a jacketed bullet for any handgun in the past 4 years period. Rifles...well I haven't quite gotten there YET, but I do have the molds and everything else I need. I just haven't found the time to get started on them just yet, but I will.

The last thing I will add, even if you only dip your toe into it and cast for your two mentioned calibers, if you stock up on the basic supplies, and alloy, you will not be one of the folks posting you cannot find anything to shoot when something comes along and causes the next panic. It will come, and it may or may not be as bad as this one we are just now easing out of. Rest assured though, if you can make your own you are in a MUCH better place.
 
Wheelweights are getting scarce. With the advent of powdercoating, it will extend the 'lifespan' of casting as you can use pure lead such as roof flashing.
 
I cast using wheel weight lead and Lee 6-gang molds. You can crank out bullets so fast it's amazing. One evening of casting and you will have hundreds of bullets.

Steve
 
cost vs fun

A friend asked me the same thin a few months ago.

If you try to assign a cost per cast bullet, then it can look very expensive for only a few hundred. But you cannot figure the initial cost of the mold(s), pot, and other equipment into it. That is a baseline of doing your hobby!

If you cast thousands, then yes, your cost will be pretty low, depending on your cost of lead and alloys. I personally do not worry about the cost savings. It is just fun. And I have more control over what I load and shoot by making my own and powder coating them than buying FMJ's, or com-cast projectiles.
 
The cost for commercial cast 230 gr. .45s was closer to $80.00 per 500 when I checked. I've been casting since the 70s, so am definately pro casting.
 
As mentioned, it's about how easy it is for find lead where you are, but you also need a well ventilated place to do it. No closed garages or your pencil will, eventually, get excessive lead in it.
I think I'd go for swaging before casting.
Click to expand...

Ventilation is definitely a good thing, but mostly because of the impurities burning off of the lead like flux.

There are many folks here who have been casting for decades while getting routing blood tests for lead and have had no issues. It is trivial - you get blood work with every physical all they have to do is check the check box for lead. I've had mine done for 5 years now and have no problems or even a hint of a problem.

Lead poisoning is pretty hard to get - you pretty much have to eat the lead. As long as you don't eat or drink while handling lead, and wash your hands afterwards, it's pretty much a sure thing you won't have a problem. Most people cast at 750F-800F. Of course some vapor is no doubt produced at this temperature, but lead doesn't boil until over 3000F.

Lead just isn't a big danger for casting.

Steve
 
new kid on the block

have been reloading since 1973 so have some knowledge of what you guys are talking about with exception of casting bullets. recently decided to take the plunge into casting not for monetary considerations but to give myself a more rounded sense of rifles and shooting in general. could not be happier in my decision. the entire process from start to finish (collecting lead, casting, sizing/lubing etc.) has been an absolute joy. if you have to do the math to justify casting the joy of casting bullets is somewhat diminished. the time spent doing the above is all worth it when I see the finished product. anyway just thought I would throw in my two cents.
 
Casting is worth it, from an economical standpoint. But, the largest gain from casting is what you will learn about your guns and shooting. There is just no way to measure or value what you get from being able to try so many diferent bullets and loads.
I know that I am partial...but starting casting all those years ago is the BEST thing that I EVER did for my shooting knowledge and enjoyment of my guns.
 
Sure it is. The more you shoot the more you save.
Even buying lead at $1.75 a pound I can still beat the price 1/2 to 3rd.

You dont need to go great guns to start out. I started with my Colman stove, Goodwill purchased steel sauce pan .35. Steel soup ladle.25 and two LEE molds.
Oh dont forget safety equipment.
 
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