interested in bullet casting but i have a few questions...

S

Smokescreens

New member
i see a lot of people cast there own bullets but i wonder what is the biggest draw to it for? is it a cost saving, more grain/ profile options? i see people do gas checks, resizing different kinds of lube or coatings, ect. seems like a whole another mess of equiptment to buy and i want to make sure if i get into it im doing it for the right reasons.
 
Its another hobby. I loved doing well in a match with bullets I cast my self.

You can taylor the bullet and load to your gun.

Did I save money? Nope. Did I shoot A LOT more? YEP. Did I improve my skills as a shooter? Certainly because I could shoot more.

I have taken game with my cast bullets too.

David
 
I do it because I'm a huge fan of hollow points and there are a bazillion hollow point molds out there. I really do enjoy it and the different bullets that I can make.
 
I do it for a few reasons, the most compelling of which is to further my self-reliance. Some calibers are more suited to cast bullets than others. I've had fair results with 30-30 but not excellent, though I am still experimenting with it to get results that rival jacketed bullets; I have not yet arrived..... On another note, I have been using my own hand-cast bullets in 45 Colt since 1976, and from the beginning, they have been the best. Sure, there are good jacketed bullets for the 45 Colt, and I still shoot some of them occasionally, but hand-cast bullets in that caliber are simply the best and it's at least 90% of what I use in it.
 
38, 45, 44 special, 32-20 and 45 colt are all good canidates for cast bullets.

I use jacketed for my 9mm most of the time.

Magnums can be done, but its a little more advanced.

I have even shot them out of my 22-250 with excellent results. It takes a lot of time and reading to shoot cast rifle bullets. I used gas checks and pure linotype.

I down load my 222 with cast bullets to Rimfire ballistics. Its a 222 over 20 gage. My meat gun.

Go to Castboolits dot com and read all you want.

David
 
The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook #4 is a good start .
Casting with family and friends always a great time.
 
cool good food for though. David R, i know just what you mean. its only lowering your cost per shot. to me that is good enough. what are your guys thoughts on the powdercoating of lead? im assuming that makes it so lube isnt needed. i remember shooting some lead at a indoor range and the smoke from what im assuming was the bullet lube. outdoor i wouldnt care but for indoor i wouldnt want that.
 
You start doing it to save money. Then you get hooked. Its like reloading. Start becasue you can justify cents per round or dollars per box. Then some where along the line, you can load better stuff for YOUR gun than factory.

Then you can shoot more for less money, so you shoot more. Then you get better...

David

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amen. i have a separate safe just for my bulk loaded plinking ammo. my good stuff that i would use to defend my home, family and self is in the firearms themselves, lol. i need to dive into the religion and learn about the alloys and limitations of lead. i would probably coat them with that hi-tek stuff to avoid lube. where can you find good lead for cheap and how do you know/ test for the hardness?
 
I used to claim that I reloaded (and later cast bullets) to save money. But, about two decades ago, I was presented with the argument that I believe is more appropriate (and has been brought up by other posters):
I reload so that I can afford to shoot more.

Could I shoot if I stuck with factory ammo? Absolutely. ...But not much. The shooting budget is pretty limited. And I certainly would not have the wildcat, obsolete, and/or oddball cartridges that I mess with. Specialty stuff like that is extremely expensive to buy (or have custom loaded) - if it's available at all.

But by reloading, casting bullets, and swaging bullets, I have a much lower financial investment into the ammunition. As such, I can shoot a whole lot more for the money - especially with those aforementioned wildcats, oddballs, and obsolete cartridges.

Bullet casting (or swaging) is just a deeper dive into the reloading hobby. More cost savings (or more ammunition available for the money). More appreciation for doing more of the process yourself. And more ability to control the quality of yet another part of the equation.

I learned more about case design, chamber dimensions, and a bullet's behavior when being violently expelled from a barrel, by getting into cast bullets, than I ever thought I would care to learn. That, in turn, provides a better understanding of what's going on when working with other bullets, or even just trying to understand why certain bullets will or won't work in certain cartridges and/or firearms.
To me, the knowledge has been far more valuable than the cost savings. (Though, at this point, I don't know that I'm 'saving' any money, anyway, since I'm still buying equipment and molds all the time...)

Without bullet casting, I wouldn't have gotten to the point that I could pick up a wildcat, get some chamber dimensions, and draw up a bespoke bullet.
That's pretty much how I handle everything now, when I want a cast bullet. If NOE doesn't offer what I want and there aren't any open group buys that might work, I just draw up my own. If Mountain Molds can't cut my design, I send the drawing to Accurate Molds and have Tom cut it. (Each place has its own machining limitations, but Accurate can usually cut what Mountain Molds can't/won't.)

Mistakes have been made. My small pile of failed designs is lasting proof. But more knowledge was gained in the process.

...Some of my thoughts.

-----

I don't cast much for bottleneck rifle cartridges. I'm not entirely sure why. It's probably just laziness - not wanting to deal with dialing in a bullet/lube/sizing combination, since I have found some good jacketed bullets that do very well and I can't keep up with everything in the safe, anyway.

My molds are primarily for .32 caliber revolvers (primarily .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R, and .327 Federal), 9mm, and .44 caliber revolvers and rifles.
But there are some bottleneck exceptions: I have a nice assortment of molds for use in .30-30, 7.62x54R, and 7.7x58mm Jap (with some cross-over with the .32 revolver bullets). They could also be used in .30-06 and .30-40 Krag; but the bullets really correct for those applications. There are also a couple molds for .35 Whelen. And, I've purchased a few commercial molds and designed a few molds for .475 Tremor (with crossover with .480 Ruger).

I also have three or four commercial molds and one custom mold in .40, .41, and .43 caliber that are used strictly to cast pure lead bullets that I use as cores for swaged bullets. But, that's another topic in itself. (And, unless you go redneck like me, generally a very expensive one.)

I typically only buy molds with designs that have a gas check shank, and only design bullets with gas check shanks, now. It really isn't necessary with some of the cartridges/loads; but it makes my life easier. Instead of having to fiddle around and find out whether or not a particular bullet (or firearm) needs a gas check, I just run everything gas-checked. To me, the extra cost isn't a big deal and it doesn't really take any more time, since I size all bullets. (I don't shoot anything as-cast.)
 
There are hardness testers available. They push a small ball into the surface of the lead, and then use a comparator to compare the size of the dimple to a chart that correlates with hardness.
It can also be done with artists' pencils.
But...

I don't really care about hardness as much as books and the internet might suggest a person should.

When I want to know a rough estimate, I take my three known alloys - pure lead, 'isotope cores', and linotype - and bang them into ingots of the unknown. I may even drop them on the floor to listen to how they 'ring'. Redneck, imprecise, and childish; but it's all the precision that I need.

The cheapest lead is range lead mined from dirt berms at gun ranges. (Bullet traps are too messy.) Typically, the only cost is your labor. (Get permission, or course.)
My brother and I mine the berms at a private range that he frequents (Utah), and I mine some from a range local to me (Idaho).

He uses his - which is extremely soft - almost exclusively now, with powder coat or Hi-Tek.
I use mine for handgun cartridges and 'slow' or low-pressure rifle cartridges. However, my range lead is typically notably harder than his, as about half of the bullets that I recover are "hard cast" commercial bullets, whereas his is mostly cores from commercial jacketed bullets (mostly FMJs, at that - it's a police/military training facility).

Both of us usually need to 'sweeten' the alloy with some tin, to get good mold fill-out. How much? "About that much."
(Usually 22" of plumbing solder at a time in a 10-lb pot. I believe we worked out that 22" of what we use is 8 oz. But I may be misremembering. With range lead, we shoot from the hip until it seems right.)
 
...where can you find good lead for cheap...
Click to expand...

That is a major problem for bullet casters today. The sources for cheap/inexpensive lead is pretty much drying up. Formerly, the traditional sources of bullet casting lead, type metals, wheel weights, plumber's lead, roof flashing, lead car body filler, Nuclear Medicine containers, etc. were bountiful and cheap...sometimes free for tha asking. That is no longer the case. While lead ore is common in the U.S., the last primary smelter, the only one left that converted ore to the elemental metal, has shut down. Therefore, given the changes in technology that utilized lead alloys has changed (no more lead-based printing processes), and the recycling of the lead alloys to reduce cost, the sources of lead are drying-up and the lead that does remain will become evermore expensive.

In short, if you are interested in becoming a bullet caster, it may be prudent to secure a large amount of lead before investing heavily in casting equipment.
 
I do it now so that I will be sure to have a supply of bullets.
That day I walked into a shop and they had no 22 ammo, no center fire ammo no bullets and no bullet moulds for sale...all gone in the political induced panic buying.

State's can stop you from internet buying with the stroke of a pen. I have moulds for every firearm I own and will never have a shortage or be at the mercy of what a manufacturer produces or what a dealer chooses to stock on his shelves.
Being the master of your own bullet supply is quite empowering !

An old iron pot on top a stove with a Lyman ladle and Lee 2 cavity mould is all you need. It can be done inexpensively...you don't have to break the bank.
Gary
 
I cheat when it comes to lead - I have a Doe Run secondary smelter around the corner from me. It's about $2 or more a pound for certified 92/6/2, but for me it's worth it. i use this lead for everything I cast, handgun or rifle, and powder coated I experince zero leading. I also don't hammer the velocity high - cast, for me, is target/practice ammo only, but if I were ever to get a 9mm HP mold, I might look at changing up hardness for grins and giggles.
Frankenmauser pretty much covered it all, but I do cast to save money, and I enjoy it.
 
I just got into casting, mostly for many of the reasons mentioned. I will say this...

In short, if you are interested in becoming a bullet caster, it may be prudent to secure a large amount of lead before investing heavily in casting equipment.
Click to expand...

^^^THIS RIGHT HERE

The glory days of trading a case of beer for 100+ pounds of lead wheel weights are pretty much over. But there are still some places out there that will cut you a deal. On a whim I found a used tire shop down the road that sells a 5 gallon bucket full for 30 bucks. Lot's of zinc and steel weights, but the one I bought netted 85 pounds of clean lead ingots. That's in the ballpark of .30 per pound, and I can cast 9mm projectiles for about a 1/2 penny each. I do, however, second that you should look for a good source of lead. Paying 2 bucks a pound for it negates it being worth my time.


Why cast? I wanted to be more self-reliant, as has been already said. Now all I must buy pre-made are powder and primers. Economy, as I can now load 9mm for about 4 to 5 cents per round (40 to 50 bucks a thousand). Shooting less popular calibers. Think of buying 45 colt ammo. It's not that cheap, even for plinking ammo. I could make it for literally 5-6 cents per round. I also shoot a lot of mil-surp rifles, and some of the battle rifle calibers of WWII such as 8mm, .303, 7.62x54, 7.7 Jap, 7.5 Swiss, et al are somewhat friendly to shooting cast bullets if you go heavy for caliber.

My number 1, main reason at the end of the day? The future of the availability of ammo. I can stock up on lead, powder, and primers in bulk for much cheaper than I can ammo. I can drop a little over 100 bucks if I find a smoking sale and have 5k primers in storage. If I drop 100 bucks on ammo, I only have a few hundred rounds. So reloading is GREAT for less common calibers. Casting is great for this as well, but it also allows you to stock up even more components for less money. If you keep adding to the stack you can easily have 10 years worth of "bangs" for not a ton of money. To buy enough ammo to last that long... well I don't have that kind of money.
 
so as far as a pot goes i do t mi d spending good money on good equipment. im thinking a lyman mag25 or rcbs pro melt 2. i like that rcbs has great customer service but i love how the temp gauge is in clear view while casting. although many seam to complain about the mold rest however that is a very easy cheap fix with some aluminum angle.
 
I LOVE the craft of doing it well. I also like to tinker. I also like to use what I have on hand. And I like to scrounge.

Saving money reloading is a myth most of the time. You start down this road, you end up not saving money with a pile of tools and rationalizations why you're doing it.

Honestly - I just love the craft of casting & reloading.

And Franken - one of these days you're just going to publish a book sorta by accident ...
;-)
 
Yea, I know. :rolleyes:
I started writing a book once. Its working title was, "Compiled Studies of Antilocapra Americana" (American Pronghorn Antelope). After about 60 pages (~30,000 words), I realized that I had gone off on 13 different tangents, from reference-grade subject matter to Boer War history, via historic Colorado railroads and Igor Sikorsky's first flying boat...
The tangents were still related. ...But definitely not very important. :eek:

(True story. I still have the file somewhere.)
 
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