Cast Lead Question

[Izhevsk762]

I've looked at the prices of various rifle bullets online, I can't say I'm overly thrilled about some of the prices. How do cast lead bullets compare price wise to just buying bullets?

Basically, school me on the pros and cons of casting my own bullets.

[Junk Yard Dog]

The lead is cheap, I can sell you all you want at a buck a pound for the hard stuff, it's the equipment that will cost you a bit. Lead furnace, now this can be a simple as a steel pot over a fire, or a nice bottom pour electric model. Molds, now here you can spend some money depending on the bullet you want to make. Lee molds run about $25 each, the steel molds from Lyman, or RCBS ( just to name a couple) will start at $45. That's the basic stuff, then you add an ingot mold so you can reform your unused lead, dippers, some people like to use them when casting larger size bullets, lead hardness testers, and so on. Then we get into seating dies for the copper gas checks you will want to add to reduce leading in your bore when firing the higher velocity rounds, the gas checks themselves come a 1000 to a bag for $25 or so last I checked, bullet lubes for lead cast bullets, there are a lot of lubes you can try. Once you are set up and learn to cast then you can crank out 1000's of bullets for any pistol or rifle you want to load for and it's much cheaper than buying factory FMC bullets. Just a quick and dirty list of what you will need to start.

[Darryl]

Not to mention....It's just dang fun!

There is something about shooting your own.

Buy your ingots from JYD, don't try to cast your own or that is another list of equipment you need.

Get a small bottom drop furnace. I just got a Lee that runs on 115 volts. The 220Volt ones are faster, but I didn't have 220v handy. 115v works just fine.



Dolk

[res45]

If your buying commercial gas checked rifle bullets you want seem much difference between them and jacketed bullet in some cases they may even be higher,plain base bullet will be cheaper but depending on the load your planning on using you may be limited to the velocity/pressure you can shoot them at.

The real saving comes when you cast them yourself,as others have mentioned the equipment you choose will determine your setup cost and how soon you can recope the savings. I use all Lee equipment,20 lb . 220 volt pot,sizer's and molds and have used them for several years now. The Lee molds basically pay for themselves after casting a couple hundred bullets and between me and my shooting/casting buddies we've casted thousands of bullets with those molds.

I have about 12 of the Lee molds all the rifle molds are of the gas check design and can be shot with the gas check on or left off depending on what you intend to use the bullet for. Cast bullets especially in rifles allow you to use pistol and shotgun powder for reduced plinking and small game loads,some of those powders even allow you reach velocities suitable for larger deer size game. The gas check serves several purposes,it helps seal the bores agents any friction induced defects case by the rifling of the bore that would normally be a problem with a plain base bullet when both high velocity and pressure are both present,gas checks also allow you to shoot a much softer than normal lead alloy at higher velocity and pressure than that alloy could normally withstand this is especially hand if you want to get some expansion with softer lead alloy bullet of the FN or HP design.

I cast my own bullets for all my handguns and rifles and seldom shoot a jacketed bullet anymore. Most of my lead alloys I get for free by word of mouth or I trade scrap metals at the local recyclers for lead based alloys current there getting about 40 cents a lb. for clean roofers lead sheeting which I can add Tin or wheel weight alloy to to harden it up if need or just put a gas check on it if I want to leave it softer. Basically my gas check bullets run me about 3 cents each the plain one are basically free. I've casted and shot enough rifle and pistol bullets over the years to basically pay for my equipment a couple times over.

A few but not all of the bullets I cast,excuse the lighting on the bullets.


Recent cast bullet load 50 yd. 5 shot group from my Mosin M44.


Some good info for the beginning bullet caster or shooter.
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

[Junk Yard Dog]

I am right now melting down some 150 pounds of roof flashing and water pipe in the big pot to cast into ingots. That stuff is for the muzzle loader guys who need soft lead, they have been on me for months to do another lot, and all 150 pounds are already spoken for plus the extra 40 or so I am adding to my own lead hoard. I always have some of the hard stuff in stock, or can make more easily enough.

[Ironnewt]

Not to undercut JYD, but your range maybe a source of scrap lead. It will have to be recast to ingots then "Boolits" but your original source will be free.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Not undercutting me, once the current supply is gone that will be it, casting, packing, and shipping the stuff is taking a lot of my time, and I want to build up my own supply to a full half ton.