Cast bullets- Are they worth it?

[Throckmorton]

millions of cast bulllets are shot yearly,and luckiloy for me and others who shoot them there are lots and lots of sellers. For my money you can't beat Badman bullets in Oregon, free delivery on 1k,less than 12cent per bullet in .45 caliber.
..you said you're bullets werent selling,imho they need to be in the 12-15 cent range to sell fast, I pay that for new cast and/or coated bullets from several suppliers.

 

[gmerkt]

Put me in the camp with people that played with cast bullets and hated it. It was my fault I'm sure. i know the basics of it, I just don't care to play with cast anymore. I recently got some polymer coated for a couple of calibers and am fine with that.

I was a successful bullet caster for decades. But it isn't for everyone. There is the equipment outlay, right down to individual dies and punches for the Lubricizer. You can sink a lot of money into molds and all that if you are loading for several different chamberings. The upside of this is, you can recover your money on this stuff if you decide to quit later. There are always people coming along behind you that want to take it up.

Somebody else said it already, the heavier / larger caliber bullet, the more you save. I cast a lot of heavier pistol bullets and .45-70's. But it wasn't worth my time to cast smaller, cheaper bullets. Like .32's, 38's and 9mm. Those I preferred to just buy in bulk rather than expend my time and skills making them.

If you are working with oddball, obsolete or exotic cartridges, casting can be a big help.

Re. skills. There is a learning curve to bullet casting, it takes time and experience to get your technique to a standard of acceptance. Then even more to increase your perfection of cosmetic appearance. I never got into powder coating so that might be a good way to hide a multitude of sins as to cosmetics. I have purchased some powder coated bullets, with mixed results depending upon brand. The nicest ones I bought were some factory 9mm Federals, but I seem to remember they cost as much as plated or FMJ 9mm bullets!

 

[dangerranger60]

Thank you everyone for the insightful feedback. I have spenttime researching and also tracking down a Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. Needless to say I am not so intimidated about loading cast bullets anymore. That handbook is pretty amazing.
I have nearly 1000 .358 casted bullets sized and lubed and just picked up some powder. I think with the handbook and your encouragement I will give it a shot in my Colt Trooper MKIII

Now to get my hands on some magnum primers! Or can I use standard SP primers in light loaded .357 cases?

Plinking loads are what cast lead is made for. They will load most like the copper plated bullets from Berry's , Extreme, etc...
I use mostly cast bullets in my handguns and large cal rifles.
If you use standard pressure 38 spl load data, you will end up with great plinking rounds.
Once you get used to them you can make pretty good hunting rounds from cast lead too. but you will want a harder alloy.
Til then enjoy them. DR

 

[drstrangelove]

Only things I cast are round balls for muzzleloading and sinkers for fishing. Both are low volume endeavors which is fine by me. Less time around lead vapor the better.

 

[New2Reload]

Thanks everyone. I jumped in and begun seating some .358 dia casts in .38spl. Have done several different loads and all are plinking well. I even made some lighter loads and have my 9 year old daughter blowing up pumpkins with my Colt Trooper.
i appreciate everyone input and encouragement.

 

[Mikej]

I was a successful bullet caster for decades. But it isn't for everyone. There is the equipment outlay, right down to individual dies and punches for the Lubricizer. You can sink a lot of money into molds and all that if you are loading for several different chamberings. The upside of this is, you can recover your money on this stuff if you decide to quit later. There are always people coming along behind you that want to take it up.

Somebody else said it already, the heavier / larger caliber bullet, the more you save. I cast a lot of heavier pistol bullets and .45-70's. But it wasn't worth my time to cast smaller, cheaper bullets. Like .32's, 38's and 9mm. Those I preferred to just buy in bulk rather than expend my time and skills making them.

If you are working with oddball, obsolete or exotic cartridges, casting can be a big help.

Re. skills. There is a learning curve to bullet casting, it takes time and experience to get your technique to a standard of acceptance. Then even more to increase your perfection of cosmetic appearance. I never got into powder coating so that might be a good way to hide a multitude of sins as to cosmetics. I have purchased some powder coated bullets, with mixed results depending upon brand. The nicest ones I bought were some factory 9mm Federals, but I seem to remember they cost as much as plated or FMJ 9mm bullets!

It's just another rabbit hole to explore in this wonderful hobby! One of the I'm not likely to go down. But I learned to never say never to anything involving this pass time!

 

[ageingstudent]

I was a successful bullet caster for decades. But it isn't for everyone. There is the equipment outlay, right down to individual dies and punches for the Lubricizer. You can sink a lot of money into molds and all that if you are loading for several different chamberings. The upside of this is, you can recover your money on this stuff if you decide to quit later. There are always people coming along behind you that want to take it up.

Somebody else said it already, the heavier / larger caliber bullet, the more you save. I cast a lot of heavier pistol bullets and .45-70's. But it wasn't worth my time to cast smaller, cheaper bullets. Like .32's, 38's and 9mm. Those I preferred to just buy in bulk rather than expend my time and skills making them.

If you are working with oddball, obsolete or exotic cartridges, casting can be a big help.

Re. skills. There is a learning curve to bullet casting, it takes time and experience to get your technique to a standard of acceptance. Then even more to increase your perfection of cosmetic appearance. I never got into powder coating so that might be a good way to hide a multitude of sins as to cosmetics. I have purchased some powder coated bullets, with mixed results depending upon brand. The nicest ones I bought were some factory 9mm Federals, but I seem to remember they cost as much as plated or FMJ 9mm bullets!

Powder coating hides a multitude of sin for sure haha.

I find casting to be a rather pleasant exercise even if I'm not saving a bunch of money. My friends and neighbors are fascinated by me making my own projectiles.

I don't know about that learning curve, my bullets were perfect from the first drop. . (Lies )

 

[ageingstudent]

It's just another rabbit hole to explore in this wonderful hobby! One of the I'm not likely to go down. But I learned to never say never to anything involving this pass time!

I used to say I'm not going there. Look At Me Now haha

 

[Capn Jack]

After amortizing the cost of the brass, (Most used at least 10 times) and melting down my old SCUBA Diving weights, (I'm 83 and don't dive anymore) I figure it costs me about .35 a round to shoot my .458 SoCom.

9mm and .38 Spl. is all range brass, so that's just the cost of primers and powder. My lead pot, RCBS jr., dies and two bullet molds bought in the early 60's have long since paid for themselves.

All of my reloading and casting gear has cost me less than the last rifle scope I bought.

 

[CLT65]

I was a successful bullet caster for decades. But it isn't for everyone. There is the equipment outlay, right down to individual dies and punches for the Lubricizer. You can sink a lot of money into molds and all that if you are loading for several different chamberings. The upside of this is, you can recover your money on this stuff if you decide to quit later. There are always people coming along behind you that want to take it up.

Somebody else said it already, the heavier / larger caliber bullet, the more you save. I cast a lot of heavier pistol bullets and .45-70's. But it wasn't worth my time to cast smaller, cheaper bullets. Like .32's, 38's and 9mm. Those I preferred to just buy in bulk rather than expend my time and skills making them.

If you are working with oddball, obsolete or exotic cartridges, casting can be a big help.

Re. skills. There is a learning curve to bullet casting, it takes time and experience to get your technique to a standard of acceptance. Then even more to increase your perfection of cosmetic appearance. I never got into powder coating so that might be a good way to hide a multitude of sins as to cosmetics. I have purchased some powder coated bullets, with mixed results depending upon brand. The nicest ones I bought were some factory 9mm Federals, but I seem to remember they cost as much as plated or FMJ 9mm bullets!

You nailed it! I've been casting since the 1980's too. It's definitely not for everyone. To be honest, if I didn't already have 35 years worth of gear, I probably wouldn't start. I just don't enjoy it the way I used to, or maybe I don't have the time like I used to. Or maybe I value my time more than I used to. Either way, when I fire up the pot every couple of months to cast a thousand or so of whatever bullet I decide I need more of, it's more of a chore than it used to be.

I've learned a lot along the way, mostly from another online forum dedicated to casting. My traditional cast bullets had reached their pinnacle, and were very nice. Then I found powder coating and half of my highly-developed casting/lubing/sizing skills suddenly became obsolete...

 

[Capn Jack]

Oh, I almost forgot the castoff toaster oven from my brother and Powder Coating from Harbor Freight.
Powder Coating doesn't make things sticky or gum up the dies like my Bee's Wax and Graphite and it sure makes the bullets pretty.

I haven't had a chance to shoot any yet. Maybe next week.

I don't count my muzzle loaders as reloading, just fun.

 

[Capn Jack]

It's not the case that needs the magnum primer, it's the powder. basically w-296/H-110.

Personally, I've found W-296 a very forgiving powder when experimenting with large GC cast bullets in my .458 SoCom.

 

[Reloader762]

Reloading, casting and shooting are my hobbies, being in the printing industry and living out in a rural area I've never had to buy lead for casting and I probably have more lead than I will ever shoot up and I recover quite a bit of it from my berm. I shot jacketed and plated bullet when I first got into reloading, but once the casting bug hit it's all I shoot in my rifles and handguns 99% of the time in all action types, include gas operated rifles.

I've pretty much sized and lubed bullets ever way possible but I powder coat everything these days but I'm not getting rid of my lube sizer and dies as they're not eating anything and can always be useful as a backup system if needed.

 

[Reloader762]

Finally got to cast up some of the MP 9MM 357-125 gr. penta HP bullets this weekend with my new mold I got right before Christmas. I finished coating and sizing them last night after work. Hope to get some loaded up over the weekend to test out while I'm off work Monday. Going to be interspersing to see how my soft alloy works expansion wise.

 

[ageingstudent]

Finally got to cast up some of the MP 9MM 357-125 gr. penta HP bullets this weekend with my new mold I got right before Christmas. I finished coating and sizing them last night after work. Hope to get some loaded up over the weekend to test out while I'm off work Monday. Going to be interspersing to see how my soft alloy works expansion wise.

View attachment 1337034

Oh my. Those look wicked good. I'd be interested to see a range report on that. I'd especially like to see what it does in water just for expansion purposes.

 

[Greg S]

Started shooting store bought cast about 1990, started make my own about 10-16 years ago. It is hard finding 32 and 475 bullets. Since then, the molds have multiplied. I cast plain base rifle bullets for plinkers in 22 (hornet) and 30-30 and 45-70.

Biggest thing is size and hardness for the velocity your running.

 

[Capn Jack]

Saving Money By Reloading

I decided to try and beat the cost of copper gas checks, (aprox. $35.00k) for my cast bullets, (which I cast out of my old SCUBA weghts) and bought a gas check cutter. $100.00

Right away, I found it was very difficult to make the cutter work in my RCBS jr. press so I bought a 1 ton Arbor press from Harbor Freight for $50.00

The Arbor press was great, but the cutter kept falling over, so I had to buy some oversized drills and bore a socket in the press anvil to hold the cutter. $25.00

Now for material: My local Sears has .014 aluminum flashing 50'x6". You can special order it from their supplier, for $40.00 a roll. Cut into 3/4" wide strips, that's approximately 800 strips per roll.

By being careful, I can punch 8 GC per strip giving me 6,400 gas checks per roll. That's a savings of almost $5.00.

At this rate I'll only have to shoot about 6,400 .459 cal. bullets (275lbs of lead) to amortize the cost of making my own gas checks.

After that, THEY'RE FREE !!!

Now I've been thinking about saving even more money by buying a.....

Oh! Can't forget the cost of Kevlar gloves and a box of Band Aids for handling the cutout scrap material. That stuff is like Razor Wire.

There's also the saving I made by buying a .22lr adapter for my wife's pistol. ($250.00) Now, I can save a lot on the cost of 9mm....Which I don't "buy" anyway....

 

[Mikej]

Good laugh man! Thanks.

 

[Mikej]

That's a savings of almost $5.00.

 

[Capn Jack]

Mike ,
One of these days I'll have to put it all together about how I really have saved a lot of money by reloading. From my $30.00 a month days in the military reloading 30-06 range brass in the barracks with a Lyman 310 nutcracker, to where I am now. It has been quite a trip.