Casting your own

[GraveYardMan56]

Do many of the forum members that reload cast their own bullets? I most of the time fire jacketed hollow points, but could see a time where lead wadcutter reloading might be the way to go to extend barrel life and cut shooting costs.

[jack404]

i do for both CF and BP

waddies, round nose and mini ball

[GraveYardMan56]

Must do some more reading on the cost of equipment and potential savings before I jump off into it but you feel the cost in equipment and materials and time is worth the money saved?

[jack404]

Big time and a few ways

save on cost of bought
save on cost of powder ( if your only plinking why use full loads when you only want it through a beer can 10 yards away ?)
and you'll end up knowing folks who'll buy some off you , i dont say a lot or many but enough

i've a sideline too seeing i got all the gear ..

http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/u...0001_WMVV9.mp4

money's in the 1 lb'ers for the offshore charter boat operators

if you buy all your lead its still cheaper , but if you can scrounge even 30% of what you use/sell your making $$$$

[gun-nut]

lots of casting goes on here in my home. Its the way to go if you shoot quite i bit.

[armoredman]

I cast for 9mm, 38 Special and 7.62x39mm. Saves a ton of money and it's fun as well.

[gdmoody]

I cast for .380, 9mm, 38/357, .44 Mag, .45ACP, 45Colt, and 45/70. I started casting bullets shortly after I started reloading 35 or so years ago. To me it was the next progression of rolling your own that couldn't be ignored.

[myfriendis410]

I cast for the .45 acp, .41 magnum, 45/70 and drip shot and have been doing it for over 30 years. There is some initial expense but if you plan on shooting a lot the savings will be immediate; especially if you have access to free lead. I cast most of my pistol stuff from scrounged backstop range lead from my club. We recently melted 900 lbs. of range lead for shotmaking (shot being so expensive).

You also get a great feeling of accomplishment when you use your own bullets for hunting or competition, especially if you win money doing it! My .45 load is actually cheaper to load and shoot than some .22 lr ammo.

[DixieLandMan]

I was shooting competition with JHP and started casting my own. My cost for 9mm JHP was 15 cents. With cast, it is down to 6 cents. While there may be a slight startup cost with melting pot and molds, I feel that I can recoup my cost very soon. I cast for 9mm, 38.357, 41magnum and 45 ACP and have found that casting, not only is it relaxing for me, but saves money.

[whirley]

I use Lee molds for hollow base minie's in .45 and .50 flintlocks. I also use cast lead bullets for .45/70, 30/30 and .32/40. Lee liquid alox works very well as a bullet lubricant. I believe it's more effective than greased bullets. I took a deer at a later measured 147 yards with the .45 cal flintlock. One shot just behind the shoulder. I also have Lyman molds for other calibers, but they take some time to heat properly before casting good bullets. I like the minie's because I don't have to use a patch as with a round ball, accuracy is just as good and reloading is easier.

[soundguy]

i see someone here casting for 30-30 anyone casting for 308 or 30-06.. if so... what weight are you casting?

[jlloyd73]

I am not casting yet, but I am gathering all the stuff I need for it in trades. Seems like a smart idea if the SHTF.

[soundguy]

i agree. I was at a show this weekend and bought a set of 30-30 dies and some spare 30-30 brass.. and the guy had 1 box of 30-30 with lead cast bullets he relaoded ( on those diese ).. he was getting out of it.. etc.. getting rid of all his gun and reload stuff. by the time i got there it was pretty well picked thru.. he did have an electric lead melter, and the set of hand moulds ( 2 spaces ) for that 30-30 I kinda kick myself for not getting them 2 pieces...

would be nice to be able to roll your own, 'all the way'.. or more of the way, if needbe.

i know primers and powder are still an issue.. etc....

[myfriendis410]

Originally Posted by soundguy

i see someone here casting for 30-30 anyone casting for 308 or 30-06.. if so... what weight are you casting?

I really think that if you are interested in casting for a higher pressure round like the .30 calibers mentioned, I'd start looking at casting for a paper patched load. You can achieve jacketed velocities with quite good accuracy using lead that is more suitable to performing well on game animals.

If you are looking to load for pistol and older rifle and muzzleloader calibers, standard bullet casting will get you where you need to go. You can buy Lee stuff and be making bullets for less than $100 or can upgrade to Star, Saeco, Lyman, RCBS etc. for real production. It just depends on your budget and interest.

[mtnman]

What is meant by " paper patched load", i am also considering cast bullets for 30-06.......

[soundguy]

i'd also like to hear more

[RustyFN]

Originally Posted by GraveYardMan56

Must do some more reading on the cost of equipment and potential savings before I jump off into it but you feel the cost in equipment and materials and time is worth the money saved?

I cast. My 1911 has never seen jacketed ammo. In order to really save you need to find a good source of free or cheap lead. I get free wheel weight's from a couple of small tire shops in town. You can also get lead from the scrap yard, staind glass shop, plumbing contractor and other places I can't think of right now. This is a pretty good read for somebody thinking about getting into casting, http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346199.

[armoredman]

Best place for casting info, bar none, is castboolits.gunloads.com.

[mikld]

Don't know about "most" guys around here casting, but I do. My guns, except my 380, all shoot lead (45 ACP, .44 Mag & Spec. rifle and revolvers, 38/357 mag, 30-30 and soon 9mm.). I have more variety using cast bullets, and it's a whole lot less $$$. Casting is like other hobbies; you can get into it inexpensively, or drop a grand right off. I started with a 2 qt. stainless steel pan, a single burner Coleman stove, slotted spoon and soup ladle, a Lee ladle, a Lee mold (44 420 SWC) and a hammer handle. I didn't need to size my bullets and just alox lubed them. I had access to wheel weights and scrap lead, so that made it cheaper to cast. I soon went to a Lee 20 lb. bottom pour pot and now I have a dozen molds or so and a whole bunch of different tools used for casting and bullet prep.

Look at Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook and some vendors (MidwayUSA, Midsouth, Graf & Sons, etc.) to learn what's needed, as far as equipment and components, and how to go about casting bullets.

[res45]

I've been casting off and on for the past 30+ years,the past five years I shoot nothing but cast bullets in all my rifles and handguns in all action types. I have about 14 molds of which most are Lee a couple are Ideal/Lyman and my newest is a custom NOE 38 cal. double crimp groove mold that will cast either FN or HP bullets.

The Lee molds pretty much pay for themselves after the first 100 bullets I cast it would cost me much more to buy 100 jacketed bullet of equal weight,the Lyman molds about the same since I bought them cheap at an estate sale. I'll have to cast about 500 of the HP bullets to recope the cost of the NOE mold.

I do all my gas checking and sizing with Lee push through sizers,bullets are lube either by tumble lubing or pan lubing. I make all my own bullet lubes using various combinations of Alox,Johnson Paste Wax,Paraffin,Vaseline and Synthetic two cycle motor oil. It just depends on if I want to push the bullet slow or fast as to which lube I use and how I lube the bullets.

I have loads developed for all my handguns and rifles that shoot at sub sonic to near factory velocity. Although velocity has it place you don't always need to shoot cast bullets fast to obtain excellent accuracy as well as kill small or big game just as effectively as if you were using jacketed bullets.

Since you asking about HP bullets here is a set of bullets I cast from my 38 and 357 loads from my NOE mold. Both bullets are cast from same alloy,bullet on the left is set up to be fired in my full house 357 loads it's gas checked and pan lubed. Bullet on the right is the same bullet with the gas check left off and tumbled lube and fired in my 38 special loads at about 850 fps.



Paper Patching
http://www.lasc.us/brennan_4-4_paperpatchedbullets.htm

Cast Bullets at Jacketed Performance -Non Paper Patched
http://www.lbtmoulds.com/books.shtml

[soundguy]

thanks for the pics and commentary. very informative

[dbach]

I cast for my Henry .38/.357. I also use these in pistols.

[myfriendis410]

Originally Posted by mtnman

What is meant by " paper patched load", i am also considering cast bullets for 30-06.......

I would also suggest you look at castboolits under their "paper patched" thread to learn probably more than you want about paper patching.

Paper patching a cast bullet is the process where you start with a bullet that is sized to bore and a trapezoidal paper patch is rolled twice around the bullet, sizing it to the groove diameter. If done properly, the paper patched bullet can be driven all the way up to full pressure jacketed velocities with similar accuracy. It is a bit labor intensive but you can derive some pretty good results using a bullet you built at home. There is no other way I know of that one could take a cast bullet up to 2,800 fps in a bottlenecked case, including the use of gas checks. Some rifles will lend themselves to this process but others may be more challenging or even impossible to get jacketed accuracy. (any really shallow-grooved rifling would be tough)

I pp for my Sharps using a 500 gr. cast bullet cast from ww and range lead, 50/50. I'm getting velocities approaching 1,600 fps and accuracy in the 2" range at 100 yards with a tang peep sight. NOT as good as I've gotten with jacketed and as-cast bullets, but still quite respectable and a whole heck of a lot more energy for hunting. There are some issues with lapping the barrel due to the abrasive nature of the paper, but I'm not sure how this would affect your rifles bore.

It might be worth a look if you are wanting to try cast in an -06.

[budman46]

i've been loading a casting for over 40 years and wish some of the stuff available today was available then...progress made both much easier.

lee push-thru bullet sizers, liquid alox and aluminum moulds (lee's and others) really changed the game.

i shoot cast bullets in revolver, pistol and rifle up to 1800 fps with good results, saving much and getting satisfaction from being just a little more "off-the-grid".

if i were starting out, i'd secure a supply of old-fashioned, clip-on wheel weights, linotype and scrap lead via scrounging; paying prices i've seen, plus shipping, it wouldn't pay.

[soundguy]

looking at some of the hi power rifle load date.. i see many fps starting int he 2k and going up. what are you doing for load date to get into the sub 2k on the larger rifle calibers?