Casting bullets: Is it worth it? Time consuming?

thebaron

thebaron

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I started looking into casting my own bullets. I was wondering if it's worth my time? I can get an unlimited supply of free lead so that isn't a problem.

Approx how long does it take you guys to make say... 500 pistol bullets?

Thanks
 
Worth your time? I suppose it depends how much you value your time. If you enjoy doing it as a hobby, then fine. Otherwise, it's pretty time-intensive, and doesn't really make sense from an economic standpoin - commercial cast bullets are cheap.

I never really watch the clock when I'm casting or reloading, so I can't really say. It will be more than a couple hours though. Best make sure you have at least 2 or 3 full evenings free.
 
A lot depends on the gear you select.

If you purchase a 20 pound bottom pour electric furnace and a six cavity mould you can make a heck of a pile of bullets in an evening. If you tumble lube them you will be done in very short order.

Production declines with moulds that make fewer bullets. I've even cast pistol bullets in single cavity moulds, (because the pattern of mould was rare) however you can put in a pile of time and have little to show for it in terms of quantity.

I find that casting with a dipper and a lead pot is slower than a bottom pour furnace (at least for me). I lube 95% of my cast bullets in one of my lube/sizing machines, this adds quite a bit of time to the process compared to using the tumble lube process

Basically if you don't enjoy the work I think you are better off purchasing your projectiles.
 
It gets even longer if you heat harden them, moly them or gas check them.

But it's fun telling people that you're shooting cast bullets at over 3k ;)
 
223 an '06 - probably not. Cast can only be launched around 1600fps or so (unless you cast them real hard, then they don't expand). They're more suited to slower catridges, lik the 30-30, 45-70, and most pistol cartridges
 
thebaron said:
I started looking into casting my own bullets. I was wondering if it's worth my time? I can get an unlimited supply of free lead so that isn't a problem.
Click to expand...
Can you take all the necessary precautions to avoid lead poisoning?
 
From all accounts, casting is a fairly safe activity. I wouldn't be doing in my kitchen, still, but because you're dealing with metallic lead, your exposure is minimal. Lead is not volatile (does not vaporize, like mercury for example) at normal casting temperatures. Further, it's in its metallic form - no lead dust or lead compounds to inhale, like those given off by fired primers
 
As the cal gets bigger, casting gets much more relevant.

I shoot a Win94 trapper in 45LC. I make a GC water quenched 325gr FN monster slug. Simply not available commercially.

I am going to start working up my 308BR cast rifle. Again, the slugs I make are simply not available over the counter.

For HG, that is a toss up. If you shoot high pressures and lots of it, you would be better off with plated or jacketed bullets. I have not had much success in the 9mm bore.

However, if shooting 40S&W and larger bores at moderate to low pressures, cast bullets are ideal.

In my 45ACP, the bullets never lead, shoot better or as well as any commercial product, alot of fun. In my 40S&W, getting borderline as even with water quenching, leading is just there so have to be careful with loading. They do shoot and function in my XD very well and keep costs kind of down.

I make all my pistol bullets in a 6cavity Lee mold. They have paid for themselves in the first afternoon used. You can make about 400 to 800rds per hour. Tumble lubing takes a few minutes per thousand so time invested in not severe.

It opens up a whole new section of the reloading world and allows you to explore alot of history and surprisingly, unique technology.

Jerry
 
The burner I use came from a surplus hardware store. It has a cast frame with a large propane burner. Simple, crude and cheap. Strong enough to support about 50lbs of lead and pot. Camping stoves would also work but I just didn't trust supporting that much or more weight on a tin box chassis.

Princess Auto had some at one time as did Can Tire.

Best part is the temp is pretty much perfect for wheel weights. The temp/gas adjust is crude so that is a very lucky feature.

It is a lot of fun experimenting with how to make these bullets. There are some enormous gains in how you cast and treat the bullets. You can tune the bullet.

I hope to get back to playing with my 308 BR cast rifle. When I last left it, it was shooting sub MOA at 180yds but with the occasional flyer. Hoping to get the loads shooting consistently around 1/2 MOA at that range. If not for these flyers, I would be there now.

The goal is MOA out as far as I have elevation for (700 to 800yds????). Doping wind with these puppies will really be challenging.

Jacketed bullets and rifles built to shoot them have gotten so good that 1/2, even 1/4 MOA is not that hard to do anymore. Doing this with a cast bullet is not easy at all.

For big boomers, low budget HG, historical shooters, and experimenters, making cast bullets is the way to go.

Jerry
 
I started for the same reason as mysticplayer, I started casting 310 gr LFN GC 44 cal bullets for my 44 magnums, then it just goes from there, now a have a pile of moulds most of which are usually heavy for caliber weights that are not readily available commecially.
 
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