Cost of getting set up to cast bullets?

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Iron Sighted

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Hi all, I'm just curious if any of you who cast your own bullets could give me an estimate on what I could expect to pay to get myself set up to cast. Mostly interested in the cost of tooling and equipment rather than the lead itself.

Thanks.
 
Pot, mould, sizer are the biggies. There are other small items.

You can go cheap as in Lee, or more spendy for Lyman, RCBS, etc, or some. Mixture of both.

I have a lee bottom pour pot, because it's cheap and it works. I don't particularly care for Lee moulds, so I buy Lyman mostly.

You can buy a lube-sizer for which you will need the proper die and top punch for your bullet, or you can go with a Lee sizing die that bolts on top of a press, and then pan lube. I've never used a Lee sizer.

Depends how much you're going to cast. If you're talking thousands a year, I wouldn't cheap out too much. Though the first upgrade I would myself have, if I were starting out and planned to do some quantity, would be the lube sizer.

That, and buy multi-cavity moulds where possible..

Cabelas and wholesale sports list all of that stuff on their sites. Lee pot is under $100, I think. Lee moulds are 30-ish, and I think their sizer die and a bottle of liquid Alox will set you back another $35 or $40. That's the cheap cheap option. Lyman moulds are $80+, lube sizer is a couple hundred and the dies are about $25 and top punches another $15.
 
I would start with something to melt your scrap lead in unless you are only going to buy clean ingots from a metal supplier. If you buy a Lee or RCBS type electric pot and melt dirty old wheel weights in it you'll make a mess and then after think why didn't I clean these first. In the case of a bottom pour pot that mess can clog the spout open and let the lead drip or pour out.

I would recommend a cast iron pot or old propane tank cut in half on top of a propane burner to melt scrap, you could also ladle cast (pouring lead into mold with ladle dipped in pot) from this to start. A Bass Pro type turkey frier works good, and you can still use the pot from it to fry turkeys in if you keep the lead away from it.

Bass Pro Turkey Fryer $100
Cast Iron or Dutch Oven pot, or old propane tank cut in half free-$30
Lee Lead Mold $25-40
Lee sizer (depending on what type of bullet you want to cast) $20
Lube you get Lee alox free with Lee sizer, it's $6 seperate and you can make your own if you want or need to with beeswax mixed with a greasy fat etc
Gas Checks for bullet size, if your mold casts a bullet that uses gas checks (most pistol sizes don't need them, most modern rifle sizes do) $20
a source of lead free - ?
Leather gloves to work with $20
long sleeve cotton blend work shirt $1-?
safety glasses $5
eventually an electric pot like a Lee Pro 4/20 (get a 20lb or you'll just want to upgrade from a 10) $75
metal soup ladle to pour lead with $5
larger spoon to stir lead $5
ingot molds to pout into $5
small muffin tins work, I had ends welded on some 2" angle iron to make toblerone shaped ingots, remember they still need to fit in your electric pot if you get one
wax or sawdust to flux the lead mix $-free

Depending on what you have lying around or can find your are looking at $100-300. The thinks you absolutely must have are lead, a bullet mold, and something to heat and pour the lead from along with safety gear. In the old days pure lead was melted on campfires in a metal container and poured into molds to run balls for muskets.
 
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I am also interested in pouring lead, I dont under stand what gas checks are or what they do???? Also where can I buy clean lead in southern ontario and how much does it cost(lead)
 
Thanks for the replies fellas, now I've got something to think on for awhile, have to see if I can source some used wheel weights in my area. I'm mostly interested in casting for my .40S&W, but am looking to get a Winchester 1894 in the near future, so casting projectiles for it would also be likely.
 
hk33ka1------ all very good advice. Wheel wieghts will melt in a campfire too. When it was beer:eek:clock at my old place I would get out the cooler and the cast iron pot and melt down a pail of ww. Tough to get entertainment in town so amused myself. I have also started using a single burner hot plate for melting ww and then ladle casting bullets.
My basic advice is to go inexpensive (lee) to try out the process, It is a lot more work than many people think.
 
My basic WheelWeight melting set-up is this:

Portable electric single burner stove: $20 new, less at thrift store.
Cast iron pot, 6 inch diameter: $6 at thrift store
Muffin Pan, 6 cavity: $2 of course, thrift store
Lee 6 cavity 40 SW mold $50 LHS, my other molds were cheaper through the EE or from Lee Factory Sales
Lee Resizer Die kit .401 $30 LHS, cheaper at Lee FActory Sales (renamed FS)

Stainless stir spoon, scrap candle for fluxing and other casting sundries were regular household stuff.
 
Kind of like "what does it cost for a car." It depends a lot on what you're trying to do. If you're shooting handguns, I don't have anything to add. If you're shooting rifle, and looking for accuracy and economy, maybe I do.
If you're going for cheap, take a good look at what's immediately available. A stainless steel or cast iron pot to melt your alloy in(10 to 20lb) and a casting dipper from Lyman or RCBS will make you bullets the equal of any bottom pour pot and very nearly as fast. For a heat source, a propane or electric hot plate works. You may have to make some other arrangement for melting large quantities of lead and tin to make the alloy you're going to use.
You'll need a mold. If accuracy is a concern, I prefer a single cavity, because by the time you mark it and separate the bullets by cavity it's no faster with a double cavity mold. My preference is brass, iron and aluminum in that order, although they
all work plenty well. Molds can be opened by hand, twisting the sprue plate with a leather glove rather than beating it with a stick.
Lee's cheap little bullet sizer sizes and installs gas checks as well as most. I've never been able to justify the cost of a lubrisizer over some other piece of gear, usually another mold.
You can either use Lee Liquid Allox or hand lube using a good quality automotive grease. To hand lube, you seat the bullet on the gas check or base band, apply the grease with fingers, seat to desired depth and wipe off the surplus.
After that there's reloading manual showing cast bullet loads and joining Cast Bullet Association and Cast Boolits forums for much more information.
Grouch
 
Things I assume everyone has lying around:
Work gloves or some sort of thick leather gloves
Safety glasses and/or face shield
Long pants
Long sleeve shirt
Closed top boots of some kind
Electricity

For casting:
$35 - basic Lee pot
$20 - basic 2 cavity Lee mould
$20 - Lee sizing kit (per size)
----
$75 - though the same items could cost you $125+ depending where you buy

Gas checks are a consumable, same with lube, so I don't include those in the setup costs.

For smelting wheel weights:
$20 - Canadian Tire hot plate
$0 - old aluminum pot
$0 - old mini muffin pan
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$20 - assuming you have some old stuff lying around the kitchen that wont be missed

Consumables:
$0.05 to $0.10 per bullet for gas checks (if you're using them) - cheap annealed aluminum gas checks can be bought off eBay
$0.00 to $6.00 per pound of casting alloy - lead shot runs $1.50 - $2.00 per pound in most major cities
$6.00 for a bottle of Lee alox lube which can lube a couple thousand bullets

I've heard horror stories about aluminum pots melting through but that has always been over some sort of flame. With a basic hot plate I can smelt wheel weights all day without any concern using a standard, cheap, thin walled
aluminum pot.

One book I highly recommend as well is Lymans Cast Bullet Handbook. The load data alone makes it worthwhile but it also has really good articles on reloading starting with the absolute basics.
 
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