Thinking about casting pistol bullets
- Thread starter Tazzy
- Start date
$1/lbs? That's quite good. Birdshot is $2/lbs around here.
Depends on the hardness of each. Are they the same alloy? If so, either one works if it's by weight. I'd go with the ingots myself; easier to transport and store.
Birdshot is often cast from harder alloys, I know the stuff from Hummason in Southern Ontario is. If so, that can be the better choice if you're looking for harder bullets. If the birdshot is recycled from a skeet/trap field it'll likely be mostly extra hard alloy.
Depends on the hardness of each. Are they the same alloy? If so, either one works if it's by weight. I'd go with the ingots myself; easier to transport and store.
Birdshot is often cast from harder alloys, I know the stuff from Hummason in Southern Ontario is. If so, that can be the better choice if you're looking for harder bullets. If the birdshot is recycled from a skeet/trap field it'll likely be mostly extra hard alloy.
What will you be using to melt the lead for the pour? What mould do you have?
I just refined 120lbs this weekend into smaller ingots to fit my lee melt pot. I had to go from 2"x2" bar that was 16" long into small muffin pan ingots that are 2" round by 1.25" thick. This way they will fit in the lead pot when it comes time to pour. Just remember the smaller bits you add to your pot the less the remainder will "cool". Adding a huge piece to a pot will cause a slow down, also how many pills do you plan to cast? 1.00 a lb is a fair going price, some guys out in BC are paying more and a few of us in Ont are paying less.
I just refined 120lbs this weekend into smaller ingots to fit my lee melt pot. I had to go from 2"x2" bar that was 16" long into small muffin pan ingots that are 2" round by 1.25" thick. This way they will fit in the lead pot when it comes time to pour. Just remember the smaller bits you add to your pot the less the remainder will "cool". Adding a huge piece to a pot will cause a slow down, also how many pills do you plan to cast? 1.00 a lb is a fair going price, some guys out in BC are paying more and a few of us in Ont are paying less.
I'm just in the planning stages right now. We're still under 10 feet of snow here on the east coast..LOL
My thought was that the shot would almost be as easy to store in my shed until summer and also like you said I wouldn't be adding a whole lot to the pot at once. Finding wheel weights has been a bust so far. I need to gather up all the necessary tools and equipment but if I couldn't find a source for lead I was dead in the water.
My thought was that the shot would almost be as easy to store in my shed until summer and also like you said I wouldn't be adding a whole lot to the pot at once. Finding wheel weights has been a bust so far. I need to gather up all the necessary tools and equipment but if I couldn't find a source for lead I was dead in the water.
The Lee mould was 20, and the lee lead furnace at Cabelas was 83.99 plus taxes, the sizer was 24.99 plus tax so for an initial cost of 150 for tooling, and 20 cents a lb for lead. I can cast 22 bulets a lb and at over a buck a projectile it will not take long to make the money back casting my own 45-70 pills
thinking about getting into this in the future. I'm wondering what sort of high volume bullet casting moulds are available? I'm going through ~2k 9mm rounds a month, so thinking a 2 or 4 cavity mold would take a lot of hours each month.
There will be a Cabelas and a Bass pro opening in a couple of months. Hopefully I will be able to buy the equipment there. In the meantime I'll try and stock up on lead.
Is there something that I can use to calculate how many bullets of a certain grain I can get from a pound?
Is there something that I can use to calculate how many bullets of a certain grain I can get from a pound?
Lee makes a six cavity. Once you know what you are doing it really does not take that long. I turn on everything before super then go eat. By the time I am done eating everything is hot. Couple hours, you got 200-300 in the bucket.
Wow I think I'll be buying 50 pounds of soft lead tomorrow and a little but every other week.
Assuming you remelt your scrap you are probably looking at 98-99% yield. Not that much is lost to oxidization unless you leave the pot on for a few days.
I wonder if my wife is still using that fondue pot? LOL
obviously a joke, but don't use any aluminum pots for melting down scrap lead as the heat can soften the lead and potentially break the pot. i'm not usually a safety nazi but old propane bottles are a dime a dozen and make great melting pots for scrap lead ingoting.
Money well spent, would be on a Lee 6 cavity mold. Cheapest mold price up front with a fast production output. My casting and reloading time is my quality time, so I do everything slower, and use a 2 cavity mold. Go the 6 cavity and you are way ahead !
