What's up with the cost of lead bullets?

[hatman1793]

Recently I had to replenish my supply of lead bullets. I mostly stayed away from copper washed or plated since they cost so much. Lead bullets were always a deal because the whole advantage was that you didn't have to go down the "cast your own" road.
Most 9mm's 38 wadd cutters and 40's are now the price or near the price of jacketed, washed, or plated. I'd probably switch from lead if I could find a ready supply not too far away...

 

[458lott]

cost of lead, has gone up. like all metals. main reason i cast all my own. makes my lino type worth more.

 

[blacksmithden]

Same here. Got tired of paying the going rate for ANY bullets. Its just nuts.
Base metals are very expensive right now. The Chinese are buying anything they can get their hands on and driving the world prices through the roof.
I bought 4 buckets (5 gal pails @ $25 each) of used wheel weights from a local garage, did a BIG melt down one night and cast them all into ingots. I got about 400lbs of lead alloy out of that deal. I figure I'm set for at least the next 5-10 years for the amount I shoot. Heck, even if you don't want to cast your own, lay your hands on some used lead if you can and throw it in a box in the corner of the garage. I've heard projections of 125% increase in the price of base lead within the next 12 months.....above todays prices. If you're paying that much more for bullets a year from now, you might change your mind.
The other thing to consider is, one of the tire chains here in Edmonton has apparently circulated a memo from their head office. Used wheel weights are not to be sold to ANYONE other than a verified scrap metal recycler for any price. Probably due to the "LEAD IS A DEADLY POISON THAT WILL KILL YOU IF YOU'RE WITHIN 10 FEET OF IT" paranoia. I missed out on 12-6 because I was in denial. I plan on shooting as much next year as I did this year, and I don't want it to be "just to expensive"

 

[CALIFORNIA]

bullet casting question

Hi Blacksmithden,

How time or labor intensive is it to cast your own bullets? When I look at molds, they come in 6 or 12. So if you pour molten lead into the mold cavities, I suppose it takes a while for the molten lead to harden enough that you can open the mold and pour out the newly formed bullets. How long does it take to harden?

How long would it take you, from melting the tire weights all the way up to 100 newly formed bullets?

 

[H Wally]

Just as a side note - you'll need a good heat source, and of course the knowledge to deal with the fact that lead fumes will eff you up. Certainly don't make me feel good. At least get a good fan and a protective mask...
Oh, and non synthetic clothing. Driplets of lead not only burn, but they will light synthetic clothing on fire really well. Watched it happen - would not be fun to be wearing.

 

[guninhand]

piccolig,

The ingot forming is a separate operation from the bullet casting. One might cast up ingots and not use them for several months, or years. When casting bullets, the sprue hardens in 2 or 3s , depending on temp of alloy and mold. A speed trick is to have a wet sponge or towel on a shallow tray on the casting bench and flip the mold over and take a second to touch the sprue to the tray, cooling the sprue. Then you can move the sprue plate, getting rid of the sprue without lead smearing on the underside of the sprue plate.

With a 2 cavity mold, 4 bullets a minute would be on the slow side. There are no lead fumes at normal casting temperatures because of the high vapor pressure of molten lead. There's lots of valuable, free information at www.castboolits.com

 

[ben hunchak]

The biggest moulds are usually 6 cavity, they however are not always the best for quality results, the most accurate bullets come from a single cavity mould!! I use over 100 diff. moulds and many diff. brands, the only one I avoid is Lee as i find they don't stand up to long casting sessions and I borrowed one and it fell apart in my hands. I don't use wheelweights, only pure lead, pure tin, Linotype and monotype. M.T. Chambers has not raised prices at all for bullets and has not changed the price of shot from $30 when everyone else is charging $45 to $50. Give casting a try or better still, have a casting session with someone who knows what they are doing, you may enjoy it, if so; may the gods of the silver stream be with you!! I think most sellers of cast bullets are charging more due to the cost of materials, what they don't tell you is that they bought the material before it got expensive!!