I may actually have saved some money on reloading and casting. It's a matter of letting people know about your strange hobby. A friend who worked at one of the dams in Montana called me to say they had rewired a bunch of the site and replaced the underground wiring. Turns out the old wiring was enclosed in lead conduits. I got about 500 pounds there. Later, a guy calls me up to say he has a cubic foot of soft lead and did I want it. About another 500 pounds there. The local tire center call me whenever their ten gallon bucket gets full of wheelweights. A small local paper even called to say they were getting rid of their linotype machine and did I want the type. couple hundred pounds there. My pllumber calls when he gets lead pipe out of a job.
So, I'm fixed for casting into the 23rd century.
Had to go to a twenty pound pot when I started reloading for the 577 Nitro (750 gr.). Lucky I did becuase I was just given a three pounder Dalgren rifle from the Civil War by an archeologist buddy who retired. I even inherited a round ball mold with it. (8 oz. apiece)
http://www.youtube.com/user/kamasutr.../2/zxgcBKbBb2w
I just need to do a lot more shooting and get a few more guns before I save so much that the IRS audits me.