Facts, realities, economics of lead casting: break even with factory bullet costs

[Edward]

Battery posts are the only thing usable on a battery,Every thing else extremely bad for your health( lead plates used)are contaminated !

[A pause for the COZ]

Even at a buck a pound you still coming out ahead. If your shooting some off brand calibers your really saving.

[dtknowles]

Even at a buck a pound you still coming out ahead. If your shooting some off brand calibers your really saving.

Cast bullets because you can make better bullets than you can buy or because you enjoy doing it or bragging about doing it. It can't really be a money maker unless you can't make $10 an hour doing something else with the time. Well unless you can cast, size and lube bullets at a rate higher than 100 per hour.

Tim

[DerekP Houston]

Even at a buck a pound you still coming out ahead. If your shooting some off brand calibers your really saving.

I imagine living in whatever South American country he has indicated, he has difficulty ordering supplies via the mail service like us here in the USA take for granted. I personally wouldn't touch battery posts, but we have easily acquired supplies. I hope he stays as safe as possible, I'd look for another source in the scrap yards.

[AJG]

Yes Edward.

I realised that as well the only Batterie Content usable for casting are the Batterie lead Posts and lead wall unifiers. Those are full lead.
The walls are basically worthless.
I tried to melt in lead walls but they brittle down and get sand like powder. They just crimble and turn into sand like pieces. They contain lead but it does not get freed of the powder residue (powder residue is about 95% and the rest 5% lead gets Kind of trapped in the gunk).

I melt in Posts and solid lead wall (Chambers in Batterie) unifiers. 2 batteries gave me last time about 3.3 Kg (6 lbs) of lead. The Quality of that lead is very good since it has no Zinc Content like Wheel Wheights do.

[AJG]

Yes DerekP Houston,

Bullets are basically NOT availlable comercially. I bought the last Charge of 500 FMJ Winchester 115 grain 9mm Luger bullets they had. No more they have. But they will bring them again but surely they are arriving about next year if you are lucky.

So I steeped foreward and offered the local gun shop I can cast lead bullets for them if anybody is in despair for getting them. I will provide them then 124 grain Lee Truncated Cone Tumble lube .356" cast bullets and 7/8 oz Lee Drive Key slugs. As cast as is. Just to help People.

[AJG]

Wheel Wheights are not a Problem till now. Plenty to get from Gas stations.
Batteries are locally bought by movil buyers and I believe they bring them to casters who cast WW or fishing supplies from it.

[DerekP Houston]

Wheel Wheights are not a Problem till now. Plenty to get from Gas stations.
Batteries are locally bought by movil buyers and I believe they bring them to casters who cast WW or fishing supplies from it.

Are wheel weights difficult to find now? The few times I have scavenged for them it was mainly zinc and steel. Not really worth the price the tire places that allowed me to buy were asking for. Best of luck in your experiments. I enjoy reading the reloading topics and your salvage experience, though I hope it doesn't get that desperate here.

[gwpercle]

I do not care about the facts, realities or economics.

I cast boolits because I simply enjoy doing it.
I reload ammo for the exact same reason .
I shoot at paper targets and tin cans for the exact same reasons.
The above are my hobbies and I just like doing them

Ignorance is bliss. Don't mess up my fun with facts, realities or economics!
Gary

[AJG]

gwpercle,

It just happens some People NEED reloading for economic reasons. And I believe that people is an ever groving Group.

[RogerDat]

gwpercle,

It just happens some People NEED reloading for economic reasons. And I believe that people is an ever growing Group.

Yep IF one is frugal in purchases made to cast and reload one can really save a lot, not to mention have a supply of ammo that may simply not be available in stores. Lot of equipment and stuff we buy is "extra" and not essential. Adds capabilities or lets us explore different approaches or techniques which is nice but is not essential. Met with a group this last weekend some were amazed at the cost difference between casting and reloading own vs. store bought, many of those have been really limiting their shooting due to the high cost of ammo.

Young family with any kids might well find ammo a budget item they can't afford. I think minimum would be a mold, die set, C press & powder scale. I would think the powder scoops might work in place of powder dispenser or you spend the extra $25 for a powder dispenser.

[dtknowles]

Yep IF one is frugal in purchases made to cast and reload one can really save a lot, not to mention have a supply of ammo that may simply not be available in stores. Lot of equipment and stuff we buy is "extra" and not essential. Adds capabilities or lets us explore different approaches or techniques which is nice but is not essential. Met with a group this last weekend some were amazed at the cost difference between casting and reloading own vs. store bought, many of those have been really limiting their shooting due to the high cost of ammo.

Young family with any kids might well find ammo a budget item they can't afford. I think minimum would be a mold, die set, C press & powder scale. I would think the powder scoops might work in place of powder dispenser or you spend the extra $25 for a powder dispenser.

Need to add a pot and ladle to that list. Probably a push thru sizer as well but might be able to get away with as cast size.

Tim

[rintinglen]

A starting reloader might be well served to try and pick up his stuff used. That's how I got into reloading on my own.

I found an old Pacific single stage press at a yard sale for 5 bucks. A set of used 38 dies from the "stuff" box at a local gun shop, and a .75 Cent primer arm from the same source, and "look Ma, I'm reloading." Another yard sale yielded a pair of Wadcutter molds, a Lachmiller 148 grain version of the Lyman 358-432 and a 3 cavity Cramer. The Lachmiller cast small enough that I could use them as cast, so a fifty cent pot and a Coleman stove started reducing wheel weights into boolits and there I sat for several years. Eventually I stumbled across a Lyman 45 for sale, complete with .358 sizer.
And I have been "saving" money ever since.

I think I have about $5,000 invested in "savings" now.

[6622729]

There is more to that "sense" than meets the eye.

There is the "hobby" factor,
there is the "independence" factor,
there is the "better" factor,
It is kind of a running joke in the casting community, about saving money...to be honest, we don't necessarily save money, but we do shoot more for Less $$$.

Wow, if you're reloading to save money you must place no value to your time. I cast for every reason except to try to save money because you don't, you can't unless you don't count your time.
For me it's about having the ability to tailor my rounds to the application and it's about the independence.
If they take away or severely restrict ammunition sales, I have all of the components on hand to make my own for many years to come.
It's also a heck of a lot of fun to take a bunch of varied, otherwise scrap lead materials and combining them into a quality boolit casting alloy. Then cast boolits, loading the rounds and watching them hit the target!

[shoot-n-lead]

Very economical, ~$6/100 for pistol, $17-20/100 for rifle. Amortize the $350 for equipment over 5-6k boolits - add $6/100. Compare with $60/100 for 30/30 factory or $40/100 for pistol - still a winner, if you shoot much.

Bingo...and, also, the equipment will almost fetch the original investment made for it...in resell, down the road...so, the cost of equipment as it pertains to cost per round, is a non-issue.

[RogerDat]

I have more slack in my time than I have in my budget. Skip evening TV programs (that stuff rots your brain anyway). Go to the reloading or casting bench. Accomplish something useful, sort of like doing yard work after dark

[white eagle]

casting is not for me a way to save money as with handloading in general
I started handloading to improve the performance of my firearm
casting is making boolits again for my specific firearm
If I save money along the line good but not the reason for my endeavor

[fredj338]

IF I could buy lead ww for 17c/# I would likely buy a couple tons. I figure that a bit over $1/# is my point of not casting my own. I can buy coated 200gr/45 for right at 10c each. So at $1/#, coating my own, about $40 or 4c each. The reason it isn't worth much more than that is my time to make 1000 bullets. I enjoy casting but I shoot quite a bit so at much more than $1/#, I would consider buying my plinking/practice bullets.

[lightman]

I've got maybe $50 invested in the 5000# or so of lead that I have stashed away. My equipment has more than paid for itself since I started casting, even though I have upgraded a few things over the years. This payback did not happen overnight, but over the years. Its been a fun hobby and a nice addition to reloading. I can cast better bullets that I can buy with whatever alloy or lube that I want. I can shoot when others are dealing with the shortages that we have seen over the last few years. Saving money should not be the only reason to cast, but it is possible.

I'm not sure how accurate the above would be if you were buying lead at a dollar plus a pound. The payback would take longer for sure.

[shoot-n-lead]

If I had to pay a dollar a pound for lead...I would only cast a couple of specialty things...I would just buy the rest.

I am fortunate to have a good amount of lead that was acquired for cheap over the years...so, I just reach for it when I fire up the pot. At my present rate of shooting, only about 3000rds per year...my lead scrounging will only happen if I stumble over a bucket of wheelweights that finds it's way into my path...sure ain't going looking for any.