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Posted: 11/30/2012 4:00:07 AM EDT
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I never really thought about bullet casting before, but I was just looking into how much lead is and the molds, and it is fairly cheap. Even buying lead on ebay ends up being around $.05 per 230gr .45 projectile. 9mm would be $.025!
I'm just wondering is there any other costs? Besides Casting the projectiles, dont you need to apply some kind of lube? Does it take long to apply the lube, and how much cost does the lube add? (I just CRTL-F'd the FAQ and tutorial pages and couldnt find anything on casting) |
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Here is some good reading for those interested in cast bullets. http://www.lasc.us/IndexBrennan.htm |
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http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm A step by step on line book about everything you need to know about casting. Something you can print off for future reference.  I use a Lyman lube sizer. Just like the name says, it sizes (makes bullets round) and adds lube. Cheapest way to go is with Lee's tumble lube and the Lee molds made for this. (Tumble lube molds) Too messy for me, why I went with lube sizer and standard design molds. Couple of my old casting threads. |
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Quoted:
where do people get it for free? It helps if you own a tire shop, or if you can grease the wheels at one. I have people walk in and try to get free lead from me all the time. I offer to sell it to them, but they rarely buy. I used to give it away before it started becoming more scarce. At one point I had a guy who would take about 500lbs at a time. He would smelt it in to ingots and we would split the yield 50/50. This worked out well for me. Think outside the box. If it is a corporate owned store, he may get in trouble if he sells it. Giving it away maybe not. What can you do for the guy at the shop? Does he reload? Does he shoot? Maybe give him some bullets, or take him shooting. Offer to buy the crew pizza. You never know.  "
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I think the days of free lead are gone for the most part except when you get lucky. Its use is getting more and more limited by regulation. It happens but not nearly as much as it used to.
I'de look for a good used Star Lubrisizer or its current verion by Magma Engineering as it is faster than the others. You can use Alox and tumble lube without a sizer if you like as well. |
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Quoted:
What is the cost per round for lube come out to? Even if I have to buy lead from that guy on ebay $.05 per 230gr projectile is $.07/rd less then FMJ, and still about $.04/rd cheaper then buying lead projectiles. And 9mm costs are half of that! Around here I can get ingots of the correct (or at least acceptable) mix for $1.00/lb, and each pound will make either 56 9mm bullets (125gr) or 28 230gr .45 bullets. That's pretty darned cheap, even paying for lead. If you can get lead free it's helpful, but it's the time and equipment that are the higher cost. I think casters are just insanely thrifty (read that as 'cheaper than an old widow and tighter than a drum'), and part of the fun is to see how low the cash cost can be. I'd rather buy lead and get done. |
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Another really good source for bullet alloy is the medical lead cores.
They are 31.5#, essentially zero waste. Do you know anyone that works in the medical industry, preferably in radiology? Back when I was still hoarding lead, I bought 6 of those 31.5# cores from a guy locally for $150. That works out to around $.80/lb. Added bonus is the alloy heat treats if you need them for rifle bullets. Link for more info. |
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