home cast bullets

With all the accolades from Scott, how can I refuse making a few more comments?

In response to David's comment that casting "takes a lot of time".  Casting bullets, in my opinion,  and reloading same is just another part of the target shooting hobby.  Makes me feel good when my reload with home cast bullet hits the X ring at 50 yards!
The "castboolet" web site will help the novice get started.  I will only comment on my own method. I cast about 45 min. at a time.  In that time I turn out about 500 bullets.  Use two 4 cavity H & G #68 molds.  Since H & G is no longer in business some shooting friends recommend "Accurate molds" as an excellent company.  I would recommend ordering a mold with an as cast diameter of .453.  No sizing required---if one adds antimony/tin to his mix for a harder/lighter bullet then the as cast diameter will still probably be no smaller than .452. Rooster jacket lube works well. 
Of course the other advantage (beside making accurate/consistent bullets) is cost savings.  My 45 bullets cost about $3 per thousand counting electricity and bullet lube. Also there is the cost of equipment but amortized over a few years still will keep one's bullets price very low.  Melting pots and molds will probably not last more than 100 years!   Comments/criticism welcomed.  John

Maybe you mean $30/1000?
Unless you have free lead.

The NOE molds are great. I have 4 now. They are certainly equal to H&Gs as far as the bullets produced. The size consistency of the cavities is pretty remarkable. Since they are aluminum and transfer heat quickly you can cast at a super fast rate. I can make more bullets in less time than with my H&G but its at a kind of break neck speed that's hard to maintain.

I would love to be able to cast my own, if i could get the same accuracy as what i am buying. Not all bullets shoot the same, i have two brands of HG-68 cast 200 lswc, one will shoot one hole at 50 yds off a rest the other loaded exactly the same is lucky to shoot a 3-4 '' group. Im sure i could cast a accurate bullet given time to test and get things just right, thats where in my case it would take a lot of time. I could not be satisfied with anything but the best accuracy i could get but i just dont have the extra time to do it how i would want too. Maybe down the road i will. Thanks for all the info, knowledge is power!!

HenryA wrote:Maybe you mean $30/1000?
Unless you have free lead.

The NOE molds are great. I have 4 now. They are certainly equal to H&Gs as far as the bullets produced. The size consistency of the cavities is pretty remarkable. Since they are aluminum and transfer heat quickly you can cast at a super fast rate. I can make more bullets in less time than with my H&G but its at a kind of break neck speed that's hard to maintain.

$3 / 1,000 ia correct.  JC

"free lead"  Back in the old days---(I make this comment more frequently as time goes by)--  we used to have evening lead mining  parties at the range.  Everyone brought 5 gallon buckets, shoveled lead from dirt/sand backstop, and had enough for many casting sessions. Lead keeps forever!

Cure for HOT-- H & G molds.  Two gallon coffee can ---fill with water--when bullets not setting fast enough because of too hot a mold plunge mold (cast iron) with bullets still in cavities, into water and remove. In and out in 1 sec.  Continue casting.  I have not run into this problem for quite a while especially using two
4 cavity molds.  Perhaps your pot/lead temperature is set too high?  Arizona in summer 110 degrees outside??  John

Yep, lower lead pot temps would help. My H&G is a wonderful mold - not knocking it.

I used to have free lead - all I wanted - but those days are long past.
Still, even buying lead these days I can make pretty cheap bullets.
More like the $30/1000 I wrote.
I'll be doing more berm digging too but its hard to count on for me.

You can harvest lead wheel weights by the hundreds at an auto salvage (junk) yard.

Hard to do here - most won't let you do that.
Scrap yard here wants more than $1/lb. for scrap lead.
Its kinda crazy.

Bullseye10X wrote:You can harvest lead wheel weights by the hundreds at an auto salvage (junk) yard.

Many of the wheel weights no longer contain lead. If they are lead, many are sealed in some kind of coating that does not melt/mix well. often they just float on top of the melt and have to be skimmed off. I 'harvested' hundreds of pounds of wheel weights over the years but it is getting harder as we get more 'environmentally friendly'.

Bruce

Automotive wheel weights are made of zinc. No auto salvage (local) will sell any wheel weights. Scrap yards will not sell any thing  only buy. changes their business  category and tax epa regulations. Have been making my bullets for years now only make my 25yard bullets and buy 185swchp zero. Have enough lead for a few more years and always looking for lead. Current price less than  buying  a few ton at a time is about $3.00 a pound.

Our range allows members to dig lead out of the impact area. It means our range recycles which helps with the state authorities.

plenty of casting lead for sale on ebay, not bad with flat rate shipping.

I have decided to avoid buying ANYTHING firearms-related off of eBay.

Their intolerant self-righteous irrational holier-than-thou management and policies and such just chap me off.

In fact, I no tend to look elsewhere first for almost anything. Hard to get away from the size of their audience and selling pool, though.

IMO, I dont side with ebay on politics but you are not buying from them, you are buying from a individual, and buying gun related items there is like thumbing your nose at their views.

DavidR wrote:plenty of casting lead for sale on ebay, not bad with flat rate shipping.

Another place buy lead is the "swappin' and sellin' " sub forum on castboolits.com. There is always lead for sale there. It usually runs about a dollar a pound shipped.

Rooster works well....IF you still have some.

My understanding is that they don't make it anymore.

http://www.roosterlabs.com/products.html

Best mold I found was the RCBS 452-201-SWC, with the #68 being a close second.
Casting is something you either enjoy doing or hate.
I shoot only as-cast bullets and pan- or tumble-lube bullets.
LLA works perfect for me, but White Lab's 45/45/10 will make many people happy with tumble lubing.
I found AnchorSeal to be an acceptable substitute for Rooster Jacket, though neither is as good as LLA.