Any demand for obsolete cast bullets?

Purely a guess but if there was enough demand for odd caliber cast bullets I would think any of the current manufacturers of cast bullets would be offering them.

Ron

there won't be a lot of demand, but there is not a lot of supply (if they are truly obsolete) and should bring a premium price. i wouldn't hold my breath for a quick sale, though.

luck,

murf

Don't forget to get your 06 FFL before your start selling your bullets.

[QUOTEI just found 25 or 30 of my grandfathers Lyman bullet molds. Lot's of odd calibers and weights. I've never cast bullets, but I have all the how to information. Looking at a possible internet business. Do you think there is a demand for this?][/QUOTE]

It's hard to give you a answer not knowing what calibers, weights, and designs these molds are.

Reloadron said:

Purely a guess but if there was enough demand for odd caliber cast bullets I would think any of the current manufacturers of cast bullets would be offering them.

Ron

Click to expand...

I think you need to catalog them by Lyman mold number to determine what you have. If they're are single cavity molds, I doubt that you'll have much of a business opportunity using them to cast and sell bullets, but the molds themselves can bring premium prices if they're in good shape.

With your list in hand, I'd check in at http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php

There will be buyers for the molds, however, most likely the kind of buyers that will want oddball calibers/weights already be casters and not buy enough bullets to drive your venture.

Based on your post I assumed (maybe wrongly) by possible internet business your intent was to manufacture cast bullets? If you simply might be looking to sell the molds then photograph and catalog them, as mentioned, and place them for sale on the Internet. Less that information it is hard to say what the molds may be worth.

Ron

If you've never cast bullets before, good luck trying to do it and sell them. It's not that easy to just start whipping out GOOD bullets, and casters/handloaders are notoriously picky fellers.

The molds should be easy to sell. Casting is not easy and I would think you could make a lot more money and do less work with a part time job than selling cast bullets. There is some skill involved, and a good bit of work. Lead alloy is getting harder to find for free or cheap.

Some of those older molds are very valuable and can demand several hundred dollars. If you decadent sell be sure you do your research so you don't cheat yourself. Really, some of the more rare molds from Lyman and a few others are very valuable.

Perhaps if you found a specific "niche" for your cast bullets, you could sell some. If these molds are just for "old" bullets and not rare special use, you may be outnumbered by commercial casters (google "cast bullets for sale"). lus some that need "special use, obsolete" bullets prolly already cast their own. Don't mean to be a downer, just practical. Cast some, photo them, post them here (and on castbooits.com) to see if anyone wants them...

Depending on what bullets they actually cast there may be some interest from Schuetzen shooters in the 25,28 and 32's
Some times the older 40 caliber (403-406 diameter) bullets would find some interest from folks wanting to shoot the old sharps and remington rifles.

I think that you are up against 2 obstacles. As many have already said, shooters who have unusual needs for bullets probably already cast their own. Therefore, sales will be pretty slow.

Second, casting bullets with hand held hobbyist type molds is labor intensive. I think in the end you will be doing more work than is justified for the money that you will be making.

As a fairly recent retiree myself, I started out doing some part time work because it was available and I was still engrossed in the work ethic. I found out it interfered with the things I wanted to do because I was retired (mostly fun stuff) and the little money that I made just wasn't worth it.

But everybody's situation is different.

Laphroaig

I would be interested in the 22 molds if for sale

Dan

100 lbs of lead won't last very long, so you might look up what your lead is going to cost you after that. If you have never cast anything you might give is a shot as low buck as you can get first, so your not out a bunch of money when you decide it's a bust.

I built this machine that uses regular single and two cavity molds and allows for a constant product.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2U1ujg_nzo

Casting, coating and sizing are done concurrently so that takes me from ingots to ready to load bullets at a rate of around 500/hr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8tWaN5PrTY

That's OK for personal consumption but delivering pizza would likely make more money than casting them for sale after all is said and my lead is free.

Sky Dog said:

Also have about 100 lbs of lead. I'm going to be retiring from HP in a couple of year. Looking for something to supplement my income. Start up costs are a minimum.

Click to expand...

Is it pure lead? If it's not, how hard (or soft) is it? Pure lead is too soft for bullets other than muzzle loader bullets.
While I find most commercially cast bullets too hard for my purposes, I'd never buy bullets that were cast out of pure lead. It would take too long to clean the danged lead that was left behind in my handgun barrels after a shooting session.

Don't take this wrong way. But you obviously have no clue. You won't make any money at it. You need an 06FFL, pay ITAR and then pay a tax on every bullet manufactured, not sold. You will need supply of proper alloy, no one is going to buy an unknown alloy bullet. How do you plan on sizing them? And what lube do you plan on using? You don't just pour lead into a mold and make money.

Go read "From Ingot to Target" by Glen Fryxell: http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm

And spend lots of time on the CastBoolits forum reading. You're better off selling the molds.

You have a lot of legal and tax issues to deal w/ first. Thousands will be spent just to sell the first bullet. I know I sounded harsh but straight talk is what's needed when it comes to a business venture. Not feel good wishes.

As far as the molds being old. There are custom makers that will make you anything you want. So obscure molds are obscure in original source only. Accurate will have a mold to your door in two weeks. The guys that have obscure guns most likely have molds for them as well. It's the nature of the beast when it comes to obsolete cartridges.

If you decide to go about it I do wish you luck. Casting by hand is going to be a hard way to earn extra money. ITAR alone means thousands of dollars go the government every year.

How exactly would "thousands of dollars go the government" just for the simple act of selling a handful of cast bullets? There are no goverment regs on that.

CNC machinery has made obsolete bullet moulds, well, obsolete. Tom, over at http://accuratemolds.com will make a mould to cast any bulet you can dream up. As such, the old moulds are in effect available again.

35W

...just for the simple act of selling a handful of cast bullets? There are no goverment regs on that.

Click to expand...

Yes, there are, if you make it and sell it you have to have the ffl in place or you are breaking the law, doesnt matter if it's ammo, brass, primers, or just bullets.

If much demand was there for a bullet a business would have already had a custom mold made, it really doesn't cost that much more than a regular mold, you can contact magma engineering, supply the a drawing and they will give you a price and lead time. Accurate mold is another that will custom make a mold to your specifications.

Kind of like all of the recent, no lube groove molds for the folks that are coating bullets. That's not just cutting material out of old molds or they would be too heavy, that's making new ones from a custom cherry.