Are cast bullets and casting a growing or shrinking market

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AJC1

AJC1

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I'm curious if cast is a growing or shrinking subset of our reloading hobby... I imagine it's slowly shrinking, but the current downturn and panic caused a resurgence. There has been many shortages that I was not part of in this hobby to know if the resurgence happens each time or not. Interested in if we're growing or always declining....
 
AJC1 said:
I'm curious if cast is a growing or shrinking subset of our reloading hobby... I imagine it's slowly shrinking, but the current downturn and panic caused a resurgence. There has been many shortages that I was not part of in this hobby to know if the resurgence happens each time or not. Interested in if we're growing or always declining....
Click to expand...
 
I still cast a few for my 38/357 revolver and Rossi 92.im sure not as much as others do. I'm lucky if I do a hundred at a time.
 
I’d say, with the exception of the recent uptick due to the pandemic, it’s definitely on the decline.
 
Cast .356" and .452".. Though I haven't cast in a couple years I still have a ton made and have been mostly rifle shooting during this time.
 
I think cast bullets are as popular as ever because of the abundance of coatings offered by many commercial casters giving you much of the benefits of jacketed with the attendant cost savings.

However, I think casting is on the decline simply because lead/alloys are getting harder to find.
 
No idea but I'd say it might be more challenging to get metals these days depending on where you're at. I started casting in the 80's and I could go to almost any service station and walk away with buckets of wheel weights that they would just give away.

Sometime in the early 90's they phased out linotype machines for news print and I would call around and collect boat loads of linotype, most of it still cast with its backward lettering. My father in law was a linotype press operator in the 60's and 70's and gave me the entire front page of the Patriot Ledger, molded in linotype. I busted it up with a hammer and cast the entire thing. I would use it to cast rock hard .357 and .44 magnum bullets.

I still cast these days, but it's primarily for BP rifle bullets. Don't feel like paying the retail price for a cast maxi-ball when I can throw my own for pennies.
 
AJC1 said:
I'm curious if cast is a growing or shrinking subset of our reloading hobby... I imagine it's slowly shrinking, but the current downturn and panic caused a resurgence. There has been many shortages that I was not part of in this hobby to know if the resurgence happens each time or not. Interested in if we're growing or always declining....
Click to expand...
I have no evidence one way or the other. It could be a lot of factors but I don’t think a growing market is necessarily a sign of a growing user base.
 
3-4 years ago I sought out training on casting and practiced to become somewhat proficient. I also purchased molds for all my black powder rifles and some for .327-.357 and .44 Mag. I then bought some bulk lead. I don’t have a huge supply of it but enough to fall back on in a crunch. All of this is on standby should my local cast bullet source be impeded or goes out of business.

Also bought corresponding Lee sizers and an RCBS Luber.

I melt in a cast iron pot over a propane turkey fryer but am thinking I might pick up a furnace.
 
Frulk said:
3-4 years ago I sought out training on casting and practiced to become somewhat proficient. I also purchased molds for all my black powder rifles and some for .327-.357 and .44 Mag. I then bought some bulk lead. I don’t have a huge supply of it but enough to fall back on in a crunch. All of this is on standby should my local cast bullet source be impeded or goes out of business.

Also bought corresponding Lee sizers and an RCBS Luber.

I melt in a cast iron pot over a propane turkey fryer but am thinking I might pick up a furnace.
Click to expand...
I process raw lead the way you mentioned but use a lee 420 for casting
 
I use a ladle to fill the molds. I also process the lead in that pot to pour into smaller ingots. I’m not needing to cast thousands of bullets so I’m happy with this slow but simple routine. I started casting for the black powder rifle ammo in .36, .45, .50, .54, .58 and .67 (?) for my mini cannon and just progressed to the pistol calibers to become proficient.

I consider it a life skill that might come in handy in case times get REALLY hard for reloaders.
 
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Tough to say. I think there are more commercially cast bullets available now then ever before and they're pretty inexpensive compared to jacketed and easy to get. Lead can be tough to come by, even for guys that work in repair shops (I'm one of them). I cast for supply shortages but if I can get bullets for .10 a piece delivered it's hard to justify the time to do it. I try to keep molds for every cartridge I load and 100# or so of lead and a container of hi-tek so I can keep shooting if I need bullets but as we've all seen, it's not the bullets that disappear it's the primers.
I'll spend a couple hours every 6 months or so and make up some bullets but I generally buy what I shoot the most of. My casting gear is pretty low tech and basic but it does the job. My wife hates me casting and thinks I'm going to kill myself with fumes and toxins but even though I reassure her there's good ventilation and I'm aware of what I'm doing.
I'd say we're disappearing , every one wants to cast until it's time to actually do it. There's a ton to learn and it takes experience to get it right, a lot of people now like that instant gratification and casting involves too much effort for the average person. I only know a couple guys that reload even though all my shooting friends cry about not having ammo or the cost.
I focus mainly on 357 magnum as my range blasting cartridge just because it takes less lead then other cartridges but I've always got plenty and I'm not spread thin trying to do too much. I also cast .452 & .459 bullets but that's about it. I do want a 12 gauge slug mold though and may buy one soon- slugs have gotten pretty expensive .
 
Obturation said:
Tough to say. I think there are more commercially cast bullets available now then ever before and they're pretty inexpensive compared to jacketed and easy to get. Lead can be tough to come by, even for guys that work in repair shops (I'm one of them). I cast for supply shortages but if I can get bullets for .10 a piece delivered it's hard to justify the time to do it. I try to keep molds for every cartridge I load and 100# or so of lead and a container of hi-tek so I can keep shooting if I need bullets but as we've all seen, it's not the bullets that disappear it's the primers.
I'll spend a couple hours every 6 months or so and make up some bullets but I generally buy what I shoot the most of. My casting gear is pretty low tech and basic but it does the job. My wife hates me casting and thinks I'm going to kill myself with fumes and toxins but even though I reassure her there's good ventilation and I'm aware of what I'm doing.
I'd say we're disappearing , every one wants to cast until it's time to actually do it. There's a ton to learn and it takes experience to get it right, a lot of people now like that instant gratification and casting involves too much effort for the average person. I only know a couple guys that reload even though all my shooting friends cry about not having ammo or the cost.
I focus mainly on 357 magnum as my range blasting cartridge just because it takes less lead then other cartridges but I've always got plenty and I'm not spread thin trying to do too much. I also cast .452 & .459 bullets but that's about it. I do want a 12 gauge slug mold though and may buy one soon- slugs have gotten pretty expensive .
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I think you may have hit the nail on the head. There are a ton of places like Missouri Cast, Bayou, etc. that offer a cheaper variety of cast bullets. Plus places like RMR, Precision Delta, Zero, etc, that offer good jacketed bullets at an affordable price.

I only got into casting a couple years ago. Lead and alloys have been moving from the linotype and wheels weights. But I have managed, at maybe a bit more cost, been able to accumulate a about 700 lbs or so of lead and needed alloys.

I got into casting as a hobby.
 
Y-T71 said:
I think cast bullets are as popular as ever because of the abundance of coatings offered by many commercial casters giving you much of the benefits of jacketed with the attendant cost savings.

However, I think casting is on the decline simply because lead/alloys are getting harder to find.
Click to expand...

I think you nailed it. I was shooting cast 25 years ago in 45 Colt thanks to the writing of John Linebaugh, Brian Pierce, etc. In my subset of two dozen handloading friends, I was the only one shooting cast back then because jacketed bullets were relatively cheap.

Not so anymore. In that same subset of friends, about half now shoot cast, and a good bunch of them, like me, shoot cast exclusively. And only one casts (not me). I don’t think my experience is an anomaly.
 
I cast for 9mm, 38spc, 357 mag, 44 mag, 45 cap, 45 LC, 30 CAL, (308,30-06,300WM,300 BO, 243. I Have a sufficient number of 22LR, and 17HMR.

Last month, I cast about 500 30 cal bullets that I enjoy with my 300 BlkOut.

if you do cast, you should continue, it saves a lot of money over the link haul…
Dan
 
About 98% of what I shoot, I cast. I see more folks using cast at the range, no ides where they get them. I’d think more would be using them just to save money to shoot more but I am just guessing.
 
The best way to tell is look around if you use a public range. Last Saturday out of all the people at the range probably about 100 only two bullet caster's. Even reloader's are few in number because most of the young people shoot 9 mm and 5.56, so it's cheaper for them to buy ammunition.

I have showed a lot of people how to cast but very few ever started. To me it's fun but not to all.
 
At the ranges I go to, I haven't met a bullet caster yet. For rifle shooters, maybe 1/3 are reloaders. Most shooters are intriqued with reloading and for some casting. Casting is too much for most shooters because they just want to shoot. I like to think of the bullet casters as the shooters that's been awhile. They're like the rifle hunter that became an archer or the archer that started making his own arrows and shooting traditional archery. Is it growing, I would say yes still because of the bullet shortage. I never have to purchase a handgun bullet again nor a rifle bullet if I choose. This leaves me with more money to buy powder and primers and keep my costs down while maintaining my interest in the shooting sports.
 
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