Casting Poll

[cfullgraf]

I enjoy casting bullets and performing the various tasks to make them shootable. But, if I am short on time, casting is the first casualty.

When I do have the time for casting bullets, I make a bunch that hold me through a season or two.

 

[Blue68f100]

I voted No but I do cast fishing jigs out of necessity. My supplier died and no one mfg the jig heads he used. I ended up machining my own mold.

 

[jmorris]

I do, probably would have started earlier but I am not really one for slow time consuming tasks. I wound up making my own version of Magmas “master caster” and automated it and the sizing process. It’s been one of my better decisions as far as always having all the bullets I would want without having to buy any or relying on supply chains.

 

[Smaug]

I'm surprised how many people cast their own! Seems like a lot of additional time & work for what is accomplished.

 

[jmorris]

I'm surprised how many people cast their own! Seems like a lot of additional time & work for what is accomplished.

That is the way I felt going into it, so I tried my best to avoid that without investing much money (after all that’s what I was wanting to save by casting my own).

The most expensive single part of my machine was the mold itself, most of the other parts I used I already had. I have had to replace the 3500 watt oven heating element once over the years but $16 in maintenance isn’t that bad for as many bullets as it has made.

 

[DM~]

I not only cast lead bullets, I swage jacketed bullets too...

DM

 

[lightman]

I'm curious regarding how many of us cast our own bullets. I do not, and I've no plans to do so, but 'never say never'.

Grandpa started us reloading and casting when I was a little kid and I've been doing it ever since. To me, casting is an extension of reloading much like tying flies and making lures is to a fisherman.

I only cast 3 or 4 times a year, usually in the late winter or early spring. I usually make a day of it and those 3 or 4 sessions make enough bullets to cover my shooting for a year. I keep a years worth of bullets in reserve.

 

[WeekendReloader]

I'm surprised how many people cast their own! Seems like a lot of additional time & work for what is accomplished.

It's kinda like the most expensive tomato you'll ever eat is the one you grow in your own garden.
Casting is a hobby. The amount of time you put in is not a cost, it is time enjoying something you like to do. If you factor in all your time and effort, then purchasing bullets delivered to your doorstep is the most economical way to go.

 

[Bazoo]

I could work 4 hours for someone else and buy bullets, or work at my own pace and make them myself. It’s much more enjoyable that way.

 

[dannyd]

I slowly morphed from shooting jacketed. To buying some cast. To casting some. To casting a lot of what I shoot.
Obviously my 5.56, 22-250, 240Wby, and 300 WM are not getting cast bullets.
The rest seem to like cast almost as well as jacketed.

Just purchased a 22 cal bullet mould to see if I can cast them. I used only cast bullets in my 300 WM when I had it 3160 rounds all together; worked great out to 200 yards and didn't beat you.

 

[EMC45]

I cast and I also "cast" my vote.

I poured my first bullet in 1999 on deployment, I've been fascinated ever since.

I cast from .225 all the way up to 12ga 1oz slug.

 

[CraigC]

Absolutely not but I also won't say never. At some point, I 'may' find a firearm I can't live without that requires me to cast bullets to feed it. Until that day, I'd rather watch paint dry.

I shoot thousands of cast bullets every year but I buy them. I think the biggest requirement for casting bullets is that you have to enjoy it. I don't enjoy handloading and would enjoy casting even less.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Just purchased a 22 cal bullet mould to see if I can cast them. I used only cast bullets in my 300 WM when I had it 3160 rounds all together; worked great out to 200 yards and didn't beat you.

My usage of 22 caliber rifles makes cast bullets inadequate. If I still had my NEF 1-12 twist I would be more inclined to do it. But I don't think 8 twist and cast would work well.

 

[dannyd]

Everyone is different; I only shoot to cast and reload if I had to stop ether I would never shoot again.

 

[jmorris]

Casting is a hobby. The amount of time you put in is not a cost, it is time enjoying something you like to do. If you factor in all your time and effort, then purchasing bullets delivered to your doorstep is the most economical way to go.

I don’t cast as a hobby and it certainly saves me money, even if anyone offered some of the bullets I do cast, for sale.

That said, paying $10 for a cup of beer makes sense sometimes…

 

[dannyd]

My usage of 22 caliber rifles makes cast bullets inadequate. If I still had my NEF 1-12 twist I would be more inclined to do it. But I don't think 8 twist and cast would work well.

I don't own anything that shoots 22 cal just got the mould to see if I can do it, but your right about the twist 1-12 or 1-16 would definitely work better for a 55 grain cast bullet.

 

[Bearded Phil]

I'm surprised how many people cast their own! Seems like a lot of additional time & work for what is accomplished.

For me once I got bitten by the cast bullet projectile bug in hand loading I knew it would be a natural projection to start casting my own.

When you buy commercial you save time, sure, but you're also limited by the bullet profile and other options that are available. If you can't find someone selling what you want your SOL. If you're set up to cast and can get the mould you're after then you can make the projectile you want so long as you have lead.

The thing I'm most excited about is being able to have projectiles with plain bases instead of bevel bases, gas checks where I want them and the option of hollowpoint or flat point (with my NOE molds that have pins) depending on how I'm feeling or want to do.

Plus the cost of .459" 405gr that I have been buying for my 45-70 cost about $.30/ea plus shipping. Excluding the cost of the tools and equipment I'm buying (because eventually those will have paid for themselves in savings) the cost of the lead that I bought to purchase should put those cost per projectile down to about $.06/ea. Quite a savings.

158-180gr projectiles will be around $.02/ea with my own casts. Doesn't sound like much compared to $.11/ish commerical cast but over a lifetime it will make a difference.

I cast and I also "cast" my vote.

I get it!

 

[.308 Norma]

I think the biggest requirement for casting bullets is that you have to enjoy it. I don't enjoy handloading and would enjoy casting even less.

I totally agree with you, Craig. As I said in my post, I no longer cast bullets because I find it boring. On the other hand, I really enjoy handloading - that's why I'm still doing it after 40 some years.
And it has nothing to do with saving money or the amount of time spent either. I'm retired and have plenty of time now, but I was a long way from retirement when I first took up handloading and loved it! The only time I've ever regretted the time I spent handloading was back in the early '80s when both my wife and I were heavily into IHMSA shooting, and we simply couldn't afford the ammo for practice and competition unless we built it ourselves. That meant we were often sitting at the loading bench 3 evenings per week. So, we quit IHMSA, and I started enjoying handloading again. My wife doesn't enjoy it as much as I do, but that's okay - she enjoys spending time in the kitchen, and I in turn enjoy the time she spends there.

 

[CraigC]

When you buy commercial you save time, sure, but you're also limited by the bullet profile and other options that are available. If you can't find someone selling what you want your SOL.

I hear this argument often from casters but have yet to encounter that situation and I reload some oddball stuff. I'm about to start loading for the .50-95 and it hasn't been a problem finding proper bullets.

Plus the cost of .459" 405gr that I have been buying for my 45-70 cost about $.30/ea plus shipping. Excluding the cost of the tools and equipment I'm buying (because eventually those will have paid for themselves in savings) the cost of the lead that I bought to purchase should put those cost per projectile down to about $.06/ea. Quite a savings.

158-180gr projectiles will be around $.02/ea with my own casts. Doesn't sound like much compared to $.11/ish commerical cast but over a lifetime it will make a difference.

But how much is your time worth? I'm buying 405gr .458's for 22 cents and 158gr .358's for 7 cents. You're saving $25 per 500 158's but how much time are you investing in them? This is the distinction, when you enjoy it, you don't factor in the value of your time. When you do not enjoy it, it's only natural to look at cold numbers.

 

[AJC1]

View attachment 1112293

You bet I do.

A gas checked tumble lube design seems counter productive?

 

[Seedy Character]

I don't. I thought about it. I shoot 95% powder coated.

I did some powder coat on a few bullets.

My time and the cost to get set up, I can buy a lot of powder coated bullets. I probably have enough to last the rest of my life, already.

I did pick up a fish sinker mold, at an estate sale, for a $1. I may get around to using it, one day.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I haven't fired a pot of lead up in a couple of years, but I need to get out and cast up some buckshot for the upcoming deer season.
To me it would be hard not to cast with today's pricing.

I was loading .44 magnum and .45 Colt for $100 per thousand. Now that's when you could buy primers for $5/100.
Even with the prices being jacked up at the moment, I can bring it in for right at $200/1000. That's quite a savings over factory.
The cheapest factory .44 mag I found online just now was $1.10 per round.

 

[AJC1]

I haven't fired a pot of lead up in a couple of years, but I need to get out and cast up some buckshot for the upcoming deer season.
To me it would be hard not to cast with today's pricing.

I was loading .44 magnum and .45 Colt for $100 per thousand. Now that's when you could buy primers for $5/100.
Even with the prices being jacked up at the moment, I can bring it in for right at $200/1000. That's quite a savings over factory.
The cheapest factory .44 mag I found online just now was $1.10 per round.

Any rimmed pistol cartridge is worth reloading and I believe worth casting.

 

[Bazoo]

A gas checked tumble lube design seems counter productive?

How so?

 

[41 Mag]

I sorta started with one and it kinda morphed into around, well a bunch...

Now we also pour slabs, jigs, and an assortment of other fishing lures. When covid hit and we couldn't find squat, so we invested in molds. Now we're good for hunting and fishing no matter the political climate.