Casting Balls Pays

[Zonie]

I stopped at the local Scrap Metal yard today and asked if they had any pure lead. The guy pointed to a mountain of aluminum and said "I think it's over there".
After a brief look around I found about 22 pounds of lead sheet which I bought for about 55 cents a pound.

A long time ago, I bought some Lee ball casting blocks for making .440 and .495 dia balls. These are Aluminum molds with the handles attached and I think I paid about $19 for each of them.

Anyway, the way I figure it, if I cast 11 pounds of .440 balls I'll have about 595 of them and 11 pounds of .495 balls will be about 425 of them.

That will make the cost of balls for my .45 about 1.0 cent a shot and the .50 caliber will be about 1.4 cents a shot.
Cheap at twice the price!

Putting it in real world terms, if I shoot my usual 30 shots at the shooting range the bullets for the .45 caliber will cost about 30 cents. If I'm shooting the .50 caliber gun, the cost of the balls will set me back about .45 cents.

At current prices, you can't even get a candy bar for 45 cents.

Patched Round Balls! Ya Got To Love Um. ::

Those of you who don't own any casting equipment might want to consider buying some.
At the current price of .440 lead balls, 595 of them will cost you about $60. For the .495 dia balls 425 of them will cost you about $52.
Not only will casting your own pay for itself, it's a enjoyable way to expand your knowledge and appreciate the history of Muzzleloading. ::

 

[bob1961]

rice's tent at dixons fair had 2 rolls of pure lead flashing fer 25.00 bucks....i think they were 50 lbs rolls....to bad i wasn't set up fer running ball....they didn't last to long either..........bob

 

So, Zonie, ya gots cheap balls . :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: I couldn't resist. All in all it's a great idea, and to me a very relaxing part of this sport. By the way I gots cheap ones also, but mine are cheaper, the 35 pounds I got from the six Dentist's in town was free. That means I got Free ball's, other than the time to cast them. Bill

 

[jtmattison]

I cast all of my own projectiles from roundball to 450 grain plains bullets.
I get my lead for free from old dug up communications cables on my base.
My buddy has some more lead waiting for me right now and I've already got over 400 pounds in my garage cast into ingots waiting for the pot.
Casting your own is not only cheaper but it sure is fun and satisfying when you knock down that deer or knock out the x on a target with something you made yourself.

Huntin

 

[2172]

Agree with all of the posts..sometimes you want to do something, anything, involved with the sport, and are stuck indoors....this is one of the things that gives me relief. I especially like Bill's idea of scrounging from the dentists...about three years ago, my wife got me to switch to one who is the most expensive I've ever come across...the thought of getting something free from him is mouth watering...Hank

 

[weirdjack]

Yep.....it's very enjoyable to just sit and cast round balls. I'll usually do a session casting a couple dozen each of the three sizes I use most often. I'll have to ask my dentist about x-ray lead...sound great!
In the fall, winter, & early spring if no one else is at the club when I'm shooting, I'll take some time to collect free lead. The backstop hill has some old trees along it. If you walk up to them, you find pounds and pounds of balls just lying on the ground. They've bounced off the trees with their energy expended. Since this is a private ML gun club, the majority is soft lead. I test each piece though with my fingernail. I'm not greedy. I normally just pick up enough lead to replace what I shot that day.
I also make certain no one is at the club so I don't end up being the backstop myself!
Otherwise, I pick up a few pounds whenever I get up to Lodi. The Log Cabin Shop has scrap lead for sale. Last month they had 1 pound ingots for 50 cents each. I also buy lead off eBay. Yep...I get 25 pounds stuffed into one of those USPS flat-rate Priority boxes. Shipping is only $5.75 and lead runs around 70 cents a pound most times. I don't have to look for it in scrap yards and it's in clean muffin ingots.
Jack

 

[mmarke]

I totally agree with the cost savings but more so the satisfaction of casting. I started M/L several months ago and now thanks to the advice and knowledge of the forum members, I cast round balls, .45 cal pistol bullets to marry with sabots and will start the production of minie balls shortly. One caveat though: I noticed that I shoot much more often and in greater quantities

 

[riarcher]

,,,and the bigger your balls the bigger your savings!
My .715's store bought empties my wallet (especially when you add the S&H - sure can't get big balls locally).

 

[sfruhwirth]

I agree... bigger the ball the bigggger the savings..

I recently started shooting a 58 cal Zouave, and the balls are fairly spendy at $7 to $8 for a box of 50. Yikes

Was glad to find a nice lymann mold to start casting my own!

Big savings $$$

Not to mention relaxing & satisfying.

 

[Cruzatte]

I agree... bigger the ball the bigggger the savings..

I recently started shooting a 58 cal Zouave, and the balls are fairly spendy at $7 to $8 for a box of 50. Yikes

Was glad to find a nice lymann mold to start casting my own!

Big savings $$$

Not to mention relaxing & satisfying.

Yep. Same applies to shooting a 20 ga. tradegun.

Cruzatte

 

[weirdjack]

Yep. Same applies to shooting a 20 ga. tradegun.

And my .69 Charleville. Casting my own round balls for it allows me to plink with it without breaking my budget!
My cost is about 10% of buying them in the box.
Jack