casting bullets/balls

[KSC]

There's definitely money to be saved here, but how much and will my balls or bullets be up to par? I wouldn't be buying anything other than the basic supplies for the job. How much would I need beyond a furnace, dipper, and mold to do it right and would I be damning my accuracy?

 

[RC]

i'd say it wouldn't hurt your accuracy at all...probably improve it, least consistency wise..(same mold,same lead ...)if ya got the lead yer pretty much set to go with mold,furnace an dipper,,do yerself a favor,get the 10 lb furnace with the pourer spout....much easier! :thumbsup:

 

[cowpoke1955]

I use the Lee Production Pot IV and Lee molds. Been using them for over 20 years with no problem. I won a lot of matches and taken a lot of game with my cast balls. Always have a good supply of balls and conicals on hand. Don't have to worry if your local store will have the right size or any at all. It's also a lot of fun. I buy all my Lee supplies for F&M Reloading. They have same of the best prices around. Here's their link:[url] http://www.fmreloading.com/[/url] . Good luck and happy casting :thumbsup: .

 

[Many Klatch]

I've never used anything but balls that I have cast. I don't think I'm giving away any accuracy to people that use swaged balls.

Many Klatch

 

[rabbit03]

I've never used anything but balls that I have cast. I don't think I'm giving away any accuracy to people that use swaged balls.

Many Klatch

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

rabbit03

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Aside from what you have listed you will need some safety glasses, stout gloves, and some protective clothing. A little material to flux your lead will be handy too. I use beeswax and it works fine. Proper ventilation is a must.

I don't think I have saved any money by casting my own because although my outlay is less I shoot more. The happy effect of that is that my accuracy has improved. I find the act of running ball to be relaxing and I further gain a great deal of satisfaction in taking game or hitting a target with balls I have cast myself.


Ogre

 

[romeoh]

I use the Lee Production Pot IV and Lee molds. Been using them for over 20 years with no problem. I won a lot of matches and taken a lot of game with my cast balls. Always have a good supply of balls and conicals on hand. Don't have to worry if your local store will have the right size or any at all. It's also a lot of fun. I buy all my Lee supplies for F&M Reloading. They have same of the best prices around. Here's their link:[url] http://www.fmreloading.com/[/url] . Good luck and happy casting :thumbsup: .

Amen. Some Lee Molds and a Production Pot IV is good invested money for a beginner.
The right clothes and a well-ventilated place for casting added and you can start. :thumbsup:

 

[Coot]

By using your own lead (mine comes free as scraps from the local stained glass shop) & time you will unquestionably save money. The pot & moulds are a one time expense if cared for and can be used to produce thousands of balls over years of time. Quality is not an issue providing you use some care. I reject and recast any balls with any visible imperfections and any that are underweight. Sometimes just being lazy or in a hurry, I will use commercial balls in small calibers but my minne balls are better than any commercial ones that I have seen or used (I also have a much higher reject rate with minne balls than round). You also have many more options re ball size by casting your own as most commercial balls are only made in the most popular sizes. Go for casting your own! :thumbsup:

 

[Stony]

I use a Lee Production pot as well, has the pourer spout on the bottom so it's a lot easier to use. I do use Lyman molds instead of Lee molds. Lee molds are made of aluminum and need a little more TLC than Lyman molds. I have damaged Lee molds with my small leather mallet. I would give the mold a light whack on the bottom to help loosen the bullet so it would drop out of the mold easier. I don't do it anymore and I'm sure if treated correctly a Lee mold would hold up fine. The Lee molds are now a "spureless" design and the round ball molds have a cutter that is suppose to leave a small flat spot instead of a spure on the ball. I wear long sleeve shirts and elbow length leather gloves as well as safety glasses and shoes. (This is not something to do in bare feet or slippers.)

Casting .490 balls, I get 39 balls to the pound. This means I spent 89 cents for the lead to cast up 100 balls. I also spent about one and a half hours casting, so I added about 50 cents to my electric bill for the pot and fan I run during that time. I also run a case tumbler with untreated corn cob for 15 minutes when I'm done casting. I find that it puts a very light dull grey coating on the balls, or takes off a micro thin layer and tends make it easier seeing all the little imperfections that are on the balls.

I use to weigh my balls (that tends to stop a conversation real quick :rotf: ) and found that the ones without imperfections had the least difference in weight. That removes one variable in making for a accurate load.

I also cast my bullets for my .45 Colt and .40 S&W loads. It's a harder alloy than the pure lead I use for muzzleloading balls. I also make sure I don't mix the two and empty the production pot of either prior to casting the other.

The only other suggestions I would make is to get a piece of deerskin. Go buy a shallow baking pan and place a folded towel in it. Then place the deerskin over the pan. Find a way to keep the deerskin in place (fold the deerskin under the pan or use thick rubber bands around the pan to keep the deerskin in place) and drop your balls/bullets on to the deerskin. Then after filling the mold, while the lead is cooling, use a large spoon, scoop out the balls you just dropped on the deerskin and gently place them into a wooden bowl or something till they cool down enough to handle. This way your not putting extra "dimples" on the balls you already molded.

One last thing, try to give your balls & bullets at least 3 months till you use them. This includes sizing bullets that you may have cast. Professional casters have found that it takes that long for lead bullets to finish being cast. Something about the molecular structure still changing and stuff. Don't really know if that's all true or not. Good luck.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

if you shoot a BP revolver and cast your own slugs you save substantial amount. I'm uncertain that anyone even sells revolver slugs, Buffalo no longer does I've read. they made the 'ballet' and they're fairly expensive. the Lee conicals are sized by shaving a ring off when they are rammed into chamber. IIRC Lee even makes hollow-point molds for BP revolvers. Lee conicals shoot well in my '58 Remmy and ROA.

 

[BrownBear]

About the only thing not on your list is electricity. I tried figuring the cost out one time for my Lee Production furnace, and it was such a small fraction of a cent per ball or conical that I call it free.

Lead is where you find it or buy it. You want it as pure as you can get it for most muzzleloader uses, but grab the alloys you can find too. They're useful for casting centerfire bullets. The Lyman cast bullet manual lists the average alloys from different scrap sources and that's useful. It's also got useful guidance on procedure and safety if you haven't done it before. Loads of data for your centerfires, but next to nothing on MLs. For data, instruction and safety with MLs, go ahead and buy the Lyman black powder manual, too.

As for accuracy- no penalty if you use the inspection procedures already described. I'd go ahead and weigh the conicals on the potential that you'll shoot them further. Inside 100 yards small variations won't make all that much difference, but beyond 100 every variable has a price, accuracy-wise. In the conicals you also have the potential of better accuracy from your own casts, simply because there's a wider variety of molds than store bought bullets, unless you track down custom sources. Each gun is going to have its own taste in bullets, and they just might not be the ones you see every day on store shelves.

Over and above all that, I gotta say it feels pretty good to be hunting with bullets you made yourself. Get into using the deer fat for making your own lubes, and maybe using the horns for accessories and the hide for clothing, and the whole muzzleloading thing gets real "personal." I whacked a deer using a rifle, RB, patch, lube, powder measure, horn, loading block, bag and deer call I made myself. Somehow it just tastes better!

 

[Tkendrick]

I started casting bullets in 1969, before I was out of high school. This question of accuraccy has come up every so often over that time, especially for cartridge shooters.

For Muzzle loaders, I always explain it like this:

Almost every possibles bag in every museum that I have seen, has a bullet mold. I don't recall ever seeing a short starter, very few loading blocks and don't think I've seen more than one or two panchargers, but almost all of them had a bullet mold.

Every round these old boys shot came from the same mold.

Ponder that info for a while, and think on the implications.

 

[bob308]

i have been casting my own bullets and ball all my shooting life. don't know any other way. even for the smokless rifles.

 

[Phantom Captain]

I have been busy this winter getting ready for the summer shooting season! My girlfriend is an avid black powder fan too (shoots a .36 navy and an 1862 Richmond Rifle .58, repro of course) and we both very much enjoy casting on the weekends. It's relaxing, fun and saves a ton of money for me. My BP rifles are mostly .58 minie rifles (civil war military stuff with one .69 smoothbore) and purchased minies get very expensive if you shoot alot.

So far this winter we have cast 1000 lyman mold 575-213 minies, 1000 .454 balls, 900 .375 balls and probably 250 .678 balls.

Figure it this way. At Track of the Wolf to purchase those same minies it's $11.50 for 25 balls. 100 minis would cost me $46 a pop and that's not including shipping. The girl and I shoot almost 100 everytime we go out. Can get really expensive really fast.

I bought about 120 lbs of lead this winter and paid about $120 for it. That's a HUGE savings and i'm not even taking into account all the pistol round balls we have done on top of it.

And like everyone else states as well, there is a huge satisfaction in shooting balls you have cast with your own hands.

 

[Phantom Captain]

Oh and I still have about 30 lbs of lead left to finish off!

 

[jdstrang]

Man, where'd you find soft lead for a buck a pound?? :shocked2:

I bought 100 pounds of smelter-pure lead last fall at Nationals. It cost me $1.85 a pound, and that was market price! :cursing:

The market's dropped since, down to about $1.40 or so, but a buck a pound is still great.

 

[Otter]

If ya keeps yer eyes peeled ya can run across a deal on lead every here and agin. I gots a friend keeped his eyes peeled way back an the result is I gots about a half ton of dead soft lead sittin in my garage and paid $90 fer it. A buck a pound sounds kinda spendy . . . :blah:

 

[romeoh]

Man, where'd you find soft lead for a buck a pound?? :shocked2:

Don´t know if this works over the big pond...

Here in germany I go to clubs shooting airguns, put on a friendly face and ask whether I could get their waste. :shocked2:
Those airguns shoot the perfect lead for MLs. :grin:
And when I describe what I need it for - melting in and shooting with a ML - I usually get it for free. :thumbsup:

 

[Phantom Captain]

You can still find deals but you do need to look around and be patient.

I found mine online actually.