New Lee 300BLK mold

[Maryland_Shooter]

I reload, but have never gotten into casting. I have a well-ventilated bench to work from with a vent fan. How much would it cost to get set-up to cast my own?

Casting lead, flux, tin, antimony. Lead pot, ladle, welder's gloves, leather apron, eye protection . . . I'm sure I missed something.

Have them casted? Water quench them.

Oh, now you have to re-size them HUH? Makes zero sense to me. If you cast them the right size, why would you have to re-size them? Don't know, but you do.

Lube them before you re-size - yep, a press for that. Lube attachment as well, oh and don't forget the lube warmer if using the hollow tube style lube. Using the squirt type, LOL - have fun - it's a hell of a mess.

OK, resized? good - now re-lube them and crimp on a gas check (yep, they have tools for that as well). Make sure you flare the cases before seating the lead bullet, otherwise the lead gets shaved off, case gets bent.

Done shooting them? Ok, now make sure you get that lead out of that barrel . . . .

The only lead I have used is .45 ACP. I buy 500 230g RN for $37 before shipping.

There is no way I could possible even come close to making 500 lubed 230g projectiles in an hour, not even counting raw material, electricity, exposure to lead, and the distinct possibility of burning myself with hot lead.

I was all set to start making 6.8 SPC lead projectiles, but lucky for me the mould maker botched up the original plan, allowing me to escape buying the mould.

Hey, I know some guys like making their own bullets and I understand that; however, considering the cost of the gear, the sheer mess of the whole operation and the time it would take me to make usable projos, there is no way I can possibly add casting to my ever expanding gun hobby.

At my age, I want to spend the majority of my time actually shooting instead of opening a smelting operation.

[JohnInNH]

Back when I had no $ at all to speak of.. casting was the ONLY way I could shoot.. even the bulk swagged wad cutters were a lot fo $ to me.

I used to get the lead from my indoor range. we ONLY allowed lead bullets. 1 hr and I had a life time of lead. I then got some Linotype a few years later.. then some tin. Wheel weights were free back in the 70's

I now have plenty or raw material. but TIME is the problem.. set up a couple of days a year is all it takes. Once on a run. you would be surprised at how many good bullets you can pump out. Set aside a weekend. set up and run for 2 days. you can lube 2 ways depending on the bullet design. the coat lube by lee or a stick n sizer. A sizer in not much $ and can put gas checks on commercial bullets like the Hunter brand that is ready for them. Some guns like a tighter bore. The mold may drop at 310. 308 my shoot better in your barrel than 310. 309 is popular.

I am going to try the Lee mold I usually went Lyman. A double or 4 cavity can really speed things up.

They shoot well at 1500 fps and I have had good luck with subs in my 357 max. (till my Sig P-226 took out my baffles this weekend!)

But if you have $ to afford jacketed bullets casting may not be the way to go. In my MAX they do not make bullets like the 300 gr I like to shoot. I buy them cast then slap the gas checks on.

[Maryland_Shooter]

If I had unimited time, I'd make some. Since I now have more $ than time, I buy them. Same reason I bought a Giraud trimmer. My hands are old and arthritic.

When I was 25 a clutch job was $290, parts were $90, so I learned how to install a clutch.

I'm so old, I was around when they discovered fire

[SAWebbShooter]

Getting into basic casting is inexpensive, but like most hobbies, the sky is the limit for what you want to spend. Need to spend, not so much. Plenty of knowledge available for safety, casting and lubing techniques, tricks for fixing dripping Lee bottom pour furnaces, etc., are readily available online. It isn't brain surgery or wildly dangerous. Dip lubing isn't the trouble some make it out to be either, nor that messy. People have already worked out the problems.
I shot 400-600 rounds of centerfire revolver ammo a week using nothing but home cast and lubed bullets. From Lee molds. I was living in an apt. 20 miles from San Francisco at the time and slightly above the working poverty level. Could not of practiced that much with factory ammo and store bought projectiles would have would have cut back my shooting too. Even buying lead and tin it was cheap. Worked for me
Essay W

[Bob J]

I cast just about everything I reload.... My son and I shoot a lot of odd ball calibers (500 mag, 458S, 50 beo, etc) and the savings from reloading our own cast is pretty significant.... We typically cast with 5 cavity moulds and lube/size using a star so it doesn't take much effort/time to make lots of bullets.... We get our lead free (typically wheel weights from friends at various garages and helping out various range deleading operations) so that cost isn't much....

Smelting is done on an old turkey fryer burner in a cut in half beer keg.... Clean ingots are cast in old muffin tins....

Our bullet casting is done using a lee 4/20 bottom drop casting pot and we water drop everything.....

Our biggest expense from an equipment stand point is the star lube sizer..... Pricey but given how much we load/shoot its well worth the money in speed/effort.....

We figure our 45ACP cast 230 round ball with reused brass is basically powder and primer..... Roughly 4.5 cents a round....

Works for us but as always YMMV.....;- )

[ckcadavona]

Wow, this thread went off topic. Midway arrival notification today and I ordered one.

[300Blk]

Someone post some bullet photos next to the NOE mold bullets.

[thehouseproduct]

I reload, but have never gotten into casting. I have a well-ventilated bench to work from with a vent fan. How much would it cost to get set-up to cast my own?

Casting lead, flux, tin, antimony. Lead pot, ladle, welder's gloves, leather apron, eye protection . . . I'm sure I missed something.

Have them casted? Water quench them.

Oh, now you have to re-size them HUH? Makes zero sense to me. If you cast them the right size, why would you have to re-size them? Don't know, but you do.

Lube them before you re-size - yep, a press for that. Lube attachment as well, oh and don't forget the lube warmer if using the hollow tube style lube. Using the squirt type, LOL - have fun - it's a hell of a mess.

OK, resized? good - now re-lube them and crimp on a gas check (yep, they have tools for that as well). Make sure you flare the cases before seating the lead bullet, otherwise the lead gets shaved off, case gets bent.

Done shooting them? Ok, now make sure you get that lead out of that barrel . . . .

The only lead I have used is .45 ACP. I buy 500 230g RN for $37 before shipping.

There is no way I could possible even come close to making 500 lubed 230g projectiles in an hour, not even counting raw material, electricity, exposure to lead, and the distinct possibility of burning myself with hot lead.

I was all set to start making 6.8 SPC lead projectiles, but lucky for me the mould maker botched up the original plan, allowing me to escape buying the mould.

Hey, I know some guys like making their own bullets and I understand that; however, considering the cost of the gear, the sheer mess of the whole operation and the time it would take me to make usable projos, there is no way I can possibly add casting to my ever expanding gun hobby.

At my age, I want to spend the majority of my time actually shooting instead of opening a smelting operation.

Let's try to fair. You have combined every possible step from every possible path to a cast bullet. For lots of stuff, throw wheel weights in, get junk out, pour into mold, roll around in lube, load as normal. If you enjoy reloading for reloading's sake, you would most likely enjoy casting. Read up on it by people who actually do it, most gun forums are filled with rumors.

[ckcadavona]

pics at this link:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=155363

[300Blk]

Looks awesome to me.