Bulk lead availability question

[jam0066]

I’m looking into starting casting; however, I’m not sure what the availability of bulk lead for the average guy is. I know wheel weights are not what they used to be. My goal is driving the cost per round down rather than farming 50yd bullseye accuracy.

Those of you that cast, where do you get your bulk lead?

How about your antimony, Linotype, and other mixers?

If there’s a place local to Pensacola, how much are you paying per pound?

 

[SAWMAN]

Contact JJ (oneshot) on this forum BY TELEPHONE. His number is in some of his posts.
He will have what you want. --- SAWMAN

 

[jam0066]

Thank you SAWMAN. I’ll have to get a hold of him. I’m still trying to decide if the cost savings are worth the time investment in casting. Hopefully, he or some other members can provide that info. Good to have a point of contact for the bulk supplies for sure

 

[Daezee]

No idea if any local metal recycling companies will sell, but they used to when I was casting about 14 years ago, and that was a great source for me. I lucked out when I took up casting again about a year ago. Friends were getting out of casting and sold me Linotype and tin and gave me metal.

I recently bought some soft lead and hard lead from oneshot. Soft is about like pure lead. Hard was about like clip on wheel weights. I had uses for each.

Best source for free may be your local shooting club if you’re a member. Mine allows picking up of bullets as long as you report the pounds you take. I’ve been “picky” and have only picked cast bullets, figuring they’re harder than the lead inside jacketed bullets, but might start on jacketed bullets for soft lead.

Search eBay for Linotype. Prices are all over the place, but shop around and you can find it for $2 a pound, often shipping is free. Roto Metals ships for free if you spend $100. I’ve bought from them for known metal mixes for testing. Get on their email list so you’ll know when they have sales.

Post your casting adventures and successes on the forum...sometimes members will offer free metal cuzz they know it will go to a good home where it will be used and not sold as scrap metal.

My main reason for casting was for making bullets for obsolete cartridges, but I’ve branched out to calibers still being made. Easy on rifle bores, and I’m not thrilled with heavy recoil.

 

[jam0066]

Daezee, thanks for the tips! I was going to check out my frequented ranges for the available lead on the berms for sure.

In your experience, was it worth the time/effort vs buying Bullets (bluebullets, acme, bayou, etc)?

 

[Daezee]

I’m retired so I have more time to cast. I can make bullets that are not readily available and tailored to perform in my obsolete firearms. 310 Cadet, 43 Spanish, 8x58RD, 11.7x51R, 7.5x53.5.

For example, the 43 Spanish normally has a .439” bore. Mine has a .442” bore. I can cast a bullet to fit my bbl so no leading and fine accuracy. My Danish rolling block has a .462” bore. I cast a 45/70 hollow base bullet of softer alloy and lube without sizing it. It expands to fill the bore. My M1889 Swiss rifle uses a oversize 30 caliber bullet to fill up its generous throat and get closer to the rifling. It has a .308” bore, but needed bullets sized .314” for no leading and fine accuracy.

For a more “modern” application, this Sunday I start loading cast in my 44 special...the plated bullets I normally use are of course out of stock. I wanted to fit the cast bullets to the cylinder throat. Testing it with my .429” sizing die, the bullets just fell through the cylinder...too small for the best accuracy. I borrowed a .430” sizing die from a friend. Found it actually sized the bullets to .4315” with alloys I used. They were a perfect fit in the cylinder. I will also be trying #2 alloy and 20/1 alloy to see which is the most accurate.

It is worth it to me for reloading some of the cartridges I shoot. For others, such as 9mm, I have more than a lifetime of jacketed bullets.

 

[jam0066]

Gotcha. That definitely makes sense for the more obsolete or obscure bunch. My primary use would be for 9mm and 45ACP with some later applications for older stuff. I shoot a high volume of 9mm and 45 and was mainly looking to cut cost from 7-10 cents per bullet down to 2-5 cents if it were possible. Thank you for the valuable information!

 

[Daezee]

Buy lube from lsstuff.com MUCH cheaper than other places if you don’t intend to powder coat. We’re talking like about 1/2 the cost or even less than buying sticks of lube from Midway and other places. Even cheaper when you buy bulk lube.

 

[jam0066]

That’s good to know! I’m glad I made this post for sure. Still trying to decide between the line or PC route right now.

 

[Ric-san]

Lead is around if you look for it. You mentioned wheel weights already, yes work is involved. I'm lucky that I can take some from work off of old parts taken off airplane wing tip weights...30+ lbs per side when we have to change them. Look on craigslist and also FB marketplace and even fleBay. Find an old boat yard and see if you can take some lead they have lying around from old sailboat keels. Its out here...

 

[FrommerStop]

........................

For example, the 43 Spanish normally has a .439” bore. Mine has a .442” bore. I can cast a bullet to fit my bbl so no leading and fine accuracy. My Danish rolling block has a .462” bore. I cast a 45/70 hollow base bullet of softer alloy and lube without sizing it. It expands to fill the bore. My M1889 Swiss rifle uses a oversize 30 caliber bullet to fill up its generous throat and get closer to the rifling. It has a .308” bore, but needed bullets sized .314” for no leading and fine accuracy.

............................

What alloy did you use please for the .43 spanish. I assume you use black powder. Some of the original loads for the old BP cartridges were paper patched. Not sure how the diameter is figured out on those.

In general relative to saving money, the more equipment you purchase, the more bullets one needs to cast to pay for the equipment vs having cast bullets that preform better.
At the moment I only plan to cast for a few black power cartridges, buckshot, and .45 ACP, .45 colt for revolver and for muzzle loaders.
For the rest I will use plated or jacketed bullets.

https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...y-cartridges--43-spanish.cfm?gun_id=100577185
The label says .43 spanish so i will take their word on it and most of the bullets are paper patched.

 

[Bodhi]

For me, it’s just not worth it anymore. The costs of bulk ammo have come down to a point where I’d rather buy bulk ammo and bulk cast bullets and shoot more, cast less, and spend less time casting. I still load for a lot of cartridges, but for me, it’s all about the time involved. YMMV. Oh, and you’ll never save money casting in the long run, IMO. Did I mention the time savings buying bulk ammo and shooting? Best of luck in your endeavors!

 

[Daezee]

Re 43 Spanish: As-bought 43 Spanish cast bullets from a custom ammo loader were .439” and hard. They leaded the bore and were not accurate. With my Lyman 43 Spanish mold and 20/1 lead/tin they came out .443”. I got a custom .443” sizer die from Buffalo Arms for $48. It basically lubes with no sizing. Lyman only offers the .439” die. I bought some 63/37 solder from a guy that cleans out circuit board soldering tanks of expired solder that I’m currently using for the tin source.

I only tried Unique powder and 11.0 gr gave 1000fps and the best accuracy and windage-wise was right on. I stopped experimenting there. I could have tried other powders, but there was no need to do so for me. I had other powders on hand to try if needed. I thought AA5744 ought to work good. My load does shoot high, so I simply hold low. Whether my slow bullet or those 150 year old sights or the combination, I don’t know and don’t care much anyway.

 

[Baddog 0302]

Join the cast boolits.com forum, it's free and a great source for info on all things about casting. There is also a classifieds where you can usually find casting alloy's , CO [clip on] wheel weights, and other alloys, and a lubersizer ever now and then.
As to your question, well at the present time commercially cast bullets are not to be found. So, if you want to shoot and have powder & PRIMERS, then yes casting will offer you a source of bullets.
As to cost, when I first started casting I made a deal with the then S/O, I got to use the kitchen stove and in return I cleaned all of the kitchen. I started out with one mold [ a 30 Cal. for silhouette shooting] a cast iron 2 qt. pot.
IF you would tell us what you want to cast for [pistol or rifle] then we can offer more specific advice
AND, didn't I send you a PM offering you some FREE alloy, and to sell you a 20 # casting pot that you never answered ??

 

[jam0066]

Join the cast boolits.com forum, it's free and a great source for info on all things about casting. There is also a classifieds where you can usually find casting alloy's , CO [clip on] wheel weights, and other alloys, and a lubersizer ever now and then.
As to your question, well at the present time commercially cast bullets are not to be found. So, if you want to shoot and have powder & PRIMERS, then yes casting will offer you a source of bullets.
As to cost, when I first started casting I made a deal with the then S/O, I got to use the kitchen stove and in return I cleaned all of the kitchen. I started out with one mold [ a 30 Cal. for silhouette shooting] a cast iron 2 qt. pot.
IF you would tell us what you want to cast for [pistol or rifle] then we can offer more specific advice
AND, didn't I send you a PM offering you some FREE alloy, and to sell you a 20 # casting pot that you never answered ??

I have plenty of primers and powder for about a year and a half worth of practice/competition. I also have a steady flow of previous blue bullet orders flowing in to keep me going.

My plan would be to cast for pistol, 9mm and 45ACP. Likely, 147gr and 200gr respectively. I currently pay from 7-10 cents per bullet and would try to drive that down to 2-5 cents. I shoot an average of 500/month. Some months more, some less.

That offer was never extended to me. It must have been someone else. This is the first time I have ever considered casting.

 

[FrommerStop]

Re 43 Spanish: As-bought 43 Spanish cast bullets from a custom ammo loader were .439” and hard. They leaded the bore and were not accurate. With my Lyman 43 Spanish mold and 20/1 lead/tin they came out .443”. I got a custom .443” sizer die from Buffalo Arms for $48. It basically lubes with no sizing. Lyman only offers the .439” die. I bought some 63/37 solder from a guy that cleans out circuit board soldering tanks of expired solder that I’m currently using for the tin source.

I only tried Unique powder and 11.0 gr gave 1000fps and the best accuracy and windage-wise was right on. I stopped experimenting there. I could have tried other powders, but there was no need to do so for me. I had other powders on hand to try if needed. I thought AA5744 ought to work good. My load does shoot high, so I simply hold low. Whether my slow bullet or those 150 year old sights or the combination, I don’t know and don’t care much anyway.

Here is how one man did it and it seems like everyone does it a different way

Nobade
01-08-2014, 07:08 PM
I shoot my Argentine carbine with nothing but paper patched boolits. As fouronesix mentioned, the sizes of these rifles are all over the place. My particular rifle is .433" X .447", and a fired case will take a .443" bullet. I have a Rapine mould that throws a .437" bullet, and it patches up to .443 to be a slip fit in the case.

The single biggest thing I did to make the rifle really shoot was to use 44-90 cases, size them in a 43 Spanish die, and trim them to match the length of the chamber which is about 3/8 inch longer than a regular 43 Spanish case. Evidently they were chambered like this to make room for fouling so the rifle could be fired many times in battle.

Other than that, I don't do anything special. 5.6cc FFg, a 7/16" card wad, 1/4 inch grease cookie, another card wad, and seat the bullet so it is just shy of the rifling. It shoots far better with PP than it ever did with grease groove bullets, and will hold about 3 MOA most of the time which I figure ain't bad considering the short barrel, sights, and 20 pound trigger pull.

Oh, no reloading dies are used except to set the shoulder initially. Just shoot, decap, clean, recap, and go again. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/archive/index.php/t-226158.html
-------------------

Lead pot
01-09-2014, 09:24 AM
I would like to advice you guys that have a .43 Spanish. I have had and used several 43's. I would make a chamber cast to see what you really have.
There were four different cartridges called the 43 Spanish. A carbine (11x46R (433 Carbine) this round was shorter. These are rare but I see them occasionally.
There is a 43 Reformado, 11.5 x 57R (Reformado) it has a slight bottleneck that is almost a straight which is not quite a 43 cal but it has a bell shaped case with a 454 bullet.
There is also a 43 Spanish that takes a 433 bullet that is like a .433 Peabody. 11x58R (433 full length 43 Spanish)

Than there is the most common 43 Spanish, which takes a 439 bullet. 11.15 x 58R (439 bullet 43 Spanish)

 

[Baddog 0302]

I have plenty of primers and powder for about a year and a half worth of practice/competition. I also have a steady flow of previous blue bullet orders flowing in to keep me going.

My plan would be to cast for pistol, 9mm and 45ACP. Likely, 147gr and 200gr respectively. I currently pay from 7-10 cents per bullet and would try to drive that down to 2-5 cents. I shoot an average of 500/month. Some months more, some less.

That offer was never extended to me. It must have been someone else. This is the first time I have ever considered casting.

I stand corrected, it was another "J", The thing about casting mainly to save money is that it doesn't. If you are retired, then it's a hobby and you don't have to factor in what your time is worth, if it's just you and your wife, then she is probably happy for you to go cast, just remember "happy wife, happy life",
Cost; factor in the equipment, from stove top casting, a lee mold, to pan lubing with a "kooky Kutter" and a Lee push through die, to a good 20 # pot, a good 4 or 6 cavity mold, a good lubersizer and H&I dies . Now spread that total cost over 5 or 10 years.
As I said, for people that are retired or work an even on and off schedule like Rebel does, then it's a hobby and like all hobby's and potato chips you can't stop at just one. Ask any caster how much he has invested in ALL his casting hobby.

 

[jam0066]

Yeah, that’s what happened with my reloading. It just spiraled deeper and deeper. Now I have a progressive press with a case feeder and dies for more cartridges than I actively shoot lol. But, my wife is mostly ok with with my time investment so far. This will likely be a side gig to prevent buying so many bullets to support my competitions. Just need to get the “similar” molds to what I’m buying

 

[Daezee]

Another source for 12bnh lead, shipping included: Rocky Mountain Reloading sells scrap lead from their bullet making operation.

 

[Bucklowery]

Ranger firearms (FWB) had casting lead the other day when I was there

Thanks

Buck