Cast or Not

[Hanshi]

Just curious, but how many cast their own ball/bullets?  I've always cast my own ball which keeps me on a constant quest for lead.  A year ago I had a virtual lifetime supply of soft lead and WWs.  But no more due to our move.  I don't particularly like casting but when I do it, I usually cast up hundreds and hundreds, or thousands, of ball.  Use to cast pistol/revolver bullets hence the hoard of (old, good ones) WW.  Started back in the 1960s for my caplock and never stopped.  But I also always reloaded most everything for my smokeless rifles and handguns.  Probably 98% plus of game I've taken was taken with reloads and home cast ball.

Powder is always a problem, Aaaargh.... however.

[pilgrim]

    I have cast  round balls, and conicals.  I am well stocked with them all except 45 caliber round balls.  When I started a few years ago, I got too involved with this sport and wanted to try everything I could,  I have more molds than I will ever need, but...................   Instead of buying precast conicals,  I bought the molds and cast them myself.  Now I do not even shoot,  Damned COPD and Slackitis.

     As for getting lead,  The best place to get lead is at a Salvage yard.  In my area the local salvage (junk) yard always has lead. Just have to check for the pure soft lead, such as lead pipes and  lead sheathing.   I must have a few hundred pounds  just waiting to be melted and cast into 45 round balls.  First I need to rekindle my love of shooting and then get a .440 rb mold.

     If only it ever stops raining here in Eastern Pennsylvania,  may shoot.  Damn rainy season. 

[Hawken50]

   I cast for dang near everything,,,380 and 457 rb for my cap and ball sixguns, 440 and 490 rb for my rifles And 38 ,45 for my colts and 45-70 for my Sharps,,,,,, ALL loaded with the mighty Goex.,,lol...

[Patocazador]

I cast all my round balls, buckshot, REALs, and Maxi-balls. I also cast .45 swc for my Ruger Old Army.

I have cast some 12 ga. slugs but was not happy with the accuracy or voids that I got. The lead cooled too much for something that size and produced a lot of unacceptable slugs with voids.

[Dogshirt]

I buy 500 .535s for my rifle for $28  it's not worth my time to cast at that price.

[Linc]

I cast my own roundballs from .32cal up to 12ga. Lead has been harder to come by. A local salvage yard used to be my main source but has dried up. Lately I have been getting lead from club members that are either to busy or tired of casting their own. I trade them my cast rb's. I also have gotten some lead from a woman that does stained glass windows.
I do admit that I am starting to find it tedious and not finding it as enjoyable as I used to. I also have a few molds for conicals but I have not found a need for them yet. 

[Papa]

Since I don't hunt any more and 98% of my shooting is competitive, chunk & table, I cast, mic and weigh each ball. It's amazing the differences that show up in weight and size using the same mold. The effort does pay off at the end of the day.
Mark

[Hanshi]

I never bothered with weighing/sorting ball or bullet; I'd rather shoot.  I did carry out some tests with various handgun bullets and round ball.  I never detected any difference between unsorted/un-weighed bullet/ball groups and sorted groups.  I always did a quick visual check for obvious flaws but that was all.  I never competed in any formal BP matches but at one time I did handgun and rifle smokeless matches.  I can't say I particularly enjoy casting.  It's just always been the cheapest way for me to shoot.  As for modern guns I always reloaded virtually EVERYTHING I fired. 

[Red Badger]

I'll be honest and say I do both... It is getting hard to find good soft lead here so I will buy form al local shop then recover and melt the recovered rounds into ingots for recasting when I get time..  Currently have 3-5 lbs waiting to go into the melting pot.

I really want to get a smelter setup to make brass but that is another topic...

[Winter Hawk]

I have molds for all but the new .615" smoothbore barrel.  I bought a bag of .610 ball for it to see how they shoot before I buy a mold.  If the .610 don't work out I'll try .605 or .60, if I can find them.  Once I have figured out what works best I'll get a mold of that size.

~WH~

[hotfxr]

I'm with Dogshirt on this one. For me, as little as I shoot, it makes no sense to go through the hassle of casting when I have people giving me round balls and I have a few thousand that I got on hot sales a few years ago. Why then have I got a stock of about a thousand pounds of lead?  CANNON BALLS baby!
Every six months or so I get together with a buddy who built his own cannon and we cast up a couple dozen cannon balls. And again, as little as we are able to shoot, those can last a year or more. Just cannot find pre-cast cannon balls in the size and configuration I need.

[bmtshooter]

I am currently casting REALs but buying balls.  Still searching for a load that my rifle prefers.  I have cast many centerfire pistol bullets over the years, but have also purchased a lot.  Just depends on how much time I have had available.  Economics has little to do with my preference to cast.  Casting is an enjoyable activity when time allows.  Weighing and sorting also soothes those OCD engineering tendencies one might have.

[flintboomer]

Sometimes I cast but I usually buy the swaged kind.

I have bought commercial cast balls when the price was right or it was all I could get.

My little .31 revolver rarely gets used but it uses buckshot and so does my .32 rifle on those rare occasions when it gets shot, but
they use different sizes of buckshot.

[hotfxr]

Hopefully this will show up. This is what I cast for cannon balls. Haven't seen anything like this on a shelf at any store.

[Patocazador]

Hopefully this will show up. This is what I cast for cannon balls. Haven't seen anything like this on a shelf at any store.

It looks neat. How does it fly? Does it tend to tumble?
Is that cast from lead? If not, what?