cast bullets

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DGW1949

Hunter
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Well.....Do me a favor and read some of the threads in this section which concern commonly-encountered bullet problems.

Then.......If you think that you can do better than them high-volume, big-name casters, PLEASE get back with me.

DGW
 

Lloyd Smale

Blackhawk
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Aug 10, 2003
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munising MI USA
make sure you get a licience from the batf fot manufacture them. If your selling bulllets you need the same licience that you need for manufacturing ammo. I gave that business a try once but found that after paying for alloy that i wasnt making any money. To make money casting bullets you about have to have an automatic casting machine to save on labor unless you feel your time is only worth about 5 bucks an hour. Theres to many commercial casters that machine cast and sell there bullets cheap to compete by hand casting.
 

I_Like_Pie

Blackhawk
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Aug 24, 2006
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659
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Chattanooga, TN
It is hard to make money doing this...for example here is my favorite caster's prices.
---------------------------------------
1000 rounds of45acp for $60
1000 38 for $40
$10 flat rate shipping
---------------------------------------
$110 for 2000 bullets shipped to my door is not possible for someone hand casting in a jug standing over a propane burner. You have to have top of the line Corbin machines to even approach this. This involves casting lead "wire" and is totally different than home casting.

In short...it is a big initial investment of many tens of thousands of dollars to even think of breaking even with time/money.

That is pretty stiff competition...simply because these bullets are the most accurate and consistent I have ever shot.
 

sixshot

Buckeye
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Aug 20, 2006
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soda springs, idaho
I Like Pie, I'm a little bit lost here, I didn't even know that Corbin made casting machines but I'm stuck out here in Idaho, news travels slow. I thought Magma was "the" casting machine, also don't understand about lead "wire" are you talking about casting or swaging?

Thanks, Dick
 

J Miller

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Sep 30, 2000
Messages
977
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Not in IL anymore ... :)
I'd like to find a source of decent cast Keith SWCS or at least some sort of flat based 250-255gr .45 Cal SWCs. Due to the work involved most of the ones out there are beyond my budget. I can actually buy jacketed bullets cheaper than many of them.



Joe
 

DGW1949

Hunter
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Messages
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Mississippi
I don't know anything about the in's and out's of high-volume casting. But I do know that I was paying $90 per 1000 for custom, handcast 45-bullets...and that was 2 years ago.
Yeah, that is a lot of money...but....it bought a lot of bullet. By that I mean....what I got in exchange was a flat-based bullet with no parting lines, no flash hanging-off anywhere, little to no sprue marks, my choice of hardness and finished size, and the guy would pre-lube them with Alox at no extra charge. They came hand stacked inside 100-count boxes that were packed with cotton so's they wouldn't get banged-around during shipment.....and were allways the exact size I ordered and allways weighed what he said they weighed.

My last order from them was for some .38 SWC's that had to be .3585 so's they'd match the worn throats on my old Blackhawk.....and by golly, that's exactly the size he made them.
So yeah, I'll pay extra to get my money's worth.....which is something I've not gotten when buying bullets based on price.

Now, I aint saying that everybody is as picky about bullets as me.....but... I AM saying that the world don't need yet another high-volume caster that makes the same kind of stuff as the rest of the high-volume casters. There's plenty of them kind of bullets already, and if that's all there is.... ya might as well get 'em from the cheapest bidder.

Just my 02 .

DGW
 

I_Like_Pie

Blackhawk
Joined
Aug 24, 2006
Messages
659
Location
Chattanooga, TN
sixshot":3v0fyz8x said:
I Like Pie, I'm a little bit lost here, I didn't even know that Corbin made casting machines but I'm stuck out here in Idaho, news travels slow. I thought Magma was "the" casting machine, also don't understand about lead "wire" are you talking about casting or swaging?

Thanks, Dick

They don't cast...they use lead wire to swage. Same end result...different process.
 

Big Bubba

Single-Sixer
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Dec 26, 2006
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112
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WV
J Miller":2mv1vhe6 said:
I'd like to find a source of decent cast Keith SWCS or at least some sort of flat based 250-255gr .45 Cal SWCs. Due to the work involved most of the ones out there are beyond my budget. I can actually buy jacketed bullets cheaper than many of them.



Joe
I feel your pain. The price of commercial cast slugs has risen, and then when you add on the shipping price for 1000 bullets weighing 250 grains, you end up paying through the nose.

I cast my own when I can, but it sure is nice to have a good scource of bullets from a commercial caster.
 

Loanshark

Bearcat
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
7
Location
ohio
I_Like_Pie":38e79gll said:
It is hard to make money doing this...for example here is my favorite caster's prices.
---------------------------------------
1000 rounds of45acp for $60
1000 38 for $40
$10 flat rate shipping
---------------------------------------
$110 for 2000 bullets shipped to my door is not possible for someone hand casting in a jug standing over a propane burner. You have to have top of the line Corbin machines to even approach this. This involves casting lead "wire" and is totally different than home casting.

In short...it is a big initial investment of many tens of thousands of dollars to even think of breaking even with time/money.

That is pretty stiff competition...simply because these bullets are the most accurate and consistent I have ever shot.

You wouldn't want to share your favorite casters info would ya?
 

revhigh

Hawkeye
Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Messages
5,590
Location
PA
Here's one ... great bullets ... been using them for years, and thousands upon thousands of rounds.

http://www.mastercast.net/cast_bullets.htm

THese bullets are cast, not swaged ... not that it matters. You can get about 4000 bullets shipped for about $11 in a USPS one-rate box.

REV
 

Rick Courtright

Hawkeye
Joined
Mar 10, 2002
Messages
7,897
Location
Redlands CA USA
revhigh":2ia7v9zg said:
THese bullets are cast, not swaged ... not that it matters. You can get about 4000 bullets shipped for about $11 in a USPS one-rate box.

Hi,

I think that flat rate box is the best thing that's happened to those of us who need to order "heavy" stuff that fits in small boxes or bags!

Now if you ask my mail carrier, it might not be... Mailman Dan came here from Vietnam: he's NOT a big guy, and those 50 lb boxes are a bit of a load for him! ;)

But shipping aside, I've been casting my own for a few years, and, were it not for free or cheap wheelweights, it wouldn't be economically beneficial. When I cast commercial lead, my bullets cost almost as much as they'd cost from a commercial caster.

It's a fun hobby. I can make the bullets I want (or NEED, considering the recent shortages of components as well as ammo) whenever I need them assuming I'm smart enough to keep some lead on hand, and pay the electric bill or have some Coleman fuel in the garage. And, should there come a day when the fine folks who inhabit our various statehouses figure a way to slow down commerce in cast bullets, they'll still have to knock on a lot of doors to get all us "homebrewers" shut down. As w/ other reloading ventures, I have a little room to experiment, w/ alloys, lubes and such.

But I'm never gonna get rich on the "savings" of doing it myself... it's pretty hard to beat economies of scale.

Rick C
 

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