might try to cast my own

[JBS27572]

If I were to start casting my own bullets, what kind of equipment would I need and what considerations are there besides melting some lead and pouring it in a mold?  I am completely new to casting and have zero experience.

[sqlbullet]

For some "light" but very useful reading:  http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

You will need lead, a way to heat lead to 750-800 degrees, a way to move the liquid lead to the mold, and a way to coat or lube the bullets before loading them.  Depending on factors, you may or may not need a way to tweak the size of the cast bullets.

You can buy lead online, your can scrounge lead, you can reclaim lead from shooting berms.  If you are OK with prices of alloys online, then you are set.  If you are looking for lower price options than online alloys, then figuring out your sources can be a challenging step.  This was the first hurdle for me, as I wanted better price options than just buying casting alloy.  Looks like right now comparing Missouri bullet with Rotometals you get about a 30% discount if you cast.  Scrounging is increasingly difficult as less and less lead is used in our modern world.

From here on out this may seem like a Lee advertisement.  The reason is simple.  Lee products work and are inexpensive.  There are lots of different options than Lee that may or may not be worth the price.  Until you have your own experience, and from that experience, ideas about what you want, it is really hard to suggest anything other than the serviceable budget option.

Heating the lead and moving the lead are most easily accomplished with a bottom pour lead furnace.  Lee pots will be the cheapest excepting maybe yard sale finds.  The Lee pots are known to drip a bit, but it is no oppressive.  I have used both the Lee 10lb and the Lee 20 lb pots and can't imagine spending more.  They are perfectly serviceable.

I also advocate Lee molds for beginners.  However, I cast almost exclusively now with NOE molds.  The Lee molds are cheap and they work fine.  I like the bullet styles that NOE offers that Lee doesn't.  And I do still run a fair number of Lee molds.

For bullet lube and sizing, Lee Liquid Alox and a Lee push thru sizing dies are inexpensive and perfectly serviceable.  If at some point you choose to begin powder coating, the Lee push through dies will serve you well in that process.  If you choose to use traditional lubes, then there are a number of lubrisizer options. 

So, furnace, mold, lube and size:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1262222909?pid=637732
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010202556?pid=333143
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1018523537?pid=694226
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101020682?pid=466811

Looks like in todays world you are around $150 in equipment.

Here is the big consideration that gets missed, overlooked, mis-understood and ignored, even by seasoned bullet casters:  Bullet to barrel fit is most of the battle in avoiding leading.  Bullets need to be at least barrel groove diameter +0.001".  Nominally this is .401 for 10mm.  However, your gun can't read and may or may not be nominal.  My 10mm guns vary in actual groove diameter from 0.399" to just over 0.402".  This means I need bullets that are 0.403" if I want them to fit. 

If your bullets are undersized, they will lead the barrel quickly.  It doesn't matter how hard or soft they are or how fast or slow they are going.  Undersized bullets won't fully seal the bore.  This will allow the superheated gas, AKA plasma, generated by burning gunpowder, to escape around the bullet.  Fast moving plasma will melt the sizes of the lead bullet and leading.  But, if the bullet seals the bore, the gas trapped against the back of the bullet won't be fast moving and therefore won't have the same melting effect.

So, you will need to "slug" the barrel of any gun you intend to cast for.  Just buy a lead fishing weight larger than the bore, and drive it through with a dowel and dead blow hammer.  Measure it when it comes out and you will know your groove diameter.

HOpe this helps.

[Kenk]

Great info, I?ve only been casting for a number of months, but as with anything worth learning, it takes time to get it down, and is for sure an ongoing learning process

[JBS27572]

Thanks for the detailed answer; very helpful.  For scrounging, I may have a ready source of wheel weights but I don't know the exact alloy composition or the Brinell hardness.  Is there a way to find the hardness without expensive equipment?

[sqlbullet]

Lee makes an inexpensive test device.

Want the honest answer though?  Doesn't matter.  Not even a little bit. 

I went all in on the hardness questions.  Lead hardness was the focus of science fair projects for two different kids;  I think they were interested since they saw me doing research, so that wanted to do that research as well.  In the end I cast whatever I scrounge.  I air cool pistol bullets and quench from the mold anything meant for a rifle, but I am not even sure that really matters.  It's just habit.

If the bullets "fit" you are almost certain not to have issues at pistol pressures.

[will965]

Try to use clean lead

Keep your molds warm/hot when casting

Figure out how you are gonna lube, I cast 44-40,45 colt, 45-70,45-90 and 50-70...I pan lube with my own lube recipie but some do 10 other different ways. Make sure the mold drops the bullet you want depending on your shooting. I buy molds with bullets with big lube grooves as I mainly use black powder. Tailor it to your shooting....casting is part of the fun.

[will965]

Also be careful, a lot of wheel weights are not good lead or even lead at all these days.

[sqlbullet]

Wheel weights these days are very often zinc or steel.  Steel is no good to us, but is also not bad for us.  Zinc is a different story. Zinc can make an entire pot of lead nothing but scrap.  Lead with zinc gets an oatmeal texture and won't fill out a mold unless you get to very high casting temps.  High enough that damage to an aluminum mold becomes a concern.  There is some debate about what the lower boundary of zinc content is, but in general it is just best to avoid.

A good set of side-cuts is your friend, along with an analog dial thermometer that goes to 1000?F or so.

Lead wheel weights will cut with moderate effort.  The others (steel, zinc, etc) will take an obviously higher amount of effort.  In fact cheaper side cuts will deform handles or cutting surface on zinc/steel wheel weights.

Stir your "refining" pot regularly as the melt progresses.  Anything that is not melted by 550-600?F should be removed quickly.  Zinc doesn't melt until above 750?F so if they are removed from the pot before 600? F you are safe. There are some zinc alloys that would melt much lower, but the include notable amounts of more expensive elements that would not add any value to a wheel weight, so you don't need to worry about those.