Once upon a time, there was a good disscussion on the NEF Centerfire board here at graybeardsoutdoors. You may want to go there and do a search, there was a great list of the equipment needed to do this on a shoestring or go all out.
The thing you need other than equipment is some "stick with it" Casting, while easy, can be difficult ot get right first time around. Be absolutely sure your mold(s) is clean and free of oil. Washing in as hot water as you can stand will help, the mold must get hot enough to dry once removed from the hot water. My personal favorite is to clean with laquer thinner or xylene. But the mold must be oil free, if not, you'll cast wrinkled bullets till you burn away the machining/preserving oils, and then there will be a "soot" that clings to the mold and causes another problem altogether. It is like leading, the best way to deal with it is prevent it.
Make your ingots in a pot seperate from the pot you use to pour bullets from. If you are using wheel weights, they have a lot of oil and other carbonaseous gook on 'em and are fairly self cleaning. It won't hurt to add a bit of used motor oil to the melt (like you would beeswax for flux) don't be afraid to add some. Add enough to do some good, 1/3 cup won't hurt.
Another way to get to this point is to get some sawdust and soak it in oil and cove the melt with a good layer, 1/2 inch or so. You can open a hole through this to get a dipper in to pour your ingots from. But don't use your casting pot for cleaning and mixing metal.
Choose a metal and stick with it, at least for 10,000 bullets if you are starting out. Different allys cast diffeerent, and shoot different as well. Pistol bullets not going faster than 900 fps can be 50/50 WW and plain lead. WW and WW+2% tin (by weight) is a much better bullet metal than it might appear to be. WW makes a good pistol and low velocity rifle bullet, adding tin makes the mold fill out better (aids wetting) but some say they don't get as good results with the added tin. A bit of experimentation answers the question. Type metals are largely a thing of the past unless one is buying foundry metal or lucks into a supply. Newspapers were the main source in past, as were print shops. It never hurts to look.
Linotype is the type metal most often refered to. That is because it is a eutetic metal.... it melts and freezes at the same time, meaning the metal in your pot, once it reaches some 465 df, melts, and as soon as the metal you have poured into the mold reaches 464 df, it solidifies. Wheel weight and all other lead/antimony alloys have a "slush" phase in which the metal undergoes a period of solidification as the different elements of the metal reach "chilled" at different rates. Those who harden WW by waterdropping are taking advantage of this slush. Linotype has no arsenic element, and willnot harden by cooling, but it really doesn't need to as it is naturally 21-22 BHN. It makes a good high speed rifle bullet, but is expensive. It also will drop bullets a tad larger than the mold drops from other alloys, and is useful for experimenting to find a bullet size that shoots well. But most these days use it to alloy with lead, to take advantage of the high tin content. 50/50 lead/WW makes metal known as Taracorp Magnum. It is 15 BHN and contains 92% lead/4.5% antimony/3% tin. Cut again with lead at 50/50 it makes a metal quite similar to whell weight. Arsenic can be gained by adding chilled magnum shot (about 1/2 cup per 10 pounds) and you'll have a heat treatable metal.
Most of us use WW or WW+2% tin exclusively. By doing so, analyzing cast shooting problems can be done more easily. In past, jsut the metal being used created difficulties and not everyone was using the same stuff. These days, WW is about all that is readily available, and has us talking the same language, so to speak.
Heating your mold by laying it on the melt as it heats up will greatly speed up the time required to cast good bullets over that of a mold heated by casting alone. I do this with both aluminum and iron molds and have had no problems related to this practice in over 25 years of doing this. If it gets too hot, the metal takes too long to solidify, and opening hte mold too soon makes a mess. The best indication for opening is the sprue. I always wait to open the mold till the sprue changes color, unless I am cooling the mold or sprue plate by placing against a water soaked rag. This is an area where experience makes clear.
Don't flux too often, even if you are dipping. A lot of casting can be done by simply pushing oxidized metal aside. Covering the melt with sawdust or finely ground charcoal or evn kitty litter will greatly reduce the formation of oxidized metal and reduce the need (perhaps desire) to flux.
As to a casting method, only you can decide this. I prefer bottom pouring. I always hold the mold below the spout, making a stream of melt about 1" long. Some hold the sprue plate against the spout, Dipping can be done the same, pouring a stream or holding the dipper against the sprue plate. Each of us has to work out this method for ourselves, the key is to do this the same way every pour.
