What got you started?

[hornady]

For me it was two fold, Back in about 1970 I bought a black powder rifle. Well Al Gore had not invented the Internet yet, and few places carried much for the smoke pole, so I picked up a mold for it.
 About this same time an old guy I knew was getting out of casting, he had a couple old Ideal pistol molds in 38 /357, the only pistol I had back then, some pan lube he mixed up him self, a home made heating set up.  And a cast iron skillet and dipper, he sold me the whole set up dirt cheap, and threw in a couple lessons for free.
I look back at where it all started and where it has gone.
Lee 20 pound pot, 6 Lyman 4 cavity molds, Lyman lube / sizer, with several Sizing dies, different lubes, dippers, Dutch oven and propane heater, ingot molds, Lead hardness tester, thermometer, different alloy metals, manuals and more.
I look back and wonder how I ever had the patience it took to set there, dip lead out of that cast fry pan, and pour one bullet at a time, and pan lube them, But it’s been a lot of fun over the years. 

[Reverend Recoil]

When I was a student with little money, bullet casting seemed like a good way around paying the outrageous price of $8 for a box for Sierra bullets.

[Frank V]

Elmer Keith, I read about his shooting cast bullets in the early 60s!
Frank

[skarke]

BHObamination, I was nervous about availability of ammo.  Guns are pretty much no better than baseball bats if ammo isn't available.  I bought the stuff to cast lead, and fell in love.

Just cast about 500 more yesterday.

[Bitterroot Bob]

Easy,
I needed bullets that I couldn't buy. I have a Winchester M94 .32 Special and wanted to shoot lead bullets at steel targets. Since then I discovered the benefits of square-based bullets over those horrible Magma commercial bevel-base bullets with the hard UPS-proof lubes. I have found some pretty great obsolete Lyman moulds that should NOT have died: #452423- a 240-grain SWC for the .45 ACP, #41028- a RNFP designed for the .401 Win that works perfectly for the .41 Magnum Marlin rifle, and others.
Now I have at least 40 different moulds from .22 to .458", 500# of wheelweights, and no time to cast. But I'm ready!

Bitterroot

[gypsyman]

Back in the mid '80's, when I got into shooting IHMSA quite heavily, I had to have a Dan Wesson in .375sm, for revolver class. And, even back then, .375 bullets where pretty expensive. So, picked up a Lee lead pot from a friend, that was going to a bigger Lyman pot, ordered a NEI mold, and went to work. Upgraded to a RCBS pot a year or so later, and been throwing lead ever since. gypsyman

[Dezynco]

I've been casting since I was a young lad because my dad always cast his own.  I'm 42 and have been casting since I was able to help "Pop" - about 9 or 10 years old.  Pop worked for the Phone Company, so there was an abundance of old lead sleeves that once had buried phone cables.  He also had a good friend that worked in a tire shop that supplied lots of spent wheel weights.

We still spend lots of happy hours casting and shooting!  Some of the most valuable time that I can spend, Pop won't be around forever.

[Flash]

Started casting for a Parker Hale 58 caliber Zouave in 1972. It took off from there.

[PawPaw]

I got started casting while making decoy weights.  Then I learned to cast for a muzzleloader.  Now I cast for several rifles and pistols.

[AtlLaw]

Been casting RB's for my BP rifles for a few decades.  Reading this forum right here on GBO got me to branch out.   

[Old Fart]

The old man next door showed me how to reload and cast when I was a little bugger.
When I got into competition shooting it's all I could afford.
Now days it's how I shot some of my old odd balls and most of my revolver rounds.

[Czech_too]

One of my favorite cartridges is the 32-20, I decided to stop buying commercial cast one day and that was the start of it.

[NVWalt]

Started casting only a few years ago out of curiousity and found out that 1: I enjoyed it and 2: Trying to make all my guns shoot cast well is an ongoing and enjoyable task.
 Lastly, I have found a new and great bunch of shooting friends that make it even more enjoyable.....Walt

[saddlebum]

50rds of .41mag for 25.00 back in 1985 and wanting good low to mid-velocity cast bullet loads that couldn't be found in the store. The Remington cast loads leaded really bad and weren't accurate. Now I don't shoot anything but cast in my handguns....EVER!!

[mdi]

I too was curious. I bought a box of cast bullets in about '89 and thought "I can do that". So slowly but surely I did. Now I got 2 pots, 11 molds, dippers, ladles, skimmers, ingot molds, muffin pans and about a ton of lead alloys, and about 14 different lubes, and that's a lot less than some fellers...

[Land_Owner]

Brand spanking NEWBEE here. 

I just fell off the fence tonight and into casting "mode" with the pick up of 900#'s of lead of unknown hardness - free .  It's former life was transportation shielding for nuclear medicines, absorbing radiation, which may help as "tracers" for my night shooting...just kidding about night shooting.

I had been thinking about casting for my 45's, 357, and 30-30.  Eighteen 50# "ingots" should make for a fair number of 200 grain "boolits" (generically speaking).  There is one caster on GBO that I intend to make happy with the gift of several ingots for his more than fair treatment in my purchase of a 357 Handi-rifle through his FFL.  45-70 I am talking about you Tim!

I have NOTHING with which to mold just the LEAD.  I am starting from scratch as of tonight.  My pen is poised over the check.  Which supplies are required, which are desired, which are recomended, to make this a reality?

I have a lot of reading to do in the GBO archive...

[saddlebum]

Might want to get a Lyman cast bullet book and Veral Smith's book. Some people like casting pots. I use a Coleman propane stove and a cast iron sauce pan. I use steel kitchen serving spoons with the slots in them for skimmers. Also from the kitchen I use an aluminum muffin pan for ingots. You need a flux. You can get a hundred different suggestions on that. I use Marvalux that you get at Brownells. If your alloy is like the stuff I got once that was used for the same thing yours was, it will be high in lead content, low in tin and maybe antomony and soft. Get some tin wire solder to add to it. Books will give you an idea of how much to add. You can get a hundred suggestions on lube, but I use the best. LBT Blue Soft. Speaking of LBT, be sure to look over "ask Veral Smith a question" forum and the cast bullet forum at GBO. I wear gloves and safety glasses. I like the RCBS dipper until I get to the 4 cav molds. Then I use a Rowel bottom pour dipper thats bigger. I never used to use a thermometer and just put up with frosted bullets. Now that I have one I like it to control the heat better and keep from losing the tin when skimming drose off of a too hot melt. Also Brownells. You might want to try tumble lubeing to start out. But a RCBS lubrasizer is the best way to go, IMHO. Then you can spend some more cash on sizing dies and top punches. Lots of opinions out there, but I use RCBS, Lyman, and LBT molds. I like the LBTs best for the designs. The other two are cheaper and have some designs I like........That should keep you busy for a while.    

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/board,45.0.html

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/board,114.0.html

http://www.lbtmoulds.com/orderform.shtml

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/

http://www.midwayusa.com/bullet-casting

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/deptsearch2x.asp?dept=%52%45%4C%4F%41%44%49%4E%47&dept2=%4C%45%41%44%20%42%55%4C%4C%45%54%20%43%41%53%54%49%4E%47

[PawPaw]

Brand spanking NEWBEE here.  

I have NOTHING with which to mold just the LEAD.  I am starting from scratch as of tonight.  My pen is poised over the check.  Which supplies are required, which are desired, which are recomended, to make this a reality?

I have a lot of reading to do in the GBO archive...

Getting the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook and Veral Smith's book is a good start.  As far as equipment, most of it can be built or scrounged.  I use a propane fish cooker and a big ole cast iron pot to render my bulk lead into usable 1 lb ingots.  I've bought a couple of dippers over the years, but you can use any big spoon to skim the mix and remove slag and dross.  I bought some old muffin tins at garage sales to turn the big lead into little lead.

Then, when you have it down to sizes you can handle easily, a small lead pot, either bottom pour, electric, or even over a campfire is all you need, along with molds.  An old bath towel to drop the finished bullets on.

There is lots of stuff that you can buy, but the basics are probably right at hand, or easily found at garage sales.  One caution, though, is once you use anything for lead, never again use it for food prep.

It's a great hobby, and is recycling at its finest.  I tell everyone I know that I was green for several decades, turning scrap into useful products.

http://www.castbullet.com/reload/campcast.htm

[lee1954]

I started casting bullets back in the early 80s because both i and the wife like shooting. We shot the 38sp a lot.
my uncle and my dad both casted bullets. I mostly use wheel weights for my lead.It is a good hobby that helps keep me out of trouble. I agree that the tumble lube molds are one of lees better ideas. dan

[beerbelly]

I started casting round balls for my muzzle loaders. I could by lead at that time for fifteen cent a pound, at the scrap yard. That was much cheaper than I could by balls. With the price of lead today, I don't think I save all that much on round balls. The same goes for wheel weights and my modern bullets.
                                       Beerbelly

[Paladin56]

Started casting for a Parker Hale 58 caliber Zouave in 1972. It took off from there.

Dang, I went and put money down on one 'o them Zouave's about 1974, then backed out. Been a regret ever since.

I started casting 58 cal. RB's with a mold my dad brought home in a box of stuff from who knows where about 1968 or 69. I first used a propane torch and iron pot and later graduated to a propane weed burner.

I figured out those round balls would fit just right down the bore of my model 37 Ithaca so the natural thing to do was load 'em up in shotgun shells.

I shot a few to see if they worked and they did. Did a few comparison tests with different guns and found that big round ball had a lot more oomph than most anything else I had access to. I ended up cutting a persimmon tree down with about three shots. Man, that was something so I decided to try them on deer. Only got one shot on a running deer but never did kill one with those balls.

In 1978 I got a M29 S&W and couldn't afford to shoot it, so I bought a mold and used another cast iron pot and Coleman stove for years.

I now have about 50 or so molds from .22 to 515 gr. .475's, several different lube/sizer's, and a couple of electric pots for casting bullets and a couple of steel large bore pipe end caps to smelt ww's in on a turkey fryer. I cast mostly large bore pistol and rifle. 

[Tommyt]

I'm New too the cast world about a year New I had been reading here on GBO and my interests where growing
but I had no set plans as too or If I would really  go for it I had been shooting cast for years and
 then it happened
I was/am a TC addict and I was trading barrels one of the trades came with a 375 Max barrel and a Mold ?
All I had was a Mold and now a wild urge to pour I ended up going down to Dcrockets and now I'm in
Wish I had started 20 years ago all the money I threw out

Tommyt

[D Crockett]

I was 15 when I was walking down my moms road when a neighbor asked if I would help him ok I say. I help him carry some lead flashing to his back yard. where he has a steel pot on a old Colman stove with ladel in it. watcha doing I ask making fish sinkers. so he shows me how to make fish sinkers. we did this all afternoon must of done 200 lbs of them. we clean them up and sort them into different buckets. next day he stops by my house and ask mom if I could go with him. so off we go he has a route set up to sale the sinkers. when it is all done he hands me $20 and I am a very happy kid we do this all summer. when George past away his wife came to the house and gave me all his sinker moulds and other stuff we used. which I still have that was 43 years ago. I have cast dive weights black powder bullets pistol bullets and now I am getting into riffle bullets. like TommyT I have tough many people how to cast guess this is my way of keeping this art alive. D Crockett

[Larry Gibson]

I put this memory to paper some years back;

Years ago I got a M94 30-30 for my 14th birthday.  A year later my grandmother gave me $20 for my 15th birthday.  The next day found me in Fosters Sporting Goods in Dallas, Oregon trying to figure out how many 30-30s in combination with 22 LR HPs I could get.  There was an old gentleman observing my one person conversation and he decided to butt in.  He convinced me to get a Lee loader, an 8 oz can of Unique, 500 CCI 200 primers, a small plastic head mallet and a tapered punch.  I even had enough money left over for a couple boxes of 22s.  Out parked in front on the main street kitty-cornered across from the County Courthouse was his PU, a 52 or 53 Ford.  He lowered the tailgate and retrieved a large coffee can full of cast bullets.   Right there the old gentleman proceeded to teach this young teenager how to reload.  He had a box of 30-30 brass that he said had been full length resized and would work in my rifle but cautioned me to use brass that I had fired in my rifle only in the future.  I had 3 boxes of brass at home that were from the only three boxes of ammo I'd been able to get for the rifle so my head was swirling at the possibilities.  He showed me how to use the Lee loader (made me read the directions), how to clean the necks with #0000 steel wool. How to clean the primer pockets with a nail driven into the end of round wooden clothes pin, then flattened and filed to shape.  How to seat primers without setting them off.  I set off the first one and it scared the bee-jesus out of me and I can still hear him laughing.    (Try doing some reloading off the tailgate of a PU parked on Main street across from a courthouse these days and see where it gets you!)  He showed me how to flare the case mouth slightly with the tapered punch so the bullets wouldn't be damaged seating them. He gave me a small scoop made from a German steel 9mm case soldered to a bent nail stuck in another round clothes pin.  He cautioned me to only use one "small" scoop of Unique.  Said it wouldn't blow the rifle up if I used two but would streak lead down the bore and I wouldn't hit anything anyway.  He made me promiss not to do it and I faithfully kept that promise. I found out later the bullets were Lyman 3118s lubed with Lyman graphite lube.  Also the "small" scoop held about 8 gr of Unique and the velocity was about 1400 fps.  He also made me promise to re-read the directions when I loaded full power loads.  He threw in a pint jar of surplus H4895 and a half box of Speer 170 gr FPs.    He asked if I knew how to zero my rifle as he said this load wouldn't be zeroed.  I said I did but he made me explain it anyway.  He seemed satisfied as he began filling his pipe with Prince Albert and asked me how I was going to get all this stuff out to my home which was 5 miles away on James Howe Road.  I said I guessed I'd have to carry it since my folks were at work but he laughed and told me to pick up the can of bullets which was full.  I knew it was going to be a loooong walk home!   He said not to worry and gave me a ride home.  I still remember the wonderful smell of the Prince Albert and the magical thoughts that were dancing in my mind on the ride home.  I took the reloading stuff in the house and brought out my M94 to show him.  He looked it over as if it was the most wonderful rifle he had ever seen!  He "hhhmmm'd" at this and "aawwww'd" at that and shouldered it a couple times commenting on the balance and handiness.  He handed it back and said it was a very fine rifle indeed.  He then said he had to go and I watched him drive down our ranch driveway with his hand and a puff of smoke waving out the window to me.    Well the summer went by and I had many magical experiences hunting and shooting my M94 with that load.  I had zeroed the rifle as the old gentleman had said to, at 50 yards.  Many a squirrel, a few rabbits and some headshot quail fell to my rifle.  Also a large number of pine cones, sticks and dirt clods!  Fall came around and I found myself back in Fosters Sporting goods to get some more primers to load up the 170s for deer hunting.    My mother, seeing how much I enjoyed the rifle and reloading, told me to get the gentleman’s name the next time I was in Fosters so I could thank him.  I asked the guy who ran Fosters if he knew him.  He paused and then sadly said he had known the old gentleman for years.  Said the old gentleman had "the cancer" and wasn't with us anymore.  When the old gentleman saw me in the store the spring before he had already sold most of his rifles and reloading equipment as his own boy had been killed in the Pacific during the war and he didn't have anyone else he wanted to leave the equipment to.    He told me the old gentleman had mentioned me the last time he'd been in saying he'd wished he had a grandson he could teach to reload the way he did me.  The guy then reached behind the counter and brought out another coffee can full of cast bullets and a whole brick of primers on top!  The guy had a tear in his eye as he slid the can across the counter to me.  Then he told me the old gentleman figured I would be needing them.  It was a long five mile walk home carrying that coffee can of bullets, I cried the whole way.  Well, a lot of years have gone since then.  I went off into the Army and my brother ended up with my M94.  His interests were different and the Lee loader was lost somewhere along the way.  I finally got the M94 back from him about 10 years ago.  Still shoots quite well though I had to have it refinished.  This summer my grandson, age 12, came out for a visit from Florida.  He took a real shine to my M94 and shot it a lot.  He really likes that it was my first big game rifle and thinks it should be his too!  And so it will be.  I picked up a new Legacy M94 for me last week with a 24" barrel so I can see the sights. I can't wait for my grandson's next visit when we can both walk through the woods with our M94s.  And, oh yes, there is a Lee loader, a can Of Unique and a coffee can full of Lyman 3118s waiting for him!  I'll try to fulfill the old gentleman’s wish.
  Larry Gibson 

[45454]

Back in the 80s,ordered 500 320gr JDJ from SSK Industries.
Those 500 sure cost back then.
Thought,why don't I order a mold and do it cheaper ?
I ordered a mold from JD Jones.Still have it,and use it.
A lead pot from Lee Precision.Read the basics,went from there.

[craveman85]

ive always had love of 45-70's but never loved the price of the ammo.  cheapest stuff i can find is 1.50 a shot.  not much cheaper if you load your own jacketed bullets.  i got a 45-70 buffalo classic and want to load blackpowder 500 grain round nose loads.  should cost me 35 cents a shot.  having issues with accuracy right now though but i believe its the lube i was using. i cast 1300 .459 bullets in 2 days.  thats a grand total of 92lbs of woodchuck smackers if i can ever get my loads to hit them.  so far best group at 50 yards was 5 inches.  my casting has been coming out perfect so i know its not my lead.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

Larry, that is one of the best stories I've ever heard.  Thanks for posting.

Alan

[EMC45]

I started handloading in 1998. Fresh off a deployment from Japan with the Seabees. Poured my first bullet in 99 while deployed to Puerto Rico. Bough all my own reloading gear in 2003 and all my own casting gear in 06. It has been a fun journey all the while! I started shooting at age 6, Ruger Single Six 22LR. I have read that storry before from you Larry Gibson. Everytime I read it my arms goose bump and my eyes get damp. I started because I got tired of buying ammo. Then I got tired of buying sub par cast bullets after I got started loading my own.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

I started because I didn't know any other way.  My dad and grandfather bought 22's and some shotgun shells.  My grandfather reloaded shotgun but my dad didn't.  All other rifle and pistol ammo was handloaded.  I know that neither of them ever bought a piece of brass. My grandfather scrounged powder and lead from EVERY available source (even perforating gun powder from the oilfield, a very dangerous proposition because he didn't know what it was) but my dad was more practical and bought his powder except for salvaged 4895 from corrosive military ammo.  Until I was about 14 years old I really didn't know that all different kinds of ammunition could be bought in the store.  I knew 30-06 and 270 was there but oddly enough neither of them had a30-30.  They both made a 25-06 in the early sixties an of course there was no commercial ammo for those rifles.  When I got my first 30-06 (a home sporter Springfield 03A3) my grandfather gave me 100 FA 53 cases and told me that should last me for the rest of my life if I used them wisely.  (that brass has been extraordinarily prolific since I have cases of 30-06 brass now)  When my grandfather died I got his press and dies and the rest of his gear.  I use it to this day and in fact I loaded 50 rounds of 30 carbine with 115 gr cast bullets tonight with it.  I shoot that particular load in one of his rifles, a Winchester Model 1905 that use to be a 32 Selfloading but that he converted to 30 carbine. 

He cast some of his own pistol bullets and left quite a heathy supply.  About 10 years ago I realized that I only had a couple of thousand bullets left so I took the casting plunge.  I cast for 8mm, 30 calibers in three weights, .358 in three weights, .452 in two weights and round ball in two calibers.  Reloading and casting is a never ending source of self satisfaction and the continuation of a great legacy of self sufficiency and the right to keep and bear arms. 

I'm proud that I am a reloader.

Alan

[qajaq59]

The friend that got me into loading back in the 60s got me a deal on a pot, ladle etc so I cast for about 5 years. Then I stopped for a lot of years until about 7 years ago. Now that my 30-30 eats about a hundred rounds a week, I'd have to be a millionare if I wanted to shoot factory bullets. LOL