I shoot a lot of cast bullets that I have cast myself. There are cost's involved in getting started casting but these amortize out before long if you shoot a lot. I would think, at todays cast bullet prices, if a person were shooting less than a couple thousand rounds a year it would be more practical to buy the bullets. With the cost of lead going up either way it's still getting more expensive.
With the lead I have on hand it probably costs around a cent a bullet for propane, flux, lube and such to make bullets up. Don't know what the rising lead cost will do but it'll be awhile before I have to find out, I have a bunch of wheelweight metal and lead from a hospital X-Ray room tear out to send downrange before I have to buy any.
I have 45-70 brass that has been reloaded over twenty times but each lot of brass is dedicated to one rifle. By doing this the load is accurate for the gun it's fired in and I only resize enough of the case to hold the bullet. Since most of my shooting is done in single shot rifles I work up loads that do not have to be crimped and this saves the brass from splitting at the mouth from excessive working. For the lever guns I typically will get ten to fifteen reloads before the brass is bad. In the 50-70, where the pressures are very low, some brass has been fired over fifty times. Probably with light bullets and mild loads this could be duplicated in most any straight case for which quality brass is available. As a test I once took a single 32-40 case and loaded it at the bench as I fired it. I did not resize at all, just replaced the primer, put in a dipper of powder and pushed a lubed bullet in the mouth. The case was positioned the same each shot in the chamber, powder settled to the rear of the case and then fired. After 120 times the case was still in fine shape and didn't need to be trimmed. When I sectioned this case and compared it to a once fired case from the same box there was no discernible difference.
Casting bullets is an interesting part of reloading and can be about as simple or involved as any other part of the hobby. It's nice if you can find someone that makes a bullet you want to try and get some samples prior to buying a mold but this is not always possible. I have found the inexpensive Lee molds to be very usable and user friendly. Since they cost, typically, one third to one half the cost of most molds it's not so devastating when you make a bad choice, of which I have several on the mold shelf.
Some of the hidden costs of casting include having to put in a good exhaust fan in your casting area, missing out on a lot of really exciting TV shows and the wife knowing where she can find you when the "Hunny Dew" list starts getting long. Believe me it's easier and cheaper to go to the track and spend time in a bar.
With the continuing rising cost of ammunition and the very real possibility of limited supplies being available due to political concerns it would seem prudent to get into the reloading hobby and being sure a reasonable supply of components was kept on hand.
Mike
