I buy all my lead from local scrap metal dealers. It comes in the same form that they got it in :-) Right now I have a bunch of xray room sheathing next to my casting bench. The price is always right and the old rule "if you can scratch it with your thumb, use it" is a good one to follow. If you can't buy lead cheap, you may as well go ahead and use the speer or hornady swaged balls. I use my own cast and the swaged and get excellent results with both.
My 45-70 brass once fired will hold about 73 grains of goex ffg when poured in and scraped level across the top. that's a pretty good working charge for a .50 and for lighter loads you can cut the case down till you get where you want to be. Another option on the measure is to buy one of the Trso brass measures. They come in a variety of sizes and can be cut or filed to change the charge. They have a little ring at the closed end to hang them from a strap or cord. I use a fixed measure like the Trso for messing around in the field and the adjustable with the swivel funnel for range work or doing pre-measured charges in speed loaders.
A lot of modern day BP shooters don't want to bother with such things as powder horns or patch knives, etc but the fact is that the items typically used by the old timers were and are very practical. And then there are a few things that the old timers may or may not have used that are very practical too! You already hit on the idea of using a cartridge case for a powder measure so you are obviously a BP recruit waiting to happen
You can make just about everything you need for cheap and for the most part it will work better than the stuff on the rack at wal mart. Further, you will have that sense of self satisfaction that comes from doign it yourself.
Here's some examples:
1. You can buy a rough or partly finished powder horn for a couple bucks.
2. Hang your homemade powder measure on a strap around your neck.
3. Make a bullet board out of 3/4" maple with 1/2" holes drilled in it that will hold four or five or 10 if you like round balls in their prelubed patches ready to be pushed down the bore with your short starter. You can buy prelubed patches but cutting them at the muzzle or in your bullet board is way more efficient and more accurate because the patch is always centered.
4. You can make a bunch of short starters by buying round hardwood balls at the craft store and use a caliber size ramrod tip that is epoxied into the ball on the side for the short start end and a piece of hardwood dowell about 6 or 7 inches long around the ball 90 degrees for the longer start end. Dress it up with a ramrod tip too if you like but it's not really needed. Drill a hole on another side of the ball that will fit over the ramrod and now you have a palm saver for seating the ball on top of the powder.
5 Make a patch knife from a Green River paring blade at about $6 or any other small bladed knife and put a deer horn or wood handle on it and carry it in a full length sheath that you can put together with scrap leather around your neck.
6. Make a shoulder or belt bag from any soft leather you might have or from heavy canvas. Easy to sew by hand. You can put a small bottle of bore sovent in there along with a few extra balls and lubed patch material, maybe an extra jag and some extra caps, some patches to wipe the bore after the shot, a lost patch retriever is handy and whatever other minor accessories you might decide are needed for a day in the woods or desert. Make it beg enough to hold your lunch too!
6. For a capper, take a round or rectangular or for that matter any shape piece of leather that is thick enough to be equal to the depth of a cap. Punch some cap size holes around the edge and then cut through the edge to the hole with a sharp knife or razor blade. If you don't have a punch, use a regular drill. Push the caps into the holes and when your ready to cap the nipple, push the nipple onto the cap while still in the leather and then pull the leather loose sideways with the cap passing throuh the cut edge. You can hang it around your neck too or put it in your shirt pocket where it will be handy. Costs about .05cents and works as good as any commercial capper and better than most of em!
Once you put this little kit together you will have everything you need to spend a day shooting rocks, pine cones or bunnies or a week chasing deer or elk. This is not a PC (period correct) trekking outfit, but it is closer to ideal for a day of shooting than you realize until you give it a try.
