What do I have to get to start casting? I'm too busy for a new hobby so I might as well start one. What equipment is needed and what can I start with and upgrade as $ allows? Anybody want to trade casting equip. for taxidermy?  Don

Hi Emk

get the best melter you can. it is the base for everthing else.
I have a lee that I have had 30 years, hasn't had much use tho'
ace

It all depends on how deep you want to get, if your going to cast only a few days a year or only a couple different moulds then you don`t have to go all out. If production is the order of the day then get a LYMAN ELECTRIC LEAD FURNACE bottom pour 20 lb unit, only buy 2 and 4 cavity moulds get a Lyman 450 sized and luber a good lube lots of it, on the sizer dies you will want to slug you barrel to get exact diameter then get dies .001 larger than bore to get good gas seal,gas check bullets are great you can push them a little faster and reduce the amount of leading in the bore, top punches are conformed to the nose of the bullet so you will have to get the corresponding number top punch for the mould. The lead you can get from wheel weights its a tad hard as is but if you mix 1lb of pure lead to 19lbs of ww then you have a bullet that you can shoot at targets and have a good hunting slug that will expand in the animal not just punch a small hole thru. Hope this helps you good luck.
note 500 cast bullets cost around $20.00 to make your own could cost could be over $300.00 before you get your first good bullet also the time and burns that you will get may make you rethink the whole process again good luck anyway you go.

Thanks for the replies. These are the answers I'm looking for. As for the time and money spent, I have always gone out of my way to do something myself eventhough I could have bought for less.I heard that ww has alot of trash is that true?As for the time spent, these winters are getting longer the older I get. And now for a real stupid question, the wheel weights, where do you get yours? whats the going rate? Thanks, Don

WW have a steel rim catcher in them also any dirt that has been embedded, the strip weights I stay away from really hard stuff.
I get more than I want from garages that service cars, ask once and they remember when they have to keep moving that 5 gal weight bucket, it dosn`t hurt a thing if you ask the boss if he is a shooter hence this for that.
When I do a big batch I use a propane turkey cooker and a old cast iron pot my pot will do approx 75lbs of lead safely I clamp vise grips to one side to pour ingots with I use a old soup spoon to skim the junk off the top once the metal is free from the steel,rubber valve stems, small bolts and the other junk then I flux the metal with lube be sure to do this outside or your wife will kill ya when the lube hits the lead it will smoke like h--- light this with a match burn off the smoke also stir the metal with the spoon to "mix" the tin antimony and zinc with the lead giving you a more consistent metal mix doing this now makes things a lot easier down the line. I pour 12 ingots at a time let them harden pop them out and do it again until that batch is gone then keep the batches separated until you use them.When I cast I go thru 50lbs like nothing using 4 cavity molds and big bullets the pot goes down fast.Good luck and wear long sleeves when you cast saves a lot of ouches! 

Perfect, it looks like everything else I take on way too much. I'm going to start looking for deals/sales on stuff and have everything by the first of the year. If anyone hears of good stuff hopefully in the NW area let me know. Thanks again Don

A lot of good stuff can be gotten at your local gun store if they take in estate stuff lots of the basic stuff is cheep and if they will let you plug in that furnace to see how long it takes to get hot, The only thing you will not want to scrimp on is molds get good ones everyone has there favorite's and for good reasons, Lyman, Racine and RCBS are hard to beat you will find the ones you like and go.
Sizer can be had from 25 to 65 used
furnaces are from50 up
sizing dies 2 to 3
Top punches about a buck
stick lube .50
this kind of stuff is on the bargain table start with how much for it all!
good luck keep busting caps.

One other thing you will find handy is a thermometer .
You can frost bullets if the metal is too hot.

Get a decent pot to start with.  20 pound bottom draw is good.  Lyman or RCBS are two good ones.  There are others out there, these two are the most common.  New ones are spendy, check auctions and estate sales.  What I've noticed at the auctions is the guns and big ticket items go quickly and at prices the same as a new one.  Folks get into a feeding frenzy when bidding and often inflate the price to more than you could buy a new one for.  The reloading equipment and casting equipment rarely gets a bid.  It goes into a box along with other non-bid items and reoffered towards the end of the auction.  The big spenders are usually full by now and of no interest in the junk being offered.  You will be amazed at the number of molds and dies the auctioneer will put in a cardboard box and offer for 10 or 20 bucks.  Don't bite on it yet, he'll drop to 5 or 10 just to get it rolling again.  Often there are no other bidders and it goes for the opening bid.  This isn't an everytime thing but I've bought at enough of them to say it's a common thing.  You want to concentrate on the auctions with complete estates, not one specializing in guns only - too much competition in those types!  A word of caution here - I have not been to an auction since the obama scare started so prices may have gone wild.

A quality bottom draw pot offers you the option of using the bottom draw or a ladle.  I find that a ladle works better for me with the large caliber heavy bullets and the bottom draw for the others. 

Lube sizers - Lyman and RCBS use the same type dies and top punch so they're interchangeable between them, Saeco and Star not so... I find RCBS much easier to deal with for replacement parts than Lyman. Just a thought...

Most people cast in the colder months for lack of any other reason, I too do most of it at that time, when I set up for a casting session I`ll select 3 to 5 molds that I want I cast in the cellar in front of a sliding glass door with the wood stove 10 feet from that I preheat the molds on the wood stove doing this I get good casts faster and that's good production.
The 20lb unit will keep your metal hot enough that you can add ingots and not have to wait for the furnace to "catch up" so you can continue right on casting.
A small note on casting safety, DO IT ALONE NO ONE "HELPING" saves some ouches in the long run.
When a mold starts to get too hot swap for another keep on casting you will be pleasantly surprised when your done that you`ve made hundreds in every little time.
Another good tip is Frankfort mold drop its a spray you apply to the cold mold and it reduces lead build up between the mold and sprue cutter good stuff.
I drop my casts on a old pizza box on an angle slight but its there they roll a little enough to get out of the way of the next one.
A thermometer is good to have keeps the metal from getting too hot, pure lead melts at 612 degrees tin antimony and zinc melt at lower temps I like to run about 700 -730 to keep it hot enough to melt ingots and keep going 1 to 1 1/2 lb ingot brings the temp down 30 -50 degrees not enough to stop you.
Then after all that you set to size and lube every one!
Mark and store until use, which by the way could be a good number of years.
Isn`t $20.00 per 500 sounding better all the time?
Good luck have fun

Thank you all for your help. What will happen is..... I'll start shopping for deals get frustrated.Spend way too much on a complete set up, tell my wife it was all on sale, get obsessed with production and see how many I can cast and load by spring. Then the obsession with accuracy will rear its ugly head. And then by next year I'll be selling stuff to buy a foundry. Looks like I drifted a bit. Thanks again to all...Don

I have just finished a small batch of .500 S&W Mag bullets(little over 1500) they weigh 340 gr. made from straight wheel weights sized at .501 it`s a plain base bullet not made for super speed but it dose have super knock down power these I`ll keep separate for targets only, as I like my hunting bullets a little softer for better mushrooming.
The best way I have found to store them until use is to place them in old Winchester ball powder cans the 3lb size, making layers and placing a thin piece of cardboard between layers it`s surprising how many will fit into those cans until you have to move them around then you remember fast just before you drop it on your toe.

I cannot justify casting anymore as a money saver.  But it is nice to be able to make bullets when there are none available.  Even if you do save, you just shoot more, then wonder what a Smithchesterrugerbaga would do in the new .123 Jazbo round. Then you see a deal on .41 mag mold and decide you want to try that caliber too.

Dale I just bought one box of Hornaday#50101 .500 cal 300 gr XTPHP, MSRP is $46.45 for 50 projectiles the dealer I got them from charged me $38.95 for the box.
I purchased a RCBS .500 cal 340swc mold for around $50.00 I think.
I usually make a couple thousand at a time so I don`t have to do it every couple months, I size and lube then store until needed.
I couldn't` even think of shooting factory's or store bought projectiles at the rate I consume them.
Its the gods honest truth that a lot of the guns that I have purchased new have never shot a factory round, that's not to say that they haven`t been shot and a lot.
Casting saves only after the initial investment is paid then its all gravy.

The trouble with casting is the very real danger of lead poisoning. You MUST cast in a very well ventilated area. Certainly not inside your house! Those fumes will get you an increase blood lead level.
Running a fan to direct the fumes away from you could help as well as doing it outside or in your garage with the door open.
It's been the reason I quit casting sinkers years ago. Now, I am thinking of casting for bullets now. But if I do, I will be very careful about safety issues like ventilation.
I killed enough brain cells with booze when I was younger and can't afford to loose much more!