HC vs Hornady

[ebutch]

Quick question..Is it cheaper to buy roundballs say in bulk of 100 or would it be better/cheaper to HC your own roundball? And is there a difference in the way they shoot??

 

[Kentuckywindage]

$20 per 100 balls here locally. Cheaper for me to cast them.

 

[BrownBear]

Yup. The price of 100 balls comes close to that of a LEE mold. After that they're "free."

 

[Bill Hall]

How cheap depends on your source for lead. Even the guys who buy their lead retail online and have it shipped claim it's cheaper than buying roundballs.

It's even cheaper if you come up with some kind of bullet catcher, or dig them out of the dirt if you shoot out in the country. They remelt just fine.

Once you get into casting, your nose starts leading you in the directions of cheap lead sources. Pretty soon, you can smell it when you get close. :rotf: I kid. Bill

 

[damron]

I cant tell the difference in accuracy hand cast to swaged RB in my Hawkens.Lead is $1 to $2 per # locally so if you cast .490 RB they cost you about 5 cents each.$5 per 100 is better than $20 and you equipment pays for its self fast.
A simple Lee 10# dipper pot -Lee mold and Lyman ladle(lee's ladle is no bueno IMHO) will do you fine.

George

 

[pr.piburn]

There are two sources of balls at Friendship In.
every year that sell them for 6.00 a hundred. I
have a .360 mold and free lead, but at that price
I will buy that size. My 32 caliber I buy from
Hornandy for 12.00 for 700. I bought 30,000. I
keep telling people where to get this stuff, but
nobody listens.

 

[roundball]

Quick question..Is it cheaper to buy roundballs say in bulk of 100 or would it be better/cheaper to HC your own roundball? And is there a difference in the way they shoot??

And as an alternative to getting set up to do home casting there's a commercial casing business in Chatsworth, GA that I've used for several years now after it was mentioned here by 'Birddog6'.
================================================
Eddie May Cast Round Balls
159 Ridley Rd.
Chatsworth, GA. 30705
706-581-8225
“Best Quality Round Balls, Minnie, Rifle Bullets and Modern Cast Bullets”
Please Call or Write to place Order

(Eddie does not have a website or use Email so I've always just called him)
================================================

I started out using Hornady / Speer balls but once I got shooting almost every week year round they became too expensive for me...have used his cast balls in .40/.50/.54/.62cals for quite a while now...quality is fine and you can't beat the price anywhere.
Examples:
1000 for my .40cal was $4.37/100.
1000 for my .50cal was $6.50/100
1000 for my .54cal was $8.xx/100
1000 for the big .62cal was only $11.00/100

 

[majg1234]

I love casting round balls and conicals (call me crazy) but there is something very fufilling about doing it with my grandson,then we go shoot 'um. He's getting hooked too on this sport :thumbsup: .The lead is pretty cheap @ a scrap yard near me and the work of smelting etc is a lot of fun.Harvesting a tree rat and a deer with RB you made is a treat.In the 40+ years I've been hunting the only game I harvest that I did not manufacture the rounds are rimfire rounds and steel shotshells,everything else is my reloads

 

[Adui]

There are two sources of balls at Friendship In.
every year that sell them for 6.00 a hundred. I
have a .360 mold and free lead, but at that price
I will buy that size. My 32 caliber I buy from
Hornandy for 12.00 for 700. I bought 30,000. I
keep telling people where to get this stuff, but
nobody listens.

Hmmm, this sounds like an awesome deal till you add in the cost to go to Friendship IN from Mesa AZ. Maybe someday when I have the funds to go there to enjoy the gathering, but for now that's still way too expensive for me when I can cast em.

 

[Adui]

Whats he charge for shipping?

 

[mjac]

Thanks for the tip about Eddie May in Chattsworth Ga. I pass that way often.
I was poking around in a old tiny gun shop in my TN town the other day and discovered four dusty 100 rd boxes of Hornady .530 RB's on a back wall shelve. They were marked $8.65 each. They are not there any more!

 

[roundball]

Whats he charge for shipping?

He uses the medium size PO Flat rate shipping carton with its 70lb limit...$11.50

 

[hanshi]

Eddie May's prices seem about the best I've come across. However, I still cast my own - unless experimenting with different sizes then I order them from EM - because it's even cheaper and I enjoy doing as much in the hobby as I can. Every animal I've killed with a ML in the past 45 years has been killed with ball I cast myself.

 

[necchi]

Examples:
1000 for my .40cal was $4.37/100.
1000 for my .50cal was $6.50/100
1000 for my .54cal was $8.xx/100
1000 for the big .62cal was only $11.00/100

I did a little math on all that, I came up with about 162.9 pounds of lead cast, needing 3 boxes to ship at total of $333.20

At a dollar a pound for lead and buying all 5 molds new, a person could cast all 5000 ball for $262.60,,

Suffice to say casting is cheaper, your independant of any shipping, you need not rely on a person/factory to make them for you, you are in control of quality and you can make what you need when you need it.

Getting set up for casting has a start-up cost that is rapidly paid back in savings.

 

[nchawkeye]

I have cast my own for over 30 years...I get lead free from my dentist...I tested cast vs swaged years ago when I shot in competition, mine won out...

 

[jamesthomas]

I can get those lead roof jacks for .50 cents a pound. I've got 400 cast rbs plus 56lbs of pure lead in one pound ingots, so I'm set for awhile. :grin:

 

[mdbeck1]

I have cast my own for over 30 years...I get lead free from my dentist...I tested cast vs swaged years ago when I shot in competition, mine won out...

okay, I give. Why would your dentist have lead? Much less why would he give it away?

 

[Zonie]

Dentist's use soft lead to provide a shield for areas they want to protect from the X-rays they use to examine teeth.

Once used, the lead cannot be used again because most people would object to having a piece of lead that had been in Larry, Curly and Mo's mouth stuck into their mouths.

The Dentists can't throw the lead away because (as we all know) lead is a "Toxic Waste".
This means they usually have to pay someone to take away the harmful substance.

That's when Roundballshooterman comes to the rescue and takes it off of the dentists hands for nothing.

It's a win, win situation for both.

 

[nchawkeye]

Yep, that's it...

That plastic thing they put in your mouth has lead in it when they x-ray your teeth...

You have been to the dentist lately haven't you?????

Or maybe you ain't got no teeth???? :shocked2:

 

[Spikebuck]

How hard is it to get the lead out of that little plastic thing.