I stopped casting balls years ago and just bought them. I do shoot a lot and bought a box of Hornady .535 balls and they cost $19.95 for a box of 100. It got me to thinking about casting my own balls again. I still have all of my molds so all I need is lead. Not knowing what the cost of lead is going for, I pulled up e-bay and found someone advertising 67lbs of 99% pure lead, so I ordered it. Cost $103.00 including shipping. I received my lead a few days later so I guess I am back in the casting business. 67lbs X 7000= 469,000grs of lead divided by 230grs= 2039, 530 balls works out to about 6 cents a piece, by the time you knock off for trash in the lead. about $6.00 a box of 100. That is quite a savings for a retired man with time on his hands.

Plus I think it is fun to cast and if you want you can be very fussy about which balls you want to keep and just put the rest back in the pot. I cast my own conicals and that is practically all I shoot.

I do occasionally purchase swagged ball. I like to shoot them against my cast. And I find very little accuracy advantage. So I cast for the .50, .54 and .58 caliber. I used to cast for the .62 but when I sold the barrel I included the mold. I like to cast. On a nice cold day, sitting in the shop with the doors and windows open, I will cast up a couple hundred at a time.

Haven't bought swagged balls in many many years. I cast .50, .54, .58. some Lee REALs and some other conicals.

I haven't bought in decades...

I'd like to eventually get into casting. Hopefully at some point I'll have the time to learn.

WV...

You should. It's enjoyable and it's kinda nice to harvest an animal with something you hand poured. There are some decent molds out there for a fair price if you look around. You can melt lead in a cast iron pot on a Coleman stove and pour with a hand dipper pretty cheap to start out. There's lots of videos on casting if you need info.

BPS