Hey folks I am VERY interested in getting started casting my own bullets.

I will primarly be casting .45 ACP, .223 and .308

My question is this,

Anyone have gear recommendations? What all will I need to get started? I am not averse to spending money but I want to keep it as economical as possible. I would like to get started on around a $300 budget....is that way to low? Can I do it for that price?


Any advice at all would be much appreciated !

For $300 you can get bullet molds in different weights for each of those calibers and a good electric pot from Lee precision. Their molds make excellent bullets as i have had 3 dozen of them in the past and still have perhaps 18 or 20 lee molds. I have a couple of Lyman melters and a Lee and i have never had a problem with the lee. You can also get sizers from Lee that fit on your press and are designed for tumble lubing but if you are wanting to use a lubri sizer then Lyman has a great starter kit which can be had for around $150.00 from companies such as cabelas and it comes with an electric melter,dipper,ingot mold,lubrisizer and cast bullet book. I use liquid alox or xlox and lee sizers and when i use stick lube i use cartridge cases with a hole drilled in the head for lubing the bullets.

I always suggest that you buy Lee equipment to start out with(some folks even prefer Lee equipment).Lee is less expensive then any other brand After you get a handle on your new endeavor,consider upgrading to other brands.I,myself,have gradually replaced my tools with RCBS.I have never been dissatisfied with anything from them.I have thrown some Lee stuff in the garbage.
Frank

I have mostly Lee equipment, Pro-20 melter and 5 molds (357 and .44. I have a great Ranchdog mold that is a custom Lee mold). I also have Ideal and Lyman dies and these are the only ones I have had trouble with. You can start with a steel pot and Coleman stove, a ladle, and mold, I did and made several hundred .44 SWC boolits before I got an electric Lee furnace. I have several Lee push through sizing dies that I use for each gun (Ruger SBH .430", S&W 629 .431", Puma .432"). I don't have a lubersizer and don't plan on getting one, as I pan lube or tumble lube all my cast boolits.

I'm a manual/catalog freak and suggest Lyman's "Cast Bullet Handbook" for a lot of good casting/loading info. For me casting and reloading cast boolits is almost as much fun as shooting them! Hmmmm, could be more fun...:rolleyes:

I have 4 different Lee brand molds and two Lee melters and they work great for me. It's a no brainer (IMO) for a new person to start out with the cheaper stuff if he's/she's on a budget.

Granted, i've never used the expensive stuff, so maybe i'm missing out, but just don't know it. I guess ignorance is bliss. :D

I have several RCBS molds (and handles) and several more Lee molds. The Lees do just fine, are cheap, and not going to break you if you decide that you really didn't like what you bought. Plus they come with handles. The RCBS molds are not very cheap, but are built like a tank and have a lifetime warranty.
I just ain't really fond of Lyman molds, but that's just me. Lee makes some good lead pots. Called "Drip-o-matics" by most, with a little tinkering they won't drip, (well, most of the time, anyway) are not really expensive , and mine have lasted for years. I have two, one for pure lead and one for w/w alloy.




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