Hawg took the words right out of my mouth!
Yes, you have the initial investment of a mold - Lee are reasonable and work just fine - roughly $20 = shipping from Titan. If you don't have a propane burner or don't want to invest in an electric pot - you can cast over a wood fire just fine.
I agree that the price keeps going up on caps and powder but it has on everything else as well.
As Hawg suggested - you can make your own wads as well. Casting and making what you can will lower the price but you still are going to have to pay for the powder and caps . .. just no way around it.
Just like your .38 specials. I started reloading just because of the price on store bought. On .38 specials - if you save your spent casings they can be reloaded many times - if you have to buy them - figure .06 - .08 for range brass. Primers - I pay around $35 / 1000 so figure it at .04 each. Powder - a pound of smokeless will go a long way - I use Bullseye presently - can charge a .38 casing for .02. I cast my own lead slugs - most of my lead is "scrounged" so I have little or nothing in it - just my time. End result - I can reload a box of 50 for around $3.00 - pretty cheap shooting. If you had to buy your bullets - probably around .10 ea. so reloaded rounds would be around .16 ea. - so $8.00 / box of 50 using your casings but purchasing cast bullets to use.
You still have the initial investment in reloading equipment but over time, it will ay for itself (you don't need to spend high $ and get the best when something much cheaper and proven will work). Casting my own, making my own wads, lube, etc. and reloading just helps to keep the price down for both BP and cartridges - allowing me to shoot more and more often.
At some point, you might give some consideration to casting your own, etc. There are some good sites that you can get information on and there is plenty of good help on here. Good luck to you!
