I was shooting IDPA yesterday. A fellow on my squad saw me loading my cast loads into my 1911 45 magazine. He asked where I got the boolits. They're my own, I said. He was immediately interested. He asked what it would take to get into casting. I said $100.00 would be a basic set-up for one caliber, if he had the time, a source of lead, and a place to do it.
He then asked how much it cost me to load that box,(50 shells), I was taking the rounds out of. I said about $3.00! His jaw hit the ground!
See, I got about 1200 pounds of lead free for the hauling from work,(it's nearly pure, soft lead). My only material cost was 30% of my lead alloy is linotype, which I just paid $1.50 a pound for. I don't figure my time to be worth anything, it is really FREE time!
The greenies and their "you're gonna get killed by lead fumes" is a bunch of
BS! After 40 years of casting and shooting lead boolits, I had by blood serum lead levels tested last summer. It was 5.0!
I'm not worried. Just be sure to NOT eat, smoke or even pick your nose while handling lead. Then be sure to wash your hands thoroughly when you're done.