I have been reloading for some years now and I am considering starting with casting bullets!

I have several calibres to choose from:
.243 ; 6,5x55 ; 30.06 ; 9,3x62 ; 9,3x64 ; 9,3x74R ; .375 H&H ; .416 Rigby ; 45-70 ; and a few others.

For which calibre should I start casting?

I know absolutely nothing about casting but I would like to start on “the right footâ€! So all advice is welcomed (and mostly needed )!

Thanks
B.Martins

I'd suggest starting with the 45-70 due to its low velocity. If you can get them in Portugal, gas checks will help make things right. If you want to use gas checks, the mold must be a gas check design. I'd suggest sizing to 0.460".

Ask questions as the need arises.

There are over 1800 registered members on the best cast-bullet site on the Internet:

www.cb.gunloads.com

Come over there for expert advice on bullet casting.

Any of your .30-and-up calibers will lend themselves to cast bullets, but there are only limited design selections in some of those metric diameters.

My .416 Rigby delivers excellent results with the RCBS 416-350, which casts at about 365 grains in wheelweight metal. I've run it at speeds from 1100 fps to 2600 fps, and it delivers good accuracy at any speed (WITHOUT "leading").

There are LEGIONS of myths, errors and outright old-wives' tales on the 'net concerning casting, and one major problem facing new casters lies in finding out who and what to believe. I strongly recommend that you visit the above site, where you will find both friendly welcome and a helpful attitude. It's also a VERY active place, with dozens of new posts every day. Searching the archives will reveal a huge amount of info, too.

Welcome to the Brotherhood of the Silver Stream.

I'll second the recomendation of the site Bruce recomends.

Me being utterly ignorant of Portugal, I'd first see what type of lead or lead alloys are available to you. Here in the states, tire balancing weights are the most popular source of lead, though I've heard Europe has gone to lead free tire weights, so I don't know if that is an option for you.

If you can get used tire weights, try and get a good 50-100 kilos. If you can't get tire weights, and have to get pure lead, then you'll need to add some tin and other alloys to get it to work as a good bullet alloy.

The two calibers I'd conentrate on are the 30-06 and 45-70, there is a huge selection of bullet molds and load data in those calibers, and starting off with known good combos takes alot of frustration when starting out. Some calibers are trickier then others, so start out with something easy.

Get some books on casting, Lymanns cast bullet manual is a good starting point, and does a good job of covering the basics.

.45-70 to start with because it's so easy to work with, there are so many good moulds, and the cost of bought bullets is so high.

An excellent budget choice is the Lee 459-405-HB. It's limited in the velocity it can take, but gives spendid accuracy in a range of rifles and is dirt cheap to shoot. You may need to go to a gas checked bullet later, but this is the easy way to start.

Try print shops and newspapers for linotype for alloy. Try plumbers for salvaged lead pipe. Hospitals have lead containers for radiology have have sheet lead for x ray shielding if they are remodeling.