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I have been reloading for 15 years so I have a pretty good grasp on much of this but I have never cast bullets before. Would like to learn. Anyone have a good source or book that starts from the beginning and explains how and why?

lyman cast bullet handbook.
gives a great few chapters on how to do and what to look for.

https://archive.org/details/LymanCastBulletHandbook3rdEdition1980Ocr/page/n61/mode/2up

Thanks

Veral Smith’s “Jacketed performance with cast bullets” is a great book after you have the basics down. Gives lots of good info on sizing, bullet design, bullet fit, and heat treating.

Check out this site; lots of good info.

Las Angeles Sillouette Club, cast bullets info

It’s pretty hard to beat the Lyman Cast Bullet manual! memtb

Also on those housebound stormy days, you can get some real nuggets with a very small investment of your time from the 'stickys' on cast boolits. It's the little things that trip you up in casting. Silly stuff, like maybe a wee drop of oil migrating from your sprue plate pivot, a tad of zinc in your melt, a tiny burr you can't see without magnifiers on your mold parting line. Casting is easy, but can be frustrating if you overlook the details. For your first project, I would pick a larger caliber, .30 cal and up...if you have a .30-30 or .30-40 or .308 for instance. Then, when you get a good accurate product, expand your mold inventory. Before you invest heavily in lube/size equipment, do a little reading, maybe powder coating or tumble lube will do what you need.

Yep. I was going to start with my 308 and hoped to build 30-30 level loads with it and lighter ones for fun

*****

If you can find a copy of the Lyman 3rd Edition, that's the one I'd recommend. It has a great article on alloys and busts some popular myths.

Not sure how you'd come up with one, but that's the one I'd pass along to an aspiring bullet caster.

A few suggestions on getting started based on my limited experience.

-Don't try to cheap out at the starting line. A few quality pieces of equipment will last a Looooog time.
-Ladle pour, not bottom pour. Fewer headaches
-stay away from aluminum moulds. Iron or brass will work fine
-put together a supply of the following based on perceived needs: Pure lead, clip on wheel weights, linotype, tin.
-buy a lead thermometer
-A choice to make....Lee push thru sizer or a size/lube set up. I use the former and it works just dandy for my needs.
-Lee Liquid Alox is quite functional, but so is grease in the grooves. One can lube the grooves with pan lube techniques. Ain't hard to do.
-Bullet fit is everything on the road to success. SLUG YOUR BARRELS, know what size bullet you need before buying a mould.
-Don't get hypnotized by the idea of hard cast bullets. Wheelweight alloy will cover a great deal of need for most pistol and intermediate rifle loads. I use it for the .30-30 and have launched 180 grain bullets at 2,100 fps with fine precision on the targets.
-Powder coat if you want, it's al alternative to other lubes. Your wife with think you're nutz when you start cooking bullets in the oven.

When I was getting started, I read that site "cover to cover". Then I did it again. It was a great primer. I've not found that there is 100% agreement on some of the information that casters consider to be scripture. Experimentation is revelatory.

Check out YouTube, there are some great videos.

Check out: castboolits.gunloads.com

At the end of the day nothing beats empirical knowledge gained from Doing It.

applies to all endeavors of life.

Thank you for posting this. What a treasure trove.