I have a lot of primers, but you would have to pay hazmat which would not be viable for you IMO. You can reload primers, it is just a hassle unless you make a jig. There is a dry powder chemical mix formulation I've posted else where online back during the Obama admin to make your own primers but I'm not posting here in case it is against the rules. It should be legal to make almost anywhere here in the US.
As far as bullets, for handgun calibers it is best to cast your own bullets. For example, 9mm bullets can cost as much as 10 cents each. When you consider you can buy factory 9mm for 20 cents, primers are 3 cents, and powder is 2 cents, you are only saving 5 cents per round. In contrast a cast bullet costs a fraction of a cent to produce, meaning you save 15 cents per round.
You can get your lead from your range, take s shovel, dig up some dirt, sift in one of those chinese wire mesh strainers they use for frying dumplings, and throw the bullets in a bucket. Melt it down back home on a propane stove and sell the copper jackets for scrap (or save to use in home bullet plating).
Lee offers the most affordable casting equipment, a 2 cavity mold is only $20, a 6 cavity is $40, suggest the 6 cavity unless you are going to build an automatic bullet casting machine. MidwayUSA has the best prices. You should get a LEE bullet sizing die which is $20 per caliber.
The lead melting stove can be simply made by a hotplate. The rheostat on the hotplate limits the true max temp of the heating element, so take apart the hot plate, cut the wires and resolder them direct to the plug wires. Then if you want, splice in a light switch to the outlet plug to turn the hot plate on/off, or plug it into a power strip with an on/off switch. Place a metal cake pan on top of the hot plate and place lead in. Many casters worry about temperature but it is not an issue. Casting too cold is the only real concern. The hotplate is beneficial because the capacity is much larger than any commercial product catered to the consumer. This avoids casting only a few hundred bullets, then having to wait 20 min for more lead to melt and come up to bullet casting temperature.
Use some kind of carbon material to flux your lead to pull out impurities like dirt. I use motor oil and vegetable oil because it is cheap for me. It will smoke into vapors which you light and causes a fire. The fire blocks oxygen which allows you to stir the oil into the lead without the lead immediately oxidizing (oxidized metal does not bond to itself)
A spoon can be used to pour the lead, or you can fabricate a dipper from a spent CO2 cartridge.
For PPE, wear a plastic face shield, leather gloves, and a P100 respirator. Lead poisoning is actually unlikely with bullet casting provided you are doing it outdoors.
After you cast the bullets, they are then powder coated by tumbling in powder coat, strained, and baked in a toaster oven. These are then run into your bullet sizer.
Sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. Unless you are paid an average of over $70 per hour at work, you will greatly benefit from bullet casting. Some surgeons in my area who make a solid 6 figure salary bullet cast, they don't buy their bullets. If you are not comfortable taking apart stuff, I can make the hotplate for you since you live in the US. Right now that it is cold and handloading supplies are non-existent, it is the perfect time to get into bullet casting.
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Originally Posted by tom kelly
I was wondering if the components for Reloading were made in the U S A or are they out-sourced
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Nearly all powder and primers available to us are made in the US. Vihtavuori is Finnish as you might imagine. Some surplus unbranded powder you might find is often surplus from Spain.