Casting can be as simple or complicated as you want to make it. There are a lot of online and offline resources for information on casting and it's probably best if you go ahead and avail yourself of them before going ahead. I know a lot of shooters who reload and most of them buy their bullets from someone else, such as "Precision Bullets" in my area of TX.
It also depends to some extent on your purpose in reloading, are you doing it to save money or are you trying to control quality? If you are trying to control quality, you will soon learn to avoid wheel weights in favor of controlling the mix of metals yourself.
When I used to cast for long range target shooting, I was in it for the quality. I controlled the mix, casting soft for some purposes and hard for others, and I wanted the best quality metals for my mix. When I cast for deer hunting with my black powder rifles, I wanted two things, a bullet style that was not available in pre-cast and a composition that would be soft enough to engrave the rifling but not so soft that it would strip when fired.
As for cleaning them, if you decided to go with junk metal just for cheap bullets to shoot lots of, then you really don't need to clean them, but you should be aware that anything you put into the casting pot either burns off, floats to the top or amalgamates into the mix. Those things that burn off usually give off toxic fumes, so be aware and beware and be careful. Those things that float to the top can be skimmed off and discarded, like the little steel clips that hold the weights on the rims, and those things that just mix in change the composition of your mix in unanticipated ways.
Also realize that you are adding one more complicated step to the reloading process and think about whether it's chores that you will be willing to deal with.
It also depends to some extent on your purpose in reloading, are you doing it to save money or are you trying to control quality? If you are trying to control quality, you will soon learn to avoid wheel weights in favor of controlling the mix of metals yourself.
When I used to cast for long range target shooting, I was in it for the quality. I controlled the mix, casting soft for some purposes and hard for others, and I wanted the best quality metals for my mix. When I cast for deer hunting with my black powder rifles, I wanted two things, a bullet style that was not available in pre-cast and a composition that would be soft enough to engrave the rifling but not so soft that it would strip when fired.
As for cleaning them, if you decided to go with junk metal just for cheap bullets to shoot lots of, then you really don't need to clean them, but you should be aware that anything you put into the casting pot either burns off, floats to the top or amalgamates into the mix. Those things that burn off usually give off toxic fumes, so be aware and beware and be careful. Those things that float to the top can be skimmed off and discarded, like the little steel clips that hold the weights on the rims, and those things that just mix in change the composition of your mix in unanticipated ways.
Also realize that you are adding one more complicated step to the reloading process and think about whether it's chores that you will be willing to deal with.
