Back around 1996 or so I got settled into Maryland after retiring from the Army. I was doing a lot of shooting, reading Ed McGivern and Elmer Keith got me motivated to get back into reloading (a hobby I dabbled in briefly in high school before enlisting in 1976) and casting bullets seemed like a good idea. A guy I used to shoot with make up hollow point loads he'd fill with lead azide compound which was a lot of fun on steel targets (boom - clangbang!) and extolled the virtues of bullet casting.
I worked in a clinic at the time that remodeled its X-Ray suite. There was about a ton of 1/8" thick lead sheet/shielding behind the drywall they removed. The contractors took it out in rolls and left it by the curb for a recycler and I decided I'd recycle it.
I probably got a couple hundred pounds of the stuff. And another hundred or so from a pistol club member who was moving - free for pickup. I melted it all and cast ingots in a Lee mold until I had so many of them in a crate I couldn't lift. Did a lot of casting for .44 magnum following various recipes I found online. 45 acp too (I was into shooting steel and bowling pins for a while), .38 SPL DEWCs, and .69 cal ball for a Charleville musket I used for Colonial/1st American Revolutionary War reenacting. I even bought antimony and tin to play with. I eventually put the equipment aside and the lead in the shed. Just recently started into cowboy action shooting and with the recent "panic" found that supplies of 45 cal bullets were sketchy at best so I bought a mold, hauled out the melting pot and lubrisizer and started casting again. I can make several hundred in a few hours' time, listening to talk radio or music. It's time-consuming, but it keeps me off the streets at night. Thing is, like a lot of reloading, if you find a load or a bullet you like, and make up a LOT of it/them, you only need to do it once every other year or three.
I did take precautions with exhaust fans and avoiding vapors - even had my serum lead level (zero) checked a few times.
It can be fun, rewarding, somewhat economical, but who ever heard of a true hobby that saves you money?