I understand this is getting away from the OP, which I largely agree with (given the stipulation of scarce .22LR ammo) but it warrants a response.
I enjoy casting the bullets as much as I enjoy loading them which is precisely as much as I enjoy shooting them. Its all a hobby and with plenty of free time, I'm fine being one of those that value my time as $0.00USD/HR(do we have to put a price on everything?). with a 6 cavity mold, it isn't difficult to cast 700 bullets an hour. For 38spl, a simple alox tumble lube will do. maybe a minute per 500. Primers can be had for 2¢ a piece, powder charge is 1¢ and add in 1¢ per bullet for propane/electric used when casting. Cases were picked up at the range for free. 4¢ a piece to reload 38spl. I'll shoot it all day over a 6¢ 22lr.
I really do envy you guys that enjoy casting and handloading. I wish I did but I don't. For me it's just a necessary chore so I can do the shooting I want to do.
The whole discussion is about cost. So if we're going to discuss the costs involved in shooting, we should discuss all of them, including those that casters ignore. Not everyone is retired, on a limited income, with lots of free time. Some of us are still working and have more money than time. I'm running two businesses, managing employees and more clients than ever before. My time is extremely valuable. I can't buy time but I can buy cast bullets and that's the next best thing. Even if I had time to cast, I couldn't justify it economically. Handloading saves a ton of money over buying factory ammo and it allows me to shooting guns and loads I otherwise couldn't. I can justify that. When we start comparing commercial cast to home cast bullets, the savings is a lot less for the work involved. My .38Spl handloads cost me 7 cents over yours. That $35 I pay for 500 cast bullets buys me a lot of time and saves me a lot of aggravation. That's time I can spend in better ways, of which there are plenty. For I'd much rather be doing leatherwork or going to a movie with my wife than standing over a friggin' lead pot.
When we start comparing shooting homecast reloads to .22LR, it's an argument you really can't win. I don't know where you're getting two cent primers. I don't buy Russian primers so I'm paying three cents apiece for them buying CCI or Winchester in cases of 5000. So even if your lead is free, at 4.2 cents a round, you're still paying $23/550rds for what I was paying $20 for before the shortage. The big difference being that you're spending hours and hours procuring lead, processing it, casting ingots, casting bullets, sizing them, lubing them and finally reloading them. I'm not. I'm buying bulk .22 ammo and shooting it. Before the shortage, I was shooting 2000-3000rds a month of it. Were I shooting cast handloads, I'd have been doing a lot less shooting and spending a lot more doing something I get no joy out of.
And all of this completely ignores the guns associated with the cartridges in question. There is simply no way a centerfire can compete with the .22LR. Not only is it more economical to shoot, guns tend to cost less. They also offer more utility than any centerfire. I can buy a .22 pistol that shoots tiny groups at 25yds for $250-$300. I can hunt small game and varmints, plink, train and teach with it. No centerfire equivalent exists. I can buy a bolt action .22 rifle for $250 that also shoots tiny groups and is perfect for all the same purposes. What centerfire would so easily fit that role so economically?
Sorry but I just don't see it.