what is it

[white eagle]

about cast boolits that holds our attention ???
it sure runs deep though
it must be the control freak in me that holds me :lovebooli:lovebooli

[Certaindeaf]

It's alchemy.

[fcvan]

Everyone has their reasons, excuses, justification for this obsession. I can't shoot everyday (wait, I'm retired, I can shoot everyday) but I can do something related to my obsession, er, hobby everyday. I started casting/shooting with my dad and my brother back in the 70s. I have great memories from back then and great memories yet to be made because we still share this hobby. I really enjoy the sport, and enjoy the company of other sportsmen.

I truly have enjoyed exposing folks to our sport and seeing their attitudes change toward the shooting sports. There is nothing like the satisfaction of watching someone finally understand that responsible firearms ownership makes for better citizens. Firearms ownership is not the source of some demonic possession that causes rational people to instantly become criminals. Sometimes I think the only guaranteed path toward criminal behavior is election to public office! Frank

[bearcove]

It is one of the things I do to make myself free from consumerism.

If I need boolits, go to the garage not the store.

Sort of like the chickens laying eggs.

[Shuz]

about cast boolits that holds our attention ???
it sure runs deep though
it must be the control freak in me that holds me :lovebooli:lovebooli

For me it's the "creation" factor. Making things that you just can not easily buy, as well as tailoring them toward your intended usage. The cheapness factor helps as well.

[ShooterAZ]

#1 Self reliance. Pure & simple. All the talk about banning lead. Lead is gonna get harder & harder to find, but you can still get it now. And as long as I can get it...I will be making my own boolits.

#2 The satisfaction of being able to control the many factors involved in creating super accurate ammunition.

#3 The enjoyment of the process. I love tinkering with stuff...my guns and my equipment. It helps take my mind off the day to day mundane.

[nicholst55]

Heck, I just like watching that molten silver stream go into the mold, and new, bright, shiny boolits fall out!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

AMMO in general:

There is just something about developing the skill (of making ammo) that I just love.
Even more so, being able to make it custom suited to a certain firearm,
being better and more accurate then anything readily available.

[largom]

I like to say "I made it myself".

Larry

[MT Gianni]

Self reliance
The attempt to master a part of the shooting sports than many have given up on and only know others horror stories
Cost & the ability to shoot well with home made
Tailoring the bullet to the cartridge
Great friends and people frequent this site and sport

[geargnasher]

All of the above.

Gear

[runfiverun]

it's the cost .....stop laughing....no really,,,,,,,,comeon.stop.
where else are you gonna walk into a store and ask for the cheapest powder they have.
bend over and pick up bits of metal.
then go make a workable/accurate round that costs a nickel or less [stupid primers]
even rifle rounds at 7 cents each [checks] and shoots groups that makes the guy's at the range sick.
then walk down there and get enough material to make more boolits than you just shot.

[DeanWinchester]

Don't forget the satisfaction of defiance. All those highly educated guys at the range who KNOW everything. Like how they KNOW you can't shoot lead through a centerfire rifle without leading up your barrel unless velocity is kept under 1100 FPS and you can't shoot more than 20-30 rounds between cleaning because lead will build up and blow up your gun. Oh yeah, I've heard it many times. I hear that almost everytime I go to the public range.

The satisfaction that my rifles are as accurate as theirs but I get to load 308 for 7 cents each. Theirs....50 cents or more. Theirs kicks like a horse, but mine kicks like a horsefly.

The satisfaction of being asked "Where did you buy those bullets" and answering "BUY, it's against my religion to buy a bullet. Why would you insult me like that?"

The satisfaction of not being a slave to the sheeples reloading practices.

The satisfaction. That's why I cast.

[olafhardt]

I like it and I don't have or want a reason although many of the above are familiar. I have said before -It enriches my life.

[Grandpas50AE]

For me, ShooterAZ hit it right on the head.

[melter68]

Casting and reloading is just as much fun as shooting, passes the time and saves you money and you learn a new skill, no matter how long you have been casting you are still learning- better order me a bigger memory:lovebooli

[41 mag fan]

I blame my wife....she makes me do it. [smilie=1:


I'd rather be in the house, cooking, cleaning and darning socks, but she made me build a shop, buy all sorts of gadgets, and ordered me to cast boolits and reload, and see how they shoot. Then she had the gall after I find that "perfect" load for a certain gun, to make me go out and buy another gun and caliber and start all over again.
I'll never understand that woman.

[smoked turkey]

All of the above responses are good. I think all of us are in it for a common reason that binds us all together. I am not certain what that "overall" reason is. But there are a multitude of reasons that each of us have individually. Personally I like making something useful from what is being thrown away. I get a lot of satisfaction in taking something from wheel weight to boolit, from boolit to load, from load to the hunt, from the hunt to the game in question whether paper or game animal. Its a process that has many aspects and each are special to me. However as I write this and the juices are flowing I think I have answered the question in my mind as to the "overall". It has to be the people that make up this forum. I have been around all sorts of people in my life and I have never run into a more interesting and knowledgeable bunch in my life. People are what makes this site what it is and why it is so enjoyable.

[TNFrank]

It's alchemy.

I look at the entire reloading process as a kind of "Alchemy" or "Magic" if you will. I mean you put this "magic powder" into a little jar then put a cap on it nice and tight then put it into this device and it causes holes to appear in stuff magically. Nothing could be cooler.:smile:

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

and shoots groups that makes the guy's at the range sick.


This part of our obsession is very satisfying.
A few weeks ago, I was at the range with the Argentine, banging the 6 inch 100 yard gong with scary regularity (off hand- no sling)
An old boy was next to me with a rifle shooting jwords he couldnt get a 8 inch group off the bench with a scope. Ever time that gong rang he was dumbfounded that you could do that with cast boolits.

[blackthorn]

The reasons we are here is "all of the above"---plus a few more! It's all in the variables!! Like firearms, each of us is different and what works for one don't work for another but we are all heading in the samr direction. Have a GREAT day!

[Lefty SRH]

Too many reasons to list really but I can try a few. But I can tell you that it started because I was tired of one of my favorite guns leading REALLY bad. And I was tired of buying "boutique" cast bullets that were expensive and had to wait 4-6 weeks sometimes 7-8 weeks to recieve.

Leading is now GONE!
Boutique bullets were replaced with a custom brass mold.
I ended up buying a Ruger .480, (thats some expensive "store bought" cast bullets, almost .50 cents each)
My all time favorite gun became even more accurate and fun thanks to MiHa's 270gr SAA mold
My .44spl FINALLY started grouping

[Casper29]

For me it is the satisfaction of creating somthing from nothing and a chance to be alone and clear my head, very theraputic, and to think some people pay lots of money to some Doctor for the same experiance.:castmine:

[Frosty Boolit]

I like to take something that is junk, such as scrap lead and spent casings and make it into something good and usable.

[wallenba]

This part of our obsession is very satisfying.
A few weeks ago, I was at the range with the Argentine, banging the 6 inch 100 yard gong with scary regularity (off hand- no sling)
An old boy was next to me with a rifle shooting jwords he couldnt get a 8 inch group off the bench with a scope. Ever time that gong rang he was dumbfounded that you could do that with cast boolits.

Ditto. Only with me it was a young fella with a new, outta the box, scoped, winnie (cal. forgotten). He could not get on paper, and refused, in a surly manner, any advice from an old guy with a beat up Mosin Nagant shooting cast boolits with iron sights. After getting a look at my target during change up, his attitude changed. I helped get him onto paper and he got in the six incher groups in about a half hour. He still needed more work to get his $700+ rifle into my $90 Mosin territory. This was only 50 yards too.

[1Shirt]

To me it is doing what not a lot of other shooters are doing, and doing it on the cheap!
1Shirt!:coffee:

[mpmarty]

Liberty to know I've got all the ammo I want and can make more whenever I want without having to go buy anything, ever. I've got enough powder and primers to last my lifetime and then some. About a ton of clip on wheel weights smelted into ingots and stored in five gallon buckets. Three more five gallon buckets full of monotype and all the lube and stuff to make lube I want.

[gandydancer]

Just the time alone with no noise of any kind and nobody around to get in the way. also I enjoy doing it.

[lead-1]

I started out trying it because it was something I always wanted to try, then I decided I wanted boolits that work.
When I got those boolits to work I wanted more types and calibers and now I'm hooked. I considered selling all my casting stuff but one rifle mold last week and yesterday I cast about 500 pistol boolits in 9mm and 45 acp, lol.

[casterofboolits]

I blame it on Elmer and Skeeter, who got me thinking about cast boolits back in the late 60's.

[remy3424]

Recycling, it's good for the environment....and a sence of satisfaction...and I get to lurk around here and learn something new everytime I visit.

[dbarnhart]

It'a a special combination of science, art, and craft that appeals to me.

[fecmech]

I have been gun crazy since I was a small boy and love to shoot anything. Casting lets me shoot centerfire pistols and rifles for the cost of .22 rimfire. I love scrounging lead and turning a filthy oily mess of wheel wts into shiny bullets that I can actually hit things with at long distances. In a funny way I feel like I'm getting away with something, it's so easy! I cannot imagine pulling the trigger on ammo that costs $.50-$1.00 a round, I couldn't do it! I'm constantly amazed by the amount of BS that the average Joe shooter buys into in regards to cast bullets. Oh well, guess that means more lead for me.

[leadshooter5]

We're cheap. Really, really cheap, but we'll spend a dollar to save a nickel all day long. Go figure.

[41 mag fan]

We're cheap. Really, really cheap, but we'll spend a dollar to save a nickel all day long. Go figure.


Go figure...I could be a millionaire by now...guess my wifes been right all along..I am high maintenance