Do You Cast More Than You Shoot?

[rintinglen]

Prompted by a couple of recent "how-much-do-you" articles, I did a mental inventory and was a little surprised to find that I cast more than I load, and I load more than I shoot.

When I started reloading, it was to stretch my limited shooting budget. Range reload wad cutters were $4.00 a box, and I could load 2 boxes for that price, so I could shoot twice as much. My 20 bucks a month could stretch a lot farther. I had cast some boolits in my early teen's under the watchful eye of my friend Mike's Dad, so I had an idea of the basics, but Lyman molds were expensive, and H&G--forget it, I could just as easily justify financing a moon shot.

I came across a couple of Molds for sale at a Yard sale, both wadcutters, one a two cavity Lachmiller and a 3 cavity Cramer, both were a little bit rusty on the ouside, so I bought the pair for five bucks a peice and a Little two pound electric Plumbers pot for another few dollars. I scrounged up twenty or thirty pounds of wheel weights, and that is how I started.

Now how bad is it? I own moulds for calibers I don't shoot.

Most recent case, I finally received my long awaited MP 432-250 HP, Friday. Yesterday, I has able to squeeze in a short casting session, and run up a few score boolits, which are now sized and lubed--waiting for some MT brass to get into. I have to go shooting to feed my reloading habit and casting habits. Somewhere I lost my way.

[gray wolf]

To some casting and reloading is more than just shooting it all up.
It is a form of therapy, a relaxing thing to do.
Read, not only applies to old guys So some folks let it accumulate.
I am one of the some

[WILCO]

Now how bad is it? I own moulds for calibers I don't shoot.

Same here. [smilie=l:

[mold maker]

GBs and bargains have been the death of me. I started in "64 for the same reasons stated above. During the 70s I was too busy with raising a family to do much shooting, and thus didn't cast or load much. Now that I'm retired (that's a laugh) I have no time to use all the molds and stuff I got to use in my extra time. ROFLOL
There are dozens of molds that have only had enough casts to proof them. There are milk crates of ingots stacked 4 high along a wall. There's no way I can shoot enough, in the rest of my life, to justify what I've done.
If my Son doesn't use it, somebody is gonna get really happy, when I'm gone.

[ku4hx]

Yes...and no. Depends on when you catch me. Week before last the daily highs ran 105°F to 107°F without heat indexing. Heat index values were well above 110°F with an honest measurement in my garage of 114°F. I opened the garage door to cool things off a little. That's a mite extreme even for the Sunny South where I am but 100°F is not uncommon. Soooo, I have a workaround.

I cast in the Winter, shoot in the Summer and Winter and days when it's just too hot to shoot or too cold to cast (kind of rare) I do the major portion of my loading. Consequently, I'm currently casting far less than I'm shooting. And given my loading bench is inside, I've lately been loading more than I'm shooting.

But just as soon as the highs drop to around 90°F or so, I plan to send a little lead down range. Loaded 535 9mm today and now I'm itching for a 90°F cool wave.

[Shiloh]

I have a surplus of boolits to loaded brass.

I have loaded rounds that were loaded several years ago, yet I reload the ones I fired yesterday.
Part of my casting, shooting, reloading, scrounging for lead, neurosis.
For some of us this is "Normal" behavior.

Shiloh

[mongo]

It was pretty hot and sticky last week, Way to hot to do work around the house, I set up my pot outside and put a fan next to it, Cast 1500 .357 im an afternoon. Boy did the time go fast. I load and cast more than I could shoot, Seems I shoot just to recover the brass so I could cast a bunch more...Its a vicious cycle LOL

[462]

Don't own anything that's magazine or belt-fed full-auto, so I cast much more than I shoot.

[Jal5]

I find that the casting and loading part of the hobby is just as relaxing as the shooting part! I do the casting and loading part in the dead of winter though. Joe

[Wayne Smith]

I have a backlog of boolits for some calibers and I'm playing catch-up with others. Depends on what I feel like shooting at any time.

[Elkins45]

There are times when I enjoy casting more than shooting, and if I want to cast all I have to do is walk out to the garage and plug in the pot. Shooting more than a round or two involves loading up the guns, ammo and accessories and either driving to the farm or the shooting range where I'm a member. When I go to that much trouble I try to maximize my range time and shoot for hours if I can.

So during busy times I'm more of a caster and loader because I can do those in short, convenient spurts. When I have time to spare I'm a shooter.

[JeffinNZ]

Pretty much. I seldom ever run just one mould when casting so will cast boolits I don't presently require and stock pile. Good use of time and they keep rather well.

[94Doug]

cast and reload much more than shoot......

[williamwaco]

Yes!

Around 20% of the good bullets I cast ( after the culling process ) ultimately wind up being remelted and cast into something else.

.

[Plinkster]

I find that I'm just barely able to keep my casting ahead of my loading and shooting. I'm young and still chasing a family around so that occupies almost all of my time. I am starting to get slightly ahead of my shooting needs lately, however the biggest stockpile I have is about 300 .45s and those are waiting for lube yet. Usual MO is cast one day, lube the next, load the following day, and then shoot on the weekend if I can make it to the range.

[Cherokee]

I've got some boolits that I cast back in 1972, ammo that I loaded in 1980's. Lots of more currently cast boolits but I also have a good consumption rate, 200 to 600 rounds a week.

[500MAG]

Worse! I have gone out and purchased guns for those moulds and dies of calibers that I had so I could cast and shoot them.

[geargnasher]

If you see a mould that you know is good for a caliber you don't have yet but plan to, GET IT. Grab things while the getting is good as long as you don't put yourself in a bind doing so. I always intended to get a couple more of BRPs designs, and only he could make the exact ones I was after. Then suddenly he closed up, and I couldn't reasonably spare the dough at the time the short final notice was announced. The same thing goes for any of the custom makers or antiques you find at gunshows and sales. I'm in on a group buy that won't be needed for a while, and I bought a MP brass 45-200-SWC 4-banger because who knows when I'd ever get another chance to own one.

As far as casting, lubing, or loading more than shooting, it totally depends on when you ask. There is no schedule, I cast when I have time or think I need to stockpile for project or for regular shooting. I'd love to have a "pet load" or two (business and pleasure) for every gun I own and just sit back and crank out boolits and ammo for them, but in 20 years I only have three guns "nailed down" with good loads.

Gear

[Boyscout]

I feel much better now knowing I'm not the only one who cast more than I shoot. I have a job that requires just about everything I have. I put about 40 rounds of CB 30-06 downrange yesterday testing a new (for me) alloy/load combination. I'm looking for a little bit of time to alloy the same and start casting in bulk. Like some of you, I love the casting part and enjoy it in and of itself. I do most of my casting in the summer so I can do it outside and most of my shooting in the winter since I don't compete and shoot a lot of handgun indoors. I have even thought of buying a Lyman 12 guage slug mold even though I am very happy with my Brenneke KO Sabots and my muzzle loader.

[btroj]

Ummm, of course? I find it dang hard to shoot a bullet I haven't yet cast!

I have thousands and thousands of unsized, unlubed bullets. A few thousand sized and lubed too.

Nothing sucks quite like wanting to load ammo and having no Boolits!

[Dirtdgger]

I have cast and loaded way more than I shoot. I built a new shelf in my gun room to store cast and reloaded boolits. I sure wish my grandkids would eat more peanut butter.

Fare well and keep your powder dry.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Yeah, it sure seems I cast more than I shoot.
the real sad thing is I spend more time on castboolits.com that casting :'(
Jon

[Digger]

Yeah, it sure seems I cast more than I shoot.
the real sad thing is I spend more time on castboolits.com that casting :'(
Jon

Oh how true that is ..... here too ....! ... :coffeecom

[HARRYMPOPE]

i shoot 4 days a week when i can shoot in the AM when i have light before work.The surplus i built up over the winter one day a week shooting is now depleted.

George

[runfiverun]

if you don't you can't.

[MikeS]

I too tend to cast & load more than I shoot. As somebody else already said, part (or most) of it is because to cast or load I can do those things here at home at almost any hour I please, but to shoot I have to drive about 12 or so miles, and can only shoot between 9AM and 6PM. One thing that's nice is that now that I've joined a club I can shoot for free (if you don't count the annual dues), so I can go to the range even when I've only for a $5 dollar bill in my pocket (which is usually what's left by the end of the month)!

I try to shoot boolits I cast & loaded a while ago, rather than ones I just loaded so I can keep the supply fairly current, but unfortunately more often than I like I'm shooting loads I just reloaded as I'm trying a different load, or something like that. :(

[captaint]

The other week I was casting up some 9mm's and near the end I said "I wonder if I need some 45's ?". So I go inside to look - Oh, I don't need any more 45's. It'll likely be 2 years until I shoot up what I have sized and lubed already. If I could only shoot at home !! enjoy Mike

[chboats]

Like most here I enjoy casting every bit as much as shooting. I spend 3 to 4 hours casting and loading for every hour I spend shooting. Because I trade lead for boolits to a couple of shooters I cast a lot more than I shoot.

Carl

[Freightman]

I cast more than I shoot in fact I load more than I shoot! went to the ammo locker to see if I needed to load some more and counted, do not need to load I need to shoot. I had 600 loaded '06's, 400+ 45/70's 1000 7.62x25 and 400 44 mags. so I need to shoot before I load. For some reason it takes me longer to do what I use to do in half the time, I think it is the birthdays that seem to come around every month.

[H.Callahan]

There are times when I enjoy casting more than shooting, and if I want to cast all I have to do is walk out to the garage and plug in the pot. Shooting more than a round or two involves loading up the guns, ammo and accessories and either driving to the farm or the shooting range where I'm a member. When I go to that much trouble I try to maximize my range time and shoot for hours if I can.

So during busy times I'm more of a caster and loader because I can do those in short, convenient spurts. When I have time to spare I'm a shooter.
Pretty much sums it up for me, other than times get so busy that I don't have time for casting, reloading or shooting, so I am currently WAY behind on everything. Plus, there is only one place in a 50 mile radius that sells consumables (ie, primer/powder) and when he gets anything in, it is out the door in a few hours. Then it is another month wait until he gets more in. Since I am get so busy, I can't camp out at his store waiting for stuff to come in, so I miss out a lot of times. I am frighteningly short of consumables (particularly primers) at the moment. The range is a good 45 minute drive (one way) away, so I usually end up with more boolits than I shoot as I can cast at home.

[geargnasher]

if you don't you can't.

Best answer so far.

Gear