Recluse
08-16-2012, 04:13 AM
We all know what the Golden Boolit Award is. It's a distinguished honor bestowed upon those members here who have made significant contributions to the art, science and mysticism of boolit casting as well as who have made generous contributions of their time and efforts to this community and forum.
To that end, I'm proposing something somewhat unusual. I'm nominating TWO individuals, and both happen to be fellow Texans.
Ranchdog, aka Michael, has done more to help enhance and further the world of lever guns and lever gun hunting than anyone I know in the modern era. A lot of us can still easily remember when there weren't all that many selections of quality projectiles for some of the "odder" caliber lever guns out there.
Enter Michael and Ranchdog Bullets.
Michael took it upon himself to learn the craft of boolit design, then spent endless hours with Lee Precision to have the designs custom-made and in the process, opened incredible new horizons for shooters and hunters all over the world.
And in an area near and dear to me, the world of alox lubing, he refined a fool-proof and proven method of "dip-lubing" his boolits as well as a way to recover the excess alox.
All of this kept the lead projectile shooter's costs to a bare minimum while keeping their accuracy and satisfaction to an optimum.
Michael is getting out of the business so that he can dedicate more time to HIS life, which he has dang well earned. Some of us remember a frightening episode his wife had with a health malady and the prayer vigil that ensued. Things like that tend to remind a man of what's important, and Michael has his priorities in order. Lee Precision, we understand, will be incorporating the vast majority of his designs into their custom mold offerings.
The only thing that could possibly be better with Michael, in MY opinion, is if he'd made a runway (grass would be fine) on his place because I'd love to fly down there, do a little shooting on his place, have dinner with him and his lovely bride, and revel in why I contend that shooters are the best people in the universe.
For all of that, I nominate Michael/Ranchdog for the Cast Boolits Golden Boolit Award.
* * * * * *
My second nominee's contributions are both immediate and plentiful, especially if you are a newcomer around here or new to reloading. . . or if you have a mechanical problem with your car or vehicle.
Ian, aka Geargnasher, literally burst upon the scene here going high-speed with little to no drag and hasn't slowed down since. I'm not sure when the guy sleeps, although since it's 3:00 a.m., I wonder when *I* sleep at times.
I've yet to see or meet the member that Gear hasn't either helped, offered to help, contributed ideas to or offered thoughts on their pursuits.
As I've often made metaphorical reference to Cast Boolits being a town, with Ken being Mayor and the mods being the councilmen, Geargnasher would be that guy sitting down at the general store in a rocking chair whittling away on some wood with a far-away look in his eyes. Passerbys stop and ask him everything from which oil filter they need for their 1994 Chevy 5.7 liter pickup truck to how long they should brew a batch of Felix lube if they substitute sperm whale oil in lieu of mineral oil.
Gear will always have the answer.
I remember early on, not long after he joined, there was some guy coming around trying to sell us "anti-leading" goop or whatever and making miracle claims of "eliminates all leading while improving accuracy."
Gear took it upon himself to order some and did the damndest and most extensive testing on the stuff, showed us the targets, showed us his barrels and then declared the stuff garbage.
"Wow," I said to myself. "This guy is serious."
Then there is the area of tinkering and engineering. . . Who else would morph and frankenstein two presses together to get a Lee Classic Cast 1000? I'm not sure if Ian did it because someone might've said it can't be done, or if it's just part of his insatiable curiosity.
I suspect it is/was because of his quest for ultimate performance and perfection, as well as his unbridled passion for the world of handloading.
Forum members like Ian are what make forums like Cast Boolits what it/they are today. It is those members who go above and beyond with their contributions of knowledge and experience to share with the younger/newer members of our fold in order to aid them along just as we were helped by the generations ahead of us.
Time and time again I've seen Ian go FAR out of his way to explain something in great and unmistakable detail to both new members and old alike. It is because of this passion and tireless pursuit of perfection that I nominate Geargnasher (Ian) for the Cast Boolits Golden Boolit Award.
With greatest admiration and respect,
:coffee:
To that end, I'm proposing something somewhat unusual. I'm nominating TWO individuals, and both happen to be fellow Texans.
Ranchdog, aka Michael, has done more to help enhance and further the world of lever guns and lever gun hunting than anyone I know in the modern era. A lot of us can still easily remember when there weren't all that many selections of quality projectiles for some of the "odder" caliber lever guns out there.
Enter Michael and Ranchdog Bullets.
Michael took it upon himself to learn the craft of boolit design, then spent endless hours with Lee Precision to have the designs custom-made and in the process, opened incredible new horizons for shooters and hunters all over the world.
And in an area near and dear to me, the world of alox lubing, he refined a fool-proof and proven method of "dip-lubing" his boolits as well as a way to recover the excess alox.
All of this kept the lead projectile shooter's costs to a bare minimum while keeping their accuracy and satisfaction to an optimum.
Michael is getting out of the business so that he can dedicate more time to HIS life, which he has dang well earned. Some of us remember a frightening episode his wife had with a health malady and the prayer vigil that ensued. Things like that tend to remind a man of what's important, and Michael has his priorities in order. Lee Precision, we understand, will be incorporating the vast majority of his designs into their custom mold offerings.
The only thing that could possibly be better with Michael, in MY opinion, is if he'd made a runway (grass would be fine) on his place because I'd love to fly down there, do a little shooting on his place, have dinner with him and his lovely bride, and revel in why I contend that shooters are the best people in the universe.
For all of that, I nominate Michael/Ranchdog for the Cast Boolits Golden Boolit Award.
* * * * * *
My second nominee's contributions are both immediate and plentiful, especially if you are a newcomer around here or new to reloading. . . or if you have a mechanical problem with your car or vehicle.
Ian, aka Geargnasher, literally burst upon the scene here going high-speed with little to no drag and hasn't slowed down since. I'm not sure when the guy sleeps, although since it's 3:00 a.m., I wonder when *I* sleep at times.
I've yet to see or meet the member that Gear hasn't either helped, offered to help, contributed ideas to or offered thoughts on their pursuits.
As I've often made metaphorical reference to Cast Boolits being a town, with Ken being Mayor and the mods being the councilmen, Geargnasher would be that guy sitting down at the general store in a rocking chair whittling away on some wood with a far-away look in his eyes. Passerbys stop and ask him everything from which oil filter they need for their 1994 Chevy 5.7 liter pickup truck to how long they should brew a batch of Felix lube if they substitute sperm whale oil in lieu of mineral oil.
Gear will always have the answer.
I remember early on, not long after he joined, there was some guy coming around trying to sell us "anti-leading" goop or whatever and making miracle claims of "eliminates all leading while improving accuracy."
Gear took it upon himself to order some and did the damndest and most extensive testing on the stuff, showed us the targets, showed us his barrels and then declared the stuff garbage.
"Wow," I said to myself. "This guy is serious."
Then there is the area of tinkering and engineering. . . Who else would morph and frankenstein two presses together to get a Lee Classic Cast 1000? I'm not sure if Ian did it because someone might've said it can't be done, or if it's just part of his insatiable curiosity.
I suspect it is/was because of his quest for ultimate performance and perfection, as well as his unbridled passion for the world of handloading.
Forum members like Ian are what make forums like Cast Boolits what it/they are today. It is those members who go above and beyond with their contributions of knowledge and experience to share with the younger/newer members of our fold in order to aid them along just as we were helped by the generations ahead of us.
Time and time again I've seen Ian go FAR out of his way to explain something in great and unmistakable detail to both new members and old alike. It is because of this passion and tireless pursuit of perfection that I nominate Geargnasher (Ian) for the Cast Boolits Golden Boolit Award.
With greatest admiration and respect,
:coffee: