so what is it

[white eagle]

about casting boolits that gets you going?
for me it the fact that I produced something that helps me be independent of out sourcing to fill a need
It also helps that I can keep doing so as long as I have the materials :Fire:

[Old Caster]

Your own cast bullets can be more accurate than anything you can buy, no matter how much you want to spend.

[chsparkman]

There's just something about making things for yourself. I caught my first trout on my own hand-tied fly when I was 12. Since then I've made whatever I can on my own...fly rods, arrows, woodturnings, cast boolits. Making things is in the human genome, and something that needs to come back to America before it's too late.

[waksupi]

Boolits will do what premium jacketed bullets try to duplicate.

[avogunner]

My friend and I were just talking about this the other day.....besides it (casting boolits) being my personal blood pressure medicine, the fact that it relieves me of dependence on other sources provides great satisfaction.

[Walter Laich]

I like to turn the dirty WW into good looking, good shooting bullets. I like the idea of "renewal"

p.s. I don't hung trees

[badboyparamedic]

Stress releaver, cost saver

[I'll Make Mine]

If I'm paying 35 cents a pound for the lead in my smelted ingots (not counting my time -- hobby time is fun, not work), under $4 a gallon for gasoline to run my stove, and casting 90 grain plinking boolits, I can shoot my Mosin Nagant (when I can find powder, primers, and brass, i.e. not during panic buying periods) for less than the cost of surplus ammunition -- or, put another way, I can shoot a 70 year old military rifle for about the same cost as a .22 Magnum, and with similar ballistic power (but, with hotter/heavier loads, still have capability to kill any animal in North America without having to pry another rifle out of my budget).

[sljacob]

why do I cast?

#1 being self reliant
#2 making somthing with your own hands that you can be proud of
#3 better accuracy
#4 to save money (the ability to shoot as much as I wish without the thought of cost)
#5 relaxing way to spend an evening


mostly in that order

[1Shirt]

Actually is is a curse that slowly creeps into your brain! But it is a good curse!
1Shirt!

[retread]

1. I can afford to shoot a lot more often.
2. I love making things myself and figuring out new eays to make them better.
3. What relaxing hours in the shop casting, reloading and just tinkering can do for your frame of mind.
4. Keeps me out of the wife's hair -- domestic tranquility!

[Horace]

I can shoot old rifles that other wise would be wallhangers.

Horace

[mdi]

Actually, along with some of the reasons mentioned above, I get great satisfaction from taking a bunch of dirty greasy wheel weights, some range "leftovers", and any scrap lead I can find and melt it down, clean it up and pour some nice clean ingots of good casting lead. Then I enjoy taking those ingots and melting them down in my casting pot and pouring the melt into some well chosen molds. When the lead has solidified, I can then finish off the lead slugs, making custom sized, custom lubricated bullets, specifically for one of my guns. Don't get much better than that...

[geargnasher]

Hmmm, saving money? Nope, that ain't it, last several moulds I've purchased have cost over a hundred bucks each. Stress relief? Nope, the quest for accuracy can drive me nuts sometimes. Domestic tranquility? Nope, that ain't it either, poor wife has to tolerate all sorts of smells, buckets of wheel weights and other stuff in the way, not to mention me not spending as much time with her as she'd probably like due to my lead addiction.

I do it because I like it, no other reason.

Gear

[bigboredad]

Like Gear I do it cause I like it and it makes me happy and how else could I get all those cute pink scars from the hot lead landing on my exposed skin from disregarding all safety precautions but chicks dig scars[smilie=1: I didn't say I was the sharpest knife in the drawer

[runfiverun]

i don't know why i do this.
i throw 25% of my rifle boolits into the recycle bucket before they even go near the sizer.
then toss another 5% after they [second visual] have been sized and checked.
and another 10% of those after the final [second] weight sorting just get stuck in a box.
i probably throw back about 10-15% of my pistol boolits after just a visual check.

seems like i spend most of my time making boolits i end up throwing back in the recycle bucket.

[MT Gianni]

Compulsive tinkerer. I get it from my dad as do my two brothers. A family trait that if you are not building things you have little worth. The less expensive and scrounged materiels make it more so. That, plus the fact that it is mostly fun.

[GP100man]

It`s AMERICAN to build/make something with your own hands!!

It gives me independence from other sources, self satisfaction/worth.

& I don`t like throwing nuttin away if it can be a source for other useful (got that from Grandaddy) items .

& like gear I like it !!!

[dakotashooter2]

When I first started casting it seemed like most of the commercial cast bullets I could get were undersized,too hard, and used too hard a lube. Leading was terrible. Some Commercial cast bullets are better now but I'm already committed and like the flexibility of casting my own.

[oldfart1956]

Over 20 years ago when I bought an old Trapdoor Springfield and saw the cost of ammo I decided to get into reloading. (been casting for muzzleloaders since the 70's) And that's all I reloaded for years. Then bought a snub .38 and wanted to learn to use the speedloaders...so started reloading for that. Then there was that .45 Blackhawk for $300. I'm not paying $42 a box for .45 Colt ammo. Then a OM .357 came along. Already had the .38/.357 dies...so bought a couple more molds to try. Then an old caster died and I got 750lbs. of Lyman #2, 2 dozen molds, a bucket of linotype, a 450 lubesizer with a bunch of sizing dies, ladles, ingot molds, and more other stuff than I can list. So....long story short....I'm saving a TON of money doing this!! :) Ohhh yeah...then a visit to Belding&Mull left me with a .44 Blackhawk...which I didn't really need/want but I've got all these molds for .44 so.....well...I hadda do it....right? Last night cast for 6 hours and 4 different molds. Tonight...might just do another run of H&G's for the .44. Got to keep ahead since I shoot a lot more now that I'm saving all this money. Audie....the Oldfart.

[nwellons]

I had two antique cartridge black powder rifles and had to go to cast to get ammo as there was no commercial product that I could find. I enjoyed it so much that I started reloading including casting for my more standard calibers.

[captaint]

I really just enjoy the whole process. Take some WW or other scrap lead and make beautiful boolits out of it. I can shoot any boolit I want. Make up a new load. Experiment. It's just enjoyable. Don't have to depend on suppliers (as long as we have primers). I keep enough stock of boolits ready to load. I've had boolits, lubed & sized around for 2 or 3 years and they shoot just fine. No lead in the barrels. Always looking for that "best" load. The one that shoots one hole - like I can still make that happen !! Mike

[SciFiJim]

What got me started was the thought of making cheaper ammo to shoot with. What got me hooked was melting metal in my back yard and making something with it. The thought that I can do something that most others don't have a clue about and consider too dangerous to try appeals to my vanity.

[pipehand]

Its the same thing that makes me bake bread, grow a garden, cure and smoke my own bacon, keep chickens. The satisfaction of making something yourself, in quantity and quality better than getting it from a commercial source.

[slim1836]

I enjoy reading and learning about "Boolits" on this forum. The wealth of information here will keep me busy for a long time. Enjoy scrounging for lead of any kind, and like to talk about casting to anyone who lends an ear. Best of all, I enjoy success in casting, developing a load, seeing nickle size groups at 50 yards, and kill zone shots at 100 yards. Still need to tweak some loads a bit, but overall quite satisified with what I've learned in such a short time. It's just plain fun taking wheelweights and turning them into Boolits.

Slim

[Dave C.]

It's fun! I can make much better boolits than I can buy. I allows me to
shoot well enough to be rated as Master in NRA conventional
pistol (bullseye). And after 30 years I am still learning!

Dave C.

[**oneshot**]

An extension of my handloading hobby to make the most accurate ammo for my shooting hobby.

[Blammer]

it's the 'shiney' stuff I like to see. :)

plus, I like to tell my friends I can shoot for penny's a shot, and I have an ample supply, and right now YOU don't. :)

[geargnasher]

Yeah, the shiny stuff is pretty irresistible too.

Gear

[xs11jack]

I am a country boy at heart, but am stuck in town. So I do what I can to satisfy my tinkering urge and independent streak. Making boolits is just one of the things I do. I fix everything I can, scrounge stuff others throw away and so on. I like doing this stuff, its good for the heart and soul.
Jack

[LtFrankDrebbin]

Why do I cast?
Cost effective, cheaper for me to get the mould rather than buy boolits.
(.358 comercial cast boolits were $75/ 500 last time I checked)

I like to tinker

Independance, boolits I want on hand at all times. Not what the shop owner thinks you want when he/she feels like ordering.

Abillity to fine tune to my own needs. Softer/ harder, less/more lube, not whats in the box.

It's therapudic, chill out in the shed and knock out a few boolits.

I am a big believer in recycling, blast it into the bank- dig it up- proccess- blast into the bank again!

And I'm just plain addicted.
"My names Frank......Hi Frank......."

[geargnasher]

Hi, Frank!

Gear

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I'd agree with all of the above, but it also has a connection to the past. I know they didn't use a Lee Production pot during the Civil war, but I tend to think about stuff like that when I'm doing this type of craft.

[lead4me]

Why do I cast? First I thought I was going to save money, What I get for thinking!! Then once I started it just turned out to be something my kid thought was really cool dad!! We get to sit out in the barn in the winter, cast a lot, talk,talk,talk,talk (9yo girl) listen to the coyote's howl & talk,talk,talk. I love the time we spend together. She is now helping me reload what we cast, you should see the looks we get at Cabelas in the reloading section. She knows enough that I'm waiting for guys to start asking her for help. She has a Ruger Bearcat & 10/22 and that little lady can shoot!!

[Alan in Vermont]

i don't know why i do this.
i throw 25% of my rifle boolits into the recycle bucket before they even go near the sizer.
then toss another 5% after they [second visual] have been sized and checked.
and another 10% of those after the final [second] weight sorting just get stuck in a box.
i probably throw back about 10-15% of my pistol boolits after just a visual check.

It's nice to know somebody besides me has an appreciable defect level. I know I've seen claims of casters having virtually no rejects. I'm not real picky and I still average probably 10% back in the pot. I tend to think that the low reject claims are one of three things; (A) the caster isn't at all fussy, (B) the caster doesn't know what a defect is, or (C) the caster is blowing smoke.

I just did a run of roughly 1600 Lee 401-175-TC out of a 6-holer on loan from X101airborne. That mold is a jewel and averaged just over 5% culls. To me that is exceptional performance.

[sljacob]

Why do I cast? First I thought I was going to save money, What I get for thinking!! Then once I started it just turned out to be something my kid thought was really cool dad!! We get to sit out in the barn in the winter, cast a lot, talk,talk,talk,talk (9yo girl) listen to the coyote's howl & talk,talk,talk. I love the time we spend together. She is now helping me reload what we cast, you should see the looks we get at Cabelas in the reloading section. She knows enough that I'm waiting for guys to start asking her for help. She has a Ruger Bearcat & 10/22 and that little lady can shoot!!

I have the same thing going on with my daughter (now 10 years old), it has made for a great father daughter relationship builder. The hours spent casting and reloading with her the last 3 years are priceless to me.

[Sax.45]

I cast to feed all my guns.:-D:-D, Their hungry :Fire:

[tward]

Well we all know that we cast because it saves up hundreds, even thousands of dollars! [smilie=1:It's an act of creation! Lead to shooting gold! Tim:mrgreen:

[savingprivateyang]

Got into reloading cause it would allow me to shoot more with just the purchase of the equipment, powders and bullets. Started casting cause, after doing the math, jacketed bullets are the most expensive component in a bullet (if you consider the many uses a piece of brass gets). Found I love casting because it gives me something constructive to do. Plus, who wouldn't want another hobby to stack on the pre-existing millions they already have... :roll: lol.

ETA: Forgot to mention all the interesting people casting has lead me to meet. The scrapyard guys are awsome people. The old timers I occasionally talk to at the LGS are awsome and can really bust my balls on my relative lack of knowledge while teaching me something. Also, I would have never found this site if I didn't get into it.

[runfiverun]

little girl calls it ocd.
[shrug] i just figure if i am gonna do something i might as well do the best i can, if i am picky about it i get better.

besides i don't have to re-mix the reject bucket with tin or anything.

[Wal']

I enjoy casting & reloading cause if I stuff up, there's no one to point a finger at or blame, keeps me honest. :twisted:

[DRNurse1]

Good thread: Peace in the home, relaxation, save a few $$, "I made it," all the pretty colors and shiny things, etc are good responses. I enjoy sharing my hobby and chatting about it with all y'all. Always learniing and you folks are helping me to do it better the first time. Thank you.

[bigboredad]

A huge bonus for me is my wife likes to help and it gives us a lot of quality time together

[s1120]

OK... so Im going into this as a new guy. I have not casted one bullet yet, but Im learning how. Why? Well one is cost. With a house, two kids, bills.... well Im not made of money. If I can save 10+ bucks a box of ammo, thats a LOT to me! But when it comes right down to it... I like to be able to do as much stuff as I can. So many people today cant do ANYTHING other then writing a check. All the old world skills are fading away. During times of emerncy people have NO IDEA how to live. Be it grow some food, or make a tool, or load a cast a bullet, and reload a round. Im not a prepper, or a doomsday watcher.... but I want to know I can make it whatever happands. Also I want to pass these skills down to my kids. They will know how to fix things, and build things... there will not always be stores that sell what you need.

[dudits]

why i cast..

thought it would save me money, lol

love working with my hands, and hate relying on others.

far far more accurate then any box ammo i have ever found

it goes great with all my other hobby's

my fiance loves to shoot a few hundred a week, and that is just sexy!!!


i will cast for the rest of my life, cause it is fun. and seeing the price of box ammo makes my
eyes hurt.

[timberhawk]

I cast to be able to shoot more.
Every three or four weeks my two brothers, our wifes and kids go to our property in the country and shoot.
We may go through 800-1,000 rounds of pistol and rifle ammo. No way we could afford to do that with commercial ammo.
It lets us spend quality time with our families and lets us teach our children to be safe, confident and self reliant

[John Allen]

There is something really fulfilling about taking an empty shell and processing it into a shootable item with your own cast bullets. I have even started making my own lube only because I can.

[mpmarty]

Freedom and independence two values I cherish.

[BeeMan]

The reasons vary...
- satisfaction in doing something off the beaten path
- making something valuable from a waste product
- practice ammo in volume at low cost
- the challenge in rifle loads
- the chance to make or modify loading tools and casting accessories

[tactikel]

I started casting when I was given for my 10th birthday a lead soldier casting set by my Grandfather. I turned wheel weights into scores of lead soldiers. Can you imagine in this day entrusting a 5th grader with heating a potentially toxic metal to 600 F ? Of course that was 50 years ago. I began casting bullets at 16yrs.