I am the smallest of small volume casters

[armoredman]

But every once in a while I feel the itch...especially when I realize I've run out of a particular boolit. It only takes 20 minutes to warm both pot and mold, and an hour until the lower back says "ENOUGH" - I have everything on an end table in the garage.
But it is still a neat feeling to go from left to right.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/casting%20stuff/lefttoright_zps743e3f69.jpg (http://s16.photobucket.com/user/armoredman/media/casting%20stuff/lefttoright_zps743e3f69.jpg.html)

[MtGun44]

A definite feeling of accomplishing a precision manufacturing job well!

Bill

[Three44s]

Hey, it's not whether you are doing TONS of lead into boolits ...........

........ it's whether you are pleased with the result!!

If you are ........... then that's all that matters!!


Three 44s

[MaryB]

Looks like enough for a reloading session and range trip.

[CGT80]

I only average a few hundred boolits per session at best. I am working on learning the proper temperatures for my melt and molds and how to get the alloy mix right. I buy moly coated lead bullets or traditional lead (when the price is good) for my competition pistol and jwords for my ar15 competition rifle, but the plinking guns (lower quantity of bullets) get my own cast boolits.

It would be easier to buy all my bullets, and maybe even cheaper, but I get satisfaction from making my own and spending far less money on the material than buying them. An order of 30 carbine boolits is just 100' away when needed, rather than weeks or months.

[blikseme300]

I have been to the range and only shot 5 rounds to satiate my desire. Often times it is the small things we do that give us the most satisfaction.

[texassako]

I don't see anything wrong with short sessions. I hardly ever have more than an hour of casting time available. Probably why I have never upgraded from a 4 pound pot.

[Walter Laich]

I usually last from 45 minutes to an hour and most of the 'fun' has been used up by then. Plus summer along the Texas Gulf Coast has been a shade warm and humid this year.

[Smoke4320]

Armoredman
I am in the same boat.. about an hour is all the back will stand..so its 100 to 200 bullets and I am done.. Just fine for me.. As long as you are happy with the results that's all that matters..

[MKastning]

I typically go in short bursts of time too. I sort of adhere to the "play 60" thnig that is it our first lady or the NFL promotes? :)

I try to cast for 60 minutes, then each day or couple days I will size/lube gas check 60, then load 60 the next day or so. This gets me a nice 60 round box of loaded rifle rounds ready for a shooting session or local military rifle match. (40 scored rounds)

It is surprising how much you can get done in an hour, or how little time it takes to make 60 of something.

[dondiego]

MKastning - I am pretty sure that is exactly what BO's wife meant! You should e-mail her and thank her for helping out the shooting community she so loves!

[bhn22]

I often cast for an hour or so, then shut everything down and cast for another hour of so the next night, or perhaps a couple of days later.

[Green Frog]

It's a rare casting session at the Frog Pad that goes to more than 2-300 bullets, many only 100 or so. I run what I need when I need most of the time so I can take them out and shoot them! :bigsmyl2:

Froggie

[jeepyj]

First off let's just say as long as your happy I can't imagine what what could be better. I used to build remote control aircraft I simply had to give it up because bending over killed my back. It felt like hamburg in a half hr to an hour.
Keep having fun that is all that's all that really counts
Jeepyj

[ProfGAB101]

Try doing shotgun slugs - run off about 40 and you have nearly a decade supply.

45 acp on the other hand - a 30rnd mag lasts about 1.4 seconds in my SMG.

[Garyshome]

Get it all out of the way ASAP and then move on to another stage of the process.

[olafhardt]

In all I do i often screw up and I prefer to screw up in small scale. I consider 100 to be fun. A lot of my projects only take a hand full.

[Jal5]

I probably only cast 150 in a session. The old back tells me it's time to quit. My casting is exclusively a winter hobby in the garage. Keeps me out of trouble and I make enough to last the next season 150 at a time :)

[olafhardt]

I have often thought that there shouldbe a sticky or topic or some spot dedicated to the small dare I say micro caster. This thread captures what I had in mind. Lots of noobs are told to start with 10 lb bottom pour pots, large smelting rigs etc. I do it all with a Lee 4 pounder. I have never poured or used an ingot, add cowws straight to the pot and other cheap tricks. I experiment with fluxes , alloys, mold releases and have all kinds of fun. I seem to have all the boolits I need. What a great place it would be to send a noob!

[Lefty Red]

Living in an apartment complex, I only cast 5-6 pounds at a time.
But with the cooler weather here, I might be able to up it some.

Lefty

[Bzcraig]

I've read the stories of guys smelting 100's of lbs at a time or pouring 1000's of boolits in a sitting and I don't doubt them one bit but that would feel more like work than pleasure for me. Smelting is less pleasurable cause I tend to do that "task driven" whereas pouring boolits, I usually do that by the "whatever I feel like" method, 500 boolits, a pot full, or the game is on in an hour.

[HangFireW8]

Well I feel a lot better after reading this thread. I have to squeeze in casting sessions so a lot of runs are basically one pot and done. I do get to leave my stuff on the bench so that helps. A lot of my recent sessions have been testing a new mold (darn GB's!) and I might just crank out 100-150 (and only that if it's running OK). Lately I'll bring along a known good mold to use up the rest of the pot.

My casting sessions doubled in size when I added a 20 lb pot to the bench. Now I keep rifle alloy in the 10 pounder and handgun alloy in the 20 pounder and that works well for the volume I shot in each type.

I'd like to say I make up for low volume casting by casting more often, but the reality is with my family commitments I actually make up for low volume casting by way of my low frequency shooting.

[geargnasher]

Casting is usually a marathon thing for me. I haven't cast anything in a couple of months, and it was a couple of months before that the previous time. The need to age-harden most of the alloys I use before shooting and the frustration of running low on a good, aged "lot" of boolits in the middle of a particular rifle load workup (which can take hundreds or even thousands of boolits) or lube test has driven me to dedicate time for stockpile sessions that usually amount to 30-50 lbs of boolits. I used to think a couple hundred was a bunch, but the dang things just evaporate like Skittles when you shoot a couple boxes every week for a while.

When I get most of my toys shooting the way I like I'm sure this will decrease significantly. Something about large-scale shooting and ammunition supply takes the fun out of casting.

Gear

[Rick N Bama]

You're not the only one that is a small volume caster. Right now I'm working with a single cavity Lee mold for a 41mag. The best I'm doing is about 30 cast before the back tells me to stop. Doesn't matter a bit, I have way more time than I do $$$.

Rick

[s1120]

I'm still in the planning stages for casting.. I have a pot, lead, and a few molds but haven't casted yet. With kids, house chores, famley life, other hobbys.... well I'm thinking a hour long casting sesson , and 100 boolets, will be the norm for me. I really don't shoot a ton, so that's really about right. Glad to hear I'm not alone

[armoredman]

I had no idea I was in such company. :) I do know what geargnasher says - they do tend to simply run dry when you're not looking...so I pop out into the garage and fire up the pot. If I'm pan lubing, it's an all afternoon thing, even though the shortest part is at the pot. The only pan I am able to use right now is QUITE small. :) My wife glares at me any time I look at real pans...
I do cast year round, which in AZ can but fun during the summer. Really need sweat protection around the lead.

[Round ball]

I also cast in small volume. Usually cast about 10+ pounds of lead with 1 or 2 cavity moulds. After a couple of hours my back starts to get sour.

[dale2242]

I don`t have a place to leave my casting gear out.
I put it away overhead in my shop.
Putting it away and getting it out and setting it up is somewhat of a pain, so I make it worthwhile.
I don`t do marathon casting when I get it out, but do several 100 at a time.
Casting has always been gratifying tome....dale

[jonp]

Single cavity 454190. I managed 103 on my last go around. Seems about enough for me at this point.

[kenyerian]

There is a lot of variables as I cast for a lot of different guns. It don't take long to make a good supply of Maxi Balls for Black Powder hunting. If I'm running Pistol bullets I spend more time at it cause The grandKids and I blow through a bunch of them. Also mass produce 223"s. Sometimes i just like to fool around with a new mold for a while or make some boolits for the guns we don't shoot as much. Much more casual than. I'd rather relax for a while and tinker with a small project than watch TV.

[guicksylver]

I am a low volume caster and a high volume shooter?
Yup I know that does not work on paper.
But after years of shooting IDPA, IPSC, Bullseye, Trap, Skeet and National Match Rifle one thing I've learned is that some better
load or powder or boolit comes along and your stuck with all this loaded ammo or a bunch of boolits with a certain alloy, lube etc.
I cast 10# a time, try for the best quality and am ready to shift gears in a moments notice.
Really there is nothing worse than having to use a case of shot shells or loaded ammo that is not as good as the "Johnny come lately."
I do however realize that there is a big difference between pistol shooters needs and that of a rifle shooter.
10# of boolits won't get a pistol shooter through a weekends practice, but 10# of rifle boolits can wear you out.

One last thought ,for me pulling the trigger is the lesser of all the fun with shooting ,its the load development, alloy, boolit style etc that floats my boat.

[lwknight]

I'm totally OCD. Once I get started , I can't stop till an ammo can is full. I do take breaks though.

[Hardcast416taylor]

When I feel like casting I`ll dig out the mold from the pile I think I want to cast some from. The RCBS pot is on and when hot enough I`ll top it off to the near full level. The mold is getting warmed up on my old hot plate. The pot is in the 700 - 725 degree range according to my old steam boiler thermometer and has been fluxed 2 times before I start dropping lead. I`ll cast till either the pot is 3/4 empty or either my back or my arthritic hands tell me to stop. I let the bullets age for about a month then I`ll put in a night or 2 lube/sizing them for storage to be loaded at a future date. I imagine that when I go to whatever reward I get at my demise I`ll be leaving about 3/4 of a ton (or more probably) of 5 different leads behind for people to squabble over.Robert

[upnorthwis]

Just picked up a .224 55gr. RCBS mold that I wanted to cast a "few" boolits in. Only filled pot half full. (5lb.) Should have done a quick calculation of just how many boolits that is. Especially since the sprue weighs more than the boolit. Over 600 boolits and hours later, I barely had any strength left in wrist to finish.

[Blammer]

looks good to me! when I started casting I'd only get 2 or 3 boolits at the end of a session. :)

[Changeling]

Hello armoredman, this is about your back pains. It might work and it might not, but is really worth the try! You will have to take it for a month for it to start working. Costco is the best place to go, but SAM's also has it. These are basically over the counter vitamins! If no response after 30 days are so, tuff luck!

Glusomine & Chrondrotin tablets (no substitutes) you will find in the vitamin section of both stores. I'm NOT a doctor, there is NO gurantee, However it worked for me.

Not affiliated with the manufactuers whatsoever.