How Many?

[SciFiJim]

I know many of you don't cast in the coldest part of winter because of the cold. How many cast boolits of each caliber/mold/configuration do you normally keep on hand or stock up for the winter? 100? 1000? all of you alloy? Also, do you keep some unlubed and unsized or do you go ahead and lube and size all of them?

[blikseme300]

I try to not cast in summer as it gets too hot here in the RGV of Texas. I cast, lube and load for the rest of the following year each winter. I know this is opposite what many others may be doing, but it works for me.

Bliksem

[lwknight]

I'm usually too busy till fall, so I usually cast a lot in mild weather when I can leave the door open with a fan in the window or work in the garage. I get all the brass I own loaded before really cold weather hits and don't shoot much till it warms up. I'm lucky in that I have an insulated , heated and air conditioned work shop.
I usually only lube up what boolits that I think I will be loading soon.

Of course if I were to say, get a new mold or a new gun, you bet your boots I will be casting something anytime of year that it may be, till the newness wears off.

[qajaq59]

I seem to cast for an hour or two whenever I get bored, winter or summer, so I usually have several thousand sitting around for each rifle. About half are sized and lube.

[jack19512]

I know many of you don't cast in the coldest part of winter because of the cold.







That is when I do the majority of my boolit casting. I very rarely have to cast any the rest of the year. Gives me something to do when it's too cold outside to do anything else. I keep them unsized and unlubed until I am ready to use them.

[44man]

I have so many different boolits that I might have 25 to 50 of each but I usually run out and have to cast for an hour. Finding time to cast is the problem. I like to make a few hundred at a time but will use two molds so I have some of each boolit.
I lube some right away but others might sit until I need them.

[Blammer]

I cast outside so it has to be about 60° or better for me.

how many and of what I have cast? sometimes, too many, few times just about right, and mostly never have enough on hand. :) Sized and lubed are pretty much random.

It always seems that when I want to load some ammo I never have enough of the boolits I want in the right form. It either has to be cast, or sized and lubed. Rarely do I go in and say hey I'll load some of "x" and "yea! I have some ready to go!"

I guess if I didn't shoot so much I'd have pleanty to load. :)

My shooting has pretty much doubled since I started casting boolits.

[Jon]

I try to cast in the spring or fall when it's not too hot. I'm pretty much out of bullets at this point, and need to do some more casting. I'm hoping it's above freezing this weekend, and I can crank out a few hundred 38 and 45's.

I try to have a good stash of cast bullets, and load them up in the winter. It's really too cold to be out for hours on end.

[XWrench3]

i dont cast as much in the winter, but i do cast some. i really dont like freezing my tail feathers off out there, but when you gotta have boolits, you gotta have um. how many do i keep around? i TRY to keep a gator-aid can (roughly the size of a 2 pound coffee can) of each caliber on hand at any given moment. just before witer hit this year, i cast us some extra that i just left as cast and stowed them away in baggies.

[BruceB]

For my part, I cast as needed, whenever needed.

However, I cast in large quantities, at least what *I* consider to be large quantities. This means perhaps 800-1500 of any one type at a sitting. Most of these will be put aside for future lube-sizing, because the summer heat in this desert isn't good for lubed bullets.

So, when my stock of any particular bullet runs out or gets low, I'll cast enough that I won't have to cast that design again for some time. At least, that's the plan. It doesn't take all that much time, as 2-cavity moulds give me 400-500 per hour and 4-cavs will approach or exceed 1000 per hour.

[MT Gianni]

I cast when I need to but don't when it is in the -teens. Around zero I am still OK but much below that in an unheated shop I don't cast.

[PBKing]

Cast bullets in the winter. The shed warms up a bit. Smelt into ingots as often as needed the rest of the year. Usually cast 20-30 lbs at a time swithching between calibers at bat on the hotplate. Sure can make a mess of em with those 6 bangers.

[captain-03]

Usually cast a couple times a year for the most part ... The the exception of this year, it really does not get too cold to cast -- I guess global warming has made that impossible this year!! I cast for a few days, usually size them and hold off on the lubing until I get ready to use them .. I like the blue plastic boxes from Midway to store them in ..

http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss241/captain-03/IMG_2249.jpg

http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss241/captain-03/IMG_2250.jpg

[Tazman1602]

I smelt outside in the summertime because it's nice up here but do a lot of casting in the winter with the use of a big fan and either marvlux or franklin arsenal casting flux to keep the fumes down.

I do use parrafin when smelting outside though.

Normally I have a couple thousand from each caliber I shoot in little plastic ziplock containers I steal from my wife then she wears them out. They're stackable and they work great.

[mroliver77]

I cast when I have a relatively low pain day. Its been a while since I went through 10lbs in one session. I lube when I feel like it. I store lubed or unlubed in any container I find.I am not comfortable without a sizable stash.
Jay

[JSnover]

I don't shoot as much as I'd like to so I only keep about 200 of any given type on hand and usually have between 100 and 200 loaded rounds for each gun. I am more comfortable casting in the winter and I seem to get better results when the pot is near 750F and the air temperature is between 30 and 50F. I don't lube until I'm ready to load.

[klutz347]

I was out casting last week. OAT was about 15º F or there abouts.

[gwilliams2]

I try to not cast in summer as it gets too hot here in the RGV of Texas. I cast, lube and load for the rest of the following year each winter. I know this is opposite what many others may be doing, but it works for me.

Bliksem

Ditto... Some days I swear that you could melt the lead by just setting it out in a cast iron pan in the sun.. Especially this last summer.

[HammerMTB]

I know many of you don't cast in the coldest part of winter because of the cold. How many cast boolits of each caliber/mold/configuration do you normally keep on hand or stock up for the winter? 100? 1000? all of you alloy? Also, do you keep some unlubed and unsized or do you go ahead and lube and size all of them?

I will cast when it's down to freezing. Then it's no fun in the cold anymore. Most of the year I'm OK. Here in NW WA wet is more a problem- can't put the smelter out if it's gonna get rained in..... :Fire:

I have
30-40 lbs of .40 cal- most sized, some lubed.
4-500 .45 cal 255 gr for the SA Ruger
4-500 assorted .44 cal for the DA Ruger
200 or so .45 cal TC's for my son's XD
Just a few .458 340 gr for the 45-70
There might be some assorted junk, but that comes to mind.

I have a 3 lb coffee can of loaded ammo for the .40 so I can shoot a match or 2
Most of the other stuff is just getting loads developed that I like so there's no stockpile. Pistol ammo is easy to mass produce anyway.
Oh, and no, that's not all my alloy.... :castmine:

[454PB]

Most of my casting is during the winter and early spring. I cast in my loading room/shop and heat it electrically to about 55 degrees for casting.

It's rare that I have less than three to five thousand various boolits cast and stored.

[outdoorfan]

I've been casting about every 2 weeks since last spring, which is when I got into this hobby (And I'm blaming all of you and this fine webiste!! :D). I did three hours of casting just a few days ago in an open shed at my friend's house. The ambient temperature was in the low single digits. Three hours was about all I could handle.

[AZ-Stew]

The temperature in my shop runs 72F. +/- 5 or 6 degrees year 'round. Sometimes I have to sacrifice my body to the outdoor, but covered, garage door entrance in the Spring time to render WW, but other than that...

Regards,

Stew

[Gar]

I'm limited to casting in the fall and winter months as my shop isn't air conditioned like some (Stew ;^)
I'll cast up 8 to 10K of each mold during the season and size and lube them as I load them. Most the time I end the casting season with 4 or 5K of each handgun caliber and around 2K each of the rifle stuff on hand to carry me through the summer.

[randyrat]

I cast in the shop (no heat) only when it get above 15-20 degs. Below that it seems to harden/air harden bullets on one side quicker than the other side.
Also it's too dang cold for me

[mpmarty]

For pistol, both 45acp and 10mm I use 7.62 Nato GI ammo cans and when the cans are less than half full I know it's time to start the turkey fryer and warm up the dillon.:bigsmyl2: