I have spent some time looking around for the answer to the question,,,what is the difference between a boolit and a bullet?
I figure it is just a cute term but I just have to ask,,,:razz:
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I have spent some time looking around for the answer to the question,,,what is the difference between a boolit and a bullet?
I figure it is just a cute term but I just have to ask,,,:razz:
Here is the way "I" see it...
"Bullets" are usually considered as factory manufactured.
"Boolits" are cast/"made" by individuals.
There may be some folks who consider "swaged" "boolits" as "bullets" due to how they are made, or their being "jacketed", but , IMO... they are not, as they are made by an "individual".
IMO, If it is a factory made projectile, it is a "bullet".
IMO, if it is made by anyone who is not a "factory", it is a "boolit".
Hope that helps & I am sure that someone else will come along and have a better "definition".
But, heck.. I tried.
;)
Hope that helps.
:)
Could be different for every person here. Let that sink in a second.
Myself, I use them pretty much interchangeably.
But if I had to put a definition on it.
All "boolits" that I posses, were made by me. Cast of lead, swaged, hammered, sized, whatever.
Bullets can be and often are bought and sold. They tend to be machine made, some are cast, some are jacketed, some are swaged.
That may be clumsy to define, but to me it is at the heart of the difference.
Bullets come from a machine or factory.
Boolits come from people using knowledge, tools, skill and experience to produce a similar if not perfectly identical product.
Does it matter if it is a Hornady bullet or a hand swaged labor of love using BTSniper dies?
Or <insert favorite brand name cast bullet here>
Or something that you poured into a mold, timed the sprue cooling perfectly, cracked the sprue and dropped brand new bright and shiny boolits into the world. Which you then sorted, lubricated and loaded.
Just my 2 cents plus a buck and a halfs worth of hot air.
I see them both as describing modified cylinders that exit a barrel at a high rate of speed
It is also a term that sets some of the folks at the Cast Bullet Association into a frenzy. :lovebooli
It's all in the name. The reason for the name choice was explained a few years back. Something to do with copyright or the name being taken already or something. Gunloads.com came into it I think.
A boolit is a nomenclature devoloed on here to define a cast projectile ONLY.
That differentiates it from a bullet, which is what most lay people call a complete cartridge - consisting of a projectile loaded in a brass case with powder and primer and is fireable from a gun.
I entered the title of this thread into "Google custom search"
This was the first result
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ot-Boolit-quot
"Boolits = as God laid it into the soil, Grand Old Galena, The Silver Stream graciously hand poured into molds for our consumption. . . Bullets= Machine made utilizing Full Length Gas Checks as to provide projectiles for the masses."
The above is located one page back, near the top of the page.
I believe I can go to my grave without ever writing "boolit". I just can't make myself do it. But as long as it doesn't cause misunderstanding either way, it shouldn't cause resentment either way.
A silly snob thing.
Lots of good answers,,,it makes sence!
Thanks yall.
Sent from my SM-S920L using Tapatalk
No matter what you call them, boolits or bullets, they are not heads.
When ever I see or hear the term head I think of a toilet, or Bill Clinton.
They both start with a B. Take your pick.
I heard the term back in the eighties from a fella who was trying to be cute with the way he could mangle words . Like all the other that use a word for their own meaning , I leave them be , they seem to be happy and harmless .
Jack
I started casting for 45 and 38 back about 1977. I started making jacketed bullets for benchrest shooters in 2000. On this forum is the only place I've ever heard (seen) the term "boolit". Most big time shooters laugh when it's spelled out for them.
I use them interchangeably except when the difference between boolit and bullet might help clarify a statement. You join the Secret Brotherhood of Galena you have to use the proper ceremonial words for some formal occasions :-)
But mostly I use bullet because the spell check putting a red line under boolit is annoying. And I'm too lazy to add it to dictionary. Sad really.
Ken started it and I don't mind one bit, but I usually type cast bullet.
This used to be on the header of the forum, but I couldn't find it today; "Boolits = as God laid it into the soil, Grand Old Galena, The Silver Stream graciously hand poured into molds for our consumption. . . Bullets= Machine made utilizing Full Length Gas Checks as to provide projectiles for the masses". Jackets also described a "copper condoms"...
Sounds like a lot of fellers above aren't very familiar with the Castboolits forum, or The Brotherhood of the Silver Stream...
Boolits are cast from a lead based alloy.