Why some new members will do better than others here.
In reading various posts the past few days about a perceived "generation gap" regarding the instant-gratification individual versus the research & learn individual, it seems some new members (and old ones alike) wonder why their questions don't receive the attention that some other new members' questions do.
To answer that, let me ask this: How much work or study or research have you put into the questions you are asking?
We have a literal lead-mine of information on boolit-casting and reloading here, with much of it being exclusive to this site because many members here pioneered techniques and methods in regards to lead projectiles that are used by cast bullet shooters all over the world.
But you have to take the effort to read and study those "stickies" in order to glean the information. When you want instant answers to basic questions, it is indicative that you haven't done any research or made any effort into finding the answer or solution yourself.
This doesn't pertain simply to boolit-casting or reloading. It is pretty much universally applicable across all disciplines of interest.
I'm a pilot and aircraft owner. Prior to my medical setbacks, I was giving out some free time to a couple of aspiring pilots, both recently out of college and working at good jobs. Both had around 20 to 25 hours in their log book. I am not a CFII, so while I can fly from either seat (right or left), the students cannot log PIC time and the time spent with me and my airplane is simply to help them gain experience and knowledge.
The female student had finished her ground school, taken the FAA written test (and passed it) and had her Airman's Third Class Medical which served as her student pilot license. The male student had his logbook and a Bose ANR headset and this Airman's Third Class Medical which served as his student pilot license.
Both had decent stick and rudder abilities, but the female was by far the smarter pilot and asked far better questions and was far more serious about becoming an airman rather than just an airplane driver. The male asked the same questions over and over, or asked basic questions that he should've learned in ground school, but for which he was "too busy at the moment" to deal with.
After three flights, I told the male student to find someone else to mentor him, that I was done. He was literally flabbergasted that I would show him the door to our hangar simply because "all he wanted to do was get his license and be able to rent a plane now and then to fly his girlfriend and buddies around." I--and the other pilots along our stretch hangars--explained that there was a helluva lot more to it than that, but he just didn't get it then and I doubt he ever will.
One of my neighbors is not only still taking the female student up, but was present when she solo'd and caught the whole thing on video for her. She's serious and she's putting in the work and study necessary to be a good pilot, and more importantly, a safe pilot.
At this site, Cast Boolits, most everyone here has been casting and reloading for at least two or more decades, with most of the older members having double that. The lessons learned have come from a variety of means and methods, no shortage of which has been reading, researching, studying, and trial and error.
We stress safety here above anything else. Knowledge equals safety. Old-timers know what happens when water gets under molten alloy. We can laugh about the Tinsel Fairy, but the reality is, she can hurt and maim you bad and do it so quick you won't realize what's happened until the ER docs explain it to you.
A couple of years ago, I put a forefinger digit and a middle finger digit in a ziploc bag for the paramedics to take to the ER in hopes that they could be reattached to the shooter who'd blown them off--the result of not bothering to read or research or study anything when it came to reloading. As I'm putting a tourniquet on his arm below the elbow, another shooter asked him where he got his load data from. He told us (and later in court during a civil lawsuit trial that he lost) that he had never read a reloading manual, didn't see the need when he could go to any one of a hundred gun forums on the internet and get all the answers he needed.
In the shooting world, you kind of have a hierarchy and it goes something like this:
--Gun owners. They own a gun for whatever reason, but rarely if ever bother to shoot or practice with it. But it makes them feel better/safer for having it.
--Casual gun owner & shooter. They own more than one gun, usually, and make a point to shoot at least once a year, often times more. They're generally safe and careful with their firearm, but have extremely limited knowledge as to how it functions, how ammo functions, etc. A lot of hunters fall into this category as well as suburbanites who keep a firearm in the house for protection, but who realize the need to stay reasonably proficient with it.
--The serious gun owner. This person owns a number of guns, takes pride in his or her collection, knows the brand and make of each gun in their possession, keeps adequate ammunition for their firearms and enjoys shooting and is generally quite competent and proficient.
--The reloader. This is the Serious Gun Owner who shoots very often or with great enough frequency that the economics and supply/demand qualities of reloading make it a no-brainer. Lots of competition shooters fall into this category and most prefer progressive presses that can churn out lots of ammo in a short period of time. Once they find a good load, they (usually) stop there and crank out ammo by the hundreds, if not the thousands. Very knowledgeable, very safe, very competent and proficient shooters and gun-owners.
--The Handloader. The Handloader is often the Serious Gun Owner who has graduated at the reloading bench from a basic undergrad degree in assembling his or her own ammunition and is now embarked on a graduate-level quest for creating customized ammunition for each firearm they own. Sometimes they develop ammo for specific situations for each firearm, such as cold-weather loads, high-altitude loads, strong wind/crosswind loads, large specimen (or small specimen) of the same game animal loads. The Handloader lives at the apex of the shooting world.
--The Bullet Caster. The Bullet Caster shares the apex of the shooting world with the Handloader and the benchrest shooter. All are looking for optimum performance and results after each pull of the trigger. To these people, it is a whole and complete package--the gun, the ammo, the shooting. Some cast their own bullets thinking that it will save them money--when in reality, it allows them to shoot MORE for the same amount of money. Some have thousands of dollars invested in molds and furnaces and lubesizers; others have less than a dead Ben Franklin. But all view themselves as craftsmen, as artists of a sort because we are creating our own projectiles to go in our own seemingly unrelated array of components of brass and primers and powders. In this world micrometers and calipers and neck-turning and annealing and chamfering and case-trimming are but a drop in the proverbial water-quenching bucket in terms of tools and techniques used to create the ultimate cartridge.
What we've learned over the years has been acquired through endless hours of reading and study as well as discussion and finally thousands upon thousands of rounds loaded and fired at gun ranges all over the globe.
No one here minds lending a hand or mentoring new reloaders or boolit-casters. New members are urged to read the "stickies" for a simple reason: Damn near any and every question someone new to reloading or casting could ask or think of has already been addressed, in depth, in one of the stickies.
What most folks here do mind, however, is the attitude of Entitlement--as in, "You already know the answer so what's the big deal about just telling me instead of telling me to go read the archives?"
If you were to ask one of our resident psychologists here, who happen to be extremely experienced reloaders and casters themselves, what traits of the typical member here might be, they would tell you that either at or near the top of the list would be "Self Sufficiency."
We cast and we reload because we can and we do not want to have to rely on anyone or anything else in order for us to manufacture our own ammunition.
Another trait would be "Generosity." I myself have lost count of the number of members and new casters this site has helped with everything from finances to hunting to equipment lost in fires and burglaries to getting new casters set up with equipment.
So to any new member that may think we're grumpy or selfish or cantankerous (we are cantankerous) because you may get a chilly response to "Can I tumble-lube regular boolits that don't have tumble lube grooves" or "Can I load and fire gas check boolits without the gas checks" or "I just got a new Taurus .357--what's a good load" or "I'm thinking of getting into casting. What stuff will I need" and other such questions addressed not just in the archives and stickies, but that is available with even the simplest of a Google search, then so be it.
But for those who have a true passion and who at least take the effort to read and research in order to ask quality questions beyond the scope of what has been assembled in the "stickies," you'll be hard-pressed to find a better place to be than here.
:coffee:
