casting and income.

[prs]

I never saw it comming. It just hit me out of the blue. Wham! Next thing I knew, I was tangled up in it without hope of reprieve.

prs

[Fire_stick]

I read a post by Old Ironsights on another forum about a deer he shot with a 357 cast bullet, and I says, I want to learn to cast. He sent me here, and I cannot believe how much I have learned, and have yet to learn.

I am kind of cheap, so money was factor for me too. I hated paying more and more for jacketed bullets.

[1bluehorse]

I've been casting a long, long, long time. I'm retired and have the time to cast about all I want to. That said, if I knew where I could find cast bullets of about 12 BHN, 255 to 300 gr., sized to .452 that I could buy for 10 bucks a hundred shipped I'd never cast another bullet. Understand, I don't mind casting at all, but I would be just as happy to not ever see my Star luber, all the molds and melting pots again..

[danielk]

I was initially drawn to casting for the ability to economically shoot more. Now I'm just plain addicted!!!

[peerlesscowboy]

Bought myself a brand new Ruger Blackhawk .357 on the way home returning from the war in VietNam in 1968, factory swaged swc 357 ammo cost $6 a box and leaded the barrel so bad after a boxfull you could hardly see the rifling but it killed jackrabbits good, factory swaged rn 38 spl ammo cost $5 a box, shot clean but didn't flatten those big jackrabbits out like the swc 357's did. Got to reading all the stuff Elmer & Skeeter wrote and it seemed plain to me that real sixgunners cast their own so I dived in. Virtually nobody around here was casting back then not even the oldtimers so I pretty much taught myself with a little help from the Lyman Reloading Handbook and the afore mentioned Elmer & Skeeter, now I could make accurate .357's with plenty of power to knock down them big jacks that didn't lead up the barrel and what's more looked like real sixshooter ammo
I don't think jacketed sixgun bullets had even been invented yet back then? They sold swaged half-jacketed bullets for reloading, I loaded a box or two of them but wasn't impressed, went back to my own castings

[twocool4u]

I started reloading to save money, then discovered buying bullets was the single most expensive reloading component. Then I started casting to save money.

Here I am, 4 years later, a couple a thousand dollars poorer, still waiting to save money.....

Sheesh....

[XWrench3]

i got into it so i could shoot more. initially, i figured that the savings from shooting cast boolits would pay for the investment in about a year and a half. which it did. the only problem is i keep buying more casting stuff, and shooting more. so i dont know if i am ahead, or behind! really, i dont care. i am having fun, both casting and shooting. can you put a price on fun, sure. you can also put a cost on keeping a wife. but if we did, none of us would be married! and kids, forget ti. that's a loosing proposition from the very start. it just goes to prove, somethings, you can not put a price on!

[songdog53]

Got started casting for muzzle loader way back when and just carried over into my casting for my pistols. I enjoy the casting and sizing and lubing and reloading as much as shooting but then i also get to shoot lot more too so..is win win all round.

[John Guedry]

When I learned to reload, casting seemed to be the next logical step.

[bbailey7821]

I also learned from my Grampa. I always wanted to do what he did, it was just cool. I'm now passing it on to my kids, and hopefully my grandkids, one day. It's just a neat way to save money and teach young-ones something.
Loading ammo that cheaper than factory is a good thing, too!

[firefly1957]

I started casting for fishing weights (needed heavy weight for strong current) then Muzzle loading,Pistol cartridge,... and it continues almost 40 years now.

[Paladin 56]

When I first started, it was because I found an old round ball mold my dad picked up from who knows where. I found those RB's would just fit in a 20 ga. shotgun bore, so I rolled them into shotgun shells and used to see how many rounds it took to cut a tree down.

Later on, I did it for the economics since I really can't remember not reloading. I couldn't afford factory stuff and store bought bullets and figured out I could shoot more if I rolled my own bullets and ammo.

[Rich/WIS]

Started loading in the late 60's when bullets were still cheap. Used to shoot at an old gravel pit and there was a fellow there every week shooting a M1 carbine and a Ruger in 30 carbine. He cast bullets and got me interested. Might not have started but he invited me over one evening to cast some 38s for my M27 S&W, I was hooked. Moved shortly after to Maryland the local shop had a used Lyman pot and a 450 sizer/luber. Got some Lee molds for 38 and 44 (wife bought me a
M29 S&W just before we moved). Moved again to New Jersey and replaced the Lee with RCBS. While there an older fellow I worked with gave me an old Lyman-Ideal 4 cavity 38WC that he said was rusted. He was wrong, rust was dirt and crud that cleaned out of the cavities with a little JB past on a Qtip. Kept moving and adding molds and settled on a RCBS 30 cal mold and a Lyman 45 mold to round out my calibers. Also cast RB for ML rifles as well.

Was it economics, sure. I found I could shoot a lot more for less and that was a tremendous incentive. But casting was also an extension of shooting and reloading. I do reload J bullets, but only for my 243 and 06 as hunting loads, and some in 9mm for my son (don't have a mold).

[MaxJon]

I like reloading as much as shooting! I have mostly shot/reloaded rifles in fullbore competition with jacketed pills. Since the loss of our rifle range I got into pistol shooting, where reloading is completely essential due to a 600 joule ammo energy factor. Then came casting! Well that has become the most enjoyable part of reloading! Its all about the self achievement of shooting well or winning a match with your own ammo! I intend to get into IPSC (or USPCA?) so i think i will have to invest in some 6 cavity moulds! Its a warm and fuzzy feelin when those nice shiny pills fall out of the mould!
BB03

[HangFireW8]

I started reloading as a young single guy to afford to shoot trap more. That worked out well. When I got my first '06 it was a 5MOA shooter and handloading (and a new trigger and a glass bedding job) chopped that in half. Putting another barrel on it took care of the other half. Last time I checked, most factory ammo still shot awful in it, except for one pricey load, a Federal with some Sierra bullets. I am pretty sure that particular one is not made any more, at least not by Federal.

I always figured I'd get into casting some day when I had more time to practice with my 45. So, I started collecting all I needed at yard sales. One fine Winter day, I realized I had all I needed and started pouring my own.

I'm not rich but I could afford to buy jacketed, or even loaded ammo, especially if I wasn't spending so much on reloading and casting. I'd never get the group sizes or quantity of shooting I do now, though.

[DIRT Farmer]

Started reloading in the early 60s to feed a bolt action 20 ga Mossburg shotgun. Lee loader, powder wads shot and primers kept me broke from the typical farm boy jobs, putting up hay and catching chickens in the broiler houses. We cast sinkers and when I built my first M/L rifle in the mid sixties, I bought a mould and cast for it, The pistol was a natural, and when I found a match that required a military rifleand cast bullets it was on.

[dk17hmr]

Couldnt afford to shoot my 1911 in college if I didnt do something, so I got an iron pot from my grandpa bought a cheap lee mold, got some lead from tire shop, and used my dads coleman camp stove....

[fecmech]

A friend back in the late 60's brought some single action Colts out to my house, a .45 and .357 to let me shoot. I was hooked big time and as a young ,man starting out did not have much money and the friend was a caster. The rest is history. The funny thing is that by casting my own bullets I always felt like I was "getting away with something". It was so easy,so much fun, lead was everywhere for the asking. I have no idea how many pistol rounds I've shot over the years, well over 100kmaybe 200k not sure but I've only bought 3 or 4 boxes of factory centerfire pistol ammo and 1 box of .243 rifle ammo in my life. When I look at some of the prices for hand gun ammo in catalogs and it's north of a dollar a shot I just shake my head. I could not even pull the trigger on dollar a shot ammo! What a waste, that dollar will buy about 40 primers and with 2 more of those shots I've got about a hundred rounds of cast loaded!
Casting, reloading and shooting are all great hobbies that keep your mind and body engaged in a worthwhile way IMO.

[koehn,jim]

I cast because I collect old military rifles mostly german and english. If I dont cast I can not get them to shoot good enough groups. I have several rifles that only get condoms because thats what they shoot best. i have also found that I enjoy the challenge of making a good bullet and than loading it and shooting a good group. Help me this is addicting.

[Smoke-um if you got-um]

In the early 70's I was given the equipment from a friend of my Dad's. It was very primitive but served the purpose. Consisted of of an old Coleman stove, a small cast iron pot, a bunch of solid green lube sticks that were sticky as snot, a mold for .358 double end wadcutters, RCBS 38 Special dies, a pound of Bullseye and a pound of Red Dot. It had what looked like an old gravy ladle with a homemade wood handle on it. The ladle also served as the ingot maker. Gave me about 100? pounds of WW ingots. Instructed me for about 15 minutes on how to flux the mix and finger lube the bullets with the green snot that also did duty as the flux. My wife and I were poor as a couple of paupers during those days and his generosity allowed me to shoot thousands of rounds as well as sell a few to friends. It was most certainly a matter of economics for me. As I've made my way I try to be generous with new or less fortunate shooters of all ages. I cast now because it gives me satisfaction to do so and a way to relax with a little "private time" to myself.

Mike