How Much You Cast Vs Shoot

[44Blam]

I tend to "have enough of something" to shoot, but I shoot 3 to 6 matches pretty much every month and sometimes I realize I'm just out of what I want to shoot. I just bought a new pistol in 10mm and I HAD a ton of 40 cal boolits. So I thought I'll load up a couple hundred to get a good feel for the gun... I had 164 left... So cast about 800 or so but need to pc and then wait a couple weeks... Fortunately, I have a bunch of 44s and 357s...

[Michael J. Spangler]

I love that this was bumped 7 years later

[marek313]

I love that this was bumped 7 years later

Yes because us addicts like to talk about things we like to do. I find casting calming so i cast until lead is gone in my pot and at times I might even take a break and add more to the pot.

[drac0nic]

Yes because us addicts like to talk about things we like to do. I find casting calming so i cast until lead is gone in my pot and at times I might even take a break and add more to the pot.

It is a Hallmark of summer in my mind at this point. Get the kid in bed 9pmish and cast for about 2 hours maybe 3. Come inside then bask in the fruits of my labor.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Yes because us addicts like to talk about things we like to do. I find casting calming so i cast until lead is gone in my pot and at times I might even take a break and add more to the pot.

Totally agree.

[BamaNapper]

Yes because us addicts like to talk about things we like to do. I find casting calming so i cast until lead is gone in my pot and at times I might even take a break and add more to the pot.

I could not agree more. Casting is my therapy. I'll spend hours with a 2 cavity mold, and music or a podcast playing, whether I need more bullets or not.

[brewer12345]

Arguably I cast more than I shoot, but since an indoor range opened within 10 minutes of the house I am shooting a lot more handguns. I can't cast a significant chunk of the winter and the summer is tough as well. So I tend to binge on casting when I get the chance. My casting sessions typically will run 6 hours with multiple pot refills. My last one I banged out about 2500 bullets, a mix of 358-125-RF and 452-200-swc. I would like to knock out at least one more session before the weather turns so that I am stocked up on round balls for 50 and 54 as well as trying out some 54 maxi balls.

Big stores of ingots don't help me much. Big stacks of boolits are usable.

[Thin Man]

Every time I add a new mold to the stash I have to make a test run of boolits to learn the actual diameter and weight of what that mold will deliver. This is followed by immediate testing in the appropriate firearm(s) for that boolit. Beyond this I will occasionally find the "need" to re-create a new load combination (or several) and will supply that need with a fresh casting pile of cast boolits just for that exercise. I always have boolits left over from every testing session that are immediately available when needed, but the fun of casting seems to take over every time I get interested in making ammo experiments or ammo for field runs.

[Peregrine]

I don't do either enough...so I don't feel like answering the poll. But i've loaded and shot about 2k cast over the last year and cast probably double that.
Not enough.
I need to get more WW too, I only have three hundred lbs or so of alloy in reserve.

[lightman]

I have what I call my "working batch" of ammo for my handguns. This is a batch of a few (or several) thousand cases that I load with a proven favorite load. I try to keep enough cast bullets on hand to load these "working batches" as soon an they are empty.

[Misery-Whip]

Ya I might have a problem. Im thinking i have enough in cast form to trade a few molds for somethin different.

As long as the climate is tolerable in the "factory" "life is good."

[jaysouth]

i have a hard time shooting 1&2 lb ingots from my guns.
having the correct shape and diameter really helps the process.
i have no problem storing smaller "shaped" lead ingots.

I agree, but store those smaller "shaped" ingots in brass tubes. A thousand rounds of ammo is handier than a thousand bullets is handier than 35 lbs of lead alloy ingots.

[Hickory]

My guess is that I cast more than I shoot because I have a lot of boolits setting on the shelf.

[onelight]

My free lead supply dried up so I shoot a lot of commercial Hi-tek coated for most of my bi-weekly shooting sessions I also traded recently for 3k 9mm and 45 plated those are all loaded and ready for range time .
My casting now is reserved for bullet styles my supplier does not offer and for bullets that I want better quality control on mainly .44 and .45 colt and .32 and GC bullets .358. and .430

[robg]

i only cast a few hundred at a time as my wrists give me gyp after an hour or so .retire next year so i hope to have more time for casting etc .

[fredj338]

I know I cast for fun. If I'm really bored I'll take my older stock and recast em.

Ok that is really bored. Go shoot more!

[30coupe]

Looks like I'm with the majority. I generally think I'll cast what I need, then I get carried away. I certainly don't do a fixed amount.

[toallmy]

I must cast more than I need because there seams to be extra coffee cans of lubed handgun boolits on the shelf , but I do need to cast a bunch of 200 gr 45 wad cutters - both cans are empty , but the brass is full .

[trapper9260]

I cast to keep a stash on hand . I cast more then I shoot .But when I need any they there. When I do cast it is normal to cast a 10lbs pot at a time of that one mold. If it is a mold of NOE or MIL that you have pins to change normal I will have half and half in the mold and use up the pot of alloy. I shoot handgun and rifle some buck shot all I cast so it all works for me.I do not shoot much slugs for shotgun. So normal one pot of casting works also cast for muzzle loader too as needed too.

[Michael J. Spangler]

I guess my casting has changed over the years and like all things in life. Life gets in he way. So right now I’m not casting enough to keep up with my wants. Sometimes I’m stuck loading ammo based off what is on the shelves for cast bullets instead of loading what I want because I didn’t get a chance to cast said bullet yet.
So I’m falling behind. I need to dedicate some time to cast up.