How Much You Cast Vs Shoot

[Michael J. Spangler]

ok so the last poll was interesting to see. it also brought up another question

how much do you cast vs shoot?

i cast about 2500 boolits for my .45 in a few sessions. that will take me half of the year to use, even if i shoot a ton more than normal it would take me 3 months to go through.

so do you all cast enough to shoot then stop? do you cast whenever you feel like it no matter what your stock pile is? do you have a set limit of what you like to keep on hand?

does it vary for caliber or boolit type?

[idahoron]

I have always cast about a years worth of shooting in the spring. That way I don't have to in the summer while I am fishing or in the fall while I am hunting. Ron

[Cherokee]

I keep a stockpile based on what I shoot. Casting is fun but I consider what's on hand when I cast so I don't go overboard but have plenty available. I size/lube shortly thereafter so I can load when I want/need to.

[badbob454]

50%finding lead ,making ingots, casting boolits ,25% reloading , 10% picking up my and other brassar the range , and 15% shooting time ..

[ku4hx]

Casting for me is best not done in summer when temps. in my garage easily exceed 100F many days. That being the case I cast more than I shoot in winter and shoot more than I cast in summer.

And when I bring a pot and molds up to temp. I don't stop until my back tells me to. Generally that's about 25 pounds of alloy. Number of boolits depends on if I'm casting for 9mm, 45 ACP or whatever.

[dragonrider]

I only cast what I am going to shoot.

[9.3X62AL]

I cast enough to keep a fair stockpile on hand, much of that getting done in winter. My casting site (garage) can reach 120* in summer, so THAT ain't happening. And as said above, there's fishing and hunting going on through at least November.

I just finished a spate of stockpile recharging, 157# worth. I don't shoot massive amounts of one or two calibers anyway, just light to moderate numbers of many calibers. 95% of what I shoot--I cast.

[runfiverun]

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.

[badgeredd]

Because I've found aged boolits seem to be more consistent in the accuracy department, I try to cast a stockpile of any given boolit. Judging from my stash of tubs filled full of different boolits, I've succeeded splendidly...almost to an obsession!

Edd

[1Shirt]

I don't really care! I have some blts that I cast probably over 6-7 years ago, and maybe even more. I shoot a lot more rifle than I do handgun, but still once in awhile get the urge to shoot one handed, and when I do, probably shoot 600-1000 rds. of that a year. Rifle on the other hand, I will shoot 5-6 times that amount to in a year. Some years I will be in a mood to shoot a lot more of 3-4 rifles of different cals than those that I shot in previous years. Would guess I have at least 4-5 years supply of rifle blts cast most of the time. Have never known of a cast boolit to spoil.
1Shirt!

[mold maker]

I always shot more than I had time to cast before retirement. Now that I can take time, I enjoy casting, but cant afford the powder and primers. Thus I have stockpiled, from each mold, that ate up my shooting funds.
When my rich relative leaves me a fortune,(sigh) I'll shoot em all. At 70, I'm tired of waiting though.

[Sonnypie]

I'm the same as runfiverun, ingots are ballast.
But bullet shaped ingots have worth!
In my shop, my "ingots" are also stored ready to load.
That way, I figure, somebody can pick up where I leave off and get the hang of things before they have to cast more.

[Harter66]

I try to keep a couple hundred of each on hand in excess of my loaded on hand and what I shot last.

[geargnasher]

I don't really care! I have some blts that I cast probably over 6-7 years ago, and maybe even more. I shoot a lot more rifle than I do handgun, but still once in awhile get the urge to shoot one handed, and when I do, probably shoot 600-1000 rds. of that a year. Rifle on the other hand, I will shoot 5-6 times that amount to in a year. Some years I will be in a mood to shoot a lot more of 3-4 rifles of different cals than those that I shot in previous years. Would guess I have at least 4-5 years supply of rifle blts cast most of the time. Have never known of a cast boolit to spoil.
1Shirt!

You pretty much summed up my MO as well. I do what I want when I feel like it, and usually have enough of whatever on-hand to satisfy whims. Occasionally a project has to be put off a couple of weeks because I had to cast for the purpose and let them age. Most of the time, when the mood strikes me to cast, I survey the types I actually stockpile and fill in the blanks.

Gear

[Love Life]

I try to have a healthy stock of my favorite boolits.

Lyman 358477 I have approx. 40 pounds cast and ready to size/lube as needed. This is my most shot boolit, and I go through them very fast. Which reminds me that I need to make a bullet trap, but I digress.
Coffee can full of 358429
coffee can of NOE 360-95-SP
RCBS 124-RN- I'm still working on that one. Dang two cavity moulds have a hard time keeping up with my glocks.

[Wolfer]

I cast mostly in the winter, spring. I try to go into summer with anuff to last me through hunting season but sometimes I have to break down and throw a few on a hot day.

[dnepr]

I cast for the fun of it I have some ridiculous for the purpose stock piles , I just hope I live long enough to shoot all the boolits I have

[Dale53]

I have a heated and cooled utility barn with a dedicated casting station. I cast year round. I keep at least 10,000 pistol bullets on hand. However, since I cast for .32's, .38/.357, .44 Special/Magnum, .45 ACP/.45 Colt that is not as many as it sounds like.

I start getting nervous if I run under a couple of thousand for any one caliber or any one bullet style.

FWIW
Dale53

[imashooter2]

None of the options really work for me. I like to keep a surplus and the stuff I don't shoot a lot of, I have same. The stuff I shoot a lot... Cast all winter, shoot all summer is what I try to do. Unfortunately, I've had a lot of things cut my shed time this winter. I'm hand to mouth on .45's right now.

[DukeInFlorida]

When I set up to run a specific casting, I run enough of that boolit to assure that I won't have to run it again for a while. With over 30 molds to cast, I'm always setting up to cast something, keeping in mind that it also involves sizing/lubing.

So, the constant rotation of casting/molds keeps me busy, building inventory.

Even with some careful planning, I still find myself falling very low in inventory. For example, right now I am horribly low on 500 magnum boolits. Could be that I have fired 2,000+ rounds of that in the past year.

As some of you know, I also cast "cores" for swaged J words, made from brass cases (see our SWAGING area of the forum). MOst of those cores are actually cast boolits, which have the proper weight for the target projectile. I'm also low on those cores.