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Thread: Realistic Expectations for Cast Boolits

  1. #61
    Boolit Grand Master leftiye's Avatar
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    Sooooo, Catshooter, Then minute of cat is good enough? (is for me)
    We need somebody/something to keep the government (cops and bureaucrats too) HONEST (by non government oversight).

    Every "freedom" (latitude) given to government is a loophole in the rule of law. Every loophole in the rule of law is another hole in our freedom. When they even obey the law that is. Too often government seems to feel itself above the law.

    We forgot to take out the trash in 2012, but 2016 was a charm! YESSS!

  2. #62
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    Quote Originally Posted by 45 2.1 View Post
    Hahahahahaha........Thats the first time i've been described that way..............Thanks Neener.......
    I believe it is I who owes you a ......Thank You

  3. #63
    Boolit Buddy spurrit's Avatar
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    I'm just cheap as hell, and like making my own stuff. Plus, I have a buddy that keeps me supplied with reloading gear in exchange for ammo. Casting makes it cheap enough for me to shoot as much as I care to, and gives me something to do while I heal up from back surgery.

    One thing I really enjoy about the economy of casting and reloading is that if a new shooter wants help, I can afford to let him burn my ammo, and save a little pocket money for his next trip to the range. This also convinces new shooters that shooters are nice people who are willing to help, and encourages them to become "one of us" and vote as such.

  4. #64
    Boolit Master
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    Expectations , Hmm , for general reloading it is defiantly cheaper than factory loads , which is why I reload .

    Now as far as cast boolits go , cheap does not apply till after a few 1000's of boolits are cast , the equipment alone be it Lee , or any of the other good stuff out there has been payed for by the savings of casting your own . Hope that made sense .

    For me it has been a thing , back in the 70's I had 2 rifles and a shotgun , an old sportsterized 1917 Eddystone in 30-06 , it came to me with the receiver milled and the front sight gone , the old mil spec stock butchered but it did shoot good , I had an old Bushnell Sportchief w/popup post put on it for deer season . Picked up a Monte Carlo type stock for it in the semi finished state and letted it for the receiver and gave it a nice linseed finish and fitted it to me , shot a little better , fast forward a few years as family took precedence , finally able to finish this gun the way I wanted it to be , smoothed up the metal so it had a nice sheen to it , cut the barrel to get rid of the front sight slot and and recrowned it to look like the original crown , mine you this is all done by hand back then , labor of love thing again , had a new ramp sight and a nice ramper blade sight put on it after a really nice hot blueing job was done to it . Remounted the scope and boy oh boy did it ever look sweet to me , finally after so many years it was done , but now to see if I had messed up the way it shot . Had some factory 150 gn soft points that I had used in it before and I had picked up another box plus there was some 180 gners there so I thought why not . I think it only took about 6 rounds to get back on target and a few more to fine tune it . OK now to see what the 180's will do , WOW , same POA , no way , fine I though , thats cool , year or so later while at a gun shop I spot these 200 gn 30-06 box of ammo , hmmm , got to try em , set up a target as I knew what the 150 qnd 180's did I figured I wound have to adjust the old Bushnell to get on target , first shot , hmm , must have pulled it as it shot same as the others did , well after 9 more rounds it finally came to me that this rifle was shooting all 3 weights at the same POA at 100 yds , very nice I thought . but remember thru all this time I was thinking that if I could someday be able to reload that this would be the cats meow and if I could cast too for it too , things in a mans mind .

    Life intervenes and I lost that rifle and the others , fast forward about 18 - 20 years , couple years ago I was finally able to purchase a rifle , so I bought 2 , a 7mm Mag and a 22-250 , ahh , now I can get into reloading and from there it snow balled, 17 HMR , 22 for the grandkids to shoot , 45 ACP then another one , 9mm , couple 30-30's , 32 WS , 35 Rem , 223 single shot , 44 Mag pistol , 444 Marlin , 45-70 Marlin GG , 45-70 Buffalo Classic , another 44 Mag and I started casting , found this site , learned and still learning , expectations ? I don't think I really have any as life in general encompasses it all , I strive to get the best I'm capable of as with age we as people suffer from it , but if I would have been able to do the reloading and casting back when , I think it would have failed for me and I'm am very much in debt to all those here that have made this life long dream a reality , 45nut for the insight to chase his dream and everyone that has contributed to it to make this site what it is today , most if not all the myths have been broken about cast boolits and their limits , this site attests to that .

    Hope my ramblings don't offend anyone , a little history and a small notation as of today and the appreciation of all the people here .

    Realistic Expectations for my Cast Boolits would be to be able to enjoy this endeavor as long as my body will allow and too keep learning in hopes of passing it along to another to continue well into the future .

    Keith
    Only dumb question is the one not asked

    Life Member NRA
    Life Member GOoA

  5. #65
    Boolit Master


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    leftiye,

    Yep, MOC is close enough for me. The H & G #68 works well on them too. (.45 200 grain semi-wadcutter.)


    Cat
    Cogito, ergo armatum sum.

    (I think, therefore I'm armed.)

  6. #66
    Boolit Master



    atr's Avatar
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    I just enjoy the process of casting and handloading,,,to me thats almost reward in itself

    I also like to cook up an accurate round, accuracy is important to me....at 100 yards I need to be able to put the rounds into a 5" dia using standard peep sights....with a scope Im happy with a 2" diameter spread.....

  7. #67
    Boolit Master

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    I have been into shooting cast about 6 months now and I already have 4 lead pots and over 50 molds. So I guess I didn't do it to save money. I have handloaded J-bullets for almost 60 years and currently have a LARGE supply on hand.
    I got into cast boolits for the challenge, satisfaction [made it myself], and a hedge against Gov. controls.
    My expectations are to out perform J-bullets at a realistic range [200 yds. max]. I may not always succeed, but what fun I am having trying.
    My expectations for this board was for me to learn a little something. Those expectations have been surpassed beyond measurement. I have been on numerous other forums and after a while left because I did not like what I saw. I have learned so much here I can't wait to log on, first thing in morning and last thing at night with a couple of in-betweens.
    You guys are great, your bait worked, I am totally trapped.
    Larry

  8. #68
    Boolit Master


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    Did you not see the sign "Abandon all hope yee who enter here."?


    Cat
    Cogito, ergo armatum sum.

    (I think, therefore I'm armed.)

  9. #69
    Boolit Buddy SCIBUL's Avatar
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    Thumbs up

    When I join the army 24 years ago I did my first pistol and rifle shooting. My father was a hunter but only had a shotgun and I wasn't aware about rifled guns. That first experience had been very impressing to me and I wanted to increase my results. I bought a 22LR semi auto rifle and began to train. 3 years later I bought my first 357 revolver (RUGER GP 100) but one box of factory ammunition cost me 10 percent of my pay... I had to reload ! So I began to do with a friend who teached me the basis. I began to shoot my own loads but without information, only thinking that there was only one load and that the results I had then was "the norm". Revelation came when I bought a varmint Remington 22-250. Nobody knew this cartridge around me and I began to experiment differents loads. Then I found that I could increase accuracy with changing powder charges and J-bullets... I was hooked. I began to search more and more informations and tried by myself. I dit my first boolit when I started to shoot black powder guns. At this time I was married and our fist boy just arrived. I had to sell my guns and money was a chalenge. The black powder handgun was the only one I could then afford and home made bullets costed nothing... I learned a lot with this gun. I realised that I could shoot more accurately than modern shooters who where shooting factory or self averaged reloaded ammunition.
    Now my boys have grown. I always have my BP pistol... and several other . My first "modern" home made boolit was made for my 45 pistol when nobody around me was able to sell me commercial cast bullets . Since then and I'm independent ! My intends are to obtain the finest accuracy I can from both rifles and pistols or revolvers I own. The vast majority of my guns haven't shoot a jacketed bullet and probably never will, even for hunting ! The only exception until now where the 22 CF... But I tried to play with molds . My wish now is to write a little manual for french shooters like me who like to do their own but since I found this site, I learn, learn and learn again... And the manual is more and more complete...
    So thanks to all of you for the knowledge we can share here. IMO we, castboolits shooters are the more independant and misunderstood guys in our shooting world. But independance have no price so

  10. #70
    Boolit Master
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    so i can shoot more.
    thats the only reason.

  11. #71
    Boolit Mold
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    I'm thinking about it so I can tinker more. I have reloading down pretty well, this would just add to the shopgeek/gearhead joy factor. As an engineer, I can find lots of cool toys to monitor my processes.

    Plus, I was thinking a 45-70 rifle would be fun. The bulk manufacture would be pistol boolits.

  12. #72
    Boolit Buddy

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    I have to admit my expectations for cast bullets was low price, just like reloading was. Looking back I realize I picked up some beliefs that were not exactly true, I think mostly from reading the gun rags, like cast bullets are only for pistols and you'll get a lot of lead in your barrel. Now I expect low price, 1" at a one hundred yards accuracy from a rifle and no leading. I am still working on the last two, but I am new at it.
    I Like Guns - Steve Lee

  13. #73
    Boolit Buddy LeadThrower's Avatar
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    More of the same...

    I haven't been casting for too long, but this site got me into it. I wanted to reload to save money and then found CastBoolits. A whole new world opened up and I knew it was for me. I immediately bought the necessary hardware.

    My expectations of my cast loads are to hit the vitals of whatever game animal I might go after and have fun at the range when I'm not able to go hunting. Like others have already stated, I take a great deal of satisfaction from reloading my own cast boolits.

    My expectations of CastBoolits were to "learn some things" and the site has gone way beyond that. Thanks to everyone here, I'm learning more than I thought possible and have had my interest in casting increase steadily. The information and help here has been so great that I no longer come with expectations, I just soak up what I can and try to apply it at the casting pot, loading bench, and range.

  14. #74
    Boolit Buddy
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    I have a lot of expectations from casting:

    To have fun making stuff
    (My wife will tell you that if I can make something and not spend too much more than it would cost to buy- I'm making it. I make traps, tree stands, deer carts, deer carts that turn into tree stands, guns, bows, hunting clothes, etc.

    To have fun shooting more at lower $

    To get a better understanding of bullets, boolits, guns, and reloading

    To get the satisfaction of taking game and getting good groups with projectiles
    I made

    I haven't taken any game with cast yet. However, I am getting 1" groups with RD350s out of my 1895M at 1750fps. I'm also getting 3" groups out of my .480 Ruger with Lee 325gr FNGC at 50yds (1250fps). That's about as good as I can shoot the SRH so as I improve my pistol shooting, I'm sure the groups will tighten. In any event, I think I'm about ready to take a whitetail next season.

    Stuff like this keeps me sane and out of the bars.

    Thanks to all on this site for the help and advice!

    John

  15. #75
    Boolit Buddy Throwback's Avatar
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    Where to begin? Where to end?

    Cost - high volume - keeping the odd, the old, the neat, and the obsolete up and running - hunting - the intellectual pursuit of the right balance of velocity, construction, and accuracy to deliver young Bambi to my table. What else are you going to shoot through a rook rifle?

  16. #76
    Boolit Master
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    I ain't no spray and pray kind of guy. I would watch in awe as folks made some truly spectacular shots. A called head shot on a cat silhouette with a 22lr iron sighted handgun at 200 yards standing offhand. WOW! Shooting muzzleloaders at 1000 yards and keeping all your shots on a 6' target. WOW! The folks I was around that made these shots accept it as commonplace to shoot like this on a regular basis. The common philosophy is' If I don't expect to shoot better, I probably won't'. The muzzleloading guys were all competetive shooters from other disciplines and told me that shooting lead was more technologically demanding then any of the other shooting sports that they had participated. All these guys had been world champions and when they cast their bullets, they knew what the end result would be and weren't guessing. That's what I want.

  17. #77
    Boolit Buddy spurrit's Avatar
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    JSizemore,

    I'd like to have those expectations too, but .....where to start?

  18. #78
    Boolit Mold
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    - save a little money
    - be able to "roll my own" for an obsolete calibre
    - its fun to roll my own!
    - "user friendly" low recoil loads with cast boolits for recreational shooting and for learning the kids to shoot

  19. #79
    Boolit Master



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    Military surplus bolt action rifles.......period. I have quite a few and supplies of surplus ammo are starting to dry up, not to mention escalating in price (bought 3000 rds of 8mm Mauser for about $200.00 w/shipping just 6 years ago). The "good old days" of just a few years ago are ending and shooting cast is a really good idea. Much cheaper/ability to custom tailor loads/easy on the shooter/easy on a gun that might be over 100 years old.

    I also load for all of my handguns for the same reasons. I've "converted" many a new shooter by just showing them the economics. I ask them what that box of store bought "drug store" ammo cost and then tell them what my cost is. They get interested very quickly. Of course then they start stopping by the tire shops before I get there..................

  20. #80
    Boolit Man
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    Expectations

    I started out in casting just a few years ago. Had always liked the idea of having and shooting one of the old BPCR rifles that I thought of as buffalo rifles. In the early 2000's a fellow down at the "Shamrock" showed me a BPCR that he had.
    That set me on fire. A few years later when i decided to get out of Benchrest competition, I sold one of my Benchrest rifles and bought a1874 Sharps (reproduction) and casting equipment to go with it.
    My expectations, To enjoy a new experience with black powder, cast lead, and the old buffalo rifles was fully met. Now I shoot it as much or more than all my other rifles combined...
    vita est breves

    jerrold

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check