Hiya folks!
I searched around a while for an "Introductions" forum/sub-forum, and stumbled upon this one. So, I reckon here is where to start.
As you can see , my username here is JBinMN. JB is what folks actually call me, so feel free to use it instead of JBinMN to keep it simple & short. It is my initials if anyone wondered. And, I do currently live in Minnesota. I have lived in Minnesota most of my life, but when I was younger, I lived in some other states as well. So. Cal, Tenn, N.C., S.C. were back when I was in the Marine Corps., and I lived in Va. for a while to help my elderly Ma. She is gonna be 94 now, but my older Sis decided to live with her & take care of her, so I moved back to MN with my family 20 or so years ago.
I have 2 sons, one is 35 & the other will be 29 next month. I am married to a wonderful missus & have been for 37 years this year. I have a couple dogs. One is Duke, the Chocolate Lab, and the other is Jasper, the Australian Shepherd.
I am an avid outdoorsman. I love hunting, fishing, trapping, camping, woodcrafting, knives, axes, firearms, etc. and of course, Shooting.I also bowhunt for deer. And I also have dallied in reloading. Which is what brought me here.
I started reloading shotgun shells back in the mid-late 70's, along with a buddy of mine ( & still is luckily) . We used an old MEC reloader then. We got most of our powder & shot from a local Herters outlet store. We mostly decided to reload because we were young lads with a passion for hunting waterfowl at the time, particularly goose, and we wanted to make our own loads + it was cheaper & we didn't have a lot of $$ to spare, after chasing chicks & gas & such. LOL
After my bud went into the Army & I into the Corps in late 79/early 80 we both went our separate ways for our tours & neither one did much reloading. But after 6 years in the Corps, I returned home to MN. with my young family & started my civilian life. This is where the second stage of my reloading started. I decided to start buying more firearms than what I had already accumulated & with a young family sometimes the $$ were tight. So, since i liked to shoot/hunt/etc. I decided to get back into reloading. Around 1987-88, I went out and bought a brand new RCBS Special 3 that came along with a little basic kit IIRC, or I just bought the basics, ( loader, scale, lube pad, etc. ) along with a couple of dies. (38spec/.357 & 44mag, since I had one of each at that time.) Plus some powder/bullets, primers & such. Pretty much squared away with what I needed to have some fun reloading & plinking. I did not get any rifle stuff, or another shotgun setup back then because , like I said $$ were tight most of the time, and I only used those firearms in the Fall/Winter. So, I didn't shoot them much the rest of the time & just bought the ammo I wanted/needed.
I used that kit for about 8-10 years before I ended up moving to Va to help take care of my Ma who was ailing at the time. I was busy between work, still raising a family & taking care of her, so I just did not shoot as often, and I got away from it. Well, when my older sister decided she was going to come live with & help out my Ma, My family & I decided to return to MN. I had started my own business there back when I got out of the Corps & thought it would be best if I returned there & hooked up with the established business ties I had made before, rather than try to restart in Va. So, we moved back.
Once I returned to MN, my business took off & I was busy a lot. I had to drive long distance & working long hours/6-7 days a week most of the time, to do a lot of the construction projects & I was making good money & didn't feel as though I had the time to spend reloading with everything else & so I did not reload. I just bought ammo when I needed or wanted some. Besides.... The boxes with my reloading stuff, along with powder & primers were forgotten in Ma's garage when I moved. So they had been sitting there for at least 6-8 years before I even took the time to look around one day after wondering where the stuff went. Anyway, my oldest just happened to be on a trip to Ga., to visit his missus family there around that time & was returning via Va. to stop & see his Grandma. So I asked him to deal with the powder/primers there, & bring the rest of the stuff back. So, I got the stuff & put it in the basement (I call it the "Dungeon", as a joke) for the next time I wanted to set it up & get to work making rounds. So, those boxes sat there for a few more years while I kept at other things..
Well, as most of ya know the economy tanked in the late 2000's & my income dropped drastically with it. Never fully recovered as a matter of fact. The years of hard work (& hard play I might add), had also taken its' toll on the old body. So, I slowed down , and had less work & less $$ coming in also as a result. Well, now I am half crippled up & have COPD pretty bad & don't get around as well as I used to. I can only do work once in a while. So, I recently decided to take up reloading again. Save some $$ & get back into it. ( And things have sure gone up in price too, since then.. Whoah!)
So, basically after all that , I have had a hiatus of about 20 years or so of being away from reloading & I am now getting back into it. I decided to not only get some more stuff to reload other firearms I have accumulated I decided to start casting "boolits" too. Now since I have casted fishing jigs & sinkers for years, I have a small bit of experience with that part of casting lead & using WW, but I know I have a lot more to learn when it comes to casting for reloading. ( I am a voracious reader when I don't have anyone with experience nearby to ask ?? & I learn quick, so I have picked up on a bit of stuff here & other places to get back up to speed as best I can. This forum is one of them.
And that is why I am here. To learn. I may be able to share personal experiences on shooting/firearms/etc, and a lot of other outdoors stuff, but I am most likely just going to read. Lucky you folks, since you can see I can get a bit long winded at times. LOL
Anyway, If ya read this far, then Thanks!, since I won't have wasted my time typing this lil "autobiography" out for nothing.
& If ya skipped down to the bottom... Don't worry. Not knowing what is up there ^ above this wont kill ya.
Hope this adventure here is as enjoyable as I hope it is & Nice to meet ya!
JB
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