Two or three things I know for sure

[44MAG#1]

MR. Dat,

You are correct in what you say. When I started casting I didn't know anyone that did currently cast and only one that in the past cast. I worked at it on my own. Learned to cast good quality bullets that worked and shot plenty of them. Also bought cast too. Still cast bullets occasionally but buy some too. It really isn't hard to cast good bullets. Started reloading in 1970 and had almost no help. Experimented along the way, learned, read, and forged ahead. Learned a lot too.
I guess it made me feel like I accomplished something that I did probably with maybe ten percent help if that much.

[robg]

The more I learn the more I realise I know nothing .

[6622729]

Exactly what I do with new molds. Then smoke them, bring them up to temp and start casting. The other night a needed a drop of oil on the sprue plate. It migrated into the cavity and of course the wrinkles began so I started over. Scrubbed with Dawn, lightly smoked, heated it up and first cast was perfect.

I agree 100%! Scrub that sucker with a toothbrush, some Dawn and hot water BEFORE you ever pour lead into it!

[rmark]

'The other night a needed a drop of oil on the sprue plate. It migrated into the cavity and of course the wrinkles began so I started over'

I know how you feel.

[Harter66]

I for one can honestly say I approached casting from 180° out the wrong angle .
I read the Lyman 48th manual about 3 times and it still sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher with a few clear words that were mostly this is an expensive facet of reloading .........

I stumbled around for about yr and then I read some passing phrase like you have to think of it as pouring heat , that unlocked the casting closet and pouring got much easier .

Not long after I got that door open and got past what I thought I wanted to do I realized that the shear volume of knowledge was building on itself and growing very fast . Now there is a level of skills here for the casual Saturday plinker that wants to kill the 7-10 yd bull and for the 1000 yd competition master . There's a level for the gallery load pop can guy and 3000 fps moose slayer . Who'd have thought that a cast bullet would consistently out run and out shoot a good jacketed​ ?

Point being that for the average Joe that jump from a standard 38 Special to a full bore 35 Whelen is a long jump if you don't have a 35 Remington to perfect in between. All the basics apply but how much does a does a 32 H&R have in common with a 308 ? Challenges can result from switching from an SAA to a carbine in the same cartridge .
Those with the experience often are way over the beginners head and sometimes they get too detailed and frustrate the guy that is somewhere in between .

[dverna]

I find people here are very helpful. Occasionally I will PM someone on a particular subject I believe they can help me with.

One negative, is the search feature is a bit frustrating....but it is likely me. Another is those stickies that are much too long for a reasonable person to wade through.

[Boolseye]

I will run a couple searches, if I come up dry I'll ask a question. The search engine does not always get you there, it's true. There are no stupid questions, only unasked ones. An attempt to find the info first in old threads seems wise before throwing out a question that has been answered 50 times before, however.


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[mold maker]

I started casting sinkers in "58 and reloading in "62. Both led to boolits in "63. There was only one other reloader that I knew of, and had to learn from what little I could find in print and the mistakes I made. There wasn't a LGS and I had to mail order everything I needed from those tiny magazine ads.
Fast forward 20 years and I'm still floundering with a massive lack of knowledge. Then a local guy I had known most of my life, opened a bate shop with a few shooting supplies. Turns out I was among many others that were learning to reload but didn't talk about it.
The bate shop quickly added shooting and reloading supplies. Suddenly there were dozens of like minded folks eager to swap info and experiences and the counter became standing room only.
Still the manuals and gun rags were our only source of info and we were asking questions that weren't being answered. Forward another 15 years and as an "experienced" caster and hand loader with many years of making all the mistakes, I thought I was fairly well knowledgeable. Then I discovered the PC and an internet connection in the next town. I had to wait my turn to set in the coveted seat and find info that I had no idea existed.
Now I can sit in my recliner and scan the net on my big flat screen. One of the first things I found was the beginnings of the forums where like minded folks gathered to discuss their interests just like the gun counter at "Charlies Bate Shop". I quickly discovered I had led a sheltered life and had just scratched the surface of Boolit Casting and hand loading.
I've learned much more here from the interaction, and reading of others experiences, than in my whole previous lifetime of floundering on my own. To all of those that have explained and freely given me the benefit of their knowledge, I am truly indebted. For all those that had to endure my "dumb" questions and statements, I apologize.
Yes there is some misinformation, but there are others that quickly dispel it. Yep just like any other group there is BS to wade through, but that's life. No where else is there
this wealth of knowledge to be found, at one place, and it's free.

[Boolseye]

I think another primary point is to avoid getting cocky or complacent.
Whenever I feel like I've really got it together, that's the time to return to the fundamentals and get humble. Be it a matter of feeling overly confident in my abilities or my beliefs, I am always close to trouble when my pride starts taking over.

Re. Searches, the google search engine is extremely advanced, and will often get you there where the Cast Boolits search fails. It will generally point you back to cast boolits for the threads or posts you're searching for (assuming you're comfortable throwing that search out to google. I don't really care, they already know everything about me anyway).

[EDG]

On another forum a guy posted that he had just rechambered his .220 Swift to the AI version.

His question was "Can I use the existing seating die to seat bullets in the .220 Swift AI case?" I asked if he had done any planning when he started the project. He said no he just rechambered the rifle. He said he would not know if the die would work until he knew. I asked if he ever considered drawing the 2 cartridges at 10X scale and then laying one on top of the other.
He complained that the seating die would cost an extra $51 if he could not use the old seater. I am not sure he even deserved help or the answer.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

regarding 220 Swift AI...

I see lots of questions/threads like this on facebook gun/reloading groups. Much of the social media crowd expect instant and simple answers to questions that can't be answered that way. I can only assume this person had a gunsmith (or other?) do the rechamber work, because I would suspect anyone who is up to trying to rechamber a rifle is sure up to trying to mod a seat die...whether they are capable or not, LOL.

on a similar note, I really like Bonanza or Forster benchrest seat dies. I wanted one for a 257Rx6.5 jap custom, but didn't want to pay the price of a custom made die. I found a 7mm STW seater for cheap and did a couple mods, shorting the sleeve to account for shorter cartridge and made a brass insert for the neck/shoulder area from a scrap 7mm case.