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View Poll Results: How much to you cast/reload in a single session?

Voters
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  • I CAST less than 100 boolits at a time

    25 7.02%
  • I CAST between 100-500 boolits at a time

    183 51.40%
  • I CAST between 500-1000 boolits at a time

    92 25.84%
  • I CAST over 1000 boolits at a time

    43 12.08%
  • I RELOAD less than 100 rounds at a time

    61 17.13%
  • I RELOAD between 100-500 rounds at a time

    191 53.65%
  • I RELOAD between 500-1000 rounds at a time

    25 7.02%
  • I RELOAD over 1000 rounds at a time

    22 6.18%
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Thread: How much do you cast/reload in a single session?

  1. #41
    Boolit Man wolf3006's Avatar
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    Arthritis will not let me cast a lot at a time. I cast for about thirty minutes wait a few hours cast some more get a few hundred a day.

  2. #42
    Boolit Grand Master


    GregLaROCHE's Avatar
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    Casting I’ve often done over a thousand, but not much more. Sometimes less. It’s hard to stop when you get to the point of throwing really good ones. It’s either my wrist getting too tired or in the winter, my feet getting too cold. It depends too if I’m casting 140 grs or 500 grains.

    Reloading I déprime and clean etc. 100 to 200 at a time, but only reload 20 to 40 at a time because I am still working up cast boolit loads. I do five or ten different combinations of each and measure each charge to a tenth of a grain.

  3. #43
    Boolit Buddy
    LabGuy's Avatar
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    I cast by the pot full, what ever I get from 20 lbs. I catch the hot sprue in my gloved hand and put it in the pot, until empty. As for reloading, test batches could be from 5-50. For production 200. I'm a single stage press guy and I have 5 loading blocks.
    Last edited by LabGuy; 08-20-2018 at 10:48 AM.
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  4. #44
    Boolit Master
    Chad5005's Avatar
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    May 2018
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    as far as casting im never out of projectiles for anything we shoot so its just a matter of what mold I grab to cast for stock,loading numbers are according to plinking,hunting or defense rounds for hand guns and in rifles its whatever is need for hunting and target practice and is always the same load for each gun

  5. #45
    Boolit Buddy
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    Jul 2011
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    Texas
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    Casting takes longer to set up, so I do as many as I can when I get a chance to do it. I usually go for 1,000 - 2,000 at a time. Reloading sessions are usually under a hour, 2 or 3 boxes at a time.

  6. #46
    Boolit Grand Master Harter66's Avatar
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    My casting sessions vary widely . It's pretty easy to get into a groove with 4,5,6 cavity moulds with 60-150 gr bullets and pour 30+lbs and end up with a lot of bullets . On the other side of the road when the 45s come out with 1,2,3&6 cavity moulds running 265 in the 6 cavity and the others running 400-535 it's a pretty short trip to the bottom of the pot and the sprue heater pot doesn't even get close to keeping up even with a 10# lead going in . A long session with the singles is only about 70-80 keepers , I try to do 100 pours per mould/session . That , if things are flowing well , can be as high as 200 or as low as 50-60 . The 535s@3 , 250s and 265s at 5-6 are sucking up 4 pours per pound so I only get 40-50 pours per pot . Those 225-55s and the 37s a guy could pour for 2hr out of 20# , the 55s@62 gr including the sprue barely use up 1 405/45 worth of lead . And the 37s have more sprue than bullets .

    As to loading it's the same thing . I'll sit down one weekend and trim/anneal or size or whatever sometimes 4-500 at a go . If I have a load that I'm scaling every load for say hunting loads 40-50 is the rule with occasional runs of 80-100 if I'm planning on some sort of a friendly contest . Pistols or loads where I'm set up in a rigid tray or 2 where I can charge 25-50 at a time and then seat and box or just box the trays like 9mm 40 or 45 ACP 2-300 is a breeze . I will admit 1000 prep or 500 on a single makes a marathon weekend .
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  7. #47
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Oct 2009
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    Northern Michigan
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    Cast is high volume as I do not hunt with cast and they are all pistol caliber bullets used for plinking and practice.

    Reloading can vary from 40 hunting rounds to over 2000 shotgun shells at a time. My max was 4000 12 ga in one session. Pistol calibers are 200-2000 at a time.
    Don Verna


  8. #48
    Boolit Master
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    May 2012
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    20+years ago I was like a lot of you guys, several hundred bullets at a time and however much empty brass I had was my "session". These days I might cast 75 bullets and haven't loaded more than 40 at a sitting in a long time. However, I shoot a lot of German, Austrian and other obscure cartridges so I usually have to reform and turn the cases, consequently if I have 100 of one kind of case that is a bunch!! Mostly I have batches of 50 per rifle. The two exceptions are my Schuetzen rifle and my Bartles stalking rifle. I have a couple hundred for each of them but they were exceedingly easy to form from 30 WCF brass. All the others required jumping through a lot more hoops.
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  9. #49
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    Texas by God's Avatar
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    It's too hot to cast right now where I live. I usually cast my year's supply of bullets on the one or two windy cold wet days we get in a normal winter.

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  10. #50
    Boolit Buddy
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    Nov 2007
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    176
    I do two sessions: one late in the Fall and in the Spring. I used to do 100-200 for each caliber in one week. But now I'm gearing up to do 1,500 total for each session--as many I can handle in a weekend. This seems to be a better way to do it. Winter stuff is mostly .38 Special, 9mm and 45 Colt. I might shoot indoors, and these are allowed. The Spring will be the fire-breathers or rifle rounds. I also use to do a big mix of styles, but now I'm just doing one for the caliber....and a lot of 'em. This year's will be round nose.

    Also: After casting, I like to let the boolits sit and soften up for a few months. I got behind due to life circumstances over the past few years, so I'm going to be casting until I get crabber's claw holding the mold handles.

  11. #51
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Central Arkansas
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    I try to cast at least 500 in a session. I have two loading blocks and typically load 100-200 per session.
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    Edmund Burke

  12. #52
    Boolit Master


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    For 45acp,38 spec.,and 9mm I cast two or three pot full of 20. I cast to pot needs lead and stop to fill it up 2 or 3 times. Reloading on a Star or Dillon I last 3 or 4 hours before I need a break.

  13. #53
    Boolit Master
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    Oct 2005
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    Omaha, NE
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    I cast between 4 and 5 hours at a time. With single cavity hollow-base moulds, that is about 300 -350 bullets. With plain base double cavity, that is about 700-800. With a plain base 4-cavity mould (I have one of them), I don't know for sure, since I have never cast that long with it, but say about 1,000 for as long as I do cast.

  14. #54
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    May 2011
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    Katy, Texas, USA
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    I tend to cast the larger bullets, and buy the smaller ones that I shoot in large volume. I've been shooting cowboy for about 4 years now, and when I'm healthy and shooting at least one match per month, that means I'm shooting a minimum of 200 44 WCF, 200 gn .430s per month. This coming year, I'm planning to change to .44 Spl, they're easier to load, and I'm planning on shooting another match per month, moving me up to around 300 per month of the same bullet. I have a 6 cavity mold now for that bullet, so I'll probably start casting those myself.

    I'm casting for the .480 Ruger, 50-70 and 45-70 and .500 S&W, and the smallest bullet there is the 325 grain for the .480, and once I get going with the 2 cavity molds, a 20# pot seems to empty out in a hurry. The last casting session before it got hot, I ended up with a little over 200 usable .476" 325's. I'm waiting for it to get cooler, so I can start casting again. At a session, I cast until my back starts to ache from standing at the bench, then stop for the day. Usually 90 minutes to two hours.

    I need some .459" 525 grain for the 45-70, and .501" 350 grain for the .500 S&W. I'll try to cast enough to get me through the shooting season, which for me is October through mid-May. I don't like shooting at indoor ranges unless I really have to, and in the summer here in the Houston area, it's just too hot and humid to enjoy shooting outside.
    Tom Herbert
    Katy, Texas, USA
    SASS #102029, Alias "Layte Comer"

  15. #55
    Boolit Master

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    Nov 2014
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    usually there are two of us using the same pot and just rolling out the 6 cavity molds!! time we need more alloy, its time for a break, get some water, then jump right back in!!!!! Especially 124 grn 9mm's! cant seem to keep them around, lol. As for reloading, it's normally until I get tired of pulling the handles on those wonderful Dillon presses!!!! Loading 200 grn RNFP .45's on a Dillon SDB, if you got someone loading the empty brass, it goes fast, and a bunch till you give out, that's for sure!! .223 Remington on a Dillon RL-550B is an exercise for sure! Normally runs of 500.As for shotgun reloading, i'm like another person here, 1000-2000 per session.(trap and skeet competition burns through reloads fast) I got my MEC progressive set for larger lead shot for squirrel loads, 500 rounds loaded per year, if we shoot them all, i'm satisfied we had a great year! Good fellowship, lots of fun, gotta teach those young ones about hunting and fishing!! I don't work for MEC, but the 9000G series of shotshell reloaders are hard to beat!...………………………... Let the fireworks begin!!! HAHAHA!!!!!! Just kidding,guys. Be safe. The 'Zilla.
    I firmly believe that you should only get treated by how you act, not by who or what you are!!

  16. #56
    Boolit Buddy

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    Jan 2012
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    My trips to the range aren't as frequent as I'd like so I usually cast or reload 50-100 at a time. I build up enough of a reserve so that when I go shoot, I don't use up all of it.

  17. #57
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    861
    When a type of boolit is running low i look for others as well.

    I usually cast with 2 molds .
    I mever keep count on how many i cast of type but usually do about 20-25 lbs of lead.

  18. #58
    Boolit Master



    Dieselhorses's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by reddog81 View Post
    For casting I usually just drain the 20 lbs Lee pot until the lead starts to dribble out rather than a steam. For loading it could be anything from 20 .30-06 rounds or 200 45 ACP rounds. Or whenever the spousal unit start making funny noises like sureYnot mentioned.
    I like that "spousal unit". I have one of them too. I mainly try to reload on Sunday nights when "90 day fiancé" is on, whatever night "Outdaughtered" comes on and a host of other times where her shows come on, LOL. Lately I've only loaded a 100 rounds of 4 or 5 tried and true calibers. I loaded 100 rounds on a Loadmaster now I have to go weigh each as I think I might have 1 or 2 double charges.
    Last edited by Dieselhorses; 09-09-2018 at 10:26 PM. Reason: spelling

  19. #59
    Boolit Master
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    Oct 2013
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    I only cast pistol calibers, i generally do 5-7k at a time if the machine wants to behave. I run an automated master caster, some days it acts up and i just turn it off and walk away and i deal with it another time.

    I try and reload a few hundred at a time unless i'm developing a new load. Test loads are about 20 of each charge. Once i have one i'm happy with, i'll do 500 or as many cleaned cases i have on hand.

  20. #60
    Boolit Master



    Dieselhorses's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tazza View Post
    I only cast pistol calibers, i generally do 5-7k at a time if the machine wants to behave. I run an automated master caster, some days it acts up and i just turn it off and walk away and i deal with it another time.

    I try and reload a few hundred at a time unless i'm developing a new load. Test loads are about 20 of each charge. Once i have one i'm happy with, i'll do 500 or as many cleaned cases i have on hand.
    Tazza, the "master caster" of yours- does it produce cast bullets of same quality compared to manual casting? Thx

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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