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Thread: Casting Season

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    405grain's Avatar
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    Casting Season

    I don't cast boolits out of necessity, I do it because it's an enjoyable pastime. Getting way lots more ammunition to shoot at a fraction of the cost of jacketed bullets is a perk. Everything about casting/reloading/shooting is fun and interesting. Unfortunately I'm not casting right now. It was 108 degrees yesterday and it's supposed to get up to 111 degrees today. I don't cast boolits during the summer at all. For me there is "casting season".
    When the cooler days of autumn come on and the leaves start to fall from the trees, it's time to break out some ingots and heat up the pot. Between October and March I'll cast up more rifle and pistol boolits than I could possibly use in the coming year. This also includes powder coating, because baking stuff when it's already baking hot isn't much fun. It's times like these, when if you tried to do any casting you'd sweat 80 gallons and dry up like a prune, that you miss the combination of tranquility and the challenge of making boolits.
    Right now I could pack up a lunch and drive up into the mountains where it's cooler. I could take a portable target stand and get in some shooting (plus take a fishing pole - just because). There's plenty of things to do, but because it's too hot to be working with molten lead, I'm stuck wondering how that new set of molds I just bought is going to work, or how that batch of alloy I mixed up last spring is going to preform?
    A lot of you are lucky and get to cast whenever you want. Do you other guys have a "casting season" too?

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
    Mal Paso's Avatar
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    It's 95 here now. I cast for a new caliber a couple weeks ago when it was cooler but my Casting Season is Winter when the roads are to muddy to drive. Right now I'm processing brass and waiting for primers.
    Mal

    Mal Paso means Bad Pass, just so you know.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    Was running in the 80-90s here but we did have a cool evening this week which had it around 68 at 9pm and dropped to 65 by time I wrapped up at 11pm. Spent those two hours casting and really enjoyed it. Lucky fir my dad, who I was casting for, I also had some insomnia that night so I ended up PCing and sizing all those by 1am.

    Normally I won’t try any casting in the summer though. For me the Season is fall and spring. Winter is too cold for my garage with the door open.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    im like you oct-march for me. too hot in sc for casting any other time.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy
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    Greetings,

    Now I am retired and have "free time" so all my friends are loading me up with machine work.

    I generally cast when I am out, which is rapidly approaching.

    Cheers,

    Dave

  6. #6
    Boolit Master

    FLINTNFIRE's Avatar
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    I tend to cast as needed no matter the time of year , or when the weather is nasty and store for the future .

    As I have a new mold in the proper size and weight for my Pedersoli Sharps I will be casting no matter what the temps are when home , late in the evening when it cools down maybe the swamp cooler blowing towards bench .

  7. #7
    Boolit Master Thumbcocker's Avatar
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    65 degrees in my basement pretty much year round.
    Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    Sure is is the best weather in spring and fall.I thing it season year round usualy a cool morning or evening in the summer once in a while works great

  9. #9
    Boolit Master pjames32's Avatar
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    My basement stays pretty cool so I can cast in the summer. I do most of my casting in the spring and recently lube/sized 47lb of 9mm and 18lb of 380 bullets.
    NRA Benefactor Member

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I tend to cast more in the spring/summer/autumn months and less in the winter. However, when you get those +90° 80% humidity days, not so much.
    _________________________________________________It's not that I can't spell: it is that I can't type.

  11. #11
    Boolit Man QuackAttack24's Avatar
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    I recently got some new molds and couldn't wait to try them out. Unfortunately, my shop is attached to the back of my garage. The house has AC but not the shop. It's been as hot as 114 here, but most days in the 90s. Even though I try to pound down the water when I'm out there, I still end up dehydrated with a splitting headache. Doesn't matter how many fans I turn on. I've pretty much decided to hold off on casting until it cools off a good bit.
    What could possibly go wrong?

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I do most of my casting between the end of hunting season and say April or May. I have enough electrical circuits behind my work bench in the shop to run several casting pots and hot plates and usually cast with a friend or two. Like many of you, I cast more than I can shoot over the rest of the year.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master

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    I cast some yesterday afternoon, it was a mild day for July here in the Memphis area. I cast about an hour but that 8 cavity H&G wore me down pretty quick.
    I usually cast in the fall or early spring. I even had time afterword to size these and powder coat the ones I cast.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    I cast in my basement also , but due to the temp I spend a lot less time down there in the summer .
    I try to keep a few coffee cans full of my favorite handgun boolits ready to load cast throughout the cooler months .
    But I tinker around with rifle loads through the year , so I cast a little on and off in the hotter months . It's not as much fun when sweat is dripping on your glasses .

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy
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    I live in So Cal and cast year round depending on the weather that day. I cast for the relaxation time it provides me. I've been casting heavily for the last year and cast to fill containers and not by count. My local shop sells clean lead ingots by the pound and I have stored a lot over the years. I use a Saeco lead hardness tester to test and mark my recast remixed ingots for identification. My wife thinks that I have "Dancing Girls" in my shop as I spend a lot of time in there. Casting can be expensive to start but the equipment will last forever if taken care of. PS I also "swage" but that is another great hobby.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master 15meter's Avatar
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    Mostly in the spring and fall, in the spring after the ice is going away and can't sail and before summer when the softwater boat goes in, the motorcycle comes out of hibernation and the rifle/ shotgun range thaw out.

    Then again in the fall before the good sailing comes back and when the bike gets put away.

    I'll cast on about any day if I NEED a specific boolit, doesn't matter how hot but I cast just enough to get by until cooler weather.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master

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    I’m in Florida; we only have two seasons “January and Summer”, so I cast when I can stand the heat.

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy
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    Nothing better than casting during the first snow fall.

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master fredj338's Avatar
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    I can cast almost year round. IN the summer I will just cast in the early am when it is cooler. Late fall, winter & spring are great times to cast almost anywhere.
    EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
    NRA Cert. Inst. Met. Reloading & Basic Pistol

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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