WHY Do You Cast?

[mtgrs737]

I was thinking of the reasons I cast, but I would like to hear why others do. For me it is relaxing and since I am a cheap skate I like to save the money on bullets.


Why do the rest of you cast?

[winelover]

Mainly. because I had a plentiful supply of FREE lead, babbit and solder and the plus side is it lets you practice more especially with handguns. I shoot on a private parcel that has a sand berm that allows me to recycle my alloy every so often.


Winelover

[docone31]

I cast as I am not satisified with production bullets.
I am not an hunter, never have been. I have punched paper from day one, and I still am that way.
With casting, I can control my loads better than conventional loads. Diameters, speed, rpm, all factors that I can control with casting. I also like the involvement. I like takeing recycled something or other, melting it, casting it, and it has another purpose.
All part of the game.

[jonk]

While I do like the recycling satisfaction of making something that is junk useable, it is mainly the cost factor that got me into it. If jacketed bullets were a penny each- heck even a nickel- I might not cast except for muzzleloaders.

At $25+ per box of 100 though my jacketed useage is way down.

[JesterGrin_1]

For myself it was more of a need lol. I started with the Tiny Little Minuscule 535Gr postell of which needed to fit my Sharps for BPCR so I did not have much of a choice other than to cast my own. Then I really messed up and got a couple of Marlins with there oversized barrel I had to make larger diameter BOOLITS to fit them lol. And also I have heard that using lead over jacketed rounds promotes longer barrel life. So to me everything is a plus as I can make the size and style of BOOLITS I might need for the task at hand and to try and increase accuracy.

[kawalekm]

For the joy of saying "I made it myself". I can make my own bread, make my own beer, grow my own food, and make my own ammunition.

[Leftoverdj]

The abysmal quality and erratic supply of bulk cast bullets really made me a caster. The introduction of the Lee six cavities helped a lot. I had cast some for decades, but one and two cavities were mortally slow. There came a time that I was shooting PPC at the rate of 5-10k a year and something had to give.

[Huntducks]

2 reasons

1. $$$
2. Coming from a family of plumbers it was natural.

[kodiak1]

The ability to make it the old way. Trying to reproduce the loads of days gone by and black powder era.

Ken.

[high standard 40]

I've always been a person who enjoyed "building things for myself". If it has to do with tools, I like it. Being a shooter, casting and reloading is just a natural evolution.

[Gunslinger]

I started casting with a buddy from the club just to save money. I had bought a few 100 rounds made from cast boolits of off him and noticed they shot at least just as good as the jacketed I was used to buying. BUT after 1 day of smelting and 1 day of casting I was hooked!!! I jumped on the casting train and have no plan on ever getting off it.

I shoot a lot and do so with a good conscience knowing I'm not spending all my money on ammo. And the concept of "shooting less" is NOT an option on my planet.

[EMC45]

'Cause I'm cheap!

[JSnover]

Because I love to be able to "build it myself." Plus it's different. Sure, anyone could do it but most people won't.

[Nora]

I enjoy the hole umbrella of shooting sports. I'd rather do it than buy someone else's if at all possible. I get a hole lot more personal satisfaction knowing I did it my self. If I knew where to go dig for raw lead (burm piles aren't natural) I'd be doing that as well and call it another step in reloading.
Why buy mediocre when you are able to make much better for a LOT cheaper.

[Trey45]

I got into casting my own as part of the natural evolution of reloading. I figured since I'm reloading cartridges anyway, why am I paying someone for their cast boolits, when i can make my own for a lot less money. When I was simply reloading and not casting, my load developement was limited to what projectiles were available on the open market, now that I cast my own, I can load virtually any boolit I can pour. That really opens up more possibilities for accurate load developement.

[tommyn]

save money so I can shoot as much as I want. on fixed income retired and couldn't afford jacketed bullets anymore.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I have lots of reasons, but the number one reason I cast is because the current government doesn't want me to.

Regards,

Dave

[finishman2000]

i started because i was 15, shooting a min of 30 rds a week in the police L league, plus the 30 for my dad who wasn't a shooter at all so it was up to me if i wanted to shoot. I did so i worked for the equipment and then started to pop them out. we used to go to the range and dig the old heads out of the backstop to get my lead. that i don't miss!

[oldhickory]

I started because I couldn't buy the boolits I needed. Over time it evolved to enjoying it, then doing it again because I couldn't buy the boolits I wanted again in the quality I wanted in handgun calibers. For rifle, I just like the challenge of shooting something I made shoot well...AND CHEAP! There's nothing like spending some time at the range with something pleasent that doesn't rattle your teeth loose and echo off the ridge several miles away. My first cast boolit rifle was, like many of you, a Springfield 45/70. It was my 1896 Krag that really got me into the more modern calibers though, it just proved so nice and accurate that my interest grew and branched out to 30/06, .308, .30/30, and every centerfire rifle I aquired, my latest...A .30 Carbine!

[468]

I just enjoy it...the whole process...going to the tire stores, going to the scrap yards, reading about it, talking about it...firing up the crawfish boiler(turkey frier for you yankees)......

It just feels like I'm doing something right. Saving a few bucks, having some fun, and not everyone on the block is doing it...and Its kinda like what the revolutionaries were doing back in 1776...I know its a stretch but, there is some thin connection there.

...and there is a substantial risk of injury which is always appealing!!!