Keeping Track of Casts

[mktacop]

Last weekend I was casting and looked over at the pile of boolits I had. As I was wondering how many I had in that pile of silver goodness, an idea struck. :Bright idea: I did a little googling and then went on fleabay. I bought a simple Tally Counter with a base. It arrived today and I mounted it beside my casting pot. Now, every time I fill the mold, as I remove it I hit the little lever and it keeps track of how many casts I have made. All I have to do is multiply whatever number is showing by the number of cavities the mold has and I have a total number of boolits I have cast.

Not sure if anyone else has come up with an easy way to keep track of casting totals, so I thought I'd share this idea in case anyone is interested. :drinks:

[454PB]

Maybe I've over simplified it, but I weigh the pile on a set of baby scales, multiply by 7000, and divide by the average boolit weight. I've even checked this method by hand counting, and I'm within a few of the correct count.

[SlowSmokeN]

I took a 12 pack of soda cans and ground off the top to make a nice little container. I know how many boolits there are in a can. for my .358-125 I have 300 when the top of the can is rounded at the top. Not as precise as your counter but it works.

[runfiverun]

when the 5 gallon bucket is full i make something else.
that's as close to counting as i get.

[Jim]

I spend many short sessions in the shed so I don't make big piles at one time. I put 'em in 50 rd. cartridge trays and just do the math.

[GRUMPA]

I hooked up a counter to the handle on my RCBS press, every time I pull on the handle to run them through one of the LEE sizers it counts how many I've done. That's about the simplest idea I had and pretty much the only one for counting accurately.

[geargnasher]

when the 5 gallon bucket is full i make something else.
that's as close to counting as i get.

:holysheep

I guess you keep a dolly handy!

Gear

[runfiverun]

nope.
they are stacked close to the stars.
the buckets with lubed ones are at the other end of the garage.
you know i hate running out of stuff

[mktacop]

This idea was to let me know how many I have cast WHILE I'm still casting. Say I need to make 500 bullets, to count or weigh them, I have to stop casting, let them cool enough to touch, and then weigh or count them out. Using this method, I can look at the counter, multiply by the number of cavities the mold has, and know how many I have cast, and how many I have remaining to cast. I still have to verify that number by weighing or counting later, but I don't end up casting too few or WAY too many.

[slide]

Sounds like a good idea. Another example of how casters solve problems. We need to be running the government. Wouldn't be very few problems.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I use the same method I used when doing "Inventory" back when I had a full time job.
Guesstimate !
ie. that little pile looks like 50 boolits :Fire:
that pile next to it is about 4 times as big...Must be 200 :roll:

Back in the day, I learned to always throw in a few odd numbers:mrgreen:
so it looked like I actually counted them[smilie=1:
ie. 53 or 197 :drinks:

[ku4hx]

Maybe I've over simplified it, but I weigh the pile on a set of baby scales, multiply by 7000, and divide by the average boolit weight. I've even checked this method by hand counting, and I'm within a few of the correct count.

Same for me. I round down the count since I'd rather err on the side of having too many than too few.

[41 mag fan]

Sounds like a good idea. Another example of how casters solve problems. We need to be running the government. Wouldn't be very few problems.

Ya right....someone with common sense and good ideas running this govt......what's this world coming to!! :bigsmyl2:

[popper]

Wish I had enough lead to fill a single 5 gal bucket with CBs.

[Inkman]

I must be a simpleton i suppose. I simply cast till i'm tired of it with no mind to the number of boolits dropped. Size and lube at a later point. Finally i hand count/speed count/guesstimate them when boxing for storage. Only reason i do that is to find any that may look like tossbacks for remelting later and to know approximately how many i have on hand at a given time.

Al

[soldierbilly1]

I have shop towels unfolded stacked in front of me. I fill ea towel w/ about 25/towel. easy for a fool like me to count.
I then put them on the garage floor to lose heat. I can easily look on the floor and see how many towels (25'ers) I have.
Kinda simplistic, but she works for me! I may only run ca 200 on a two banger before my back hurts!

billy boy

[ku4hx]

I must be a simpleton i suppose. I simply cast till i'm tired of it with no mind to the number of boolits dropped. Size and lube at a later point. Finally i hand count/speed count/guesstimate them when boxing for storage. Only reason i do that is to find any that may look like tossbacks for remelting later and to know approximately how many i have on hand at a given time.

Al

Actually this works for me too. The only precise count I keep is for primers since I don't want to lose any of those little "bombs".

About ten years ago I went to HD quart freezer bags and black canvas mechanics tool bags to store the loaded stuff. My real-world counting is usually "got enough of that for now", "need to load some" or "dang, I can't pick that up". With a slight wording change those measurements work for boolits too since I store them in used peanut butter and other plastic jugs.

[Huntducks]

I have invested in this hi tech method count 1 at a time by hand.

[Danderdude]

So far I've employed 3 methods of counting:

Figure the weight beforehand and weigh out the ingots beside the pot. For simplicity, we'll use this example:
I want 1000 200gr boolits. 7000 / 200 = 35 boolits per pound. 1000 / 35 = roughly 28.5 lbs lead needed. Weigh out 30lbs of ingots to account for rejects and use it all.

Time yourself while lubesizing. If I can do 15 per minute at a very casual pace, then I can do 900 per hour.

For exactitude, count them out like pills. All you need is big beer can sized paper bags, two sheets of newspaper and a butter knife. This method works best combined with the first, but I've only done that once. For personal use, knowing I've got a box of 30lbs of boolits is good enough.

[Springfield]

If I need to do a certain amount, like 500, I figure out how much lead that would be and pile that many ingots in front of me. When they are gone I am done. For larger amounts(2-3000) I know about how many I can do an hour and just time myself. I always weigh them after also and it comes out pretty close most of the time.

[bobthenailer]

Dvide bullet weight in grs into 7,000 x pounds made, will tell you how many you have made.
I usually only cast for a hour but no more than 1 1/2 hours actual casting time per session as i lube after casting . for a rough approxmation i start with the pot 1 inch from full then use the previous formula to figure the weight of ingots i need to meet my goal and cast until the pile of ingots are gone . and the pots level is where i started.

[williamwaco]

I hooked up a counter to the handle on my RCBS press, every time I pull on the handle to run them through one of the LEE sizers it counts how many I've done. That's about the simplest idea I had and pretty much the only one for counting accurately.



Me too except it is on my Hornady LNL AP each tick is one new .38 Special.