Does it blend?

[AricTheRed]

I started raising my own chickens for eggs and meat, what can I say I'm a killer..
Then I made my own beer, what can I say I'm a guy..
Then I started casting my own boolits, what can I say I love going broke saving money..
Then I got some bees, hey that wax should make some nice lube, and you can ferment the honey too!

But the real question is how many of us think it is OK to enjoy a beer (or two if it is an extended reloading, casting, posting session) while engaged in the process of making our own ammunition?

[btroj]

I don't ever mix alcohol and anything firearm related. Just not worth the chance.

[williamwaco]

Once, many years ago I was a avid trap shooter. Age late 20's. Drank like a fish. Around a case a week.

One Saturday afternoon, I ran out of ammo so I put up my trap gun and opened a beer.
I was setting on the porch of the club house when four guys on the trap range called to me to help them finish the last round.
I told them I was out of ammo and already had a beer. One of them said he had a full case of WW trap loads in the back of his pickup, get a box, put the beer up and come on out.

I had had no more than three sips of the beer, maybe a fourth can.

I had shot five rounds that afternoon and broke 121 targets.

I stepped up to the shooting line to finish that final round, - and broke - 16 targets.
That was the lowest score I ever recorded.
It was the last beer I ever drank at the club house .
I follow that same rule in the shop.


You will need to judge for yourself.


.

[AricTheRed]

I don't ever mix alcohol and anything firearm related. Just not worth the chance.

Not even posting on the forum? I'd understand if it were corporate email or a dating site...

[AricTheRed]

"I had had no more than three sips of the beer, maybe a fourth can.

I had shot five rounds that afternoon and broke 121 targets.

I stepped up to the shooting line to finish that final round, - and broke - 16 targets.
That was the lowest score I ever recorded.
It was the last beer I ever drank at the club house .
I follow that same rule in the shop.

You will need to judge for yourself."
-williamwaco-

I had a similar and in some ways opposite situation motor-cycling. Was super conservative and careful riding one evening cause I'd had a single scotch before dinner. Made two stops about 45 min each after finishing dinner. On the way home from the last stop knew I was "no longer impaired" got impatient, passed on a double yellow, around a curve, got in a little hot and ran out of talent. Ended up crashing and totaling the bike but not myself thankfully.

Any way this young kid stopped who I had nearly crashed into, head on, a wild look in his eyes, and exclaimed "Dude, are you OK? I thought I was going to see some gore!".

All I could say was "I thought you were going to see some gore too."

I guess I was still impaired, I thought I was better than I was.

Got that figured out right quick that night. I'd love to say that was the last problem I'd had in life but most of the others have just had to do with this one girl that puts up with me now...

[btroj]

I may while posting on a forum, but not while actually handling reloading, smelting, casting, lubing, or actual firearms.
Spent many years when I was younger shooting muzzleloaders. Saw a huge number of guys falling down drunk shooting. Scared me big time. I don't miss that.

[cbrick]

If you have to ask . . . Well.

Rick

[randyrat]

I used to years ago, drink ONE beer 45 minutes before a trap shoot and I was the top shooter. After the match, we would drink the bar dry. Now i very seldom drink and now I'm down on the list. :) correlation?
I find drinking any alcohol is no good for shooting,loading,driving, walking, talking, too easy to make mistakes. I don't hold that against anyone, some can have one and still be safe, I can't, I'm not used to drinking much at all.
As you get older, you will find it is way too easy to make mistakes sober. I think it is up to the individual and then you hope they have some good sense.

[Poygan]

This is somewhat related. About twenty years ago I would take evening rides in the country on my motorcycle. One evening I stopped at my favorite watering hole about 2 -3 miles from home.
I had 2 small glasses of tap beer consumed slowly and headed for home. I honestly couldn't feel any effect from the beer but I did notice my riding was not as smooth as it normally was. Last time I had any alcohol before riding or any other motor skills required activity.

[shredder]

Lots of good sense going on here. Older fellows who have been there and done that would include me as well.. I also used to do a lot of things while drinking since drinking was done so frequently.

I had a powder mixup on my bench that caused a near destruction sequence inside my Mauser rifle many years ago. It was related to attention defecit casued by my favorite beverage in a brown bottle. I sheepishly brought the rifle to the smith who built it for me and began the search for a new bolt since I had blown the cartridge support lug completely off the bolt face. It was and still is by far the most frightening thing ever to happen to me in the firearms world. Having kissed the grim reaper and got away with it, I thanked the gods at Mauser for still having a face, and resolved to never have anything like that happen to me again.

[1Shirt]

Booze and gunpowder are just not any kind of a workable combination. Think marajauna falls in the same catagory, and fear reloading and shooting problems iF/when the legalize it!
1Shirt!

[Shiloh]

I Used to break the Prime Directive guns and alcohol rule. We'd go into Open spaces in western Colorado, or the desert in Arizona and Utah.
Camping in the boonies, drinking, recreational pharmaceuticals, and shooting. Geez, how incredibly irresponsible we were. We were the only ones out there though so if we hurt ourselves, we had only ourselves to blame. Never drank and reloaded though.

Then we started obeying the rules. No booze until the shooting was over. This was after we realized just how stupid we were being.

I have been straight and sober for 26 years Feb 17th. My buddy for more than 27 years.
That was in the past. I call them "The Dark Times" Geez am I glad those foolish days are well behind me.

Shiloh

[AricTheRed]

I find it Interesting that it is mostly the greybeards commenting here. Says something about Old handloaders and bold handloaders.

[btroj]

I am hardly a grey beard. I don't think 47 qualifies. Besides, I couldn't grow a beard of I wanted to.
Common sense is the key. I don't drink and drive, why would I drink and shoot? And reloading? It can kill if a mistakes is made.
Alcohol has no place around anything that can kill or maim if attention lapses.

[Shiloh]

Alcohol has no place around anything that can kill or maim if attention lapses.

Nope.

Shiloh

[johnnybar]

I will type exactly what I would say if you were standing in my workshop or sitting at the shooting bench with me: "JESUS GOD ALMIGHTY, ARE YOU CRAZY!"
Then there's always Forest Gump's version, "Stupid is as stupid does." I sometimes fall back on that one when the mood's right. lol

[ku4hx]

I find it Interesting that it is mostly the greybeards commenting here. Says something about Old handloaders and bold handloaders.

Hand loaders are like crop dusters, there are no old, bold ones in either of them.

[41 mag fan]

Accident waiting to happen. You could skate by 1000 times, 1001 time mistake happens that you could or will regret.

[SlippShodd]

Mine has always been the gunpowder rule: Gunpowder and alcohol don't mix. That means I can sort cases with a beer at hand, but if live, unburnt gunpowder is involved, I don't touch it. That would include, shooting, hunting, reloading... as far as casting goes, we all know that lead doesn't even mix with water, so only a fool would turn several pounds of molten metal loose while impaired in the least.
I could write a Grisham-length book of anecdotal observations on the topic.
Since I work with machine tools a great deal, those also must remain untouched post-imbibing.
As far as posting on the forum? :drinks:
It should be obvious to anyone who has read them that many of my late-night ramblings have been fueled by the fermented or distilled.

mike

[jimb16]

The only shooting activity that I mix with alcohol is reading about them! Then I can go back later and read again, since I don't remember the first time! :drinks:[smilie=p::kidding:

[rbuck351]

My drinking now consists of one or two beers a year but never when gun powder or any kind of machinery is involved.

[AricTheRed]

I am hardly a grey beard. I don't think 47 qualifies. Besides, I couldn't grow a beard of I wanted to.
Common sense is the key. I don't drink and drive, why would I drink and shoot? And reloading? It can kill if a mistakes is made.
Alcohol has no place around anything that can kill or maim if attention lapses.

I hope I did not offend when I said "greybeard", I was merely pointing out that the vast majority of respondents to date have more posts than the average bear.

[btroj]

Not offended at all. I just like to think of myself as at least somewhat young?

[Bwana]

It's been 35 years and three months since my last drink of alcohol.

[captaint]

I don't hardly drink alc anyway. But to load ammo and drink ?? You must be kidding...
Bold handloaders. Interesting term. I am a greybeard, of course. Mike

[timberhawk]

I'm new to the board, but at 61, I actually have a greybeard.

I enjoy an occasional drink(s), but it's too easy to get distracted and screw up when your sober.

I never drink while doing anything gun/reloading related. It's not worth the risk.

[10x]

Studies on alcohol use show that one ounce of alcohol impairs reactions from 6 to 24 hours depending on the person. This research was done on pilots in the 1940s.
I seldom drink and I notice my reactions slow considerably from an ounce of rum (1/2 oz. of alcohol).
My question is, why spend money on liquor that can be better spent on guns and ammo.

BTW: my maternal grandfather was an alcoholic and would buy liquor before food or clothes for this family. I have read "Angela's Ashes" by Frank Mc Cort and compared to my mothers childhood, he had it easy. I have known too many folks in my life who lived their lives for their next drink and the vice owned them. My aunt married a man who would drink til the money from the sale of his crop was gone and they lived in poverty for most of the year. I could never understand that...
O

[Charlie Two Tracks]

A few summers ago, one of the guys at work invited the crew out to his cabin on the lake. Me and another guy put in our boats and went fishing. After about an hour we heard gun fire and I went up to the cabin to see what was going on. As I went around the corner of the cabin, there was a window with a screen about 3 ft in front of me. There was a huge boom and I hollered. One of the guys was firing a .357 through the window screen.......... they were loaded more than the rounds were. I loaded up my boat and ain't been back.

[shooting on a shoestring]

I don't load or cast if I'm tired. Same reason. Need to be uninhibited and have a severe sense of focus. If I'm not up to it, there's always tomorrow.

[Down South]

I've done my share of drinking while loading and shooting. Stupid, yes. I decided that drinking didn't agree with me and was a problem. I figured some day my drinking habits would cause me more grief than it was worth so I decided to quit drinking. So, I quit and never took another drink.
I lost a few buddies, "drinking" buddies that just shook their heads at me.

LOL, On Edit: I was just looking at my Avatar picture. If you could see the complete picture, I was holding a can of Bud when that pic was taken in 2008.

And I am a grey beard.

[Frozone]

While I don't drink.

I'm thinking of taking the soninlaw hunting the lazy way this year.
Drive up the road, hike ~100 yards into the bush and set up camp.
Drink beer for the next 2 days and if it's stupid enough to walk past, shoot a moose .

[Kull]

Alcohol and I do not get along, despite my best efforts for many years I finally came to realize that. My drinking these days consist of a lot of black tea, water, or root beer on occasion.

[jdam169]

There has been times when I wanted a beer while reloading,casting or shooting but I always hold off until I am finished. I have had some scares straight sober!

[OeldeWolf]

I am one of those tetotalers (a Mormon, actually). And while i have never drank, I have known those who do. Lost a few aunts and uncles to it.

I find fatigue to be enough of a problem with anything firearm or lead related, that I could not imagine loading or shooting with alcohol, or some of my meds, involved.

I am 54, and if I could grow a beard, I do not think it would be grey. Though my body might have a differing opinion on the subject, :D

[Texantothecore]

I spent a lot of years in manufacturing and the idea that you would pop a cold one and then go to the loading or casting bench is anathema. No way, ever.

[ACrowe25]

No beer for me while reloading, just doesn't seem like a good idea. Also if too much is on my mind, or too tired, etc. there is no reloading either. I load more then I shoot anyways, so a simple "wait" is not that big of a deal.

But most of the time I'm good to go to load a few hundred :lol:

[archmaker]

Well the last question was a tricky one. As I don't mix my alcohol when care and excersize is required, and that includes I don't even have a drink when riding a motorcycle, but . . . I do mix my alcohol with alcohol when I am drinking alcohol, so I had to not check the last one.

Q. It is OK to consume alcohol while...
A. Never. Propellants, Boolits, Firearms and Alcohol don't mix. Errors and mistakes are too dangerous

[2wheelDuke]

I hope it's a good while before there's any grey in my beard, but I agree with the others.

I'll sort or prep cases or size boolits while having a beer, but I have decided to shy away from anything involving powder charges after I've started drinking. I don't cast or smelt after I've started to drink either.

I'm almost ashamed to say that I didn't have any beer yesterday on St. Paddy's day. I slept half the day after working the graveyard shift the night before. My girlfriend was on duty, other friends weren't going out because of work, and I just didn't feel like going out alone. So I stayed home and cast boolits.

I guess I'm getting old. St. Paddy's day is amateur hour out at the pubs anyway.

[NVScouter]

I do most of my case prep in batches in front of a TV. So I set up one thing and repeat. TV and beer is fine then, if I'm putting the stuff together I now lock myself in my reloading room. While beer hasnt almost blown me up interuptions from my wife and kids have.

`
1) I put some 45 Colts together using 45WINMAG data while being pestered by my son. I double check test loads VS data after assembly and caught it thanks goodness.
2) I keep a .30 ammo can for sprue plates/used solder/alloy. When we moved my wife thought this was a junk bin and added a primed 357 mag brass that I pulled a boolit from after it seated bad. I had that one go off in the pot splashing me a bit.

Booze is for after a hunt, I like to hike in anyways and save the weight for water. I usually have a small flask for the campfire though. I know too many folks that hunting/fishing/freediving/SCUBA is an excuse to go out and drink with the boys.

My deer tag was punched for me after day two of tracking my Dad's co-worker's second deer (in NV 1 per year). He was hung over and put 5 rounds from his 357 into a 2X3 that spooked him. We found him half dead hung up in a fence. Dad and I stopped doing the big work group hunts after that and I'm very thankful thats not what I learned hunting to be like.

[OutHuntn84]

Gunpowder and Alcohol dont mix PERIOD! This coming from a 10' tall, bullet proof, young, dumb and full of...you fill in the blank. But I've always learned from others. My uncle was foolish enough to hunt and drink. Shot dead by his own gun. Worked with a guy is missing his big toe now cause after a few beers he decided it was a good time to work on his draw. I've made mistakes reloading and shooting while sober. I would hate to find out what I could screw up under the influence.
Now off my soap box lets talk about that honey beer! :D

[mdi]

Of course everybody that replies will say "nope, not while reloading or shooting". BTW; did you know that 97% of the prisoners in the LA county jail had drugs or alcohol related crimes? They were either drunk, loaded, or selling drugs (and prolly high) during the crime committed..