Renewed interest in casting and reloading?

[dakotashooter2]

By the looks of things the price increases in ammo have renewed interest in casting and reloading. I have seen a noticable increase in the cost of molds on ebay lately. Used to be you could pick up a mold for under $30 now $45-$55 is the norm. The local Cabela's has increased the size and selection of their reloading dept. and I noticed they are selling presses and accessories as fast as they can get them in. Seems we have also seen quite a few newbees here on the site. I'm glad to see some renewed interest in this old hobby. The downside is that it will put a bit more strain on some of the supplies that have been more difficult to get.


:castmine:

[Blammer]

yep
and when the market stabilizes for peoples income to spending ratio in a few years, you'll probably see all that stuff up for sale cheap.

[rickomatic]

I'll plead guilty to that charge, your honor. :mrgreen:
After a couple decade hiatus from reloading, the price increase in ammo prompted me to dig out my old equipment and start back up. As is true with most hobbies, I doubt that I'll see any savings. I'll probably be spending more. I've bought several hundred dollars in new equipment over the past couple months, including casting equipment, which I've never had, but decided to add to my repitoire.
I have noticed the ebay pricing, and it's pretty funny. I got a couple good deals on die sets a few months ago, but lately, once shipping is added in, I've found that it's cheaper to go to one of the online dealers. I've had little problem finding needed supplies from those dealers either. Between Natchez, Midway, and Lee, I've been able to find everything I've needed right away.
Thanks for the ongoing education you guys here are giving me in regards to casting. I am accumulating equipment and supplies and should cast my first boolits soon. This site is great! :mrgreen: Soon I too will be able to proclaim......." :castmine: "

[jhrosier]

...
After a couple decade hiatus from reloading, the price increase in ammo prompted me to dig out my old equipment and start back up.....

Same here. I started again about 6 months ago.
I've made a couple of good trades here for moulds, but ebay is a waste of time nowadays.
I've spent a LOT of time reading posts here and learned a great deal that I never knew before. As a result, my results with cast boolits have been mostly gratifying.
I've posted a few questions, not too silly I hope, and gotten a lot of help from the guys here.
I can't complain about shooting 30-06 for 12 cents a round and I'm having more fun than I've had for years.:drinks:

Jack

[Ed Barrett]

I got into reloading 50 years ago because factory ammo was too expensive, glad to see some other people seeing the light.

[corey012778]

I got into reloading my 30-06 last years, planning to do other calibers soon. [smilie=1:

saved me a good bit

[Kraschenbirn]

Took my #4Mk1 and K-31 to the range last Saturday morning and had to wait a bit while the Club RSO completed an orientation class for a dozen or so new members. After the class ended and I was setting up to shoot, one of the new guys came over to check out what I was shooting. Almost the first words out of his mouth were something like: "Cast bullets, huh? Okay, for plinker loads, I guess." When I answered that out to 200 yds (these ol' eyes ain't what they once were...'specially lookin' thru iron sights) my cast loads would come pretty close to matching (or bettering) most mil-surp ammo for accuracy, he just kinda looked down his nose and walked away.

An hour later, while I was taking a break from shooting, he was back...with a couple of other guys tagging along. Said he'd been watching from the safety area and would I mind if he asked a few questions...just general stuff about muzzle velocity, accuracy, bore fouling, etc. I'd chrono'd some .303s and showed him my notes and the targets I'd just shot (2"+/- @100 yds). Then came the biggies...where did I get my "hard" boolits and how much did they cost? He'd only recently begun reloading but, with JBs going for $20-$25/100, it was still too expensive for him to shoot more than once or twice a month. When I told him that I cast all my own...for both rifle and handgun...and scrounged most of my materials locally, you could almost see the dollar signs light up behind his eyes. Spent a little more time with them, let Jim (the first guy) fire a few rounds from the K-31, and gave them my e-mail address along with the Cast Boolit web address.

Got two of the three coming by next Sunday afternoon to look a my casting bench and (maybe?) begin putting together a list of what they're going to need to get started themselves. I've already told Jim that if they start with a caliber I'm set up for, they can use my bench (under my supervision, of course) for their first couple runs...so long as they supply their own WWs, GCs, and lube.

Could be that I've brought another shooter or two into the CB fold but, as no good deed goes unpunished, I've probably, at the same time, created another competitor (or two) for the shrinking supplies of WWs and scrap lead around here.

Bill