Casters' ages with a more uniform scale

[Walter Laich]

There is another thread with the same question but the grouping of years is not consistent. I hope to come up with a more accurate result

Just click on your age bracket and leave comments in replies

[tazman]

I have been casting for over 40 years at this point. I still have a lot to learn.
There are new techniques and data on here all the time.

[Larry Gibson]

I've been casting my own bullets since '68. I think a better poll would be how many years have you been casting instead of how old are you now. Or the year you started casting.....

[Reverend Al]

Ditto ... I've been casting since I was 18 years old and I'm 64 now ...

[alamogunr]

I didn't start casting until I was about 60. I'm 75 now and enjoying it immensely. I didn't really get back into guns until my sons finished their educations and I could start saving & investing for retirement. They both ended up with doctorates and loans but are doing well and much of my casting and loading activity has been in support of them.

I've been fortunate in that my health is relatively good(compared to what I see at WallyWorld), and I hope to be active for another 10 years.

[Harter66]

I started exploring the possibilities just about 11 yr ago .
The potential cost was just overwhelming what with all of the stuff you HAD to have . Somebody finally said something to the effect of if it will chamber it's not too big , you can get by without out a sizer ...... Try the Lee push through .........

Wow what a long way I've come in so short a time !

[BUCKEYE BANDIT]

Started with Dad in 67-68, 4years off for military,another 20 to raise the family and build a house (yes I built it ,not had it built).
Another 20 working 60+ a week,finally back to it the year I found this wonderful place.Research is so much easier here than Dad's stacks and stacks of printed material (which I treasure dearly).

Thanks Bruce B. and Larry G. and so many others.

[lightman]

I'll be 60 next month. I started casting,with supervision, at about 11 or around 1968. I missed some time during High School (Girls) and a little more when the boys were in college.

[copdills]

one thing for sure you never get too old to enjoy the smell of some good gunpowder

[War Eagle]

Will turn 35 at the end of this month...started about 7 or 8 years ago with a Lee 2 cav, Lee bottom pour 10lb pot, LLA lube and a push-through sizer. It has been downhill ever since then. :-P

[jrmartin1964]

I started casting in 1974, under my Dad's close supervision, at the age of 12. The first mould I ever poured lead into was an early Lyman/Ideal No.429421 Hollow Point.

In fact, it was this very one...
199745

[country gent]

Ill be 55 next month. Started hunting shooting around 8 years old. Started casting around 18 for a renegade in 50 caliber both round balls and maxi balls. In Ohio then it was shotgun slugs or muzzle loader.

[Tom W.]

I've been casting something since I was 10 or so, starting out with handmade teardrop sinkers that I could wrap around my fishing line when trout fishing. It didn't work as well as split shot, but I was determined......at the time I didn't know that the tin can I was using was soldered together until I noticed it was leaking......

[DocSavage]

Been casting for the better part 35 years. Started with a small cast iron pot on a gas stove with a ladle now use an RCBS elecric pot.

[bullseye67]

Good evening,
The long road paved in LEAD.....I started casting 36 years ago. Then it was the only way I could afford/use the neighbors revolver.
I just had a buddy over and we happened to be where I have my "Pile" of soft lead to be made into ingots. He asked if I thought I would ever use it all? The look on his face when I told him what he was looking at when mixed with WW was enough for just over 2 years. We then went down to my my "room" and I showed him the boolits that are cast,lubed and boxed ready to load. Complete look of awe!!! I said "Yep" about 2 years worth ready to go!
The best part of shooting cast boolits....is making more!!
Have an awesome weekend..:drinks:

[marlin39a]

I've been casting for 40 yrs. Seems like yesterday when I bought my first Lyman mold for $10.00.

[dverna]

Practice makes perfect

If you cast 10-15,000 bullets a year, and have 5 years experience, you may be more proficient than someone who casts 2,000 a year for 10 years.

If you cast for both pistols and rifles in 8+ calibers, you are likely a better caster than someone who casts for two pistol calibers.

Then as my boss used to say, one years experience repeated 30 times, means you will have little skill or knowledge.

[Bookworm]

About what I figured - the vast majority are 50-75 yrs old.

Buncha dang curmudgeons. Or, as in my case, curmudgeons in training.

[frkelly74]

I remember being fascinated by the realization that you could make your own bullets during my high school years, 67 to 70. I was in junior rifle club and shooting every week small bore at 50 feet and the pistol club members always left some of their collective equipment out to be looked at. They were big into the 38 wad cutters and made " chinese hardball" with the 452 341 round nose one lube groove.(I should look up that number but time is short right now) It was to be about 20 years before I got into casting myself. I started out with a 309160 single cavity for my 30-30 handy rifle , it worked well right off the bat. Then years later castboolits came along and I have learned a lot. Now my "chinese hardball" looks like lipstick and goes bang and generally goes where I want it to.

[osteodoc08]

36yo here. Don't cast, shoot, hunt near as much as I'd like. Family and work take precedence. It's nice to be able to flip on a pot while I tidy up for the night and cast a few hundred to relax the mind and wind down.

[Maven]

In 1969 I began casting .375" round balls for a 1851 Colt cap & ball revolver I bought new. Casting for CF rifles didn't begin until ~1985 or so.

[Shuz]

I began casting in 1962 under the tut ledge of a Staff Sargent when I was in the USAF, stationed up in northern Maine. Our first and only .44 mag mould then was a Lyman 429360. Imagine this.... that we could never get it to drop boolits that would shoot as well as we thought they should! Both of us had Ruger 6-1/2" Blackhawk flat tops that we bought on base for about $75.00! I still have mine, but I lost track of old Sgt John Mong, and don't know if he is still even with us, but I will be eternally grateful for his time and patience with my learning curve(that I'm still on!)

[9.3X62AL]

My casting bit began in 1981 at age 26, to create bullets to reload my 32 caliber handguns with. Commercially-available bullets for those calibers were largely unobtainium at that time. I did a bit of reading, met with one of my mentors who I knew did some bullet casting and got some pointers on how to proceed in the real world (and not just from book texts), and concluded that the hobby was worthy of pursuit--and not just for the 32 revolvers.

Very few local places stocked bullet moulds. Jerry Berman & Sons in San Bernardino did, and I went there one payday and scored Lyman a 10# cast iron pot--a Lyman dipper--a Lyman mold handle set--and 3 moulds, #311291, #313492, and #358430. A few months later, I bought Lyman #358432 and #452488. The rest--as they say--is history. I now reload 35+ calibers, and have moulds for every one of those chamberings--80+ tools from most of the major makers and as time goes on most moulds come from the semi-custom small makers. 36 years of casting, 47 years of reloading at age 62.

[gandydancer]

I started casting & reloading in 1951 (11 years old) George Hayden an old weir fisherman used to let me help him. when I turned 15 years old he gave me a Winchester model 23B in 25-20 I killed a ton of partrage with it, I would love to be that boy again,

[TexasGrunt]

I'll be 57 next month. I've been casting jigs and sinkers since 1983. Just got into boolit casting in December of 2016.

It was always something I thought I should get into but I just didn't have the time.

My back decided I needed to retire just before I turned 52. Then a few months later I found I had prostate cancer. In 2014 we made the move from Oregon to Texas. I too thought it would be a lot more expensive to start than it was. I figured out that PC or Hi-Tek wasn't all that hard or involved. I already had lots of powder paint for jigs and fishing lures.

I started with a Lee 6 banger in the 200 gr SWC. I've now got a few dozen molds.

To tell the truth casting boolits has been a life saver for me. Health problems have kept me from fishing for the past year and I was quickly going nuts. One can only make so many fishing lures and jig heads before you sink the boat.

I try and get out into the garage and cast/reload for a few hours every day. It's been the most fun I've had in years.

[Hickok]

62 years old now. Been at it for about 44 years.

But I learned more on this site than I did trying to figure it out on my own during those "pre-internet years."

Thanks to all of you![smilie=s:

[mold maker]

Hickory said it like it was. In "63, when I graduated from sinkers to boolits, there was no internet and very little in print, that I had access to. It was all trial and error, mostly error.
Now as age takes its toll, I'm doing less, but learning more. I still try to spend an hr or so a day in the basement. Trips up and down the stairs are hard so I make the time spent worth while. For instance, I have to schedule citric acid cleaning around the weather and Dr appointments, because once the citric acid is added to the brass, the 2+ hr. finishing of the process can't be put off.
My tip for today is to keep a note pad handy and put a note in each container stating its condition.
Ex. 223 com., de-primed and citric washed, ready to size. Or 5.56 Mil., de-primed, citric cleaned, pocket swaged. It's easy to forget when there are several processes going at the same time, such as working with range pickup.

[Brad Cayton]

I started casting in 1980 when I was 19 and I'm now 56. Started with round balls for my muzzle loader and then for a 44 mag Super Blackhawk. I didn't know anyone who cast and like some of you have said, it was before the internet. I read all I could and went at it on my own. This site would have made it a lot easier and I still learn something just about every time I log on.
I haven't shot anything but cast for years, hunting and plinking. I have many firearms that have never seen a j-word bullet since they left the factory as many of you I'm sure. I powder coat mostly now but still use Felix lube in my old 450 from time to time.

[Hickok]

I agree with MoldMaker, about "very little in print." And most of what was written was wrong. At least by my own real world experiences following the directions of many "in the know." The older Lyman manuals were not much better.

You had to use Linotype, or some form of Lyman #2 to cast good boolets,.... any speeds over 800-900fps had to use the aforementioned alloys.... size revolver boolets to barrel groove diameter,.... recommended size .429" for .44 magnum,... all a bunch of horse pucky.

All I had was old lead pipes, and wheel weights, a Coleman stove and a couple of molds.

Did get to read info from Elmer Keith, Skeeter Skelton and Mike Venturino occasionally from G&A, Handloader, American Rifleman, back in the early 70's, and they were a big help.

[trapper9260]

I started to cast sinkers with my dad when I was small and then in the mid 80's I start to cast bullets on my own beside reload handgun and rifle. Was doing shotgun with my dad when I was small also.

[Smk SHoe]

I tried casting in the early 90's when I started reloading. Couldn't make a good bullet to save my life. Really tore up some one and two cavity lee molds. Left casting alone and focused on reloading. Became very experienced in reloading ( the go to guy in my area) but never got back into casting. Found this site a few years ago. Lurked for a year or so and finally joined. I am a casting fool now. Cast for all my stuff and my neighbors stuff. This is not a hobby you can do but just buying the equipment and doing. You HAVE to have a mentor, either in person or a whole forum full that can give pointers, help trouble shoot your problems, and just give advice.

[rking22]

Well , I'm 58 and started casting 311410s to shoot in a friend's Win 94 ( 1895 dob!) In 1974. Been at it ever since, with a few interruptions of a few years here and there when life got in the way. Have a mold,or molds, for everything I shoot, except air guns, bows,and a 40sw. Got a 9mm barrel for the 40, don't plan on loading 40s, if I do then it will be with cast! I love the independence and economy casting provides. I've got ,literally, tons of lead that can become a 45 gr hornet boolit or a 69 call round ball, and most things in between.

[hotbrew]

Started casting in the early 80s for pistol, have boolits cast over the past twenty years that I'm still loading with. All pistol calibers so far - have gone to swaging for rifle. Hope to do more casting after I retire and have more time to shoot them :)

hotbrew

[Big Boomer]

My age rolled over on 77 this past February. Had parents who thought I could not possibly be responsible enough to handle firearms. So got a late start casting about 1975 at the age of 35. Now cast for all my handguns and rifles. When I got into centerfire, I got rid of all my rimfires. Calibers for which I case include .223/5.56, .243, .30-06, .380, 9mm, .38 Spl./.357 Mag., .41 Mag., .45 Colt, .45 ACP. This site and the old Shooters.com have been a real source of info over the years. Big Boomer

[Green Frog]

I "dipped my toes into the casting waters" at about the age of 24 (back in the mid-'70s.) I get serious about it periodically as time and circumstances allow. Currently I cast for my North-South Skirmish guns and a few modern revolvers, especially 32s for which a good selection of bullets is sometimes challenging to find. :coffee:

Froggie

[Shiloh]

I shoot on the cheap. My bolts are virtually free.
I did by some super hard alloy and tin from RotoMetals for adjusting alloy and having bootits drop a little bigger.

Shiloh

[buckwheatpaul]

I started casting in 1978....and still enjoy it (65 now) when I need to cast 'em up!

[gwpercle]

In 1967 I was 17, a high school senior , bought Lyman #358156 1-cavity mould, small cast iron pot dipper, and their Cast Bullet Handbook . Then proceeded to teach myself the hard way.
Not one other person I knew reloaded ammo much less cast .
When I asked my Daddy to loan me $9.99 to buy a Lee Loader (whack-A-Mole) so I could reload fired cases and save us money , He gave me that, " have you lost you're mind " look...but my Dad slipped me a twenty and said that was for the "extras" I might need. And Pop was right, it's all them extra's that keep you from saving all that money.
Gary

[Bazoo]

33 here. Been casting bout 4 or 5 years or so.

[Mitch]

Soon to be 56.started casing about 5 or 6 years ago.Been loading for many years.Thank you to all here for the great info and tips.

[DerekP Houston]

34 here, got lucky and found this site soon after I started reloading. It sure has "saved" me a bunch of money :kidding:

[lwknight]

It appears that the closer to retirement age the more casters there are. Maybe kids in college and trying to eek out a living dampens the casting spirit. I started casting at 18 years old but did not do much till I was in my late 40s. Mostly because I had more hobby time.

[bsev81]

I just started posting on this forum last night but have been an avid follower since before I cast my first bullet only a year and a half ago. I began reloading and casting at the age of 26. My addictive personality took hold after my first firearm purchase on Halloween day 2015; I got my press for Christmas just a few months later and started casting before spring of last year. I hope to be casting well into my 60's like the majority of you, as long as I make some adjustments to my casting area soon. As I have it currently I bend over just slightly to peek under my pot while filling cavities which gets my lower back going after an hour or so.

[OS OK]

I just started posting on this forum last night but have been an avid follower since before I cast my first bullet only a year and a half ago. It looks like I am the youngest in the polls at the moment with only one entry in the 25-30, I began reloading and casting at the age of 26. My addictive personality took hold after my first firearm purchase on Halloween day 2015; I got my press for Christmas just a few months later and started casting before spring of last year. I hope to be casting well into my 60's like the majority of you, as long as I make some adjustments to my casting area soon. As I have it currently I bend over just slightly to peek under my pot while filling cavities which gets my lower back going after an hour or so.

Here's a quick and easy fix for bending over...

200032

Just raise those pots up to where you don't have to bend and peek...

c h a r l i e

[bsev81]

Here's a quick and easy fix for bending over...

Just raise those pots up to where you don't have to bend and peek...

c h a r l i e

Appreciate the tip and I have been meaning to copy that setup since I saw it a while back. I'll need to get as much done as possible in the next six weeks, expecting our first little one come September.

[OS OK]

Congratulations...your life is going to change for the better from then on out...we had out first one of three about 48 years ago but I can still remember standing by the Dr. as he pulled that little boy out of the oven...that's one of those memories you'll never forget!

Congratulations! May all your babies be born healthy and fat...and of course...n a k e d !

c h a r l i e

[DerekP Houston]

I'd rather be on the low end of this spectrum anyways, gives me lots of time to learn from yall :D.

[dragon813gt]

I'd rather be on the low end of this spectrum anyways, gives me lots of time to learn from yall :D.

You will eventually be at the other end [emoji23]

[chumly2071]

46 Here. Been casting just a very little bit, but have the 14 year old son of my wife's coworker coming out tomorrow to learn a little casting. Going to start with some sinkers for him to use with his grandpa fishing, and then see about moving up to more interesting things from there. He's very interested right now to absorb some info. Hoping it takes root.

[shdwlkr]

first cast in the '60's when was still at home not married, then the draft lottery came 7 years in the Army, got real job, married kids, lost wife, two failed marriages and homeless more or less for seven years, now working at finding everything to start again. Only thing that was easy to find each time I moved was the lead, ha ha. So at my ripe old age I am going back to where I was as a kid growing up working on the farm. Even have my .225 winchester in a rifle which I did get rid of a lot of woodchucks when I was on the farm, hope the new one is as good or better than the old one and others I let go to please one of my former wives won't do that mistake again.

[gwpercle]

No matter which way you look at it most of us are OLD !
See if you can juggle the numbers to make us 39 again....
Gary

[shdwlkr]

Yep and no arthritis, stiff joints, sore muscles and I think I even had hair on my head back then, but I don't want to go through what I did again, wasn't fun the first time and I am sure it would be less fun a second time

[bsev81]

Yep and no arthritis, stiff joints, sore muscles and I think I even had hair on my head back then, but I don't want to go through what I did again, wasn't fun the first time and I am sure it would be less fun a second time

Hey now, hair on your head is no standard to measure age.. Mine started receding at 16 and the top began disappearing at 19. Early 20's I started shaving it bald and six years later I have never looked back ;). All kidding aside, much respect for all of you "experienced" guys, I hope I can still do all of this in 40 years after what i've put my body through. Every one of you are an inspiration for us younger guys!

[shdwlkr]

bsev81
when I was in the military my head was shaved and so was my face. Much easier to care for and there was nothing on my head you could grab a hold of. Now I have a beard and have since I walked away from the Army a long time ago. Developed a skin infection that shaving made worse. Many of us old "experienced guys" have seen way to much and it would be nice to forget most of it, but there are times when it comes back to give us a re-run of things. Worst thing about no head hair is you can feel every breeze that goes by, ha ha As to shaving your head I have been doing it for over 40 years now, not sure I could deal with a head of hair again

[bsev81]

Shdwlkr
First and foremost, thank you for your service.

Since I started shaving my head I've always had a beard to some degree, my face never fared well shaved smooth. I can handle a breeze on the dome but five minutes in the sun and I pay for it a week later. I also agree that I wouldn't know what to do with a head of hair now.

[DerekP Houston]

Shdwlkr
First and foremost, thank you for your service.

Since I started shaving my head I've always had a beard to some degree, my face never fared well shaved smooth. I can handle a breeze on the dome but five minutes in the sun and I pay for it a week later. I also agree that I wouldn't know what to do with a head of hair now.

I'm not losing my hair, its migrating south for the winter....

[6bg6ga]

We can all blame the wife for our interest in casting since it seems to come into play when they start the change. The poll seems to indicate I am correct. There is a big jump in the 45 year and up area.

Menopause is generally considered complete when a woman has not had a period for one year. Menopause, often referred to as "the change of life", usually occurs between the ages of 45 – 55 years with the average age being 52 years.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

that means a lot of hiding in the basement huddled by your melters and molds! lol....me, I haven't clipped on the ball and chain just yet... im only 30 after all

[mold maker]

I'm not losing my hair, its migrating south for the winter....

It's gonna be a long Winter.

[OS OK]

I just noticed that if you turn that graph 90* counter clockwise...it looks like a hill...the pinnacle is the 60-65 boys....'Oooop's, it's official, I'm over the hill now!

[GhostHawk]

Getting old ain't for sissy's.

I always intended to live hard, die young and leave a good looking corpse.

Screwed up somewhere down the line.

Over 50 gas happens, live with it. Over 60 it happens a lot.

Still in the long run every day on the green side of the grass is a good day.

Rain showers here today, not much sun. But the smell of the earth washed clean, ohhh that takes you back to long long ago and far far away land. Good clean rich smell. Smell of rich earth, growing things and the untamed west wind.

Yeah life is good, so far.

[JBinMN]

Over 40... Never trust a fart.
;)

[Dirtjumper895]

28 years old here, been into casting for about a year. Lots to learn, but have a large supply of lead to enjoy.

[dragon813gt]

Over 40... Never trust a fart.
;)

The older I get the less warning I have. I'm on the road a lot and toilets aren't usually close by. Lost a couple pair of underwear due to over zealous farts this year [emoji23]

[mold maker]

After 50 I knew all about lumpy farts.

[David2011]

I just started posting on this forum last night but have been an avid follower since before I cast my first bullet only a year and a half ago.

Welcome to CastBoolits! I see you already have the ergonomics figured out. Staying comfortable at the casting bench is paramount to your enjoyment. I've been melting and molding 'em for 35 years.

David

[JasonYbarbo]

42 and started about 5 years ago.

[fivefang]

Hi Larry , I started casting for a 38/40 '73 win. in '55,it is a shame that the reloading industry has mis-led us for so many years, I thank you for de-bunking old wives tales, Chamber casting & Bore-slugging, all that before outside neck turning was very rarely mentioned, Fivefang

[MAGA]

26 well,,, 27 in 2 days [smilie=p:

[jarhead0321usmc]

I'm 30 started reloading and casting when I was a young teen with my grandfather. Went in the service and came back to some crazy ammo prices that helped justify in my head to jump back into the reloading and casting hobby. So I guess you could say off and on for 18 years total. Got a great wife that really enjoys shooting so the more I reload and cast the happier she is.

[rogn]

Started somewhere back in the 50's as an uncontrolled teenager. The things we did back then---without hurting anyone including ourselves. Used a Loverin design 55gr 22 cal GC with cookie cutter and a 310 tool push thru. It was interesting but never focused on one thing long enough to learn from it. Added things over the years with a lot of Lee equip as of late. Im learning more how to avoid all the standard procedures and still get adequate performance- sometime startling performance. My cast loads right now are more dangerous to paper than anything else. We could change.
Sorry about the tangential material, my brain got crossthreaded.

[kmrra]

My dad and I cast back in the 70s and 80s , and after he died in 1990 , I got out of guns and reloading till I got back into it in 2014 and just went back to casting my own at the first of this year. Lot more options now days and much more to learn , But it makes for a great past time .

[RIHP]

Well I guess by age I am I the prime of my reloading life!

[robg]

63 now ,what happened ,I was nineteen five minutes ago?

[DerekP Houston]

63 now ,what happened ,I was nineteen five minutes ago?

It seems to be going so much faster now that I have a kiddo to care for.

[dragon813gt]

It seems to be going so much faster now that I have a kiddo to care for.

The child has nothing to do w/ if. As you age your perception of time changes. You have more years to look back upon. In second grade the school year took forever because you only had eight years to look back upon. Fast forward to being eighteen years past graduation and you have thirty-six years to look back upon. Time goes by "quicker" as you age.

Not saying kids don't change how you perceive time. I have a 16yo, 3yo and 4mo. You're definitely more occupied w/ them. If you didn't have them time would still feel like it's going by faster as you age.

[Texas by God]

I 'm creeping up on 59, started reloading in 1972 for a 788 22-250 and an Enfield .38 S&W. I started casting for .38 Special and .45 acp in the summer of 1980. (When Hell came to stay in N Texas) Until I joined this forum I had only cast for one rifle- the 30-30. I've learned a lot here!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[oldblinddog]

63 now ,what happened ,I was nineteen five minutes ago?

I was going to say that!

Also, I have this responsibility to load cast bullets into brass cases and shoot them and work is getting in the way...and I'm really getting behind.

[1bilmr59]

I started at 55 3 years ago.

[max it]

i have spent much too much time working,
and preciously little casting and shooting.

[BHill]

Started a year ago at 47

[triggerhappy243]

I piddled a bit about 20 years ago and now last youer started to rock and roll with it.

[sqlbullet]

Hey, finally an age poll where I am not old!

[quail4jake]

I, Quail4jake, consecrate myself in the presence of God and these our friends to be the first boolit caster in the 85 and older category! In fact, if any one lives long enough to challenge me I will be the first supercentarian still casting. Take me on, I dare you!

[JBinMN]

I, Quail4jake, consecrate myself in the presence of God and these our friends to be the first boolit caster in the 85 and older category! In fact, if any one lives long enough to challenge me I will be the first supercentarian still casting. Take me on, I dare you!

Here's to you! Congrats!
:)
Cheers!
:drinks:

[Shopdog]

First post,been at reloading and casting since mid 1970's.

[lightman]

First post,been at reloading and casting since mid 1970's.

Welcome Aboard!

[DaveF]

40+ years casting. Slowing down, but so's everything else.

[WRideout]

I turned 65 last August. Started reloading when I was 25, in college, and a starving student. I started casting about the age of 36, under the mentorship of my stepfather, who allowed me to use his equipment. I had a hiatus in casting for a few years while I was working, raising kids, and moving around the country. In 2009 I joined this forum, and began to take up casting again, seriously. At this point I have a couple of boxes of jacketed bullets that I don't think I'll ever use. I shoot cast in everything I own, rifles and pistols. I have a small collection of molds, mix of Lee and Lyman. The ones that get the most use are the Lyman 35891 and 358477. After that I use the Lee 100 gr 30 cal mold for my two com block pistols. Since I acquired an in-line muzzle loader, I have been casting 50 cal RB and REAL, but I don't shoot it much.

Wayne

[Whiterabbit]

This is an amazing poll.

Keep in mind due to the technical savvyness of younger people, the lower numbers, particularly in millenial category, are actually inflated. And even with that, the lower generation is dwarfed by the 60+ crowd.

Kinda sad. younger folks don't even seem to be interested in iphones and such as much as facebook and whatever goes into their fake life online. Much less cars, or learning about the real world.

I was 29 when I joined this message board. I don't have many peers interested in the same topics.

[john.k]

i started casting when i was kinda young,remember on of my first products was lead coins.In plaster moulds.Didnt go down well.Also cast bullets in plaster moulds.Very versatile,and could be used today for say 20 new designs or whatever.First proper mould was brass blocks stuck to a pair of pliers with a drill hole for the cavity.Worked Ok in a Cadet and a 92 in 32/20.Then a Winchester mould in 321/170,blocks well out of line.Along the way got some Lyman,Ohaus,RCBS,P/H real iron molds.Nowdays ,I cant see any value in $100 blocks so I buy Lee and nothing else.Pushing 70.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Like tazman said I'm still learning, after 47 years. I'm 76 and just last friday I cast up about 300, 230 gr 45 colt boolits with two 6 cavity Lee molds. From prep to finish was just over an hour and a half. It took about 35 minutes to empty the Lee 10 # pot. My casting limit any more is about 2 hours, just don't have the stamina any more.

[JBinMN]

i started casting when i was kinda young,remember on of my first products was lead coins.In plaster moulds.Didnt go down well.Also cast bullets in plaster moulds.Very versatile,and could be used today for say 20 new designs or whatever.First proper mould was brass blocks stuck to a pair of pliers with a drill hole for the cavity.Worked Ok in a Cadet and a 92 in 32/20.Then a Winchester mould in 321/170,blocks well out of line.Along the way got some Lyman,Ohaus,RCBS,P/H real iron molds.Nowdays ,I cant see any value in $100 blocks so I buy Lee and nothing else.Pushing 70.



Like tazman said I'm still learning, after 47 years. I'm 76 and just last friday I cast up about 300, 230 gr 45 colt boolits with two 6 cavity Lee molds. From prep to finish was just over an hour and a half. It took about 35 minutes to empty the Lee 10 # pot. My casting limit any more is about 2 hours, just don't have the stamina any more.

To the both of ya for your longevity & inspiration to others to do the same! A Salute!
:)

Cheers!
:drinks:

I hope to someday be doing the same!
:)

[OldBearHair]

Hey there Quail for Jake, if God allows me to live two more years I will be in the .o16 percentile group right behind you. Made molds to cast 1/2 lead balls, 5/8 sinkers for cast nets w/ 3/16 holes in them (1959) then poured lead soldiers for my young son. Started reloading bullets (1972). Loaded more boolits last three years than all before. Back in the day at seven years, Dad would hand me five 22 shorts and I was off to hunt cottontails. Upon returning, had to give a report of each bullet. Sometimes I would give back two or three. I cleaned the game and two sisters had to do the cooking. Ate a lot of fried rabbit. Yep it does pass fast.

[tbobbo]

I'm pretty green at this. I got interested when I was 18, the tire shop I worked at made all the fishing weights the sporting goods department sold. Now, at 41 I am casting boolits. I just started. I always had interest......never had the time. Now that I shoot uspsa.......I need to cast or I can't afford to shoot. I think I have it close......just need some more practice. I have made some boolits that worked phenomenal.....some not so much. I'm getting tuned in now.

[JayT]

I remember casting sinkers with my dad when I was a kid in the early 1980s, and watching him reload for his .32 Win Special deer rifle with an old Lee Loader kit. By the time I left law enforcement due to a duty injury, I had acquired a collection of Class III weapons that became increasingly expensive to shoot, so they just sat in the safe. I found that old Lee Loader one day when I was going through some of my dad’s things after he passed away and decided to start handloading for all my weapons, so I bought a bunch of dies and a press and got to it. I forgot how much I missed shooting every day, and soon found myself running out of bullets very quickly.

I felt that the 230gr .30cal bullets I was shooting were too expensive for what they were, so that led me to casting about two months ago. I bought a little Lyman pot and dipper and just got to it. I’ve had real good success with the 300 BLK bullets, and I have now begun to acquire additional molds and tools to cast other calibers.

This site and its members have been an invaluable resource for all my newbie questions, and I learn something new every time I log in.

I still look at that .32 Lee Loader siting on my bench and I pull that old deer gun out of the safe every now and then and just look at it. I haven’t shot it since my dad died, but maybe someday I will, and maybe I’ll even cast my own bullets for it.

[Black Prince]

I cast and loaded my first bullets when I was 16. I am now 75 hoping to make 76. I have cast and loaded for the past 59 years except for the time I was in the Navy and on board ship. I shoot between 25 and 30 thousand rounds a year, (mostly hand guns) so casting saves me a few bucks. Casting and reloading can be a life long hobby and it is one that I enjoy about as much as shooting. It involves chemistry, physics and mathmatics and if you really get into it, it can be a neat intelectual experience. Most guys do not get into it that deep, but enjoy it just the same.

[lead-1]

Currently 53 here and I started sometime in '09 after joining this site. I haven't cast as much the last couple years but I'm considering another mold soon.

[Hootmix]

Well,,heck I won't be 73,,till next april (2018),,hand cast back in the late 60's,early 70's,,just starting back,,it sure seems like learn'n all over again.But I still enjoy try'n to make "that perfect bullet".

Coffee's ready,,,,Hootmix.

[KCSO]

Do lead soldiers count? Real bullets at 16 and been going every since.

[nh7792]

Lots of seasoned casters on here. With the centuries of combined experience, shouldn't be any unanswerable questions in regards to casting and alloys

[Walter Laich]

Since I posted this thread the 'Bell shaped curve' has stayed pretty much as you see it.

Just the 35-45 dip from being a classic one

[sw282]

Started shooting IHMSA sillywets in the late 70s.Casting shortly thereafter. Even after forty years of casting and shooting, still Nothing like hearing the sound of Your OWN handmade boolit hitting a steel Ram @ 200meters... First with a 44 cal swc 240gr Lee mould. Now, almost exclusively, l cast with a true work of ART.. A Hensley&Gibbs #503.. A KEITH SWC with square grease groove.. It drops beautiful 255 grainers from wheel weights

[Flailguy]

This makes me feel young! I'm 26 I started casting .451round balls for a black powder revolver when i was about 15. Come to find out those round balls work very well in a gun or a slingshot.

Now I'm casting for a 45-70, .357 and a 45acp.

[NMLRA Guy]

Oh my! Gotta do some remembering here. I was born in 1935. Was given my first real gun in 1939. It was a Model 1865 trapdoor 50/70 with bayonet. I could not lift it! We played with it by putting roll caps on the firing pin (if I could get someone to cock it...I couldn't). Made a toy cannon on an Atlas lathe in shop class in junior high (different world then). The cannon shot BBs with black powder. Bought an 1855 musket when 15 and made a round ball mould from plaster of Paris that I cast with my home foundry kit that made lead soldiers. It did not last long but did enough to shoot it. When 16 I bought a Manhattan .36 cal cap n ball pistol. Ellis Crawford was curator of a local museum and he took a two cavity Colt mould from his collection and loaned it to a snot-nosed kid and I soon learned the delights of casting with and all-iron mould with short handles! I had no loading mentor and learned the powder charge was 30 grains. Cautious me, I cut the powder charge of DuPont 3f powder in half and then half again. Bullet bounced off the tree I had the target on and hit me in the chest but did not break the skin! Elmer Keith, Townie Whelen, Julian Hatcher, Ned Roberts and Phil Sharpe were my heroes. About 1959 I discovered E. H. Harrison. In MY opinion, he was the absolute father of what we are doing today...a real renaissance in the reloading of RIFLE bullets with lead. Elmer never let the pistol end die! I corresponded with Elmer a few times and treasure his reply letters. I mailed one query on Saturday and had a reply by the middle of the very next week! I have loaded for many calibers and have over 150 moulds in round-ball and elongated boolits. I have made bullet moulds (not many), chambering reamers (not many), cartridge cases (not many) and loaded cast for .22-15-60, 25-21. 25-25, 28-30, 300 rook, up to .45-100-550 and MANY in between. I regard successful loading for double rifles that regulate in both barrels to be a post graduate course in reloading. I have competed from fifty feet with .22 LR to a thousand yards with muzzle loaders and many distances in between. I am a real fan of pure lead in many low pressure loads. Those bullets "learn" to fit the throat quickly when you pull the trigger. Elmer said a good load for a Sharps was pure lead paper-patched up to BORE size (not groove size), that could be pushed thru the barrel with a "stout ramrod" and as usual, he was right. Put a groove size bullet in the case and it would NOT go in the chamber! But, those pure lead bullets would smear and often not break a big bone in and elk. Such bullet fit was the thing for muzzle loaders with paper patch or grooved lubricated. I am in absolute awe of you is being done on this forum and wish I had had it when growing up. But, as I think about it, some of the stumbling around we did a sixty years ago was fun.

[Walter Laich]

guess we're done with this thread

[glockfan]

i'm 55 and i'm reloading since 1990. i'm also an avid target shooter and i participate in the uspsa and ipsc games when i can.

with the always increasing prices of commercial boolits, and the fact wifey got his black badge, the boolit bills started to look insane at one point,so the perspective of shooting more for less kind of boiled for awhile before making the move of buying equipement for my new endeavor.

when i discovered this site, my motivation skyrocketed quite some because i can now learn my way without having to walk through the fail-success process. all the infos i'm collecting here is priceless,and i'm so confident that i'm sure i can apply anything i'm learning here without any doubts.

[Eddie Southgate]

Started in the early 60's casting for muzzle loaders and cartridge pistols . Still using the same molds (Ideal/Lyman,H&G,B&M ), furnace (SEACO) and sizer (Ideal#1)I was using then . They are not the actual ones as they were all stole out of my paps shop by a local dope head . I have over the years found and bought all the same equipment I started with . Bought all the Tru Line and 310 stuff as well as an All American bought brand new in the box in about 1995 . When my dad died in August of last year I got all of his stuff which included the only modern stuff I own .

Eddie

[Walter Laich]

this has been an almost perfect bell shaped curve since it started

[glockfan]

if this poll is a mirror of a larger scale , it is a proof that we must keep teaching the old art of boolit casting to the latest generations. i'm struck to learn that the core is between 40-85 lol.

[Whiterabbit]

35 here. Keep in mind that:

the youth need to learn to shoot (and like it) before really figuring out the reloading thing
the youth need to learn reloading (and like it) before really figuring out the casting thing
the youth need to learn that non-plated/jacketed bullets are not the health hazard they have been raised to believe

You need all three of those pieces, and it just takes time. Especially when you can't tell a 21 year old anything because they are already an expert, and cell phones have turned everyone's attention spans into that of a gnat. The curve makes sense, and not all of us are going to "get it" at a young age.

We just have to be enablers for the interested. And hope that the hateful motives of those who are actively being disablers become transparent to those they wish to indoctrinate.

[Outback32]

37 here been reloading for shotgun and pistol for several years. Just started reloading for rifle and decided to start casting. I don't know of anyone around me that casts boolits.

[Springfield]

I don't know how it is everywhere, but in my area here in Silicon Valley, if you are between the ages of 8 to about 30, if they can't do it with their i-phone, they just aren't interested. I see this all the time, in the schools and in my son's Boy Scout troop. If it weren't for things like Scouts I swear these kids would never leave their Video game or i-phone. They have no hobbies or interests, it's pathetic.

[Knightflyer]

I've been casting my own bullets since '68. I think a better poll would be how many years have you been casting instead of how old are you now. Or the year you started casting.....

he has a point. I'm 53, but only just started reloading, and now am considering dipping my toes in the water of casting my own boolits. Right now, I just buy um, but I got on this forum because of the wealth of knowledge about using the cast boolits, regardless of who poured them.

[dsayer]

33y. Just started casting round balls and REALs for my 54cal muzzleloader a few weeks ago. Will likely start for my 44 magnum Super Blackhawk Hunter in the near future.

[Arkansas Paul]

I'm nearly finished with my 38th trip around the sun.
I started casting in 2010, IIRC. That's when I joined this forum, and I read on here for a little while before starting.

So about 8 years casting for me.
About 12 reloading in general.

[AndFereira]

31 years old casting for 2 years now

[Walter Laich]

still amazed how the (almost) bell shaped curve has been there from the initial posting.

course now it takes more entries to cause a major change in the shape of it