I Never Knew I Needed XXXX Until I Joined This Board

[jonp]

Ok, let's start a thread and I'm interested in the responses. We all know what the enablers here are capable of. I've run out of bench space a few times and spent way too much because of it but I sure don't regret it!

I never knew I needed xxxx until I joined this board.

I never knew I needed a .32 H&R Mag Revolver until I joined this board. I bought a matched set of Baby Vaq's and they sure are sweet but I would never of bought them in the first place without this sight.

I never knew I needed a 43 Spanish Rolling Block along with a mold until I joined this sight. Thanks to Nobade for helping me with some duplex loading which is another thing I never knew anything about and am about to try on my 416 Ruger again with Nobades help

[RED BEAR]

I just quit building larger loading benches because they always fill up and are just as crowded. Until i joined never knew i needed hardness tester never knew i had to have a 32 revolver several.32sw's 32 longs 32 acp's 32hr's i just had no idea just how bad i really needed these. Heck i didn't know i needed more than an old pot a grill burner and a big spoon to cast. I have learned a lot especially how fast i can run out of money.

[GL49]

I never knew I needed three thousand pounds of lead cast into ingots. Never. And never would have dreamed that it's still not enough. :shock:

[Elkins45]

I never knew I needed brass hollow point molds from Slovenia.

[wddodge]

I didn't know that I needed a hot plate. Or molds that weren't Lee. Or wood shavings. Or .45 Colts. And the list goes on and on....

Denny

[Flailguy]

I never knew I needed to "save" this much money on ammunition.

[Beagle333]

I never knew I needed brass hollow point molds from Slovenia.

This!!!! And I sure didn't know I needed dozens of them!

[gbrown]

I never knew I needed sooo much til I joined this board--no sense in listing any of it, the list just goes on and on and on and.....

[Minerat]

I didn't know I needed lino, wheel weights or what brass moulds were or that I needed it to save money.;)

[WRideout]

I didn't know I needed to hand sort wheel weights, or screen bullets from a dirt backstop. Also didn't know I needed a .30 cal pistol; now I have three.

Wayne

[Digger]

This!!!! And I sure didn't know I needed dozens of them!

Me too !!

[Boogieman]

This board has saved me so much money I'm almost broke.

[bikerbeans]

I didn't know you could launch a 1 3/4 oz slug with 95g of SR 4759 and live to talk about it.

BB

[Budzilla 19]

Oh, boy, where do I begin? I never knew I needed a 30/30, or that I needed more than one Dillon press, or more than a ton of lead, or enough tin to last a lifetime, or even knew about any other alloy other than wheel weights. I never knew I needed so many different molds!! Hahaha! I never realized how lucky I am to have this amazing website and this knowledge. You guys are the best!

[nagantguy]

This!!!! And I sure didn't know I needed dozens of them!

Second or actually third this.... and gotta say for the record I’ve about perfected my hollow point alloy and load for rounds that expand every time and are just hard enough not to deform the nose in my 45s! 357s are next.

[pete501]

I never knew I needed a blood test to measure how much lead was flowing inside me.

[BNE]

Lets see, I never knew I had to scrounge for lead every day.....

Never knew what a MEPLAT was and why I would grow to love them.

Never thought I would NEED multiple bullet molds for the same caliber.

Never new what a "Mr. Bullet Feeder" was....Now I have two.

The list goes on. You guys are GREAT!!!

[lightman]

I guess I got off cheap. All I can think of is a $12 hot plate from Walmart. I used to preheat my molds on the edge of my old Lyman pot with the cast iron liner but I never even thought of a hot plate. Duh!!!

Well, I forgot about the PID. That probably means that I'll think of some more things!

[Hossfly]

I didn’t know my little bench was so small. Have doubled in size since joining this forum. My amperage has had to be increased, because now I have hot plate, 2 melting pots, toaster for PCing boolits, and when turning on electric heater breaker couldn’t cope. Also had to find better storage spot for 1000# lead ingots stacked on cheap table, just couldn’t handle the strain. Enjoying every minute of this obsession.

[Three44s]

I never knew that I would be playing with boolits of many colors coated in a polymer powder and baked in an oven to replace conventional bullet lube.

I also did not know that I was mistaken in calling cast slugs bullets instead of boolits!

Three44s

[Thundarstick]

I never knew how to make an accurate revolver!

[Bzcraig]

Never knew I needed a line of credit....

[CLAYPOOL]

YOU ought to see my Range and ALL the reloading stuff. Guns Too...

[trails4u]

Never knew I needed a line of credit....

…..and we have a winner!!

[trails4u]

On a more serious note.... I never knew I needed this group of friends. But I do. And I appreciate you all.

[DaveTNC]

I never knew I needed to cast my own bullets/boolits, or the money I would "save" doing it.

[Dieselhorses]

When I look back on my life and my obsession with shooting, hunting and such, I realize now, how much more my guns can perform by feeding them off a much more exhaustive menu as opposed to the "regular" store bought ammo. I do salute a few major brands of ammunition but didn't know I could bring things to a whole new level! Long story short, "I never knew" how invaluable a forum could be until I joined this one.

[MrHarmless]

I didn't know you could launch a 1 3/4 oz slug with 95g of SR 4759 and live to talk about it.

BB

Figure out a way to fit a payload on it to cheapen up sending stuff into Low Earth Orbit

[Bookworm]

I never knew I needed brass hollow point molds from Slovenia.

Same here. And, mine just came in yesterday.....

[mold maker]

I found out I needed 76 molds, and will start saving in aprox 39 years.
BTW I'm 77 and many of the molds are virgins, but they go with the 7 tons of lead I've accumulated.

[Wayne Smith]

I never new I could resurrect old rifles and make them happy again. I never new that the 41 Colt existed, and now I have a printout of the cartridges presented at the 1890 Centennial!

[jdfoxinc]

I never knew I needed to make j words out of old brass.

[WheelgunConvert]

Gotta have: significantly more metal than I thought I would ever use

Things I got:
1. Hotplate
2. Don’t make your 38,9,&45 so hard
3. Ed’s Red & Ed’s Oil
4. Cured PC & HiTek=good , uncured = not good
5. Sometimes helpful people step on toes when aiming for the heart.

Bevan

[Jedman]

I never knew I needed to "save" this much money on ammunition.
+ 1. Jedman

[bedbugbilly]

I never knew what I was missing by not shooting these new fangled self contained cartridges . . . . or just how much room it takes to store stuff for them that "I might need someday". :-)

[Snow ninja]

Yep, I didn't know I needed to be PC'ing my boolits.

[Hickok]

On a more serious note.... I never knew I needed this group of friends. But I do. And I appreciate you all. I second that. I thank the Good Lord for the friends here!

[JBinMN]

On a more serious note.... I never knew I needed this group of friends. But I do. And I appreciate you all.


I second that. I thank the Good Lord for the friends here!

BIG DITTO on that!
:)

I also did not know I needed as much as I do now. I keep on gathering stuff.

As well as some outstanding knowledge , Thanks! to many of you folks!
That in itself, is Priceless!
;)

[David2011]

I didn't know how many case trimmers I would need.

[fatnhappy]

I never knew how much money I could save casting.

I’m still waiting on that to happen.

[Peregrine]

The pewter and soooooo many trips to random thrift stores.

[gbrown]

The pewter and soooooo many trips to random thrift stores.

You too? :bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

[Pete44mag]

Joined this site a little over a month ago. Every time I read this forum my list of things grows. In the past month have acquired a turkey fryer, lead hardness tester, cast iron corn bread pans, welders gloves and apron, three different sources of lead, a new work bench and cleaned the indoor range at the club where I'm a member for 1000# of range scrap! Also needed a new S&W model 57 .41 magnum to match my 9mms, .38/.357, 45ACP, and .44spcl./.44mag. to learn how to cast for. Still working my way thru making ingots, once I have that mastered I'll cast boolits and learn powder coating. I started to reload 2 years ago to make better ammo and to save some money, ha. Now I'm on a first name basis with the Fedex and UPS driver. Even if I get to stop buying things for this hobby I don't think I'll save much because I shoot a hell of a lot more ammo now. I'm really glad I joined this site for all the knowledge that I've been able to acquire about casting and powder coating and what I never knew I needed to do it all. Time to expand the work shop again.

[slim1836]

I never knew I needed the help of this site until I joined this board.

And man, did I ever, even more than you realize. The kindness of the members, individual stories, information, and Tumbleweeds for starters. Our Chapel has helped me through trying times and I am grateful it's a big part of this site.

Thanks to all of you, I'm bound to be saving money one of these days.

Slim

[MT Gianni]

When I joined the Shooters board in the late 90's I was sure I could get it all done with a couple of Lee molds 9mm/38 and 44, ww, a 311413 and a 10 lb pot. After having delved into multiple lubes, alloys, sizers, measuring tools and custom molds I decided not to remember why I needed multiple 32 cal revolvers, contender barrels and "obsolete caliber" firearms. I do remember why I decided to never keep track of what I have spent just remember the grins.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I hadn't loaded my first cartridge when I joined the site. I just wanted a plinking load for my 30-06 so I could afford to shoot it more. Thought I could get by with a Lee loader and some commercial cast boolits...now I'm worried about the slab in my basement cracking under the weight...

[Traffer]

I still don't know what all I need...I keep looking here though.

[BrassMagnet]

Mould lube!

I killed my first Lee mould in about 500 boolits.
I cast a lot more with a dipper and a Lyman SC 358495 mould as a child without lube. Now I lube all moulds.

[Tripplebeards]

An enfield stock set! Anyone have one???

And all the support from members here to learn how to do it right.

I had no idea how to cast boolits till I got on this site a year and a half ago...now I’ve shot sub moa with three different loads from my own cast! This site is awesome!!!

Didn’t know I needed a garage full of lead that I have now either!

[Petander]

I've been shooting long range hi power rifles actively for 25 years. 300-500 meters standard practise.

I never knew that in 2019 I'd be shooting round balls out of smooth bores with bad 50 yard accuracy - and actually have the greatest time and fun doing it.

[Froogal]

Well, I have acquired several items I did not know I needed when I first got into shooting and reloading, and some of those items I did actually need, but at the same time I learned that I do NOT need some of it. I have learned to be a little more cautious about jumping on the latest fad.

[dverna]

For me, BLL was one of the big improvements that I would not have realized without being here.

The PB gas checks.

The "custom" mold makers and group buys...though I do not like casting...I have bought a few.

That I made the right decision about staying with jacketed bullets for the AR's and hunting rifles.

[fast ronnie]

I didn't know I (needed) so much stuff, but I enjoy all of it.

[Walks]

I never even heard of Powder Coating until I joined this website.

So I never knew I needed a Convection Toaster Oven. And 3 more small cookie sheets and non-stick foil.

And all those ****ed Cheap *** Lee push-thru bullet sizer dies. If I'd thought far enough ahead I'd have bought a N.O.E. sizing die setup. Which I probably will anyway, as I have had to polish more then half of those dies.

Thanks for that guys.

O' and all those 6cav Lee molds and the N.O.E. & Accurate molds.

Well it did get me FINALLY to try Lee equipment again.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The Day I joined this forum, I had never cast anything and I had NO intention to start casting my own...that changed a day or two later.
so I guess I can say, I never knew I needed to cast my own.

[gwpercle]

NOE bullet moulds....
I was perfectly happy with Lyman and Lee double cavity moulds.... I had been using them for 45 freaking years and had absolutely no clue there were anything else out there... No Clue.
Then..... I joined this site.... Everyone just talks about how perfectly bad Lee moulds are and how using a NOE mould is a religious experience . I look at the price and go... Whoa Ain't no way I'm blowing $100 on a mould. I keep reading...reading....reading...using these moulds are better than having mediocre sex .... After awhile I think...I'm going to buy one for Christmas and then put to rest all the claims as to how great they are.... I bought one, a 4 cavity 124 grain 9mm TC with GC, It drops from the mould .358 . I can size the .357 and use in 9mm, run through a .358 sizer and perfect for 38 special and 357 magnum .
I had to eat some crow...using this mould is a pure pleasure and it truly is almost as good as mediocre sex .
I have become addicted to the darn things , bought several more and if I had more money would replace all my Lyman and Lee's with NOE...that's saying a lot from a tightwad like me.
I read about the other custom makers but if they're better than NOE moulds I don't know if I could stand it .
Gary

[daloper]

I never knew that I needed black BBs, #5 plastic containers., convection oven, silicon baking sheets and of course Smoke's powder in many colors so I could PC.

[firefly1957]

I can not say that castboolits has made me need anything it has taught me a lot over the past years even put me in touch with some great people . I suppose reading all i could as a kid on guns by the masters like Elmer and how many others started me right!

[robg]

Never knew it'd get to the point of never buying factory loads except 22lr and casting boolits for all my rifles .I struggle to understand how people don't reload their own .