Do you like guns, reloading, or just shooting?

[Bazoo]

Well I like guns. Love even might be a better discription. I like looking at guns. I like shooting them. I like cleaning them. I like reloading for them. I like carrying guns. I even make holsters and slings and the like for my guns. I collect old cleaning gear. I read about guns. I'm fascinated by and love guns.

Now I seen several folks here and around gun shops that say they love shooting. Or they say they like guns but they hate cleaning guns. I heard Rob Leatham say once on tv he liked shooting guns, not cleaning guns.

Would I rather clean my gun than shoot? No. Or shoot than admire my gun? No. Or admire my guns and never shoot them? No. I enjoy guns in a sort of balanced way.

Am I the only one here that likes all aspects of guns?

[Wheelguns 1961]

I think for me it is all connected. My favorite thing is load development, but you can’t do that without shooting, reloading, and cleaning. Yeah, I love it all.

[Butler Ford]

I have gone shooting just to have empty brass to reload. When the weather is bad, the brass is all full, I'll clean a gun or two just to have something gun related to do.

[skeettx]

I clean my guns at the range, because when I get home, something always grabs the time !!

[Texas by God]

I am a 1958A1 Gun Nut. There are certain guns I have no desire for, but others do so that is fine with me. Im not obsessive about cleaning them, but I know how. I customize most every gun that I own and always have.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[BigAlofPa.]

I love the whole package !

[dangitgriff]

I look at old blued steel and wood guns as functional art.
Black guns are just utilitarian, a tool.
Daddy’s .303, a No. 5 MK I Enfield...a legendary heirloom.
A friend taught me how to reload about 3 years ago, he’s gone now but left me with a new skill. I think about him every time I sit down at the press.
Oh, do I ever have a favorable view of firearms. Here’s Elmer Keith’s .41 Magnum Blackhawk, a personal gift from Bill Ruger, serial number 67:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201203/cd759d6e55dd3239e84b1c78ac8dedec.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201203/0f78e29b60b141ef4155319dbdc3fafb.jpg

[SweetMk]

My interest in guns changes about as often as the weather,,

one week,,,

https://i.imgur.com/fus8nv3.jpg

the next week,,

https://i.imgur.com/4RSe8AA.jpg

and,, then there are handguns,, :bigsmyl2:

https://i.imgur.com/IpWm8gx.jpg

Try to cast boolits,, when your interest changes like that,,
by the time the mold gets here,, I am trying to by rimfire ammo,,, :veryconfu


:shock:

[GhostHawk]

Cleaning is probably my least favorite part but I don't mind it much.

Mine would probably read something like Guns, Shooting, Casting, Reloading, cleaning brass, cleaning guns.

[Three44s]

I am not wild about cleaning but I want the end result and that requires good maintenance!

Three44s

[Pete44mag]

Enjoy it all! Shooting first, cleaning last.

[dogmower]

do I like guns, reloading, or just shooting?

Yes.

[rbuck351]

I like all aspects of guns with my favorite being making old guns shoot again and load development to get any gun I have shoot better than when I got it.

[Gtrubicon]

I enjoy it all, to enjoy shooting to its fullest, the gun must function, which means it needs to be clean. Ya gotta take the good with the not so bad. Nothing more frustrating than a firearm that doesn’t work because of negligence.

[evort]

I enjoy it all. Buy 'em, clean 'em, shoot 'em, clean 'em, see which loads worked best, tweak those loads a little bit, get some different boolits and see how those fly. Buy a new gun and start over. Good times.

[Bazoo]

I look at old blued steel and wood guns as functional art.
Black guns are just utilitarian, a tool.
Daddy’s .303, a No. 5 MK I Enfield...a legendary heirloom.
A friend taught me how to reload about 3 years ago, he’s gone now but left me with a new skill. I think about him every time I sit down at the press.
Oh, do I ever have a favorable view of firearms. Here’s Elmer Keith’s .41 Magnum Blackhawk, a personal gift from Bill Ruger, serial number 67:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201203/cd759d6e55dd3239e84b1c78ac8dedec.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201203/0f78e29b60b141ef4155319dbdc3fafb.jpg

Griff, that's real neat. Thanks for sharing. How'd you get to know Ruger? I read RL Wilson's book about Ruger and he sure seemed like an interesting guy to have known.

[Bazoo]

I appreciate everyone's replies. Interesting thus far. I used to have gun cleaning day on Thursdays. For a while it went well. Me and the wife cleaned our guns and had a pizza. Never could get any of my friends interested.

Shame, at the time I had a near full collection of tales of the gun. Winchester is still my favorite.

[GregLaROCHE]

I enjoy all aspects of guns and shooting. I have noticed that I don’t run through as much ammo as I used to. I’ve also gotten a lot into BP cartridge and muzzle loading too.

[dangitgriff]

Bazoo, thanks. I saved those pics from an article written by a guy who collects Keith’s guns. I wish I had known him, and Ruger, but they were active a little before my time.

[robg]

have to do it all . who wants to rely on other people if you dont have too.

[brass410]

start to finish enjoy it all, after all if you can do it yourself why not? then its done the way you want, theres a certain pride that goes with DIY and knowing that you can.

[EMC45]

I hate trimming brass, but I like reloading, shooting and guns of course.

[RogerDat]

I like guns but agree with the poster who said some capture the imagination and seem like art and history in one elegant package. Others leave going "meh" nice tool I guess. I can think of at least half a dozen handguns I would buy before I bought a 9mm or 40 S&W, however that being said Christmas is coming and if someone wants to gift me one I'm not going to be rude and re-gift it.

Casting and reloading is for me the bigger part of the whole thing. I do like target shooting but without having reloaded or better yet cast and reloaded I'm just burning ammunition. Fun but hardly a hobby unless one does it competitively or as a sport. Casting and reloading engages more of my time than shooting, especially if you count research or experimentation. Don't mind cleaning. Not ever going to be a big fan of brass prep. That more than anything seems like a means to an end. I do find I enjoy the site of a plastic bin full of brass labeled "Ready To Load" at the end of the prep, just don't enjoy the prep much. Cleaning is fine, that is just a chance to appreciate the design and ownership.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I enjoy reloading much more since I upgraded from the Lee hand press to the Lee Turret Press. Seems like the time investement/return ratio is just right. Not that there was anything wrong with the hand press, it was just slower.
I don't mind cleaning, but can't say I enjoy it. If I cleaned spotless like some folks every time I shot, I'd hate it. As it is, blued exteriors get wiped any time one is handled. Sooted up revolvers get wiped down. Bores get scrubbed if a new load is found to lead, otherwise they might get a boresnake every now and again. Actions get cleaned as needed (when they start to gum up).

[Silvercreek Farmer]

You are missing an option. Those who like owning guns, but don't really care to shoot them. I've known lots of these over the years, perhaps more of them than actual shooters.

[johniv]

I enjoy it all. Buy 'em, clean 'em, shoot 'em, clean 'em, see which loads worked best, tweak those loads a little bit, get some different boolits and see how those fly. Buy a new gun and start over. Good times.

YUP! That's me.

[downzero]

I enjoy it all, but I didn't answer your poll because not only do I not enjoy cleaning guns, I really just don't even do it. I'll clean the copper out of a rifle bore, but other than that or a wipe down, my guns get lubed and shot some more....cleaning is massively overrated.

[375supermag]

Hi...
I voted for guns, shooting and reloading but not cleaning guns.
Why???
Because I don't like cleaning guns.
I do clean them because it's necessary and I am an adult and as such I sometimes am required to do things I don't much like. But those things need done, so I do them.

[DDriller]

Cleaning with the smells associated with them lets me remember working with my dad so I like it. I still have all dad's reloading equipment and still use most of it.

[jlm223]

I like it all, cleaning is just part of the process.

[Bazoo]

I wish I would have thought to make a "I just like guns" answer. I know there are a lot of those folks but I'd doubt many here. The kind of folks if you ask the. What kind of gun they have and their answer is the caliber or gauge, and when presses, they can't offer the model or make.

For some reason I like cleaning guns. I don't keep my guns spotless though. I wipe them down and clean for function or accuracy as needed, but rarely every time I shoot them. I do enjoy vintage cleaning stuff though.

[Idaho45guy]

My interest in guns changes about as often as the weather,,

one week,,,

https://i.imgur.com/fus8nv3.jpg

the next week,,

https://i.imgur.com/4RSe8AA.jpg

and,, then there are handguns,, :bigsmyl2:

https://i.imgur.com/IpWm8gx.jpg

Try to cast boolits,, when your interest changes like that,,
by the time the mold gets here,, I am trying to by rimfire ammo,,, :veryconfu


:shock:

Same here. I have finely crafted 5-figure custom rifles that I absolutely appreciate and enjoy, and also have $500 plastic pistols that I also think are wonderful, but for a whole different set of reasons.

I don't think there are a whole lot of folks on here like us. Most are very antagonistic towards composite combat pistols and rifles and take every opportunity to disparage them.

I like and appreciate nearly all firearm designs and styles. I enjoy shooting them, casting boolits for them, reloading for them, and even cleaning them is not that big of a chore for me. Except ARs. Cleaning ARs reminds me of the military when us lower rank guys not only had to clean our rifles, but everyone else's after range day.

[abunaitoo]

Love old forearms.
Collecting, reloading for, and shooting.
I find the history of them more interesting that everything else.
But I do enjoy shooting them.
New stuff just is not all that interesting to me.

[kevin c]

When I think about it, I have to confess I don't pull guns out of the safe just to admire them; they come out to go to the range to be used. I have no collectibles to speak of. Nearly all my guns are used in competition and practice for it.

So I guess that makes me a shooter. Casting and reloading are fun and interesting, but are done mainly so I can shoot as much as I want. Cleaning is a chore.

[Shawlerbrook]

All part of the hobby. I also like collecting and some of the most enjoyable part is the hunt for what I am looking for. I also like building( with help) unique guns.

[Lloyd Smale]

im kind of in the middle. I like guns shooting hunting loading and casting. Hate cleaning and i like guns and shooting a heck of alot more then casting or loading. I dont hate doing them. It gives me something to do in the winter but I cast and load for only one reason and that is to SHOOT ALOT CHEAPLY AS POSSIBLE. If i had someone giving me factory ammo to blast id
probably never pull a handle or cast another bullet. At least i can honestly say id rarely do it.

[375supermag]

Hi...
I have met a few people over the years that owned firearms but never shot them.
Invited them to go shooting but they always find an excuse not to go.
These people I do not understand.

[Bazoo]

I've met a few folks that owned guns but no interest in firing them. I know a guy right now like that.

I often had pondered whether or not I would continue to cast and reload if I had no financial need to. The answer is yes. Reloading and casting makes guns a much fuller and enjoyable lifestyle. I enjoy making ammo, plain and simple.

Now, I don't shoot competition or huge bulk. That would make reloading work. I enjoy using hand presses and single stage presses. It for me is the same with chopping wood. I enjoy splitting wood with an axe. But to use a wood splitter is just work. It may be easier and faster, but it isn't fun.

[Idaho45guy]

I've met a few folks that owned guns but no interest in firing them. I know a guy right now like that.

I often had pondered whether or not I would continue to cast and reload if I had no financial need to. The answer is yes. Reloading and casting makes guns a much fuller and enjoyable lifestyle. I enjoy making ammo, plain and simple.

Now, I don't shoot competition or huge bulk. That would make reloading work. I enjoy using hand presses and single stage presses. It for me is the same with chopping wood. I enjoy splitting wood with an axe. But to use a wood splitter is just work. It may be easier and faster, but it isn't fun.

Brother from another mother...

[Lloyd Smale]

Hi...
I have met a few people over the years that owned firearms but never shot them.
Invited them to go shooting but they always find an excuse not to go.
These people I do not understand.

one of my best friends is one who loves guns and rarely shoots. His wife deer hunts but he sits home. Comical thing is he even owned a gun shop for 20 some years. Heck of a nice guy and loved guns but didnt really know alot about them. I like to have a buck for every time he called me and asked me advice on something. He does have some real cool guns hes accumulated through the years and most of them CHEAP.

[jimlj]

I like guns. I like reloading. I like shooting. While I don't necessarily dislike cleaning, it's not at the top of my list. I clean my guns when they tell me they need it. Sometimes the guilt makes me clean them before the gun thinks it needs it. I have an SKS that has never thought it needed cleaning, but after thousands and thousands of rounds guilt took over and it got cleaned anyway.

[Bazoo]

That's kinda the way I clean. I wipe down blued guns, and the soot off of revolvers. But I don't clean the bore or action unless it needs it or I'm in the notion. I do enjoy cleaning when I do it but I don't do it often enough to make it a chore.

[Old School Big Bore]

Yes, yes, yes.

[alamogunr]

I just voted for all three. My problem is that I have so many different guns in different cartridges that I can't really get comfortable with the reloading. So many things don't fit the data in the manuals. Right now I'm working up a load for grandsons 9mm's and being very conservative since I don't usually reload for anyone other than myself. When they get to shoot they like to shoot a lot. That means that I'll be loading on the Dillon 550. That requires constant attention for me. I quit when I start to get tired which doesn't take more than an hour. It might be a day or so before I come back.

I just wish I had been able to do more before I got old.

[Deakota57]

Love everything that has to do with guns, I even spend a lot of time with my wife and the grand children with guns from shooting, hunting, cleaning, and reloading.

[bpatterson84]

I love it all.....except cleaning! Defense guns stay clean, but the rest I shoot to malfunction. Glocks get cleaned every 4kish, AR’s every 2k, .22 every 2-4K, 1911’s 2k, bolt guns probably never. I know, some of y’all don’t agree with me, but that’s alright too.

[AndyC]

After many hundreds of thousands of rounds, reloading is now just a chore I have to get through (with that said, I'm grateful that I *can* reload) - but I still love the magic of casting bullets.

[FarNorth45]

I love it all !!! Buying , reloading , casting , shooting , cleaning, modifying and building a range in my front yard !!!273083...... love building leather holsters for things that go pow .
Its also good to have a friend that shares the same passion and can build you a nifty vice to help you with projects !!!!273082qo

[mozeppa]

yes!!

[Bazoo]

That's the only thing I'm missing farnorth, a friend that shares the passion.

Thanks for sharing, I've used cabinet screws for years like what's pictured. One of the handiest clamps there is.

[FarNorth45]

That's the only thing I'm missing farnorth, a friend that shares the passion.

Thanks for sharing, I've used cabinet screws for years like what's pictured. One of the handiest clamps there is.

Yeah its tough now days to find like minded folks . I am 44 and he is 70 ..... i haven't found anyone my age that i have much in common with . I met him about 5 years ago , he had a 65# Black Widow for sale and i bought it . The next year i took my first ever bear , it was Spot / Stalk hunt and with his old bow . I sent him pictures of the hunt and we have been friends ever since . We both love Casting , both love 45colts and old school guns . ....... it would seem i really dont have much in common anymore with people under 60 lol ........ at least not people around me !!!

[Bazoo]

I'm only 37. Heck, I don't know anyone else that casts or loads.

[smoked turkey]

I'm a retiree and in my mid 70s age wise. I have noticed for the past few months that I don't target shoot like I used to. I think I still enjoy doing it but being totally honest about it I must not enjoy it like I used to. I hate that and I want to get back to it. I do really enjoy handloading and specifically I seem to be turning to what I would call precision handloading. I am perfectly content to take a rifle to the range and shoot only 10 to 20 rounds at 100 yards. I aim for precision and not shooting massive amounts of ammo. I do still enjoy deer and turkey hunting. I also enjoy the cleaning process after my shooting session.

[SeabeeMan]

I'm only 37. Heck, I don't know anyone else that casts or loads.

Same here, 37 and I've never met another person who casts, and only a few who reload. Even when I get into gun talk with people, I feel myself plowing forward with what I would consider normal conversation only to realize that I left them back and the station when we moved on from their pet area of the hobby.

I love the entire process: load development for a particular rifle, casting, re-working a load for that rifle with cast, polymer pistols, WW1 rifles, AR's, the 22 Savage that's killed more deer at the family deer camp than anybody can count, cleaning, organizing my bench, etc. Like somebody else said, I've gone shooting just to be able to reload, and I've cleaned rifles that I know full well were already clean.

The next step is subsonic suppressed hunting loads with cast boolits and hi-tek coating, and getting my kids into it the way my dad did with me.

[Bazoo]

The only folks I know that loads are the guy that owns the gun store and the gunsmith. The latter casts. Been hanging round the gunsmith shop for years but it ain't ever progressed past that.

[TonyR]

Package deal for me. Shooting, reloading, cleaning, admiring, studying etc...

I love guns


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bazoo]

Forgot, I do know one person that loads. We ain't real close buddies but been shooting a few times together. Starting to get to know him better. He don't cast, but he scrounges lead, might work out pretty good.

[wingspar]

I like it all except for cleaning, tho I’ve learned the hard way that if I’m going to shoot a lot of lead bullets, I had better clean those guns a little more often. That puts me in the minority of the poll.

I don’t cast but my neighbor does. Good to have a neighbor next door that does it all and enjoys the sport as much as I do.

[Murphy]

I reckon I'd have to say I enjoy it all. In the early stages, it was just the shooting. Of course they had to be wiped down back then as about all the guns I knew of were blued steel. The more I got into shooting, the deeper things got. Once the reloading began, I was shooting more, therefore I was cleaning more often. Finally the casting began.

It's been mentioned in the posts about having a shooting buddy. I can always find one of those it seems, just never one as much into as I am. In fact, I don't know of anyone in my circle that does all of the above (shooting/cleaning/reloading/casting).

My shop is also wired for sound. I'm a music lover and generally have something playing while cleaning or casting. Not so much during actual reloading though. I like to put my full attention into that.

Murphy

[MT Gianni]

I like guns and shooting. I reload to shoot and like the study and powder experimenting but consider the pulling of the levers about the same as bricklaying.

[Bazoo]

Thanks all for sharing. Interesting responses. Wish I had thought it through more for different options.

[white eagle]

Poll: Do you like guns, shooting, cleaning, and reloading?

Yes.....

[wc870]

I love all guns and there mechanical wonderfulness
I love shooting... who doesn't??
I love reloading because I'm cheap
I love cleaning them because I got hooked on Hoppes #9 when I was a kid!!

[BIGOX]

I like guns, shooting and reloading, but not cleaning. I'll clean what i use but i never up keep my unused equipment. I know I'm horrible but I'm getting better.

[gwpercle]

I Like :
1.) Casting Boolits
2.) Sizing and lubricating boolits on my Lyman 450
3.) Loading ammo
4.) Shooting my loaded ammo
5.) Gun cleaning

I don't dislike cleaning ... any reason to handle / fondle my handguns is OK with me .
Gary

[444ttd]

the only thing that i don't like is trimming the brass, oh....i hate stripping barrels too!!!!!!![smilie=l:

[AndyC]

I only dislike waiting for new casting/reloading gear to get here :)