Is Casting an "Old Mans" GIG?

[340six]

I have been reloading since age 16 when dad signed for a S&W model 19{lighter frame 357}
I always wanted to cast but took me many years to finally start.
Looks like most here are older guys who do.
When I see younger guys in the gun places buying or shooting they are grabing 9mm and 40cal the cheaper the better as ammo is disposible to them

[Leftoverdj]

I was young when I started if that counts?

That was 40 years ago, though. Most of us are older guys because casting takes some time. Time the younger guys don't have much of.

[scrapcan]

I am younger than 40 and have been casting and relaoding since 1984 on my own.

It depends on who's definition of old Man you are using. The other pre 20's students in a college course I am taking consider the three of us around my age to be old geezers. Many of my shooting friends (many have pasted the 70 mark some time ago) call me the young pup.

Context is the name of the game.

[RodneyUSAF]

All is not lost friends. I'm 28 and I enjoy casting. I'm an oddball I guess, but I have always enjoyed the company of my elders and making things with my hands. Casting is a perfect fit.

[JDFuchs]

well I only was able to shoot a gun at 20 due to parents lack of intrest. Now im 25 and am the only one among my friends who reloads let alone casts.

[AriM]

I am only 31. I reload, cast and build my own guns. I enjoy it, and enjoy the time I spend on it. Heck I like it more than actually shooting I think. Maybe I am an old fart at heart. Hey that rhymes. How about a song....

I pour my own.
I load my own.
I shoot em fast
but make em last
I take the time to write a rhyme
about your hobby and mine
maybe I'm just and old fart
at heart

I say, if you love what you do, age is just a number...

[3006guns]

I started when I was 22 years old and for the usual reason........less money spent with more shooting. I'm 60 now and I still get a kick out of watching some younger guy carefully and fearfully squeezing off each shot. Not because of concentration but because of the cost of his two boxes of "store bought". Meantime, I'm having a ball with a couple hundred rounds of cast rifle or pistol cartridges. During a lull I'll strike up a conversation when I inform him that "there's a better way"...........a few examples, pointers and before you know it we have another reloader/caster starting out. I give out my phone number freely and offer to help.

I'll bet I've started at least 40 people on this hobby, going as far as to loan or give them some equipment. Once the bug bites, they end up "passing the torch" to others as well.

Old man's gig? Naw, it's a SMART man's gig!

[thehouseproduct]

I'm 30 and I cast.

[troy_mclure]

im 30 too.

[wistlepig1]

I am 62 now, started when I was 20 for all the reasons. Got to the point that time cut into casting time and slowed down on it. Now that I retired, I have had more time for it and due to this site I have found out more here in the last few months than all the years of casting on my own.

Now I am passing that info on to my son and grandson, there young and I snot!

[Dale53]

I am 74 years of age and started casting and reloading cartridges when I was 14 years old. I had a father who encouraged it and a mother that NEVER objected even when I was casting on her kitchen range. They both considered it a positive thing.

I taught both my sons to shoot, cast and load ammunition. I taught my daughter to shoot (she is now married to a gentleman who casts bullets, reloads, shoots and hunts).

It's just the right thing to do...

Dale53

[Thumbcocker]

I think it was Jeff Cooper who said tht the essence of marksmanship is discipline. Perhaps the essence of boolits is patience?

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Good to hear from all you young whipper snappers!!!!!!!!!!!!

I started reloading in the 60s, and casting not very long after that, BUT, this Ol'Coot just started casting 45/70 bullets :lovebooli with the thought in mind of using cast rifle bullets for hunting.

Even an ol'dog can still learn a new trick or two if given time.

Now if I just had a 4 year old to help me with this POOTER![smilie=b::killingpc
Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[dnepr]

it is a bit of an older mans gig , I was in my early 20's when I started reloading and in my late 20's when I started casting but finding the time for the hobby is tough. I am 40 now and I get a bit more time but it is still a challenge to find the time I want to devote to casting

[fatelk]

I'm still on the young side of 40 (not by much), but I've never really been into the things guys my age were into, especially when I was younger: sports, loud music, fast cars, fast women, bars and booze. I had more time as a result, and liked making things.

Now I'm very happily married, got a couple little ones and a third one on the way, and realize that this is the life for me.:) I think it's a mindset thing more than an age thing. In my spare time I like to putter around my garage and make and fix things.

My grandfather used to like to "treasure hunt", or at least spend money on metal detectors and read the magazines. Now that really is an old man's gig. Many years ago I bought my own metal detector and thought it would be fun to find all that buried loot just laying around. I quickly realized that unless you're retired, and have the money, patience, and time to really get into it, forget it.

[atr]

I started casting and reloading when I was 16 or so.....Im 62 now...
Is Casting an "Old Mans" GIG? ......well it does require patience and I think the older I have gotten the more patient Ive become....so in that respect yes......

[MilSurpFan]

I'll be 37 this year and casting for about 3 years now.

I guess I am going backwards compared to some, as I have less time and patience as the years go by. Fortunately, I think I have accumulated enough knowledge to replace the lost time with a bit more efficiency and I can still get something done.

[lead4me]

Define old please?? I'm 50 years young just getting into this...but the guys at work that turned me onto this site and casting are in their late 20's early 30's.
I'm trying to get my nephews into casting in their teens now, its kinda like deer hunting in Michigan I can remember when shops would close the first week of season because so many were going north! Now not so much, we need to work to get the young shooting and educate them on gun RIGHTS and ownership.

[randyrat]

I am 74 years of age and started casting and reloading cartridges when I was 14 years old. I had a father who encouraged it and a mother that NEVER objected even when I was casting on her kitchen range. They both considered it a positive thing.

I taught both my sons to shoot, cast and load ammunition. I taught my daughter to shoot (she is now married to a gentleman who casts bullets, reloads, shoots and hunts).

It's just the right thing to do...

Dale53 THATS IT! "It's the right thing to do"

We need a bumber sticker= Casting bullets
It's the right thing to do

I started reloading so i could shoot more, then i cast my own so i could shoot even more.
I started reloading in 1977 casting came later.
The only factory rounds i've bought in years was for my 22

[thx997303]

Well, guess I'm on the younger side of the spectrum for this site and hobby.

I'm 21 and started casting when I was 19.

[frankenfab]

I am 74 years of age and started casting and reloading cartridges when I was 14 years old. I had a father who encouraged it and a mother that NEVER objected even when I was casting on her kitchen range. They both considered it a positive thing.

I taught both my sons to shoot, cast and load ammunition. I taught my daughter to shoot (she is now married to a gentleman who casts bullets, reloads, shoots and hunts).

It's just the right thing to do...

Dale53

It is a pleasure to be a member of a community such as this. Wouldn't it be neat if we could just all start our own "Cast Boolits" town?

[runfiverun]

i first learned casting from a neighbor when i was 9.
skipped out on it for a while,as i was into shooting itty bitty groups with the target rifles.
then went to trap shooting.
then out of the blue my dad asked about casting because he had read about cowboy shooting and wanted to try it.
so i dug out the stuff i'd picked up here and there over the years.
cleaned out the lee 20 lb pot i'd been smelting ww's in, for making shot with.
and taught him how to do it.
been stuck on shooting pretty much cast only for umm 20+ years now.
i finally took out the old varmint rifle the other day [at kids request] and realized it had been over 17 years since it had been shot.
time to get some cast boolits going through it.

[XWrench3]

well, i am 53, so i guess that qualifies me as an "o;d man". i have to believe that more "old men" cast for a couple of different reasons. one is patience, not to many 20 year olds have enough patience to sit and smelt, cast, size & lube, then load them up. most younger folks would be more likely to work a few hours of overtime and just buy bullets. two, as you age, you have a little more time to yourself. kids get grown and move out, or at least have freinds and would rather hang with them than boring old dad. three, us "old men" dont worry about the lead "ruining" our reproductive parts. we have already had our kids. so if the lead lowers our "production", who cares.

[mnzrxer]

I'm 33 and have been casting for about 3 years now. Picked up a Sig P220 that I had to feed and pretty much started reloading and casting within a couple of months of that pistol purchase. Lately I've found that I have only been looking at guns that will work well with cast boolits. Dies and boolit molds are on their way as soon as I pick up something new to shoot. If it doesn't shoot cast it doesn't get shot much (except the .22LR).

[Wayne R. Scott]

I can't remember how old I am, but I started casting round balls over an open fire with George Washington at Valley Forge a while back. It served several functions, kept me busy during the winter, helped keep me warm by the fire and provided these pretty little pellets for our enemies.

Actually, I started casting when I was about 24 years old, I needed to feed my .357 mag. Model 28 S&W, my .45 Colt and my .50 cal muzzle loader. I bought 1100 pounds of telephone cable sheathing from a local junk dealer and spent the 4th of July 1976 smelting the sheets of lead into ingots over an open wood fire using metal 5 gallon buckets as the smelting pots. I learned that what seemed like a good idea at the time needed some improvement.

What some of the guys have already mentioned is true. After having a couple of kids a young man's interests and priorities change until they are raised. However, my daughter still tells me some of the best times she had as a child were at the rifle range digging up all of the different types of lead bullets from the back stop so we could re-melt them and use them again.

Now that the kids are out on their own I have more time and more money to spend on my hobbies.

Wayne

[AZ-Stew]

Wayne makes me look like a piker. I started casting for a muzzle loader when I was 22 (38 years ago), using a pipe tobacco can as a casting pot heated by the wife's gas range in the apartment kitchen. Used a Lyman dipper and scrap lead to make muzzle loader balls with a 2-cav Lyman mould.

I graduated to a Lee 10 pounder drip-o-matic, then a couple of years ago when I finished building my shop, I bought a Lee 20 pounder. Big mistake. I have other posts on that , so I won't go into it. I now own an RCBS 20 pounder and am very happy with it.

Yeah, I'm old (kinda) and have been at it for a long time, but that doesn't mean it's an "old man's gig", it just means I have experience to hand down to you and others on this board, and to my son, who is learning to cast at the age of 34. It's not that I couldn't have taught him earlier, its just that I now have a good setup (my new shop and the RCBS pot) to teach him with and he's now interested in learning the craft. He's been shooting since 1980, but is just getting into having his own handloading and casting setup. Life's good, casting's fun at any age, and passing the torch gives one a good feeling.

Regards,

Stew

[ghh3rd]

56 and casting/reloading for a year, and wishin I had started 30 years ago!

[fredj338]

Yeah, like many things, most youngins today can't do the vast array of things their elders can. Casting is a self sufficient, dying artform.:Fire:

[Recluse]

You younger guys are absolutely warming my heart. God Bless you!

I started reloading by my daddy's side at age ten, and was pulling the handle solo at age 18, which is also when I enlisted in the Air Force.

Two years later, me and a fellow Air Force buddy smelted down our first wheel weights into ingots.

Also the first time we water-dropped the ingots, thinking it would make the lead harder.

It was also the first time we threw the still wet ingots back into the huge cast-iron pot on the open fire butane burner at the base auto hobby shop.

Coincidentally, it was also the first time we met the Tinsel Fairy, who was only slightly less frightening than the Chief Master Sergeant who ran the hobby shop garage and who had us picking and scraping lead up for two days.

Our armorer, another Chief, gently explained, while laughing his own E-9 butt off that once melted/re-melted, the lead returns to its original structure.

So, it was also the first time we saw what almost solid leading looked like in a Ruger Super Blackhawk since we'd loaded up .44 Magnums to the top of the spectrum. Gas checks? What the hell are gas checks? Lube? Nobody said we needed to lubricate the bullets.

It was MY Ruger and it took me almost a week of scrubbing every spare minute to get all that lead out of the barrel.

So, that was it for my casting adventures until a few decades later. So yeah, in some regards, it might be an older shooter's deal.

That Chief (the armorer, not the auto shop NCO) taught me more about reloading than I can ever appreciate. He'd shot at Perry a zillion times, had formulated hand-loads for Air Force snipers (yep, we had snipers back in the 70's and 80's--hell, we had commandos and ground combat controllers and all that stuff as well), and loved pistol combat shooting. I learned a LOT from Chief Russell.

And now, the older I get, the more I enjoy reloading and casting and mixing up lube formulas and tinkering more than I enjoy shooting. They say that's a sure sign of either impending old age or a drop in your testosterone levels. I can probably plead guilty to both.

When I was younger, I reloaded so I could shoot more faster and cheaper. Now that I'm (considerably) older, I reload so I can shoot better, more accurately--and still shoot more for cheaper. :)

:coffee:

[BarryinIN]

I was 43 when I started casting. I started reloading at age 15 (had to feed the S&W 19 I had just bought).
I had planned to start casting soon after I started reloading, but it kept getting put off, usually for other gun purchases.

But yeah, casters do seem to be among the elder group of shooters.

[sniper7369]

I'm 36 and just started casting about three or four years ago. I find that there's just something cool about actually making your own ammo, rather than just assembling the pieces, ya know?
I really started casting just because I like to shoot a lot, and casting was cheaper than buying condom bullets, but the more I did it, the more I got into it. Now the only bullets I still buy are Sierra Match Kings for my .308 to shoot F-class matches.

[tommygirlMT]

1 ~ Casting is not just a mans GiG.

2 ~ The only thing old has to do with it is that unfortionatly there is a deliberate effort to stamp out our rights --- second amendment included --- that is purputrated upon young people through the socialist "free" school system --- thus more "old" people know about what is important then the misguided youth. (words in quotes indicate term may mean something very different and/or the exact opposite of its general meaning)







I am currently 27 years old and first cast my own boolits when I was in elementary school --- Dad taught me and mom blew a gasket when she found out exactly how I had been helping daddy in the shop (600+ degree molten metal and all of course --- nothing against guns).

[JesseCJC]

26 here and while I am new to casting, I have been shooting since 22 but only more frequently once I hit 25 and could afford my own weapons/ammo.

[Jon]

I'm 32 and have been casting for 3-4 years now. I have just been casting pistol ammo, but am working my way towards rifle next.

[Elkins45]

I'm 46 now and I started casting when I was in my mid-20's.

[mdi]

Geeeze! I didn't get sober 'till I was 40! I agree with the statement about taking patience to cast and reload. On another forum a progressive press that spits out thousands of rounds is touted as a "perfect press"; quantity over quality, the faster the better, no patience, "I want it NOW" thinking. I see hints of this in casting too when casters speak of using 2 or 3 six hole molds for casting, 'cause a double cavity is too slow. Well, good for them, I like casting and reloading (I consider my self a Handloader) and don't have a quota or a deadline to meet, so I spread out the enjoyment and leave the speed for the younguns...8-)

[bbailey7821]

I'm 45 now, but started casting for my old 44 SBH in 1988. I've shot about 40,000 rounds of my homegrown bullets and handloads since then. It's a noble hobby and have passed on the trade to 2 of my children and loads of like minded people.

[1Shirt]

71 years young, and been at casting and reloading for in excess of 50 years. I am a firm believer that age is a state of mind. I don't mind the fact that I am an old f**t, am just real glad that I made it this far in lieu of the alternative. Am still learning (about a whole lot of things). Believe everyone should have a goal. Mine is to be shot by the jealous husband of a 19 year old bride as I am going out the window. Now that is about as likely as Obummer turning conservative, but ya never know unless you have a goal.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[Gunslinger]

... (she is now married to a gentleman who casts bullets, reloads, shoots and hunts).

It's just the right thing to do...

Dale53

I like that... Pointing out that a true gentleman casts bullets, reloads, shoots and hunts! I bet you if he were not interested in either you would have written man instead of gentleman. Right :-D?

Anyways, I'm 27 and started casting and reloading when I was 24. My best mate at the range reloaded and cast boolits. He was 72 at the time, and the first friend I ever had that was so much older. When we were shooting and casting it was like there was no age difference between us! That man taught me everything I know.... until I discovered this place of course :). I've loaded thousands of rounds on his Hornady L'n'L and have cast my first 1000 boolits in his backyard. Oh yeah the bug got me good... still have an itch on my left buttock :violin:

In regard to passing on the torch... I guess that's true! A new guy at the range wants to start casting and reloading. So I'm going to spend some hours with him teaching him the basics. It feels good to be able to help out a new guy... give something back to the community!

It's a funny feeling that comes along with casting. It's almost like a brotherhood no one knows about! When I'm at a gun meet with new people, I always end up talking to the fellow caster - if there is one. Very few people in this country bothers with it. Either they don't shoot enough, or spend too much money shooting... whichever it is they got it all wrong! But what do I care... more lead for me [smilie=1:

[mpmarty]

I was sixteen when I bought my first rifle, a model of 1889 Schmidt-Rubin with twelve round detachable magazine. It came with some surplus ammo that was non-reloadable (berdan primers). At that time, 1955 a Japanese firm was selling reloadable boxer primed brass under the name "Toyo" and I bought a bunch of it. I lived not too far from the Sierra bullet factory in So. Cal and went there and bought a whole bunch of "seconds" by the pound. Shot that rifle for several years on that stuff and it was great with 34gr of HiVel #2. After the service I bought a 1911a1 and started reloading and casting for it. By then it was 1963 and I was twenty-four years old. Now I'm seventy one and cast for 45/70, 7.5X55 K31, 10mm, 308, 45acp and 50cal muzzle loader. Life is good, life is great! I hope to hang around casting and shooting for a good long time yet.:bigsmyl2:

[Cannoneer]

I got into muzzle loading when I was 19. Found out quick that I had to cast for my .58 caliber Zouave and .44 Remington and Colt 1860 revolvers. When I turned twenty-one and bought my first .45 M1911, I almost had a shock at the cost of 50 rounds of Winchester Hardball.

That's when I started to reload, cast my own and save all the brass I could get my hands on.

Now at 57 I have more molds than I need and more lead than I'll ever use. Buying propane can be a bit of a jolt sometimes.

[WRideout]

When I was in college at Chico State in Northern California, I discovered reloading, thanks to a friendly gun shop owner who allowed the use of his equipment, for the cost of supplies. Later on, in my thirties, my stepfather showed me how to cast, and let me use his equipment. I was astonished at how well the cast bullets shot in an ordinary rifle! Now, at age 57, I am still looking to borrow equipment. My beloved wife has forbidden me to cast at our home, now that we have a grandchild, but a friend said he will allow the use of his old sinker-casting setup, in his shop. Some things never change.

[chrispy]

I am only 37, and been casting for 5+years, for me it's about cost and making a rifle shoot properly and accurately. Sometimes something you can't do with a J word.

Also at the moment, I am a full time student, so cost is a major factor whilst on a very limited budget.

Chrispy

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Toooooo bad WRiderout!

Sounds like you wife has bought into a bunch of the incorrect hipe of Califunnyia.

The greenies are really doing a number to the rest of us![smilie=b:

Think I'll go into the loading room and poison myself some more.:castmine:[smilie=w::cbpour::bigsmyl2::lovebooli

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[higgins]

As someone noted above, I think reloading and casting are evidence of an attitude of self-sufficiency. Sure, having time and patience are necessary, but I'll bet for most of us it's the feeling we get knowing we can turn a grimy wheelweight into an accurate bullet and an empty case someone discarded at the range into a loaded round. We probably also are more likely to try to fix something ourselves (knowing my limits) not only because we're not afraid to try, but because we grew up in a world where things could be fixed; everything wasn't cheaply made and disposable. We're also more likely to tie flies, make fishing rods, and do other things for ourselves even if we can afford to go to our favorite catalog or website and buy it. Welcome to you younger people; someone's going to have to buy my reloading and casting gear from my sons because neither of them are into it. There's hope yet for one of them-he's a handy sort who's not afraid to do something himself.

[Crash_Corrigan]

In '84 I retired from the NYCPD and put away my revolvers. In '86 I started carry again in Vermont (love that state...no laws against ccw). Moved to NM in '89 and once again carried for a local PD. Quit that and drove a cab and carried for self protection.

Moved to Vegas in '93 and started serious shooting in '95 with my pair of .38's. In '97 I started to cast boolits and reload as the cost of ammo was getting too high. I have not looked back since.

Now the two revolvers have morphed into a full Canon Gun Safe of weapons including a 50-90 Sharps BPCR. It has been a great ride. It started when I was 6 and my first .22. I started reloading and casting at 53 and I have introduced many into the sport. Less recently since ww's are getting tough to find and I have introduced too many casters and the competition has increased somewhat.

I guess I am just selfish. The last big score of lead was a demolition of an x ray facility and we scored about 3000 lbs of pure lead. Good for BPCR but not so good for my 9 mm and 45's.

[Randy47360]

I started in 1960, my Dad was the Chief of Police of the small town we lived in and at that time they had a Police Pistol Team of 4 policemen and Sheriffs Deputies that traveled around and competed throughout the summer. I was always bugging my Dad to let me learn to reload for them. When I turned 13 my Dad decided that I could cast, lube and size the bullets they used for the practice rounds. As time went on and he learned to trust me, he taught me to reload. After a while, they got so they would pay me a penny a piece loaded. I thought I was rich. Long time ago.;)

Randy

[MaxJon]

All is not lost friends. I'm 28 and I enjoy casting. I'm an oddball I guess, but I have always enjoyed the company of my elders and making things with my hands. Casting is a perfect fit.

Im with you friend!! Love the hands on, casting and pan lubing! I also have respect for my elders, you have to listen to them they have often "been there before"
Woops! Im 38!!

[MaxJon]

Good to hear from all you young whipper snappers!!!!!!!!!!!!

I started reloading in the 60s, and casting not very long after that, BUT, this Ol'Coot just started casting 45/70 bullets :lovebooli with the thought in mind of using cast rifle bullets for hunting.

Even an ol'dog can still learn a new trick or two if given time.

Now if I just had a 4 year old to help me with this POOTER![smilie=b::killingpc
Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

Good on ya! Get into it!!

[blaster]

I'm 27. Started 3 years ago.

[Casting Timmy]

I just turned 30 and have been casting a few years now. I keep trying to get my wife to help pour, but she won't.

I think it's great as a hobby and if people were more open and listened they wouldn't be so scared of it. I think it's hilarious that people get afraid of lead when it comes time to melt it for bullets, but don't care or think about it when soldering pipes or electronics.

[shootinxd]

I was told 5-6 years ago when i started shooting defensive pistol that i would need to start reloading-i said naww,after i started reloading they said i would need to start casting-i said nawww.well here i am,its occupied my entire winter.now my name is Jim,I am a boolit addict!

[part_timer]

I'll be 40 this year and I started casting for the Muzzle loader cause I couldn't afford both powder and boolits about 20+ years ago. A friend gave me a mold to use if I cast 2 to 1 for myself and him.
Today my daughter came out to the garage and express an interest in trying to cast instead of just watching. Tomorrow will be her first run at it. She is 13 years old. My son 17 has also expressed an interest in casting. Both of them help reload.
Watch out folks another generation of WW horders is getting ready to cast their own.

[That'll Do]

I'm soon to be 28, and I've been casting for roughly 6 months. I began reloading two years ago, shortly after I purchased my first handgun. I thoroughly enjoy casting, and I intend to continue making boolits for the rest of my natural days on earth.

[qajaq59]

If there were ever two things that went well together, it's retiring and casting. You have all the time in the world to do it right!

[sljacob]

I started reloading for my rifles and pistols and casting for my muzleloaders when I was a teenager in the late 70s but time to do this got replaced with other intrests....
chasing women, rodeos, the beer truck, and 80/90 hour work weeks...now at age 47 with my two oldest sons(who also like to shoot) are raised life has slowed down enough for me to get back into reloading 5 years ago and started casting my own last summer when one of my cousins dropped off an old lead melting pot at the house because he thought I might be able to use it.

[ga_red_rider]

I've been shooting since 1974,reloading since 1992 and in the last 6 months decided to start casting at 51. I'll tell ya I'm having a great time casting and learning to perfect my skills at it too.
Fellas on the chat group here have been very helpful. I just wonder why I didn't do this earlier. Old mans gig? I don't think so, definitely a smarter way to shoot.

[skeet1]

I'm only 60 and I cast.

Skeet1

[lunicy]

It is a pleasure to be a member of a community such as this. Wouldn't it be neat if we could just all start our own "Cast Boolits" town?

It'd better be right on top of a lead mine.:bigsmyl2:

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I'm 27 and have been casting for a little over a year. I still cringe when I see the little j-words....

[archmaker]

Started casting when I was 19, I remember that because I had to have my Mom buy me a TC 30-30, and I read a lot. I read an article or two about casting, and the idea of making my own bullets seemed cool.

Still doing it in my mid, soon to be late 40's.

You have to understand, and I imagine it is true for a lot of us that cast, but we enjoy making things. I would be a framing carpenter instead of what I do know, except it is fun most of the time and the money is better. I do volunteer with Habitat and Rebuilding Together Houston (Fixing fixed income individuals houses of minor issues). Also build my own bows and furniture.

For me it has always been immensely enjoyable to take raw materials, that are just laying there, shape them, mold them, and manipulate them into something that usable, and contains it's own energy. (bow, ammunition, boolits, etc).

[Caster Blaster]

I'm 30, I just started casting last year, been shooting since I was 10, mostly BB guns in the Republik of Taxachusetts, it wasn't till I moved to the free country of FL that I could own a real gun. I had no one to teach me so I learned on Youtube how to cast and reload, I made model rockets as a kid and this seemed like a natural progression. My buddy who owns a tire shop (how lucky am I !!! ) calls me "the Patriot" after the Mel Gibson movie. I am so happy I found this site, I've gotten so much info and great stories and photos from everyone.

[Bladeforger]

You're calling me old? I don't feel old. But today I made two ingot moulds and did some other welding and organized some of the loading accoutrements and sprayed the yard front and back. I'm bushed and feelin' my age tonight.

I'll hopefully do my first smelting next weekend. Cheers! :lovebooli

Old? Nay.

[82nd airborne]

im 23 and my father guided my starting at age 12ish and i started casting on my own at 15. ive watched him cast and reload ever since i can remember. im definitely not experienced but i enjoy it and it feeds my appetite for calibers that are not as readily available as some. Im also a state certified machinist, maybe not a good one, but a machinist none the less. im willing to take any and all factual advice available, and this site is loaded with vast amounts of knowlege!!!! thanks to all

[lawboy]

I am 40. I started reloading at 27. I started casting at age 35. I don't understand people who don't do this stuff. It is amazing fun and amazing knowledge and amazing people do it.

[JeffinNZ]

I think casting might be a factor of shooting maturity. Most young shooters start off with a rimfire then centerfire all factory ammo. They will try this, try that and decide which path they want to follow. Hunter, shooter, experimenter etc. That's how it was for me. Sort of a path of discovery.

Muzzle loader shooting is generally old guys too from my experience and I believe the same theory applies. It just takes a while for some folk to find out where the best hobbies are at.

[tmanbuckhunter]

I'm 18 and I cast boolits. I've been reloading since I was 17 and started seriously collecting my own and using my own money in purchaes at about 15. Now I have more guns than anyone in the house, and I'm the first of my family to reload and cast. It's not an old mans gig.

[Landric]

I started handloading when I was 21, but I didn't start casting until last year, at 36. I missed out on growing up with shooting, handloading, and casting because I didn't grow up with guns or shooters. I fired my first guns around 11 years old at camp, and didn't fire any again until I was 19. By the time I was 21 I was a shooting nut, and that hasn't changed.

Should things go as planned my sons (and daughters if I have any) will grow up with shooting, handloading, and casting. I don't want them to miss out.

[selmerfan]

I'm 30 now and have been casting for two years and will continue to cast for as long as I can get lead and it's legal!

[Gun-adian]

Got my first gun at 18. I started reloading at 23. I'm 44 now and casting started for me 10 years ago. I kicked myself for not starting earlier.

I think I enjoy making boolits more than shooting them....(That's what my wife says, anyway)

Hell, just buying up moulds has turned into a hobby all on its own!!!!!

Thanks.

Mike.

[qajaq59]

'Is Casting an "Old Mans" GIG?' Yup it is, so all you young fellas should pack up your lead and ship it to us old geezers.
:kidding:

[jlchucker]

Yup it is, so all you young fellas should pack up your lead and ship it to us old geezers.
:kidding:

Yep! That would give us geezers something to do instead of wheeling our chairs up and down the halls of our nursing homes while we're waiting for our young whippersnapper relatives to come and visit. :razz:

[sheepdog]

yup you be an old man now

[Valley Forge]

Progressed to casting for my reloads in '81 when I was 27 years old and I'm approaching my 56th birthday.

[.22-10-45]

Hello, I'm 56 and have been casting since 15. Even over twenty years ago at local range, if when asked what I was shooting, if I said "cast" whether in a revolver or rifle, I would always get this pitied look from them as if I didn,t know or couldn,t afford the "good stuff" everyone else was using. Heck, I still get "the look" today! It usually lasts until we go down range to
check targets. Then they either pack up right away and leave or start asking questions.

[Hometek]

When I was 15 I was trying to get my dad to let me buy a rifle. I wanted a lever action 30-30. I had rifles I could borrow but I wanted a "cowboy" rifle. He didn't feel comfortable with that but he did let me order a Lyman trade rifle from Dixie Gun Works. I didn't have much money back then so I started casting round ball from a Lee SC mold. Used a ss kettle on a fish fryer burner with a dipper that was in a pile of junk my dad bought in an auction. I remember the first time my dad saw me shooting the smoke pole. I was shooting at a 12 inch hedge chunk of wood and hit it a bit high. Slammed it over. From the look on his face I don't think he had a clue before how potent a ml was.

Started reloading 30-06 and 223 at 17. I'm 32 now and only started casting for modern cartridges about 1 year ago. If I had known how fun it was I would have started 15 years ago. If I had known how addictive it was I probably would have never started. I already had the 10lb lee bottom pour pot my wife gave me on my first birthday after we were married. But it has lead to me buying a Hornady l-n-l progressive, l-n-l single stage, small cement mixer for tumbling brass, more guns so I can shoot different calibers, and fixing up a 16 by 32 shed for doing all this. Now I dream of bullet feeders and case feeders for my press, a star sizer, and so on. May need to check into rehab or the poor house soon.

[closebutnocigar]

I started to cast my own when I was 18. I bought my first galagher percussion brechloader replica then which was made by ERMA.