Met a new boolit caster today. Oh boy the young generation is in trouble.

Well I like most on this forum like to give back to the community of casters. So it goes without saying when the phone rings and the local gun shop ask you to talk to a new bullet caster you say sure. Shop owner gives my address and I let him swing over. He has a small box with him and as we enter my reloading room I tell him to take a seat, he tells me it wont take long. Ok youngster what can I do for you. He hands me some 357 mag projectiles. Take a look. Attachment 163827 So he starts to tell me that he is having issues getting them in the cases. I ask are you loading them like this. Yes how else would you reload them. Then he tells me he is in a rush, tells me to write down his number and text him the answer why they wont work in his gun. I walk him out and ask what gun he has. Glock 26 (9mm). He left the hand full of bullets. I tossed his number in the can then took it back out again and tossed it into the fireplace. I do not text. If you dont have the time then ugggggg. What is wrong with the younger generation? Do they not know how to read? I dropped one on a scale. Looks a lot like a 158 lee mold to me and I was correct. They feel soft. Have all sorts of wrinkles. Hollow bases. I was able to pull one apart with my finger nails. The two on the right are not even full bullets. I called my friend the shop owner and left him a message to call me back when he gets back in from dinner.

I told him to join here and I hope he does. I know I know but I hope he finds this thread.

How many things can you find wrong with his short visit and product presented?

Some just simply are not cut out for the intricacies casting/reloading present. In other words, the young man just doesn't have the personality traits required to do this safely, correctly or reasonably. It ain't for him.

Thank you for even trying to help this young man. If someone doesn't show him how to do this right he may get himself hurt.

The guy had no manners and no respect. The age of instant gratification. I have no use for them. It is characters like this that need "tough love". But for most it is too late. Hard to overcome bad parenting.

Yikes! I have to agree that some are just not cut out for something this intricate and potentially dangerous. No time? Then why are you here? I think the fireplace was the best choice.

I think I would have texted him "Come back when you have time to learn".

If those boolits are what he planned to use then he is not someone I would want to be near at the range. I get the impression from your post that he is in a hurry. He needs instruction, I don't think he will learn it by himself. I don't think he has the attitude that will allow him to slow down and take the time to learn that reloading is not something that is done on a whim or in a casual manner.

I do not know how to text. I do not own a cell phone. It gets worse just read...

I did speak to my friend the shop owner. He said the young man is in the military (air force) and 22 years or so of age. I told him he was not here for three minutes and he wanted me to text him with the answer. The gun show owner said I was hoping you would put him in his place as he keeps telling me the gun I sold him is defective since the bullets will not fit. I told my friend I tossed his text number in the fire but to tell the young man to call me if he has interest in reloading and bullet making. Being in the military this is his one lifeline I give him. I do not even know his name as he was so rude to not take the time to introduce himself. We are going to work together and offer this youngster a chance to redeem himself.

Youngster if you are reading this all hope is not lost but you will earn what you learn.

there's 2 or 3 mostly sorta useable ones there.
all they need is some lube and a gas check.

I have a feeling he has no clue what a gas check is or lube. For that mater a sizer. Oh wait 160g in a 9mm glock humm. I am holding back so badly. What he needs is a good swift kick in the @$$.

it looks like some boolits dressed up for Halloween, OH! The horror! haahaa

When I was that age, I didn't have time for nothing either. Wife...bunch of kids...house repairs...fix the car....job...commitments. He might not have really had the time to even meet with you then. But, stopped in to meet you at the urging of the gun shop owner, any way. He went to where he thought he'd find some help. Probably a bit nervous of meeting personally with the local lead bullet casting legend. Hope he finds this site, he could use some help with those boolits. When he can fit in some time.

were not all like that, I am 29, I have never gotten into the Gameboys,cell phones, and computers, save for learning( mainly places like this). sure, I carry an old cellphone for emergencies, but I mean that literally. if my mom or dad call me I answer too so I might use 2-3 minutes a month. But if he is serving our country I think we owe him at least one more shot, even if it is tough love. heck send him here and have him read old threads from every forum for a while,he will see what is involved and either get serious or decide its not for him. good for you for giving it a try. we all need mentors. thanks
Travis

tell the shop owner to text the boy this message. : "wrong mould, poorly made bullets, use store bought ammo."

I tried to think how I would proceed from here if it were me....

Tell shop owner if the guy comes back in tell him that I would be glad to talk about this but it's going to take some time to cover just the basics.
Would be willing to show him how I do it and what good bullets look like

and I would be ready to move on to something else if he won't/can't meet me half way

Dverna, agree with your post.
Floydster

Good of you to still keep the line of communication open with him. He behaved rudely but for all we know he never had a father to teach him how to act around other men and he's just been learning how to behave from friends his age. He is at least trying to cast his own bullets so he's a step ahead of most of his peers just from that fact alone. Hopefully he will come back and be more patient and respectful in the future.

For my part in this sort of thing, as long as a person is not flippant about gun safety I will go to just about any length to get them more into firearms. I feel like we have to bring in and keep every new shooter we can or we're not going to have any gun rights in 50 years.

Re-reading this before I post it I want to make sure I don't come across like I'm saying you should have done anything different, it sounds like you did everything you could given his reluctance to even spend a few minutes there. I just wanted to post this in the hopes that if he comes by again you might give him a clean slate for the second visit and perhaps he will have his head on right that day and listen to you.

Let me share about 'first assumptions and judgement calls'…About 40 years ago I was running a shop for an Electrical Contractor in SO. Cal. and my position was general foreman over all his jobs. I was slammed with running contracts to fulfill and I was suffering from a lack of qualified journeymen to do the work.
Buck, owner of the shop did all the hiring at that point and I received a steady flow of men that I had to sort out and at the same time try to get some production with. We did exclusively heavy industrial machine control and power distribution…Newbie journeymen and helper/apprentices were not on my list of men that I had to have.
One morning I am introduced to a new employee and told to take him with me and put him in a crew. When I met this fella…same age as I was and saw his 'hippie hairdo' and heard his Michigan/Canadian type accent…it was all I could do not to blow my fuse right then and there! I thought to myself that I'd work this 'so-inso's' butt off, give him the lowest dirtiest menial jobs I could purposefully round up…he became my target and I was relentless to get this guy to quit of his own accord.
As things turned out 'Fred the Hippie' was the most energetic, best natured, smart!!!, dependable and likable person on any crew he ever served with. All my foremen instantly liked him and Freddie learned at an exceptional pace. In three short years I had Freddie running small jobs with other seasoned journeymen under him…
As time passed I got to know Freddie on a personal level…He was a Marine Veteran of Viet Namn…just that point alone made me love him as I too was a Marine…I never in a thousand years would have guessed that Freddie was who he turned out to be.
In the years to come I eventually Contracted for myself and the first man on my payroll was 'Fred the Hippie' my first and 'best' ever 'general foreman' over my shop. Fred stayed with me another 15 years and eventually moved home to Michigan. To this day Freddie was one of the best electricians I have ever worked with…but my 'first glance' told me to rub him into the dirt!
Sometimes our first assessments are way off…and solely because this young man you speak of is a veteran…Heck Yes…give him a try…sometimes you have to give them a little tough love and a whack or three upside the head but this kid got through boot camp and that alone is a certain measure to his character in that alone!

I've got an inkling that this kid might just work out…lets have a look at him a little closer…whatcha say?

OS OK

Sounds like a lot of folks I know, if it takes more than 15 minutes to master, they don't have time for it. He's never cracked the cover on a reloading manual. I hope doesn't get hurt or hurt someone else.

I feel your pain. Hopefully not all of the younger generation are in that much of a hurry. I like to hope that there are a few good ones out there who still want to learn. Every once in a while you can still find one who's worth teaching.

See it every day with even simple tasks like repairs, construction, and especially maintenance and working on vehicles. Most of the new generation simply buys everything new. It's all considered disposable to them. When something breaks they just replace it. Consequently, they never learn how to fix, repair, or maintain things. Most won't bother taking the time to learn to hand load or cast, as it's easier (faster) for them to just buy pre made ammunition.

Apparently I grew up in a different time, and was taught by depression era folks how to make things last. Often brand new replacements were not an option, so you had to learn to make do with what you have. If it broke, you fixed it or learned how, or else you did without.

My worry is that when the oldest greatest generation is gone, there will be very few knowledgeable folks left to teach the myriad lessons that we learned.

If I can find someone who really wants to learn how to cast and reload, I will do my best to teach them everything that I know. Much of this stuff can not be rushed, or absorbed from a 15 minute lesson, or you tube video. I actually like to read paper books and magazines, yet this old tried and tested learning method is now considered old fashioned, and frowned upon by the right now generation.

Sadly most of what we know and do here, is a very esoteric skill set. I can count the number of experienced bullet casters, and re-loaders that I know in person with one hand.




- Bullwolf