casting and income.

[timkelley]

I've been reloading for thirty years and I could afford to buy a few bullets. I came across this board, and then....

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I bought some swage dies from BT Sniper last Spring,
I started swaging by having other cast my cores...What a pain that was,
plus it wasn't cheap either.
BT suggested I come to this sight and learn out to cast my own cores.
I caught the bug fast, I have a shelf full of molds, maybe a half ton
of alloy in various states. Casting has replaced one of my other hobbies.
Jon

[462]

Initially, the reasons were:
Economics.
Hobby.
Self-reliance.

Since the onset of the '08 presidential campaign, the reasons are:
Self-reliance.
Hobby.
Economics.

Interesting how one man or one woman caused the order to become reversed.

[sargenv]

Nobody made exactly the type of round nose I wanted for the competition pistol I was using (S&W 610). There are light and heavy round nosed bullets, but what they want for them these days was making it too expensive to load them.. so at the last price increase ($65/1000 for the light bullets, $95/1000 for the heavy ones) I did the research and bought into casting.. had I known that it was as easy as it is, I would have started 20 years ago.. and I kick myself for not starting sooner. Now I can make exactly what I want and I can choose to cast a bunch ahead or wait till I need them. I no longer have to depend on the manufacturer not having what I want in stock. I've since cut my cost from either $65/1000 or $95/1000 to about $35/1000. Less if I use the swaged bullets that BT Sniper created or rather modified the die for.

[felix]

Hobby only, then and now. ... felix

[Springfield]

I shoot mostly cowboy so jacketed is not an option. I was buying bullets from a local store who only sold reloading suppies, but he became unreliable, and then he stopped altogther. About that time another shooter was selling his basic casting supplies as he was "just not handy enough" to get it all to work. I bought his LEE pot, dipper, and a couple of moulds and the rest is history. I reload to save money, this has just become an extension of that. If I had to buy store bought my wife and I would have to give up cowboy shooting, or at least cut it by 75%. And I would have to give up shooting BP altogether, those cartridges are even more expensive.

[ambergrifleman]

I just like casting as much as Shooting. I always think of the Buffalo Hunters of the 1870's when I cast.

[Slogg76]

Economics was the very first reason. I had access to all the free wheel weights I could haul away and attending college kept me poor. Then it became more of a hobby. Now I have a family and kids so it's for economics again

[That'll Do]

I enjoy making my own ammunition, and thus I enjoy casting.

I still use jacketed bullets though, mainly in my rifles, but occasionally in handguns too.

[reloader28]

The bottom line is I like making my own stuff. I built my house, make and sell furniture, make beer, butcher wild game, make turkey calls, you name, I'll make it.

I've been shooting somebodies reloads for 30 years. Started loading my own about 10 years ago to save money. I like making my own ammo.

I started casting about 4 years ago for pistols cause I figure it would let me afford to shoot them and it would be fun making a boolit. Until that point, I hardly EVER shot my pistols. I couldnt afford too.

After I cast and shot a few boolits and found out that I could hit something, I was hooked. Now I shoot a few thousand rounds a year. I started casting for rifles a year ago.

Since then, I now cast about 25 different boolits, everything from a 60gr 223 - 525gr 12 gauge. I've killed many small game and varmints with MY OWN boolits and this last fall even killed my first deer with a boolit.

I'm hooked BIG time. There aint a day goes by that I'm not doing something in the reloading room, and usually its something to do with my boolits.

[fredj338]

early I started to shoot more for less. Most of the time lead was free in the form of WW. Then I started casting specialty bullets for my own use. As long as alloy is cheap or free, I'll continue casting my plinking bullets.

[Digger]

Blame it on the gun , had gun's all my life but got a hold of this little Keltec 40 s+w and it went down hill from there
Some how I was determined to make this gun work as it fit my hand so well , liked it's size but it did not like the standard 180 gr loads and 160s were little harder to find .
Recoil was a factor also a long with the cost for 40's , came across an ole boy at a gun show that peddled his own reloads and tried out a couple box's of his 135 gr plated ..... Wow ! much less recoil and reliability was happening , it loved them.
Could never find him again so I was determined to make it work ...... got into reloading from there and now load for all my pieces , came across this forum ..... well you all know the rest .
By the way , the little Keltec is one sweet little shooter now and the corner of my reloading room is slowly sinking into the earth with the lead that is accumulating ....

digger

[MtGun44]

I prefer cast in my pistols, and in some rifles.

Bret says "These days I'm much to busy to do much shooting," --- LOL! I have heard
this from several friends that have retired. Hope it doesn't happen to me!

Bill

[dverna]

Started in the early70's to feed a Bullseye pistol with an H&G 10 cavity. Still in college so money was tight Got a mold for my .308 as factory bullets were too expensive to "play" with.

Stopped shooting for over 15 years in my 30's and early 40's - so a long dry spell. Making up for lost time now, but no time to cast and too lazy. Lots of good commercial bullets for the pistols so no "need" to cast. Will likely start casting for accurate rifle loads just to prove I can do it.

I see the day when we may need to cast as bullets will be "regulated" or taxed excessively. Better to be prepared.

I would rather shoot than reload; and rather reload than cast. I doubt casting will never be "fun" for me. I remember those hours salvaging range lead from the back stop, mixing it with Linotype and running that 10 cavity H&G. Better ways to have fun for me.

Don Verna

[old turtle]

I started casting about 40 years ago. I did not do it much. I started to shoot highpower matches and as I am not a natural shot I had to practice a great deal. I shot 120 rounds each week end for practice. I could not do that unless I used cast bullets. Shot the matches with jacketed boolits. I then got some old rifles, 32-40, 32-20 and I was hooked. I now have 17 molds and shoot almost everything cast. It is a challenge, and that makes it interesting,

[Ohio Rusty]

I really like casting boolits. The sickness started with blackpowder boolits ... there were round balls and conicals. Maxi-ball and maxi-boolits. Then friends started to get into BP later on and they needed boolits .....
There was a long hiatus in my casting and reloading....I bet 20 years maybe ... I used a buddy's outfit and he passed away. I held onto my stuff though from when I wore a younger mans clothes. Then the sickness sprang up again in earnest !! This time it was worse than ever .... I knew it was a terminal illnesss because I bought some T/C contenders and got into CCW. So now I got into loading for shooting my ccw guns in different calibers. Then the T'C's were begging to have different boolits of different weights for hunting and plinking .... And it continues ...with more calibers and smelting of WW's ... I guess it boils down to just liking making my own stuff and the satisfaction of sharing of sharing my successes with friends.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[ChuckS1]

I started after being fed up with the cast bullets I was buying. My biggest gripe was not getting bullets sized to my older guns. It's a natural extension of handloading, plus it's fun (at least to me) to find an old Bond or Hensley mold that casts bullets that would have been available around the time my old Smiths and Colts were new. Pair the old bullet with Unique or Bullseye and I can recreate the loads that the old gun writers talked of. Living history...

[Kirk Miller]

For me, it started when store bought cast 38's went from $21 for 500 to $50 for the same amount. Once I discovered how much fun casting was and also how much pleasure I derived from shooting my home cast, the hobby exploded.

Within a years time, I'd accumulated molds for every center fire gun that I own. And so it goes. Pots, molds, progressive loaders, and "you name it" later, there's no end in sight. No,, I don't save any money, but the knowledge and friends that I've gained on this forum are priceless.
Kirk

[Von Gruff]

I was involved in cowboy action shooting some time ago and casting was as much a part of it as the shooting. Then the enjoyment factor overrode the need and I started to experiment with cast in my 7x57 and the 404 demanded a cheaper alternative to the Woodleigh j words.
Now I equate casting with both hunting and fun shooting to the extent that I need only my cast except for my 20 VarTarg. I dont see any talk of anyone doing a 20 cal mould and or casting for the same.

Von Gruff.

[krag35]

I horse traded into a 31 cal. 5shot cap and ball revolver with a mold. WAY before online shopping. the local hdw. store carried powder and caps, but no balls so I figured it out on my own. Later I could not afford to feed my pistols shooting action pistol, field pistol and handgun sillywet, so a couple of Lee molds and the die was cast. Now I cast because I can tailor a boolit to do what I want and it's pretty cool to kill and Elk with something that you made yourself. I like doing things for myself.