Is it me or do you guys get it?

[megasupermagnum]

I've had the complete opposite response. I have yet to have anyone really care at all. Even shooting the M1A, which everyone knows lead will destroy them , gets a "well it looks like they work pretty good".

It is my muzzleloaders that get some kind of response for some reason.

[RU shooter]

I always got odd looks and some snickers when I would show up at this one clubs monthly cmp style match it was shot at one hundred yds and any kind of military open sight rifle was legal . Most all had black rifles a few garands some Mausers and one older gent that always shot a m1 carbine . I shot my 03a3 with cast. One Sunday I took the wrong ammo box and instead had my off hand practice loads .lee 155 bullet and 6 grs of Bullseye sound like a pop gun going off ! I held my own that day and came in the upper third of the shooters . Had a few guys ask me about my loads and why they were so quiet . I explained to them the joys of cast bullets and how you can load them real mild andwith just about zero recoil and still be accurate that was the main reason I started casting for rifles , my shoulder hated me shooting prone with a steel butt plate with ball ammo . The guys that shot the mausers agreed fully with my logic

[15meter]

Over the years I've had multiple people ask me to teach them how to reload, had a fair number in my shop and went through the how's and why's. Most are still loading.

One went to African and has a Cape Buffalo on ammo I taught him how to load.

Taught my daughter's best friend and her husband how to reload over the Christmas holidays. They were back in Michigan and were tired of paying the long dollar for factory ammo. They're back in Texas and I get occasional photo's sent of their reloading efforts. He has recruited his best friend back in Texas to reload together so they can shoot more.

They went back with a Uniflow, powder trickler, 308 dies, polisher, 200+ rounds of loaded ammo, trimmer, chamfer tool, other misc. reloading equipment and stuffings for a couple of hundred more for $150. Found a Rockchucker down there on Craigslist. He's going to use a couple thousand dollar digital scale that came from where he worked--they were upgrading the equipment in the research lab and he snagged one before it got tossed out. Lucky kid.

I get calls and in person questions from guys at both gun clubs and both boat clubs I belong to about reloading.

Without this house arrest we're going through, I'd be helping a new member at one of the gun clubs sort out a pair of Ackley rifles(REAL Ackley rifles, complete with personal correspondence from Ackley to the guys Dad!). His brother inherited the rifles from their father, my friend got them when his brother passed away a year ago. His brother only shot it a couple of times. He never learned how to reload and was convinced that the only ammo that would work was what came with the rifle. When that was gone it was gone.

And he even inherited the loading dies with it.

The surviving brother has reloaded for conventional but these two rifles were way over the top for him, plus for years his brother had told him that there was no brass available and would never be any available.

I cured that mis-conception and he is shooting both rifles now. With cast boolits just for fun

Wish this house arrest was over, these two rifles appeared not long before the bad beer virus whacked us, I'd like to get out on the range and shoot a couple of rifles with some history behind them

[vernm]

I was at the range shooting my 1903 Springfield when to gents set up on the bench next to me. They kind of snickered when they saw I was shooting a 100 year old military, bolt action rifle with military sights. And was shooting plain old lead cast bullets. They hauled out a brand new AR15 and started trying to get on paper at 25yds. Problem was they couldn't find the elevation adjustment. I had a front sight tool in my bag so I went over and got it sighted in. They were happy and ready for some serious shooting. They put out a 9" steel hanging plate at 100 yds. After they went though a couple of boxes of ammo with no hits, they took a break. I asked if I could shoot at their target. Sure go ahead if you think you can hit it. I rang the steel 12 times in a row. They never said another word. Just packed up their gear and left. I'm sure they had no idea how much time and effort went into developing that ammo.

[Stephen Cohen]

I can understand the ignorance of those who have never joined this site, I thought I knew it all till I came here, and realised I knew nothing, even what I knew was wrong in most cases. I could rave on about what I have learned here but I would only be stating the obvious to those who know so much more. To all of you, thank you for opening my eyes. Regards Stephen

[Murphy]

It's hard enough being a blued steel and walnut gun man.

Afraid of casting? No. Afraid of running out of ammunition? Who isn't?

Murphy

[blue32]

Not too long ago I had an RO ask about the revolver I was shooting as he had apparently never seen a snub nose. He couldn't figure out how I was hitting anything "without a rear sight." He was a good 15 years my senior. This is a range where even 9mm cases seldom stick around and I'm by far not the only one scrounging lead. The most common questions I receive from other shooters are "what load?" and "have you used x powder?" Unfortunately, I've yet to meet anyone who knows what a 32-20 is.

[GhostHawk]

No most don't get it. I gave up trying to convert people a long time ago.

You want to shoot jacketed, ok, its your money.
You don't want to take the time to learn to reload safely, ok, again its your money.

You think every cast boolit will lead the rifle because you started with bullets that were too small, or without a good enough lube.
Ok, everyone has the right to an opinion. I don't like the smell of yours but that is life.

You want to spend 1$ ea to punch holes in paper and complain about the rifle, the ammo, or anything but the shooter.
Ok.

Just so you know that target with 5 shots in one ragged hole was shot with cast and just a few grains of Red Dot. No my barrels not leaded up, want to look?
Ohh and they cost me 5 -8 cents a round to shoot.

But hey, its your time and money, you won't get an argument from me.

[The Dar]

The club I am a member is an outdoor range. I went out there Saturday morning with the idea of testing some ladder loads with
a NOE 310-167-FN-AK3 using a starting load of 23.0 gr of RL-7. I had 10 rounds ea. of loads in .5 gr increments up 25.0 gr.

I had the exact loads as you on Sunday morning. The bullet I was using was the Lee C309-170-F. It was the first time shooting cast in my Savage Model 11. I started out at 50yards (like I did with a bolt action Ruger American 223). What surprised me is there wasn't a lot of difference in the group sizes. I set up 5 targets at 100 yards. The groups got larger but still all about the same size. I was wondering if you had the same results?

I loaded up 15 more of each load tonight. I'll be trying them this weekend at 200 and 300 yards to see if any groups stand out.

I was very pleased with the results of their performance but I was expecting a different sized groups.

[upnorthwis]

And then I tell them that I shoot these cast bullets at 1000 yards with black powder.

[dverna]

After I bought my place, my only need for a public range was to shoot trap or sporting clays.

I do not like public ranges for pistol or rifle shooting. Too many fools.

Feel sorry for those of you that have no choice....be safe....

[fredj338]

Ignorance is in every facet of life.

[Dieselhorses]

Went to a coworkers camp to sight a rifle (.308) in. Loaded some 170 gn FN with RL7 and the boolits were purple. He was an avid duck hunter and always had his Lab "Coal" with him. I discovered that upon firing every time his dog had to fetch the beer can out at 100 yards. This was a painstaking process but somehow I zeroed it. That night, half his family came to eat at the camp (only 125 people) and a few of his nephews asked me what ammo I was using to hunt deer. I showed them, and yea they thought it was lipstick. Next morning lipstick worked! Only one other "relative" put one down with a J. It just amazes me that most of his family own rifles and scopes packages they spent 3 or 4K on, and I'm out there with a Savage 110 and .10 boolits.

[kevin c]

Shooting action pistol, my experience is a bit different. Burning through twenty to thirty thousand rounds a year, everyone reloads. Years ago, loading jacketed was common, though a few used lubed commercial cast, looking to load more for the same buck. That has gone to commercially cast coated in recent years.

The upshot is that nobody on the action range blinks an eye if you say you reload. But casters? I'm one of two out of a hundred or so, though there are others that used to do it. Those others gave it up because for them it was too much work and time to cast, not to mention size, lube or coat and then load 30,000 projectiles a year when they had to work and be part of a family (I'm retired with my son out on his own, and got into the casting just as I pulled off the tie and dress shoes).

But there are a few that have expressed an interest, so all hope is not yet lost.

[Hickory]

I do not like public ranges for pistol or rifle shooting. Too many fools.

Feel sorry for those of you that have no choice....be safe....

I have been to a few public ranges in couple of years and some of the people there are just plain dangerous with a gun. Some have no more sense than a 6 year old.

[charlie b]

I had the exact loads as you on Sunday morning. The bullet I was using was the Lee C309-170-F. It was the first time shooting cast in my Savage Model 11. I started out at 50yards (like I did with a bolt action Ruger American 223). What surprised me is there wasn't a lot of difference in the group sizes. I set up 5 targets at 100 yards. The groups got larger but still all about the same size. I was wondering if you had the same results?

I loaded up 15 more of each load tonight. I'll be trying them this weekend at 200 and 300 yards to see if any groups stand out.

I was very pleased with the results of their performance but I was expecting a different sized groups.

As long as you are not leading the barrel or pushing the velocity too hard, a well made cast bullet will shoot as well as a jacketed. The only problem I have with cast accuracy at range is wind. The slower bullets drift more and we usually have wind that swirls around a lot, making it hard to read.

We are lucky to have a really, really nice public range. 90% of the time the people are well mannered and safe. Helps also that most stay in the 'pistol' area instead of the longer rifle ranges (we have a 1000yd, 300yd and silhouette range with quite a few shooting positions).

I am probably the only cast rifle shooter. Several have commented on the 'weird' bullets (I powder coat using blue and red) and ask where I got them. Some kind of scoff at me when I say they are cast, until I shoot. There is a full ram target at 300yd and one guy challenged me to hit it. He was even a bit miffed when I asked him where he wanted me to shoot it. So I gave it a head shot and he walked away (he was having trouble hitting it at all).

It's a bit different at the 1000yd range. Most of the guys shooting there know what they are doing. They are still a bit surprised to see cast bullets but are not as surprised at the accuracy.

[LenH]

Charlie B, I only have access to a 100 yard range right now but want to take it out a bit further. I am on the fence with powder coating. I have tried it
but am old school with a gas check and a good lube. I usually take a while to shoot 50 rounds. I set the timer for a minute and a half and it usually
takes about half of that to enter each shot in a log book.The barrel don't over heat and I usually clean between 10 shot groups but this time I forgot
my cleaning box (oldtimers gets me at times) but leading was not a problem and accuracy didn't suffer.

[Chihuahua Floyd]

Shoot cowboy action for a while, just about everybody reloads and a significant percent cast.
I try to shoot while nobody else is at the range. People I shoot with are not surprised when my 102 year old Enfield with cast out shoots my AR.
CF

[Three44s]

If the rest of the crowd does not cast, it just leaves more lead for those of us that do!

Three44s

[Biggin]

If the rest of the crowd does not cast, it just leaves more lead for those of us that do!

Three44s

That's what I'm talking about!