Bullet casters check in

[Qc Pistolero]

Turned 65 last summer and I've been casting since 1976.2 Lee 10#,1RCBS 20# and a Master Caster.Year in and year out I shoot between 10 and 15K bullets and I make and sell for friends about the same.
Needless to say I either use the Master Caster or gang moulds.
In my neck of the woods,I only know a couple of guys who cast and we are almost 900 members at our club.When I tell people that I cast my own,they look at me as if I'd be from another planet.The good thing about it is people keep dumping lead at my place.When my supply is lower than a ton,I feel uneasy!
Casting is to me a hobby I enjoy almost as much as shooting and as much as reloading.The feeling of being selfsufficient is important to me.

 

[walnutred]

I'm 61 and have been casting since the early 70's. Started casting for muzzle loaders and transitioned into cartridge bullets not long after.

 

[gwpercle]

Started casting and reloading in 1967 ...been doing it ever since , just made 70 ...I guess I belong to the OFC (old farts club).
Casting ,reloading and shooting have been my hobby... I can't stand golf , tennis or basket making ... keeps me off the streets .

Young people now days have more money...they just buy what they want . Although I've offered to show younger persons how to cast and reload several times , none have ever shown any interest in it ....
C'est La Vie ... I tried
Gary

 

[buckshotshorty]

I will soon be 75 and stopped casting in 2005 when I moved to the Sunshine State. At the time I was casting I had a run of about 30 years I was shooting in competition then, and used many rounds in practice and in competition.

My brother is a plumber and he supplied me with all the lead I could use. In addition, I found a junk yard that had Linotype which he sold me cheap and I combined that with the lead my brother gave me to make a good hard alloy.

When I moved to Florida I sold off all my stuff including about 300 lbs of lead alloy.

I still have bullets for my 38 that I molded back then. I made thousands of them and still load them; but I don't shoot 38 that much.

Honestly, I don't think it pays to cast any more. I carry a 9mm or 380 and I typically reload for 380 using coated bullets I buy commercially because the saving is significant. I do the same for 9 mm but those I load using a DILLON Square deal B progressive press and I knock out enough rounds in the winter to shoot all year

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I am 65 and started casting in 1972. cast for most calibers from .32 to 45/70. Last year I bought an OASIS Shotmaker and started making my own #8's & #9's to save $$$.....So I've been into it big time for a long time. BTW Nothing like killing a deer or other game with a bullet you made yourself.

 

[AJ]

Out of the 22 responses + the OP's only one seems to be under 60. I started casting in 1973 for my Colt Trooper and then for my Ruger Super Blackhawk. I still cast, for .45 and .38/357.

It seems a lot of the younger folks would rather buy their slugs and then reload. It takes less time. I don't see a lot of younger reloaders, they seem to buy the "store bought" stuff to crafting their own.

 

[mtgianni]

65 and while I did cast some for muzzleloaders in the 70's I didn't start earnestly with centerfires until 1993.

 

[max503]

74 and have been casting since the early 90s. Friends supply me with lead for free. I have had lead tests over the years and still ok.

Is that an AC unit on that chair? Do you blow it on yourself to stay cool?

 

[Hang-Fire Hank]

OL' GUY

I'm 77 & began casting for a muzzle loader in the mid 70s. Slowly adding more 'n more moulds, as well as lead, I'm still at it. Much tougher today to get "lead", since as one other above mentioned, wheel weights are no longer all usable due to zinc. I have maybe 400#s left. Maybe that pile will out-last me. After that?

Hank M.

 

[reddog81]

I’m 38 and have been casting for 5 years. Just finished up casting some 180 grain bullets for the 300 Blackout. Last weekend I cast and lubed about 1,000 45 ACP SWC’s. I just started using a Lyman Lubesizer after powder coating for a couple of years. I still PC but the lubsizer is quicker.

 

[max503]

Back in the day you didn't see many rattle-battle guns on the range. Maybe a Mini-14 or a surplus 308 here or there, but it wasn't like today where AR's are the rule rather than the exception.
It seems like only veteran casters cast for small bore semi-autos.
Come to think of it, most of my casting is for handguns. My only rifle rounds are 30-30, 22 Hornet, and my bolt action 223.
I get a lot of inquisitive visitors at the range when they see me pull out the Model 94 and a bunch of lead boolits. Or my Hornet Contender.

 

[AlHunt]

Pushing 60 here and been at it for 40-ish years, on and off. I'll stay at it until I have to start buying lead. All the lead I can find costs about as much as buying cast bullets.

 

[GypsmJim]

I started reloading in 1970 with a hammer and a Lee Loader because I couldn't afford factory ammo. I started casting in 1975 because the lead bullets I bought at the time would lead my barrel. So, for 44 years I have not leaded one single barrel.

My Dad was a printer, so linotype was free in vast quantities. A neighbor owned a gas station so wheel weights were available in vast quantities. Over the years I acquired a lifetime supply of lead. (Boy, I hope I don't ever have to move)

I have always kept meticulous records. As of last year's winter casting I have made over 60,000 rounds. I also had my blood checked at my last physical - lead content was virtually zero.

Just turned 70. Based on my current inventory I figure I can continue casting until I'm 87.

 

[243winxb]

None of the younger crowd cast at my 1500 member club. Just a few old timers like me .

To easy to buy cast or coated bullets.

At 75, i still cast.

 

[drgbike]

I think its just us old guys,Im 70 and started in 1967, we already accumulated all the goodies. It takes a considerable amount of money as well all the trying of the numerous styles, weights , calibers and sizes. I still cast for 22 to 510. So that amounts to, uuh, a lot of molds probably 45 0r more. I load for 58 calibers.

 

[Arub01]

Age 72. Been casting for years. Wheel weights courtesy of a friend who owns a tire shop. Percentage of non-lead weights going up thanks to our government. Alternate source (non-wheel weight alloy) available at higher cost up the road.

 

[Goldstar225]

I'm 62, started casting in the mid 80's and still at it. I do miss the days of paying $5.00 for a 5 gallon bucket of all lead wheel weights. I've got to find a different source for lead, the last one I bought was 25-30% steel or zinc and was a pain to sort.

 

[cowboy4evr]

Things change , the cheap source of lead from wheel weights is gone . I'm not going to let that stop me casting . The price of cigars has gone up too , since I started smoking them when I was 16 . I'm still enjoying them . Regards, Paul

 

[colt_saa]

I will turn 59 on the opening day of the SHOT show. I have spent my birthday at SHOT every year since they stopped moving it around to different locations

I started casting when I was in college so I could shoot more ammunition on the same budget

As the years and decades passed, my cash flow improved as my free time began to vanish

I do not know when I actually stopped casting. The last stuff I remember doing was when the 500 S&Ws first came out

L to R
450 grain to 725 grain​

I know they look ugly, but I needed to get the group photo done quickly

Even though I have not melted a drop of lead in a decade or more, I never stopped getting in on group buys of custom molds over on the CastBoolits Forum

I have close to 20 virgin molds sitting in the back room right now.

I got rid of my old melters the last time I moved. I need to get back into the swing of things.

I have some fun stuff to cast up.

 

[Ngtdog]

I’m 51 and grew up helping my dad cast bullets.
I started sometime in my teenage years with him, and after I moved out I accumulated my own equipment and I still cast.
My dad is now 80 and he still cast and shoots regularly. Ron