Isn't it interesting ........

Ben

Ben

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Staff member
I've noticed through the years, that you can mention any bullet mould and possibly show a photo of it and people will say......" I owned one of those and could never get it to shoot, so I sold it."

I'm certain that says something, I'm just not exactly certain what it says ?

Ben
 
I don't believe that a lot of people have the time or patience to experiment much anymore. Your Ruger #1 project would drive most of them nuts. This didn't work, and that didn't work so you kept making running changes until you sorted out the what, and probably why, then went straight to how to remedy. I suspect a bit of load tweaking is in your future, but that takes you to the fun and the rewarding part.

Remember all the people on other sites that would join up just to get an answer before disappearing forever? "Just give me the answer, I don't care how or why it works".
 
I would look closely at when the mold was previously owned and then discarded. I know that a few of my molds have tamed down significantly as I gained experience through various forums. While not an expert or highly skilled, I believe I know a lot more than I did in the first half of my casting career. Perhaps others have had a similar experience.
 
358156 hp said:
I don't believe that a lot of people have the time or patience to experiment much anymore. Your Ruger #1 project would drive most of them nuts...
Click to expand...

THIS is how it works today:

If you can't make something work within three tries of poking, pinching or swiping, it's just not going to happen.

This semester, this mentality has fully manifested itself and THINKING - SOLVING PROBLEMS is NOT something which interests people today.

I have thought so much more seriously about actually retiring lately, because THINKING is on the fast-track to becoming a "lost art." This is scary, because I am teaching trades-people.
 
a lot of my molds are magma's commercial molds.... and i use a lot of their much looked down upon lube too.
talk about something that's disparaged on.

i've had good luck with them, i might have to try the triumvirate of powders, but one of them pretty much always works.
 
I’m sure the lack of patience, or at least the perceived lack of patience, is a generational thing and nothing new. Our elders undoubtedly complained about us as well. However, in terms of attention span, I have noticed a rather distinct cut-off at about 40 years of age in today’s population. This puts the date of birth for this group in 1983 or later. By the time that group reached 20 years of age (2003), the internet was pervasive, cell phones were in general use, and much of the framework for the current world was in place. It’s not so much when you were born, but rather what you grew up with as a young adult.

Here are several GENERAL (not absolute) examples of behaviors of this group that I’ve noticed:

  • People under 40 are incapable of watching an entire movie. Maybe they can sit in a theater and endure explosions and CGI effects for Fast and Furious 47 or some comic book themed material suitable for a 10-year-old; but they can’t focus for a 120-minute movie that has a plot with characters and actual dialog.
  • If it’s printed on paper, it has little value to them.
  • If that printed material is in the form of an actual book, forget it, they’re not capable of reading it or comprehending it if they attempt to read it.
  • Any verbal information that takes more than a sound bite to convey overwhelms them.
  • Their vocabulary is extremely limited, and their writing skills are poor.
  • Their knowledge of history is pitiful. They are not simply ignorant of history; they are downright hostile to learning history. This makes them very susceptible to manipulation – to them everything is “unprecedented” or “an existential threat”. They are reluctant to believe that similar circumstances have occurred before. (perhaps we can learn from those prior events?)
  • They have a warped sense of time or at least very poor time management skills. They compensate for this with the use of cell phones. Deprive them of constant communication and they cannot make meetings and rendezvous. Nor can they navigate beyond extremely well-known territory.
OK, I know that’s a little harsh and not every person under 40 exhibits those traits, but it’s not totally off the chart either.

Sorry if that comes across as a rant. It is not a rant, just observation.
 
xactly, the concentration is there.
reading blocks out explosions, bus crashes and children once the mind is rolling with the story.

many younger people can't do that,, which is a problem.
what causes it? ellidunno.
 
Life seems to go in cycles of advancement and decay. The great depression. The greatest generation. The '60's. And now we are dealing with the results of the "Feel Good" generation raising their own kids. These advancements seem to be affected by wars of one kind or another. Pretty much verifies the need to be aware of history.

A generation or two ago, folks would work their numbers on a new calculator and then check their work on paper. Then it became doing the numbers on paper and checking with a calculator. Now it seems that it makes no difference, the numbers will be checked by a computer and it will tell us what mistakes we made.

And now with AI, perhaps it will become even worse. No creative thinking. No creative art. Sort of depressing as we watch the individual creative imagination fade into the past. Well, it is the present generations that can not let that happen. It is more important than ever to be able to pass on those skills that have got us to this point.
 
I don't think it's all “doom & gloom”, I often see signs of talent and creative thinking.

Music remains a fertile ground for creative pursuits. Even something as simple as Jazz covers of popular songs can show some real creative interpretations. Like Postmodern Jukebox on Youtube.

The use of science and technology to exploit new materials, such as carbon fiber in aircraft construction. Or even the use of polymer frames in firearms. It may not be traditional, but it is certainly a step outside the comfort zone that has some benefits.

Or people that pass on knowledge that becomes the basis for future developments. Not every student will be the next Elon Musk, Henry Ford, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, or Warren Buffet……but some of them will.

As long as the framework is intact, we will move forward.
 
Ignorance. And lack of desire.
The same reason I could not get the 358-311 to shoot worth a crap, when I was first gifted the mould.
I had missing knowledge. And thought it must be the mould. Not my inability.Because I got the 358-158 rf to hold a good group. Why not that one with the same methods.???
Then after I learned about FIT, sizing, different lube methods, and so on.
I revisited the 358-311thanks to some prodding by the gifter, cast it in 30-1, pan lubed it, sized it down from .360 to .359. Now its one of the best shooting 38ish bullets I have.
 
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Anyone who never met a bad bullet design never met one of THESE.

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After shortening it by one groove and the gas check shank and running the bullets at 2700 fps in the next caliber up, wrapped in paper, it worked pretty well.
 
If the desire is there, you can make just about anything work. You just have to be willing to fail several, or even several hundred times.
 
I have 6-8 that I KNOW work for my particular applications. I have a ton that I have barely tried or not tried yet at all or bought because they would/should supposedly fill a gap. And a bunch I bought based on others' experience. I really went down the rabbit hole when I bought an estate sale batch just to get a couple I wanted. And then there is chasing things like the 43 Spanish! I now have 4 molds for that damned caliber - and not sure yet which one will work best in rifle I have now! And interestingly, then again, I was just looking at culling the herd a bit as I have a bunch I am never gonna use...

And, mentioned above - I do not have even a 10th of time I want or need to cast and ring out everything I need and want to try/test
 
I thought I was getting bad.

With six .358ish moulds. That I won't get rid of, because I have good loads for all.
And 2 more .358 moulds that I have cast a couple thousand bullets from. Which I haven't even shot yet. All that, and I still have not acquired the only 358 mould I ever really wanted, from the start. The 358-148 HBWC with Tumble lube grooves.

Nope I have not scratched the surface.
 
Had a NOE .44 250-grain wadcutter mould that I sold for no other reason than I lost interest in trying to get it to shoot as accurately as a Lyman 429421. I'd forgot about it, till now, and makes me wonder if I should have kept it and did more experimenting. Seated to the lube groove, the exposed bullet looked as tall as Abe Lincoln's top hat.

Ironically, I sold the Lyman 429421 and bought Arsenal's version, and if there was a reason for making the switch I forgot it long ago.
 
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