788Ham,
Most of our knowledge has been learned the hard way, before there was an internet. We experimented, read books, experimented more, read more books, and if we were lucky, we knew someone who would give us a few pointers along the way. I didn't have that help, so I just plugged along, starting with loading for an M1 Garand in 1963 on a used Hollywood press that I bought from a college professor. When I started casting bullets in 1968, is was for a Ruger Blackhawk, and again there was no one to ask for help. Did I make mistakes? Of course I did, but I learned from them and didn't repeat them. Now I'm trying to keep others from making some of the same mistakes I made way back then.
Now I load for 31 different calibers and have roughly 100 bullet molds. At last count, I had loaded somewhere around 750,000 rounds of ammunition, which included loading about 60,000 rounds a year for the Sheriff's Dept. I worked for when I was rangemaster for 2 1/2 years.
Along the way you pick up a little knowledge, and even retain some of it, though as we get older, it seems like some of that information is getting harder to retrieve...... Now with the internet we can share some of what we've learned with those who are interested enough to ask. I like to respond to serious questions, but admit that I don't have much use for whiners or trolls. If I feel someone is really asking for knowledge, then I'm more than willing to help, if I know the answer to the question.
And that brings me to another pet peeve, those who have no knowledge about a particular subject, but insist on posting opinions about it. On another forum a poster asked a question about shooting the .45-120 Sharps with smokeless loads. I've been shooting one for about 20+ years and have put a lot of rounds downrange in that caliber. One poster got on there and admitted that he had never seen the caliber, let alone shoot one, but he posted two long paragraphs on what he thought about it, which was all wrong, of course. Those kinds of posts light my fire, but I generally just ignore them and won't post behind them, unless it's something dangerous or just plain stupid.
If you have a serious question, don't hesitate to ask. You'll figure out pretty quickly who is going to give you a straight answer and who won't.
Hope this helps.
Fred
