Between This Covid Pandemic & component shortage. I have been trying to Cast & load my own cast rifle bullets. I want to take a deer with one of my older hunting rifles this year. So I'm kinda motivated. The 375 H&H no problems with cast bullets & reduced loads. The two 35 calibers I have been messing around with show lots of promise [tons of fun] . It is the 30 caliber slugs giving me second thoughts/issues/fits. Anyone here use homemade cast bullets in the 30 caliber rifles [any odd cartridge] ? Either to plink with or hunt deer sized game ? Thanks in advance, mike in ct. PS: I follow a few of the threads over at Cast Boolits. But I can't duplicate those results.
Any Of you Playing with Cast Bullets ?
- Thread starter mikeinct
- Start date
I have but only for handguns - 9, 40, and 45. Dabbled in powder coating them also with mixed results.
90% of my rifle shooting is with cast bullets. I shoot lots of odd ball, obsolete cartridges. What round are you shooting? what rifle? In .30 cal I shoot 30-30, 30-40, 300 savage, 300 H&H
Mikeinct -
Howdy !
In .35 Remington, I have off and on experimented w/ a " swaged " 175gr plastic tipped spitzer BT; for use in a Marlin M-336.
I pulled the bullets from saboted .45cal muzzle loader rounds.
These bullets have a rebated BT, and are .350" diam.
I use " Dymo " nylon label maker tape ( self-stick ), as the " patch " that makes the bullet hit the bore well.
*** I breech seat these bullets using a 90* Torx wrench that has a section of plastic straw slipped over one end. The rebated BT is .308" diam where the BT meets the lower bullet body. ****
So.......
I use a .35 Remington case that has its neck cutoff, to give me a shouldered case w/ no neck.
I use a 7.65 Mauser die to help close the case' mouth down to a couple thou' beyond .308" .
The tapered BT of the bullet helps center the bullet in the case.
The case length is set so that the when it is introduced into the breech and the bolt is closed, the bullet is
pressed fwd into the rifling.... and the case is held back agaisnt the bolt face.
The resulting round is more than minute-of-deer accurate, although I ran the whole exeercise just to see how it all might work. I have not pressed loads to the point of reliable energy for say..... a 100yd deer kill.
I was first & foremost interested in seeing whether practical accuracy could be achieved; and it can !
I am using SR4759, even though the stuff is soon to be out of circulation as a practical matter.
For re-loading, I simply give the case mouth's a little tamp down w/ the 7.65 die, so that case mouth' ID is again just a couple thou' beyond .308". And re-prime. No need to FL size the fired cases.
Ignition is consistent & reliable. The 175 gr plastic tipped BTs should be really good, aerodynamics wise.
All lotsa fun ( IMHO ) !
With regards,
357Mag
mike mccormick
Silver $$ Contributor
I cast bullets for my 375win, 45-70 and 30-30 for plinking and hunting. My advice is to use gas checks and fairly soft lead. This promotes expansion. Going to play with cast in my 308 this year too. Size bullets .002-.003 over bore diameter. This promotes sealing and reduces leading.
About 5 different 30 cals. The most problematic is a new addition. CZ527 bolt gun in 7.62 x 39 mm , It hates the lee 113 grain soup can & 163 gr RCBS rounded flat nose, both are Gas checked. 311 & 308 diameter. It likes Jacketed bullets of both Diameters. Go figure. My wifes 30-06 Husqvarna Seems like it wants to shoot the 163 grain RCBS bullet.
mike mccormick
Silver $$ Contributor
A great lube for rifle velocities is 50/50 alox and beeswax. Also known as nra lube
David Mayfield
Silver $$ Contributor
Shoot cast in 30/30, 300 Savage, 308, 30/06, 300BO, 30/40 Krag. The Saeco 315 bullet or the RCBS 308-165 can be made to shoot without too much problem. Older wheel weights (new ones are useless), add a little tin (2%) to get the mold to fill out. Cast them hot enough to get good bullets, frosty ones work just as well as shiny ones. Use gas checks and a quality lube. Size them .001-.002 over bore and load them as long as possible. 2400 powder works well as long as your not shooting over 1600-1800fps. If you want more velocity use a slower powder. Like all loads start at the bottom and work up from there. Attached is a picture, 308, 311284 bullet, prone with sling and scope, 10 shots @ 100yds. They can be made to shoot, just takes experimenting and the willingness to stay with the endeavor.
Been casting for a while. I have killed several animals with bullets I made. This antelope was with a 170gr flat point from a 1903 Springfield loaded to 30-30 velocity.
If you haven't tried powder coating I'd highly suggest you look into. The only bullets I lube are for black powder shooting anymore.
DirtySteve
Gold $$ Contributor
I shoot paper patched bullets in my 45-70.. No lead touching the bore equals no leading...
I used to shoot a lot of pistols with cast bullets I used Thompsons Bullet lube or my own concoction. (Paraffin, Petroleum Jelly and something else that I have apparently forgotten)
I used to shoot a lot of pistols with cast bullets I used Thompsons Bullet lube or my own concoction. (Paraffin, Petroleum Jelly and something else that I have apparently forgotten)
Lots of 45-70 boolits at very slow speeds.
Today I tried throwing them these at 300 yards, apparently they drop 10 feet at that distance so I didn't bother playing with my 100 yard zero and instead compensated with sight picture through the peep. Think I hit 5 times before hitting the target stand and calling it a day.
Today I tried throwing them these at 300 yards, apparently they drop 10 feet at that distance so I didn't bother playing with my 100 yard zero and instead compensated with sight picture through the peep. Think I hit 5 times before hitting the target stand and calling it a day.
jackieschmidt
Gold $$ Contributor
In a 1-17 twist 30BR, what would be a good load with cast bullets.
I have shot a lot of hard cast bullets in big handguns, never in a rifle.
I have shot a lot of hard cast bullets in big handguns, never in a rifle.
Here's what I would do. Fire a full power .311" jacketed load. Measure I.D. of fired case neck. As an example: let's say it measures .314"- that's the diameter I would start with. The idea is to fill the case neck area of the chamber to keep the cartridge centered with just enough clearance for bullet release. Keeping the cast bullet centered with the bore is key. If the cast bullet is too small (even if sized over groove diameter) the cartridge is laying on the bottom of the chamber and the bullet will slam into the bore at a slight angle. Cast bullets are too soft to handle slamming "sideways" and will distort and groups will be large. Another example: My Browning M71 .348 Winchester was what I cut my teeth on learning to shoot cast in high school back in the '80's. Obviously the jacketed bullet diameter is .348" but when shooting cast bullets sized .349'' and then .350" they hit the target sideways and groups were measured in feet at 50 yards. I next tried .352" and finally got a 6" group at 50 yards and the bullets stopped key hole-ing. I eventually found that the rifle would accept a .354" diameter bullet and chamber it freely without resistance. This lead to shooting sub 2" five shot groups at 100 yards with a receiver sight at 2050 fps. Interestingly I now own four M71's both original Winchesters and Browning repro's and all will accept a .005''+ oversize cast bullet.
rockhound78
Silver $$ Contributor
I shoot AA2015 in my 308. 30-180gr "Hunter" boolit, sized .311" and caranuba blue lube. Expand neck/mouth with a Lyman "M" die (31cal). Velocity around 2000fps and 3 shot group hovering around 1/2". My 338 WM would do a bit under that. Wheelweight alloy, dropped hot from the mould into cold water to harden. My 38-55 bolt gun will do about 3/4" @100yds with Varget and a 310gr gas checked slug.
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