Looking to cast lead for hunting

Bushbum40

Bushbum40

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I will be hunting with my cast bullets once i start making them. But before i even order the mould, i have a couple of questions for you guys. What shape am i looking for? No such thing as a hollow point mould (that i'm aware of) Do I want a flat nose on em?

When i cast em, do i want hard or soft lead? Does lead even mushroom like a jacketed bullet, and if not, does it matter?

I'll be loading for 30-30 for van isle deer that top out at around 150 pounds.
 
Hey. Start slow. Buy yourself a Lee 170 grain flat nose mold and some gas checks. Hollow point molds are for more advanced casters and they are indeed out there.

Old lead wheel weights are ideal for bullets.

Start reading all the casting threads. Lots of good info buried here.

Good luck
 
Noe makes hp molds. No problem shipping up here. To get them to expand you are looking for 10-14bnh. I mix mine 3 pounds pure to 1 pound ww and they come out after quenching and powder coating at 13bnh. They expand good as long as the speed is up. I use these in 30-30 as well.

This is the mold I use

http: //noebulletmolds.com/main/product/sc311-165-rf/

I am not the most advanced caster but never had a problem using hp molds. Pretty much the same as any other.
 
for 30-30 i would go to a heaver cast
do some research 311041 - noe makes a copy 311-180-fn
the orginal mold was made for the 30-30
you need to use a gas check
you can down load them for some nice paper punchers

because velocity is kept low to keep accuracy it is best to go heavy to retain as much energy as possible around (2000fps) or when ever groups open up

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/archive/index.php/t-22766.html
 
For hunting i prefer a bullet with a wide meplat over any hollow point and if you want it to expand you should keep the hardness below 12 BHN, if i was to load for a larger caliber i.e. 45-70 i would probably go around 8 BHN, this is just my opinion.
 
first I would recommend buying a copy of the lyman cast bullet handbook. I am on van.island also have been hunting with cast bullets for 12 to 15 yrs now. have used .30 cal but feel a larger caliber is better my favorites are a .44mag. carbine and .45/70 carbine. a flat point or hollow point is best I have an NOE mould for a 265gr rn flat point bullet it has a set of hollow point pins and with these casts a 245gr hollow point bullet these both work well on deer. For the 45/70 I have various rn flat point moulds and a 330gr hollow point again all work well I agreed with lyman a BHN of 12 to 15 seems best
 
Gentlemen, thank you for your sage advice! I think i'm gonna keep it simple to start. I've got a bucket of wheel weights and i'm going to pick up the lee 170. What do you guys use to test hardness?
 
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some of the ranch dog bullets that run the largest flat points also have real good bc.

If I had 30-30

N.O.E._Bullet_Moulds_311-165-RF_(PB)_Sketch.Jpg


This is what I use in 30-06.

N.O.E._Bullet_Moulds_TLC310-180-RF_(PB)_Sketch.Jpg
 
The lee 170 f is a good accurate bullet in all rifles if shot it in. I'd cast some up with you ww find a good accurate load and go huntin.
 
The old timers would put a piece of tin foil in the nose area of the mould before closing the blocks. The bullet would expand on striking the target. If you seat the foil too deeply, the bullet will split in two upon firing. Ask me how I know.
 
The Mould I have has two cavity’s plain base and two gas check. I haven’t pushed the plane base past 1300 FPS to find out but with 9grains of win 231 at 1300fps out of an 18” bbl it’s shooting real nice. Still have yet to find a load for the gas checked bullets, I’m shooting them air cooled and so far At 1700-2000 they are not doing so well. Will try oven heat treating soon.
 
Big JD-From the hills said:
The Mould I have has two cavity’s plain base and two gas check. I haven’t pushed the plane base past 1300 FPS to find out but with 9grains of win 231 at 1300fps out of an 18” bbl it’s shooting real nice. Still have yet to find a load for the gas checked bullets, I’m shooting them air cooled and so far At 1700-2000 they are not doing so well. Will try oven heat treating soon.
Click to expand...

I have the noe ranchdog copy and powder coat then gas check they will shoot 1.5-1.75” at 100 meter from my 30-06 this is with zero load development. Out of my m94 30wcf I get 2-2.5” with factory sights. That’s the same size groups I get out of jacketed bullets from the 94
 
If you'd like to invest a small amount of time you can make your own "Partition" type bullets. I did this for a 35 Whelen and they work well.

1- cut the nose portion of a bullet and weigh it out. Purchase some muzzle loading balls about that weight and make a small ladle that will hold that much melted lead. (old steel teaspoon with long wooden handle works well).

2-start casting some bullets to get your mold to casting temp. At the same time use a burner and melt the muzzle loading balls in the small ladle. (Or a small pot of pure lead is even better. I have one that about the size of a small tea cup.)

3-with your mold already at casting temp, pour in some pure lead from the teaspoon and IMMEDIATELY complete the fill using your regular melt.

You now have a bullet with a "soft' nose and hard base. You can even heat treat the bullet to bring the BHN up on the base yet leaves the nose soft because the pure lead will not harden. It takes longer to write this up than to make them once you have your gear set up. When you do the second pour it has to be QUICK in order to get the 2 different metals to "weld" together.
 
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