Takujualuk said:
Should be under articles when the formatting is done. Pretty good all around info about 35's there. Thanks for the comments and feed back. I am still learning.
One thing I was going to mention after reading the articles was Paco Kelly's love of the really heavy Lyman cast bullet in the .35's. I think it is #3589/#358009 - same bullet; just different stock/catalogue numbers. I have never quite understood that one, myself. Kelly has a LOT of first hand experience knocking over critters in Africa and North America, more than I do, but I am still going to differ with him on this somewhat.
It is not too difficult to get a 250 grain cast bullet with a tin can size meplat up to 2600 fps out of a .358 Winchester or faster - without leading and with accuracy, if you know what you're doing. (hint: for those who think this is tough, join the Cast Bullet Association - invaluable). That's faster than you can drive those heavy Lymans, and maybe more importantly, the 250 grainers from LBT and RCBS have nice big flat meplates that the Lyman doesn't have.
If the point of the exercise is to throw all ballistic efficiency out the window and ask just how much energy can be generated from a .35 (or any caliber) in any given case, then I guess you get something like QuickLoad and play "what if", doing iterative scenarios with increasingly heavier bullets until you get to so heavy that muzzle energy starts decreasing. Take the heaviest bullet that produces the most muzzle energy, get a near wadcutter design for it, and you're set I guess...
I think 250 grains is good - it has worked for me out of the BLR just fine. I started with the LBT 250 grainer; a fine bullet and available again (I think) since Veral was released from jail regarding his tax protest and is in business again. A friend then had a custom mould made in 250 grains: better yet, with the aforementioned "tin can" front meplate. It is a truncated cone, two band design - very easy to get to perform well, and a real knock down artist.
So that works for me as far as big heavy bullets for hunting in .35's go: nice balance of some ballistic efficiency and swat.
The nice thing about the cast bullet world is that fine custom moulds are now dirt cheap to get. Everyone with an interest in custom bullet moulds should check out
http://www.mountainmolds.com/. $75 for a two cavity custom bullet mould turned from brass is ridiculously cheap - very little over off the shelf, in fact.
And IF you like playing "what if" and are thinking of a heavy bullet for some .35 or other, check out the online mould design feature. Awesome... in five minutes, playing around while writing this, I designed a two band, two groove, gas check, no crimp groove truncated cone design with meplat 80% of bore diameter that would weigh 300 grains cast from wheelweight. Thought I could save it as "under construction" for others to view, but that feature of his website is not enabled yet. Looked so good I nearly checked the "buy it now!" box...
Anyways, go play around there and have some fun. I have yet to talk with or read of anyone complaining about the quality of his moulds (i.e. if you make a stupid design that is unlikely to do well, that's not his fault). The ones I have and have seen are all absolutely first class. I recommend anyone thinking of a bullet mould buy some from him fast - eventually he is going to realize he could sell them just as fast while charging twice the price. I think he knows that now, but it is still a labour of love with him... Incidentally... he's a hunter too, so most if not all of his mould designs and mould making is oriented towards what kind of cast bullets perform well on game.
And he's one hell of a nice guy to talk to!
Current delivery for mould orders if four weeks...
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Example values to plug in for starters (a lot of selection windows will auto-fill):
Select 35 caliber bullets option, in the page that opens, change the following existing values to these:
Weight: 300 grains
Allowy: wheel weights
Bullet Design: Ogival Flat Point
Crimp Groove: NO crimp groove
Meplat: 80%
Base: .3415 Straight shank for hornady-Gator 35, 3.3 gr.
Length of Base or Shank: .100"
GtoB: .3
Select second row of table (i.e. 2 body bands, two grooves): Band Length set to .20"
Down at the bottom... Ogive Radius: set to 1.95"
Click "Draw" beside the "two bands, two grooves" row in the table.
Note that this isn't a "perfect" online design tool; many settings reset themselves or change settings when you change something else. But that is a niggling detail, and this is a most impressive design tool. A little trial and error and you should have it figured out. But those settings will get you started on what your idea of a heavy .35 caliber bullet should be.
