Good Rifle Caliber to Reload

caperbound

caperbound

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Nova Scotia
I'm thinking of making the jump and try reloading a bottle neck round. Don't have any bottle neck caliber rifles at present so I'm kinda basing my rifle selection on ease of reloading and ability to use cast bullets (with/without gas checks)

I'm a target shooter so I'm not really concerned about how well of a hunter it will be.

Some locals fellas are pouring 30-30 and 303 brit lead, is/are there other bottle neck cablibers I'm missing?

Thanks
 
30-06 is a good one...brass /bullets/powders are to be found with ease...and to start off... go here for some free brass:D

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=658705
 
Both the .308 and 30/06 are excellent cast bullet cals......you'll prolly be happy with an inline bullet seater or you'll need something(maybe the Lee universal expander) to flare cases for cast bullets...Ben
 
why just bottle neck?

Why not a 44, 444, 45/70?

30/30 cast bullets are .308 and fit in any .30 caliber gun. They will have flat noses but you can shoot them out of any 30 caliber case.
 
If you're wanting to shoot cast pick a large caliber with slow bullets. I would say 45-70 is ideal choice of cast bullet everything but you're wanting a bottle neck case so this one is out.

Most, if not all, bottle neck rounds with cast bullets will require a reduced load to keep velocities down for the bare lead as they tend to run at higher velocities than straight wall rounds. Almost any bullet can be cast, it's just a matter of how much velocity you'll be losing if you do it. Really if you're just wanting options, go to the Lyman or Lee websites(or any other bullet mold manufacturer) and browse calibers charts, then pick something that floats you're boat.
 
Please delete

Cr@p - sorry, on rereading, I realize I completely misunderstood your question.
 
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Just throwing this out there but, with or without gas checks puts one into the performance range of right around 1550 fps as the average limit for cast lead bullets, with or without GCs.
I suspect those that are casting for 30-30 or 303 brit, are only doing so because they already have this rifle in thier possession. Most westerners, when you say cast bullet rifles, picture 38-55s or 45-70s in thier minds. For arguments sake, I've seen guys experiment with cast loads in 303 Brit in Saskatchewan. At BPCR shoots, these rarely attain any noteworthy success.
(those relatively smaller thirty calibre bores are going to lead up alot faster than the larger calibres IMO)

my two bits
 
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Thanks for the brass start up offer Fogducker but politely decline. Not sure what I want yet :) Sooo many choices.

444 and 45-70 are on my "someday" list but not my tomorrow list.

I like lever guns and right now 30-30s seem to have a nice used price.

Like anything there are plenty of choices and since no hunting season awaits me, I have time to ponder what I want.

Thanks for the replies and keep'em coming.
 
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