How fast have you pushed cast?

tokguy

tokguy

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Tried out my father's chronograph the other day and was surprised that my 375 H & H improved practice loads are quite fast.
265 hard cast RN over 50 gr of 3031 clocked out at an averaged 2150 fps(if we were interpreting the data correctly, of course).
How fast can you (typically of course; type of rifling, rate of twist, hardness of bullet all affecting success obviously) report that you've pushed your loads?
 
I took some water quenched WW .308s up to 2400 fps some years back with both liquid Alox and lube. They didn't shoot quite as well as some milder loads so I went back. They were just for plinking and 200 yard offhand so the velocity wasn't very important. The lower velocity loads had nothing for leading, just a slightly greasy bore. The fast ones had a bit of frosting.

A nice thing about the big bores is that in many cases you can approach or equal the jacketed velocities and recoil with cast. Its an non-bankruptcy intensive way to learn to handle recoil. Even if you don't mind spending the money its pretty easy to buy a town, city or province out of .375+ bullets. Even the stores that stock that sort of thing seldom have many. These days its even worse.
 
I don't chrony, so I can't say for sure, but I have some loads in .303b that I know are moving at a great clip, I would wagter somewhere in the 2000 +/- fps range. They are gas checked, I wouldn't load them as hot if they were unchecked. I have both checked and unchecked projectiles for both 30-30 and .444, but I don't think that even the checked ones for either would have much wow factor on the chrony. Tons of fun to shoot though.
 
I've had gas checked heat treated cast bullets up to 2350 fps in a 9.3x62 with no leading after 12 rounds. Sized .002" over. Bullet fit and bore condition are at least as important as hardness, in fact a bullet that is too hard seems to be more prone to leading. A bullet that is a bit too skinny AND too hard will lead like a bass turd. Powder selection actually has some influence on leading. Faster powders seem to be more prone to causing leading than slower powders.
 
I shot the Lee 150gr flat nose from a Springfield 30 06, 1:10" twist with 43gr of the old XL44 and got usable accuracy and 2550fps. Accuracy was better at lower velocity
Grouch
 
It really depends on the bore of the rifle. I have some milsurps with badly worn bores that lead really bad and tumble the bullets if I go much past 1100-1200fps. Doesn't matter if the bullet is .001" or .002" oversized.

In rifles with crisp, shiny bores I have gone up to around 2200-2300fps without leading but loose accuracy. In a 308 Rem 700 I shoot 160gr sized to .311", GC'ed, cast from pure WW, water quenched, and tumble lubed around 2000fps (from memory). At 100yds I've shot 1" groups but they are usually around 1.5". At 2200-2300fps my groups open up to 3"+.

For whatever reason most of my rifles seem to like velocities in the range of 1400-1800fps. This seems to be some accuracy-nexus regardless of cartridge (6.5mm up to .45 cal) or bullet weight (160gr up to 500gr). If I'm going past 100yds I usually use jacketed bullets so I've never really pushed velocities for longer ranges.
 
jethunter said:
I've had gas checked heat treated cast bullets up to 2350 fps in a 9.3x62 with no leading after 12 rounds. Sized .002" over. Bullet fit and bore condition are at least as important as hardness, in fact a bullet that is too hard seems to be more prone to leading. A bullet that is a bit too skinny AND too hard will lead like a bass turd. Powder selection actually has some influence on leading. Faster powders seem to be more prone to causing leading than slower powders.
Click to expand...

I've been using the same bullets with 65 grains of imr 4831 in a improved 9.3x62 case .... I figure it is in the around 2200- 2300 fps range . I have had absolutely no issues with them ... besides making my shoulder sore . :D
 
tokguy said:
Tried out my father's chronograph the other day and was surprised that my 375 H & H improved practice loads are quite fast.
265 hard cast RN over 50 gr of 3031 clocked out at an averaged 2150 fps(if we were interpreting the data correctly, of course).
How fast can you (typically of course; type of rifling, rate of twist, hardness of bullet all affecting success obviously) report that you've pushed your loads?
Click to expand...

if you have a 1/12 twist you should be able to push Cast to 2000……to…….2300 with good to better than jacketed Accuracy

I have been reading a cast bullet forum and several people are working on a project that will push cast /sub 1 inch at 100 to the 2700-2900 fps (wildcat made for cast)
 
Shooting 480 gr hard cast WFNs in my .458, I got 2250 fps, but the group was uninspiring. I've never tried to hot rod cast bullets in my .375s. I once shot a 210 gr cast bullet across a chronograph from my M-17 Enfield .30/06 at 2850 fps instead of the expected 1850 . . . it wasn't intentional, pretty, or ever again repeated. That's when I learned all about the dangers of double charging a load of SR-4759. Surprisingly the rifle shrugged it off, although the cartridge's head stamp was permanently etched in the bolt face. The bolt had to beat open with a handy length of 2X4. The primer pocket had opened right up to the lettering. An old retired gunsmith was with me when it happened, his only comment was "You lucky SOB!"
 
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