our range has opened up for the last few days and i will be heading out to try some cast loads for my 303b. 180 gn powder coated going about 2200 fps. depending upon accuracy, am thinking of using this as my hunting load this fall. has anyone used cast loads for their hunting rigs? please share...thanks
hunting with cast??
- Thread starter gregc
- Start date
I've used a 35 Whelen (250gr Flat nose about 2000fps) on a few deer from 50-130 metres and a 450 Marlin (300gr & 405gr Flat nose....ballistic twin to the 45-70, about 1600+fps) on quite a few deer.
Performance is very good, deer rarely travel more than a few steps, most drop but a couple ran perhaps 40-50 metres at most. Complete pass through, never able to retrieve a single bullet.
Softer lead is better but I made an error once & loaded a hard solid, the dead deer never could tell though, still dropped quickly. I've never used a 30 or 303 YET. I hope I can get my 303 up and running this year. I've read about many guys south of the border using 30's ('06, 308, 30-30, 303's) very successfully.
Performance is very good, deer rarely travel more than a few steps, most drop but a couple ran perhaps 40-50 metres at most. Complete pass through, never able to retrieve a single bullet.
Softer lead is better but I made an error once & loaded a hard solid, the dead deer never could tell though, still dropped quickly. I've never used a 30 or 303 YET. I hope I can get my 303 up and running this year. I've read about many guys south of the border using 30's ('06, 308, 30-30, 303's) very successfully.
If i was shooting at the range with lead i would use any velocity. If i was hunting with lead id stay around 1800fps. Just so the bullet stays together if you hit bone. If you dont hit bone it will still pass through the deer just as if it was at 2200fps
Cast Boolits work very well on big game.
1 moose 4 deer and a coyote using Lee 200gr RNGC cast from WWs.
These are travelling approx 2200fps from Winchester 88/308
Powder is IMR 3031
Farthest shot with 200gr was 157yds.
I’m also casting NOE 165gr FNGC for my 30-30.
1 moose 4 deer and a coyote using Lee 200gr RNGC cast from WWs.
These are travelling approx 2200fps from Winchester 88/308
Powder is IMR 3031
Farthest shot with 200gr was 157yds.
I’m also casting NOE 165gr FNGC for my 30-30.
I shoot 173 gr. hardcast boolits in .308 and it works great at around 1800 f p s..... most often a pass through even on big deer; they don't go very far.
Also shoot .223 hollow point 52 gr. boolits for adult gophers/badgers; again around 1800 f p s....works great!
Also shoot .223 hollow point 52 gr. boolits for adult gophers/badgers; again around 1800 f p s....works great!
You don't say what game you intend to hunt, big difference between a deer and a moose or a coyote and a bear. Took one moose, a young bull with a 45/70 shooting a cast 486 gr round nose bullet at chrono'd 1600 fps, Lyman #2 alloy which is quite hard. First shot at 20 yards through the lungs is still going. Second shot at the same distance after he turned to leave was two inches from a Texas heart shot and he piled up fairly quickly. The bullet stopped under the skin on the front of the right front shoulder, about six feet of penetration that included the full paunch, the liver and one lung. Internal damage was modest. The bullet was bent in the middle and had a large gouge or dent in the nose but retained most of the original weight. The moose was dead when I got to it. I concluded that the alloy was too hard for hunting but softer alloys usually require lower velocities and I moved on to jacketed 45/70 loads for hunting.
Shot a medium size black bear last week end with my .444 Marlin shooting 325gr WFN cast out of wheel weight, powder coated and water quenched. Blasted right through the lungs and the bear went about 25 yards. Those 325gr leave the muzzle at 2000 fps. My first animal shot with a cast bullet but I was surprised to see that it still bloodshot a good amount of meat. I doubt there was any expansion but that big wide flat nose did the job. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it on a moose.
Bullet used:
Exit:
Bullet used:
Exit:
yeah mate, after some tips from CGN i started hunting with cast 375 winchester lever gun commercially made aussie hardcast bullets, hawksbury river bullet co, regardless of that, i load em about 1800 fps and they work sweet as on big deer, penetration is extreme and there seems to be enough damage in the bullet path to do the deed even on double lung shots-- preffer to aim for a shoulder for what is worth though..
The question to answer is why would you want to?
Forgive me if I am wrong but by using cast it seems like you'll get:
- Greater lead exposure in the meat (lead poisoning is not fun, and yes our ancestors did it because that's all they had)
- A typically slower more rainbow like trajectory
- Less controlled expansion compared to modern ammunition
Will it work? yes, can it be effective? yes, is there any sensible reason to use it given it can impact your health? Not to my knowledge
Forgive me if I am wrong but by using cast it seems like you'll get:
- Greater lead exposure in the meat (lead poisoning is not fun, and yes our ancestors did it because that's all they had)
- A typically slower more rainbow like trajectory
- Less controlled expansion compared to modern ammunition
Will it work? yes, can it be effective? yes, is there any sensible reason to use it given it can impact your health? Not to my knowledge
You must be new here and did not live through "The Great Depletion" of the Obama years. Can't load and shoot what you can't buy.
Probably less lead than you think...mind you even regular bullets will have exposed lead when they mushroom.
Don't knock the rainbow.
Expansion isn't everything, knock a big enough hole into an animal and it will die.
I just finished loading a bunch of 175 grain gas checked (19.3BHN), ALOX lubed in 30-06 over 30grns of D4198.
Should be around 2000fps.
If accurate, I would not hesitate to use it foe hunting
Last edited:
I cast & shoot 170gr FN for my 30-30. I haven't tried them on whitetail but I'm seriously thinking about it for this year. I also cast for .308Win, 303B, 7.62X39, 7.62X54R & 8mm. I'd like to try some of these also for hunting.
did you ever go fishing and crimp the sinkers on with your teeth ?
I did and still here
and some smokers don't get cancer. The "I did it and am alive" is probably one of the worst ways to explain something. Yes you can do something and survive but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be significantly healthier and live longer if you didn't do it (Depending on what it is)
I never struggled to find any hunting ammo, especially as I didn't choose a niche calibre (I'm not suggesting you did).
There are copper only bullets, and jacketed lead based ammunition is specifically designed to retain it's mass. Using lead why would you use a more expensive ammo is just hands down a bad idea when it can be avoided.
The rainbow sucks.
Expansion is a huge amount, arguing against expansion is basically arguing for a higher recoiling, more expensive and more meat wasting alternative....because reasons.
Everyone can choose what they want to choose, but using 19th century bullets in the 21st century when you don't need to can be novel, challenging and interesting but ultimately you're just making life harder for yourself and putting yourself at risk. Big boys rules though so it's up to you
Shooting lead/ casting bullets is its own hobby all together. Also shooting lead is almost 100 times cheaper then copper or jacketed. I pay 25 cents a pound for lead and cast around 30-70 bullets for that cost. You get into paper patching, gaschecks, different lubes, different bullet fit.( bore size to upwards of 0.005" over bore) play with difference hardnesses of the lead for different velocitys.
When i get back to work ill post a pic of lead expansion from shooting at cow bone. Its a 30 cal 180gr that opened up to 1.5" dia, flatten to about 0.250" tall and still weighs 174gr. Any softer or harder lead/ any more velocity would have caused that not to happen.
Also lots of old guns run real low pressure, so also low velocity, jacketed wouldnt work at all. And you get more expansion with lead.
And its hard to find jacketed bullets in odd sizes like .446" dia. Cast you can make near any size.
When i get back to work ill post a pic of lead expansion from shooting at cow bone. Its a 30 cal 180gr that opened up to 1.5" dia, flatten to about 0.250" tall and still weighs 174gr. Any softer or harder lead/ any more velocity would have caused that not to happen.
Also lots of old guns run real low pressure, so also low velocity, jacketed wouldnt work at all. And you get more expansion with lead.
And its hard to find jacketed bullets in odd sizes like .446" dia. Cast you can make near any size.
He's just bitter because his wife won't let him cast, so has to be Debbie Downer to the rest of us.
did you ever go fishing and crimp the sinkers on with your teeth ?
I did and still here
Like a mouthful of pellets as you stroll the bush or plink tin cans with your pellet rifle.
Been there done it.
Heck my brother had one lodged in his thigh for years until hip surgery and it came up in X-rays lol.
