LF a New Caliber

Magnum_Tom

Magnum_Tom

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My son and I have been reloading and shooting a lot over the winter and spring. We're reloading / shooting 300 Win Mag, 308 Win and 8mm Mauser. The 300WM especially is burning a lot of powder.

I've been wanting to get a new rifle in bolt action but I'd like to get something in one of the smaller calibers. Something that will be easier on the wallet to reload. Also, we've been thinking of getting into casting so ideally, this new smaller caliber would be a good candidate for cast bullets.

This rifle / caliber would be mainly used for fun target / precision shooting. If it'd be good for varmint than that might be a bonus.

Does anyone have any suggestions on rifle / caliber?
 
Rem 700 - in either 204 or 223. With 223 you get availabilty of ammo and components and with 204, the things are so small that the powder load is relatively light. Both have light recoil, especially the 204, so shooting all day wont hurt ya. And both "can" be used to hunt medium sized game, the 204 only if you are REALLY good with shot placement. I know guys that hunt deer with both so its doable. And the Rem700 is a solid gun and is readily had for a good price
 
Longshot said:
The words 'precision' and 'cast bullets' generally don't go in the same sentence.
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Haha. Yeah, but "fun" was in the sentence too! Does "precision plinking" sound better?

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

45/70 wasn't really on my radar but that would be a good one but more inline with big game hunting. This caliber or the 450 are on my wishlist for a pre-Remlin lever action rifle.

Some of you have mentioned 223 but when I googled this I saw a lot of guys saying that .223 would not be good for casting. I'm assuming you're using gas checks on these and reduced loads. What kind of reduction on loads are we talking about here? Keep in mind I don't need to cycle an action here.
 
The .223 will work alright for cast shooting if the barrel has a standard 1:12 twist, I haven't had any luck at all getting cast to shoot in fast twist barrels like 1:7, even when I cut the velocity back to 1200 fps. Choose a bullet with a long bearing surface for best results, check out Lyman #225462. A load of 13.7 grs of H-110 is estimated to give 2120 fps, and Lyman predicts it to be the most accurate load with that bullet.
 
brybenn said:
222. 358/308 (35federal I think its called) can use pistol weight cast bullets

4570 with trailboss powder or reduced loads with corn meal may work
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That would be .358 Winchester for target practice with pistol (.358") bullets.

Trailboss, clays, and titegroup have all been used for reduced / sub-sonic loads. I would suggest using titegroup or clays with cast .308 bullets for cheap reduced load plinking.
 
222, .223, 22-250, 204, all are good. Fun and easy to reload for. I haven`t tried cast bullets in the small calibers, 243 is as small as i`ve tried. 243 is another candidate, uses more for powder but can work well for varmints, target and deer if allowed in your area. As for a rifle Tikka, Sako, CZ, Rem, Salvage, pick your poison, lots more to choose from and most work well out of the box.
 
I like 6.5x55, and have reasonable success with cast bullets in it. Noting what Longshot said, what kind of precision are we talking about? My 1915 vintage Mod. 96 Mauser commonly does 5 shot 100 yd groups around an inch. I'd expect a new and more modern rifle to do better.
Grouch
 
Cheap on powder and good for casting = 30-30. Get a bolt action (Savage 340 / Stevens 325) or a single shot (Savage 219) and you can load up whatever bullets you want (round nose or spitzer).
 
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