Looking for suggestions for a good manual for cast reduced loads

Holleyman

Holleyman

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With the price of powder and bullets to load full power loads and the fact I have 7 pounds of Unique that I thought I was never going to get around to using I decided to try reduced load, cast gas checked for easy plinking.
What manual for loading reduced loads are available and worth getting. I ended up trying a load from castboolits.com but would be really nice to get a published reference with some pressure specs and safe loading zones.
I used a 196 grain gas checked bullet and 11 grains of unique in a Mosin M44 - 7.62 X 54R. I really don't know if this is starting load or higher end of the load.
 
The Lyman cast bullet manual is good. Also a gold mine of cast bullet information including load info on Cast Boolits Forum.
 
....or you could ask for suggestions on min-max loads for Unique for the 7.62X54R for a 196 gr bullet, and whatever else you might be shooting.
 
Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 3rd edition(1980) lists a couple loads that are close to what you are looking for, but not exactly that bullet weight.

169gr #2 Alloy
Start FPS Max FPS​
Unique 11.0 1461 14.0 1680
2400 22.0 1865 24.0 1941

208gr #2 Alloy
Start FPS Max FPS​
Unique 10.0 1261 13.0 1483
2400 17.0 1413 22.0 1754
IMR-4227 27.0 1882 30.0 2028

No pressures are listed.
 
Ditto the castboolits forum... I am relying less and less on "published" load info from books... The powder manufacturers all have load data online, and when that fails, the forums (both here and castboolits) have tons of proven recipes... Some still say don't trust anything you see on the internet, but honestly, anything unsafe that I have seen posted is really soundly and effeciently and speedily renounced by other responsible users of the forum... No matter what you want to try, someone else has probably already done it...
 
I am making light target loads and use this site for info.
http://castpics.net/dpl/
I too am using in many loads with about 10 grains of Unique under a cast bullet in all my 30 cal rifles. Low recoil and cheap to shoot. Lyman cast bullet handbook #3 and #4 are good books.
There is also old NRA publications online on some of these sites that had lots of Unique powder loads for rifles. At 10 grains loads, a pound of powder goes along way. Red Dot powder (the Load) works good too. C.E.Harris has wrote extensively on this type of stuff. Google him and lots will come up.
 
I just purchased a copy of the new Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th edition. First revision since 1978 which I also have had since 1978. Great source and will answer all your questions about loading and making Cast Boolits.

I am a regular at Cast Boolits and there is more knowledge at that one site than anywhere I have come across.

There should be plenty of info on using Unique for your gun/cartridge in the Lyman 49 Reloading Manual as well. It is my first stop when looking for a new load to try.

Randy
 
Holleyman said:
With the price of powder and bullets to load full power loads and the fact I have 7 pounds of Unique that I thought I was never going to get around to using I decided to try reduced load, cast gas checked for easy plinking.
What manual for loading reduced loads are available and worth getting. I ended up trying a load from castboolits.com but would be really nice to get a published reference with some pressure specs and safe loading zones.
I used a 196 grain gas checked bullet and 11 grains of unique in a Mosin M44 - 7.62 X 54R. I really don't know if this is starting load or higher end of the load.
Click to expand...

Ken Water's book Pet Loads is a great book for beginners. It talks extensively about how to develop a load for a gun. So, don't read just the articles for your gun, read a bunch of them.
 
I've been very interested in reduced loads with cast pretty much from the time I started casting about a year and a half ago. Haven't had a chance to try out unique but instead have been using clays. I really just wanted a nice quiet low recoil load for plinking out to maybe 50m(haven't tried that far yet). At 25m I'll get less than 1" groups with my M44 shooting Lee 150gn 312 bullets over 9gn of clays. Working at developing a reduced load for my newest cast projectiles, .225 Bator design. Cartridge will be 223 out of my VZ58. Idea is to develop something I can shoot small game with(grouse/partridge) and still have the capability of switching up ammo and taking shots out a couple hundred meters on canines. Good luck with your project bud n let us know how it turns out.
 
mudgunner49 said:
"The Load" from CE Harris is a Red Dot load, not Unique...
Click to expand...

There's no reason why someone couldn't follow Harris' guidelines and substitute an equal amount of Unique. Unique is a bit slower than Red Dot, so if you wished, 1-2 grains more (i.e. 15.0) could be used - or not.

Harris' load is useful, but there's no reason why someone couldn't create their own "The Load" with Unique (15.0 grs), SR-4759 (20.0 grs), etc. It's just a "General Purpose" load that will be at safe pressures and might be accurate - takes the thinking out of developing loads, much like the use of Trail Boss. I have never found it to be the most accurate load, but it was certainly satisfactory.
 
Andy said:
There's no reason why someone couldn't follow Harris' guidelines and substitute an equal amount of Unique. Unique is a bit slower than Red Dot, so if you wished, 1-2 grains more (i.e. 15.0) could be used - or not.

Harris' load is useful, but there's no reason why someone couldn't create their own "The Load" with Unique (15.0 grs), SR-4759 (20.0 grs), etc. It's just a "General Purpose" load that will be at safe pressures and might be accurate - takes the thinking out of developing loads, much like the use of Trail Boss. I have never found it to be the most accurate load, but it was certainly satisfactory.
Click to expand...

I understand completely, however can it still be called "The Load" with any degree of truthfulness?? Wouldn't we be better to call it "My Load v2.0" or something along those lines in order to differentiate it?? You would really need to check it out in all the calibers that Harris has to ensure that there are no abberations before it could truly be recommended as a solid and dependable general purpose load. As an aside, it was never intended to be the most accurate, but to allow higher volume practice for position rifle shooting (though you probably already know that)...

This could really take us down a rabbit hole, no?


cheers

blake
 
Show me one example where it's unsafe and I'll recant.

I don't need to call it anything do I? Nor would I if I suggested a similar load for any of 20 other pistol powders.

mudgunner49 said:
I understand completely, however can it still be called "The Load" with any degree of truthfulness?? Wouldn't we be better to call it "My Load v2.0" or something along those lines in order to differentiate it?? You would really need to check it out in all the calibers that Harris has to ensure that there are no abberations before it could truly be recommended as a solid and dependable general purpose load. As an aside, it was never intended to be the most accurate, but to allow higher volume practice for position rifle shooting (though you probably already know that)...

This could really take us down a rabbit hole, no?


cheers

blake
Click to expand...
 
Andy said:
Show me one example where it's unsafe and I'll recant.

I don't need to call it anything do I? Nor would I if I suggested a similar load for any of 20 other pistol powders.
Click to expand...

I'm not suggesting you do anything of the sort (did I use the word unsafe in any way?? I believe that "solid" and "dependable" were there but not "unsafe") - my missive was entirely tongue in cheek. Apparently the point - if there actually was one - was missed.

Sorry about that...


blake
 
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