Not Enough Frustration in Your Life? Try Cast bullets..

After reading Jerry's post it bears mentionning that I was using SPG to lube my bullets.

I think my barrel might just be a lucky smooth one, because I'm sure I should be leading it WAY worse than I am.
 
On the velocity thing with this little experiment I was hoping to get to 1800 ft/s max. Hell I would have been happy with a lot less with decent accuracey. Just jumping the cue and trying to repeat buddy's success.

I'm kind of glad my first little experiment with cast went so wrong. From what I've gathered here I've already made most of the mistakes out there. :D I've only got 30 or 40 of these bullets left and I think I'll experiment with some form of gas check and see what happens.

I think I've found my next bullet to try in 45-70. My friends at the Bullet Barn are now making 45-70 405grGC (Gas checked) bullets, (25 brindel hardness). And they're .459" :cool:
http://www.thebulletbarn.com/pricelist.html

I bought some 265grGCFP bullets for my 375 Winchester from them a while back which I'll be getting to in the near future too;)

I appreciate all of the information here guys, if there's any more ideas keep'm comming.......
 
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Salty said:
I think I've found my next bullet to try in 45-70. My friends at the Bullet Barn are now making 45-70 405grGC (Gas checked) bullets, (25 brindel hardness). And they're .459" :cool:
That sounds like an excellent choice. I have used Unique, 3031, and Hercules RX7 with the Lyman 405 grain plain base bullet. All have given good results. I have also used dacron filler with 3031 and haven't noticed any real diference in velocity or how clean it burns.
I would also recomend you try ten or so of these BB 405 grains dipped in lee liquid bullet lube to see if that makes a diference. Hard bullets will lead as well at high velocity if not lubed properly.
And if you are getting leading your groups will start to open up.
I've been looking for a 405 grain gas check mold for years, can't find one for sale. All the B.P. silhouette shooters want plain base bullets and that is where the mold producers think the market is.
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Salty said:
WILCO. A cheap and easy variable in all this........
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Just remember to clean your bore really well if the groups start to open up when you hit that velocity / accuracy speed limit.
 
First thing you do is toss that 45/70 in the river and get yourself a real gun - a 444 Marlin:p
But seriously, microgroove bbls will shoot cast as well as or in many instances better than ballard rifling. The biggest problem with the old microgroove bbls is the slow rate of twist and thier inability to stabalize heavy projectiles at acceptable pressures.
To start you must slug your bbl. When you run the slug down be sure to note any tight spots. If these occur you will need to firelap your bore. Once done leading is virtually a thing of the past. When you mic the slug don't be surprised to find it is 3-4 thou over. For instance when I slugged my 444 microgroove the slug mic'd out at .432. After firelapping to remove any restrictions the bbl still slugged at .432. When casting bullets I use wheel weights and a custom mould from Mountain moulds casting 340 grn WFN bullets @ .433 The bullets are drenched immediately after casting giving me a hardness of 22. I run these through a custom Lee die (.433) and apply a gas check. I then apply beartooth lube by hand or melting it in a pot, standing the bullets upright in the melted wax, let it cool and knock the bullets out.
Both my Marlin 444S rifles shoot these bullets into a 1" - 1.5" group @ 100 yrds all day long at a velocity of 2350 fps!!! AND NO LEADING
How do you get 2350 fps from a 444 with 340 cast? Open up your tolerances (loading ramp, ejector and loading gate) so it will take a 2.64 OAL round...a whole other story.
Bottom line - slug bbl, firelap if nessacary, obtain a mould/ bullets of approriate diameter, gas check and use a lube designed for rifle velocities.
Hope this helps
 
You bastards are going to put me to work here aren't you :eek: :D

To start you must slug your bbl. .
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What's the best way to do this? I believe there's kits out there? And I've heard of just putting the muzzle on a hard floor dropping some fishing weights down the barrel and pound it into a plug with a wooden dowel..
 
Get an egg sinker slightly over bore diameter, insert a couple stands of brass snare wire through center, tie good knot in wire behind rear of sinker, slide wire up bbl and pull like hell (really not all that hard)...be sure to note where you feel restrictions (usually under rear sight cut, front band cut and front sight cut. Mic using digital caliper if your eyes are getting old like mine.
If you simple pound through with a wooden dowel you will not feel the restriction points.
 
LOL I feel your pain when I first started I thought I was king of the casters and thought this is easy what are those guys all saying LOL RIGHT!! 55 out of 100 bullets bent, on me, and the grains well lets say I used 10 of my first batch. I still need to leard before I myself can suggest advice!
But I can tell you how a batch of bad ones LOL!!
 
Here are a couple targets from my guide gun with just a bore sighted scope and not zeroed. These are only 50 yards.

52 grains of H322 for around 1800 fps

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45 grains of H322 for around 1600 fps. Keeping this load and have an XS Ashley Ghost Ring sighted in for it.

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SPG, beeswax, olive oil, castor oil, parafin wax and even moly bearing grease, are all used in various concoctions to lube bullets.

SPG was developed specifically for BP and is a very soft lube. It will pick up dirt so not a favorite for any working type of load. Seems to work really well in BP cartridges.

I just use Lee liq alox on any and all shapes of bullets. Dead easy to use and does work at velocites approaching 2000fps. Never gone faster so can't say if it works.

Gas checked bullets are certainly the way to go if you want higher velocities and pressures. Even softer alloys can be made to work with gas checks. However, harder bullets simply work better at higher pressures and velocities.

There is an enormous amount of info on the net and just about anything and everything has already been tested.

This summer I hope to continue testing a 'VLD' 30 cal cast bullet for LR shooting. Last year, testing showed the potential for sub MOA performance at 180yds. I look forward to doing more testing and shooting.

Jerry

A pic of the rifle

 
Well I finally got back to playing with cast bullets again today and happily I can report way better sucess this time. :D Thought this might be usefull to report for other newbs to cast.

Again, I'm shooting a microgroove barrel Marlin which by all accounts can be picky with cast bullets. Today I loaded up some 375 Winchester rounds with 265 FPGC cast bullets I got from the bullet barn.

Gas check: check. :cool:

Lube: check. I used Lee liquid Alox

Velocity: check. I went slow to start

Size: check. They're ~ one thou over at .376 inches

Hardness: check. Brindell 25

So, to make a long story short I'm lobbin these babys from 1400 ft/s up to arounds 1500 ft/s and printing around 2 to 4 inches at 100 yards. The best groups were at the upper end that I worked up to so far. I will work up some more ever focused for the drop in accuracey.

Thanks lads, I'm glad I posted this thread a while back. I've learned a fair jag from all of this...:cool:
 
I have had nice results with my 375 H&H using some 250 grain .376 bullets I bought from lock and load in edmonton.Used a light charge of unique,14 grains, and am getting very nice accuracy at 100 yards.Using this load to practice shooting offhand at a gong.Nicer on my shoulder than full house loads.KIcks way less than my 25-06!!!!
 
machinistbutler said:
I have had nice results with my 375 H&H using some 250 grain .376 bullets I bought from lock and load in edmonton.Used a light charge of unique,14 grains, and am getting very nice accuracy at 100 yards.Using this load to practice shooting offhand at a gong.Nicer on my shoulder than full house loads.KIcks way less than my 25-06!!!!
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Aren't cast bullets sweet?
I use 28 grains of 3031 behind a lee 150 grain with gas check in a 30/06. This gives 1700 fps and I'm able to hit a 8 inch gong at 250 yard with every shot.
Sighted in about 3" high at 100 yards. It just happens that if I hold over using the wide part of the duplex cross hair as a post that is where the bullet hits at 250 yards.

No kick, no leading, really accurate, and very little fouling.
BTW, I clean with "Brake Klean" and household ammonia. Way less work that the very expensive commercial mouse milk that is sold in gun stores to end all your cleaning problems, and you wind up running numerous patches through your bore. I just have to run an oily patch down the bore to finish it off.
 
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I found the barnes cr-10,I think that is what it is called,cleans things up nice.If you get a whiff of it it can almost knock you out though the smell of ammonia is so strong .Works well.I still cannot believe I can have such nice practice rounds for so cheap.Now my wife can shoot my 375.
 
Ya that's why I'm doing this too. Cheap rounds, hardly any recoil and an excellent way to practice a lot of offhand. Not very exciting ballistics, but I can confirm there is enough velocity to punch paper and that 100yd gong is starting to hate my rifles. :D
 
Salty said:
Ya that's why I'm doing this too. Cheap rounds, hardly any recoil and an excellent way to practice a lot of offhand. Not very exciting ballistics, but I can confirm there is enough velocity to punch paper and that 100yd gong is starting to hate my rifles. :D
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Not very exciting ballistics???

At twenty yards or so a 200 grain lyman 314299 at 1400 fps will shoot the entire length of a mule deer breaking every rib along the way.
And at longer ranges an accurate cast bullet load is like artillery. If you have the range, you can hit it. Cast bullets have taught me a great deal about ballistics and accuracy. It is very gratifying to be able to hit a 8" gong at 250 yards with a bullet starting out at 1700 fps and dropping 30 some inches from the line of sight over that distance. Especially when the guy on the next bench can only hit it one shot out of five with his 338 ear splitten loudenboomer magnum.
 
Shhhhhhhhh 10x ;)

You'll make the spitzer lazerboomer crowd jealous...

Unfortunately our little club only has a 100 yd range. I'll have to try some longer range shooting with cast soon. One of my old 30-30s has ballard rifling and I'm thinking of ordering some 190gr cast GC bullets for it. I'm also thinking a Lyman adjustable tang sight would be too much fun for lobbing stuff out there. :cool:
 
Salty said:
Shhhhhhhhh 10x ;)

You'll make the spitzer lazerboomer crowd jealous...

Unfortunately our little club only has a 100 yd range. I'll have to try some longer range shooting with cast soon. One of my old 30-30s has ballard rifling and I'm thinking of ordering some 190gr cast GC bullets for it. I'm also thinking a Lyman adjustable tang sight would be too much fun for lobbing stuff out there. :cool:
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Cast bullets don't have any appeal to the loudenboomer crowd. They just don't go fast enough or flat enough.
Jack O'Connor said it best, beware the man who shoots one rifle and knows how to shoot it.
 
A buddy shoots big bore black powder. At LR, these 500gr slugs land just like artillery. From 45-70 to 45-120's, these monsters are only going about 1200fps. They sure throw ALOT of dirt when they arrive.

You can see that impact with the naked eye but a 300Wby needs a spotting scope.

When I get more time, I want to do more development on a 308 cast bullet rifle I have. Using a custom mold 200gr 'VLD' cast bullet, these slugs have performed well at 180yds. Now to see how they do much further.

It is a lot of fun...

Jerry
 
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