Pro's and Con's of shooting Cast?

CheeseBurger

CheeseBurger

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For those of you that have shot cast bullets. What are some of the pros and cons? I know it's cheaper to shoot cast but besides that I know nothing about it. Not looking to make my own, thinking about buying some 9.3 bullets from jethunter and shooting them in my Zastava 9.3x62.

Cheers.

Tyler
 
Cast is cheaper and they cause less wear on your barrel. Other than that, jacketed bullets tend to be superior for accuracy and speed.
Cast bullets generally can't be driven as fast as jacketed. In your 9.3 I bet you'd get speeds of 1800 fps with cast w/gas check bullets with no problems, but faster than that may or may not be possible. Plain base bullets can't be driven as fast. Alloy hardness and bullet speed are the only way to control expansion in cast bullets, very hard cast bullets shatter instead of expanding in game, very soft ones may deposit lead in your barrel and accuracy can suffer.
The 9.3 is a bore size that should work well with cast bullets, it is easier to cast accurate lead bullets of large diameter compared to smaller calibers. Cast rifle bullets under 7mm diameter require extreme attention to detail for consistent results.
I get quite a bit of satisfaction casting, loading and shooting my own bullets. Finding an accurate bullet style, alloy mix, powder load, and size/ seating depth is another hobby that has pulled many shooters into its vortex. Lots of fun if you like that sort of thing. The very best cast bullets can be as accurate as jacketed and can be used successfully to hunt medium - small big game like deer, even larger game once you have some experience.
 
I would just use cast bullets for plinking and jacketed bullets for hunting. Can I just buy cast bullets and develop a load for them just like jacketed bullets or is there more to it than that. At this point in time I just don't have the time to be casting my own.
 
CheeseBurger said:
I would just use cast bullets for plinking and jacketed bullets for hunting. Can I just buy cast bullets and develop a load for them just like jacketed bullets or is there more to it than that. At this point in time I just don't have the time to be casting my own.
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Yes,by all means.I'm doing that right now with a pair of 9.3X62's I bought last year.I'm using 280gr.bullets from the Bullet Barn as I don't have any casting equipment of my own,they work just fine in my rifles.
 
CheeseBurger said:
So if I buy some of jethunters bullets: http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?881790-Bullets-9-3mm-30-Cal-32-40-45-70 I don't have to resize them or anything? I'm good to go? What powder are you using for your 9.3 bullets?
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I haven't used any of his bullets yet,the 280gr. from the Bullet Barn I'm using as received at .368 diameter work just fine in my rifles,slug your bore to be sure of the diameter,both of mine are pretty much bang on at .366.I haven't done a lot of load work just yet but I have used both Unique at 14.5 grains and IMR 4198 at 28.0 grains.These are relatively mild in my rifles but your mileage may vary so use as a guide only.Hope this helps.
 
For what it's worth, my 45-70 is super accurate with cast bullets. I'll be surprised if it ever sees a jacketed load again.
It's been very effective on blackbears with Bullet Barns bullets.
 
Nearly anything you can do with a jacketed bullet you can do with cast. The trade off is time vs convenience.

Paper patching will allow you to drive your bullets at speeds that would be difficult to reach with bare bullets, but it takes time and experimenting. Preparing a good bullet is a hobby all of its own, one I personally dont enjoy but often you cant buy the type/quality of bullets you need.

Personally I wouldn't waste time with store bought bullets.
 
Getting into casting is a bit of an investment. As is finding a source of lead. Wheelweights are drying up as a source of lead because of a ban on using lead in the weight.
Molds are easy enough to come by, as there are a number of moldmakers out there.
The melting pots are simple enough. I used a hot plate and a frying pan and upgraded to a Lee melting pot and now I have two.
For me the price is what is driving my addiction. I picked up a .348 winchester last year and quickly found out it was EXPENSIVE to buy factory ammo for it ($78/ box 20). Yet once I have all the stuff I need, brass, dies, primers, powder, and bullets, I can load up a box of 50 for less than $5.00. That right there is powerfull incentive to shoot cast out of a rifle. I even load for my .30-30 and .303's as well.
At the range I shot my deer with last fall, a jacketed bullet at higher speed wouldn't have killed him any deader. (75 yards)
 
I'm definitely not getting in to casting at this point. It's just not feasible with my current situation. So I guess I need to slug my bore to see what it actually is and go from there. I would still be saving a ton of money if I shot commercially made cast bullets for plinking rather than jacketed bullets.
 
"...cause less wear..." No wear at all. However, you can't drive 'em anywhere near as fast as a jacketed bullet. Patched or not. So if high performance is a goal/need, you won't get it. You likely won't save any money as cast 9.3's won't be common. Stuff that isn't common is pricey.
 
I am fireforming my 358 STA right now with 250gr gas checked cast bullets, my load is 70grs of IMR4350, i'm hitting my 18" steel target at 100 yards every shot off hand trying to simulate real world situations and positions, they are making for excellent practice, cheap (much cheaper than my Barnes TSX bullets) and pretty potent. I really enjoyed shooting them and I will load up more for playing, much nicer to shoot than the 90+ grs of RL19 loads.
 
sunray said:
"...cause less wear..." No wear at all. However, you can't drive 'em anywhere near as fast as a jacketed bullet. Patched or not. So if high performance is a goal/need, you won't get it. You likely won't save any money as cast 9.3's won't be common. Stuff that isn't common is pricey.
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But here's my question; If you fired jacketed bullets at the same speed you fire Cast bullets, would you not see a great reduction in wear? My understanding of barrel wear is such that speed (and as a result, friction, pressure, heat, gas cutting etc) is what cause the greatest detrimental effects to a barrel, and reduces accuracy by the most. Reducing your speed means reducing friction, pressure, heat and gas volume, and as a result reducing wear.
 
sunray said:
"...cause less wear..." No wear at all. However, you can't drive 'em anywhere near as fast as a jacketed bullet. Patched or not. So if high performance is a goal/need, you won't get it. You likely won't save any money as cast 9.3's won't be common. Stuff that isn't common is pricey.
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No wear at all is not an accurate statement. There is still gas cutting and there is still friction. With these invariably comes wear. The relationship between wear and velocity in a given bore size is not linear; so slow velocities and cast bullets drastically reduce bore erosion. It does still exist, however.
 
sunray said:
You likely won't save any money as cast 9.3's won't be common. Stuff that isn't common is pricey.
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I don't know what you are looking at but cast 9.3 are 1/4 the price of jacketed. Cam is right on the fact that there is still wear on a barrel, we don't live in a friction-less world.

MaxKW - That's what I want to hear!
 
I have shot alot of cast bullets in handguns and your typical candidates for cast like 45-70, 450 Marlin and 458 WM but this is the first time with a high velocity bottle neck cartridge, my only intention was to fireform a couple hundred new 375 H&H cases, I ended up with a cheaper and lower recoil practice load, I was intimidated at first because there isn't much info available from other shooters or published load data, I acctually worked my load down istead of working up to a maximum load like normally done, I ended up 5 grains lower than what I started with, caution is advised doing this because I reduced load can be as dangerous and a over max load.

Here's a pic of a loaded round and a loose bullet, the smaller round is 30-06 for comparasion.
 
Go for it. As others have said it will end up being a good, cheap low velocity practice load. I've never used cast in my 9.3 so I can't recommend a powder but the Lyman manual should have some recipes.
 
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There is some data in Ken Waters book for 238gr Lyman 366408 cast bullets.

IMR-4198 26gr 1601 fps
27gr 1664 fps

H-4198 28gr 1616 fps
30gr 1693 fps
 
CheeseBurger said:
I would just use cast bullets for plinking and jacketed bullets for hunting. Can I just buy cast bullets and develop a load for them just like jacketed bullets or is there more to it than that. At this point in time I just don't have the time to be casting my own.
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There is slightly more to it. Last year, I decided to shoot cast in my 30 cals. I got some really dramatic shot placement (ie. tumbling bullets). Similar to loading cast in pistol/revolvers, you need to expand the neck of the casing before seating the bullet. Otherwise the neck is sized for the jacketed bullets, and when seating the lead, it will be too tight and some lead will be shaved/displaced resulting in very poor groups. I buy all my cast from various suppliers and my rule of thumb is a couple thou over caliber (ie. .308" - .310" for cast bullets). I have found that flat base bullets work the best also.

I ordered my 30 cal neck expander (M) die from Lyman. It is worth every penny. For the 375, Lyman has one for the 375 - it is called a Rifle (M) 37 die. Everything I know now about loading cast bullets was information shared by some very knowledgeable folks on Gunnutz, and their advice was spot on!

For light loads and plinking with your lead, you cannot go wrong with Trail Boss powder. Good luck and happy shooting.
 
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