Question for you hunters.

I read an article years ago about casting bullets with a hard alloy for the shank portion then pouring a softer alloy in for the nose (or whichever order you pour in, I'm not a bullet caster yet). The idea was to minimize leading while having easy expansion. I remember the two different alloys bonded together with no issues and tests showed good expansion and penetration.

Might be something to look into.
 
jbmauser said:
I read an article years ago about casting bullets with a hard alloy for the shank portion then pouring a softer alloy in for the nose (or whichever order you pour in, I'm not a bullet caster yet). The idea was to minimize leading while having easy expansion. I remember the two different alloys bonded together with no issues and tests showed good expansion and penetration.

Might be something to look into.
Click to expand...

I have experimented with those, the front portion of the bullet with soft lead like stick on weights and the rest with clip on weights...and that will be one more option that i have to look.
 
WolfyW said:
Do a little more research. Look into powder coating boolits and the performance achieved with that.
Click to expand...

i have done that to.....actually i have shot a couple thousand of the powder coating boolits but in smaller calibers like .308s -- .284s and .264s never in the .458 yet.
And i don't think i will ever run out of powder, some time ago i was given 30 kilos of it.....so i will be OK.
 
Something like this,
bQQktypm.jpg
, dressed up to look like this
PrOz5Kmm.jpg
applied anywhere north of 1600 fps should go through just about anything on this continent. It should allow enough sunlight in to cause said critter to decease.
 
I will try to make a post again. The last time, the site dumped everything I typed! Hate it when that happens! LOL!

The bullets will perform just fine OP. The bigger the met plat, the better typically.

Big cast bullets going even modest speeds like 1300-1500fps will kill moose super effectively. So many modern day hunters lack confidence in their set up if an animal doesn't drop dead at the shot. LOL! Not every animal does regardless of modern ballistics.

I have shot many big game animals with cast bullets, and have never had an issue what so ever.
A few years past, a friend and I shot a Muley doe at 250 yards with a 308 winchester cast bullet (lyman 311299 design, 200 grains, .310" dia,Lyman super moly lube,Gas checked,and pushed at 2350fps average). One shot and the doe just staggered and went down after step or two. The bullet passed clean through, and created a 2-2.5" wound channel through the vitals. Very effective.

This season, I shot a Muley doe at 100 yards with my Browning 1885 BPCR, and a 520 grain soft alloy, bullet. Penetration was amazing and the wound channel was stupid big! The bullet was recovered and was a little bigger in diameter than a Canadian loonie. She was hit facing me, and she never went more than 4 or 5 steps before falling over. Again, very effective for my needs.

Here are a few pictures of cast bullets in action. And the velocities are around 1300-1450 for this bullet. No need for a gas check at this velocity/pressure range.







Bullet highlighted in the picture is a 420 grain, .460"




This is a 520 grain Flat point I asked Tom at accuratemolds.com to build for me.




The OP is thinking inside 150 yards, and that will be easy enough to do with those cast bullets and cartridges. Velocity doesn't have to be 2000fps plus though to kill a moose effectively.

I had Tom at "accurate molds.com" build me some bullet molds for hunting. He can build a guy a mold to suit a hunters/target shooters needs.

Varying a bullets alloy can dramatically change a bullets penetration characteristics! Soft bullets create huge wound channels, medium hard bullets penetrate amazingly! I have had hard 550 grain cast bullets go through 3-4' of green poplar and keep going (at 1450fps)!

Powder coating is another option for higher velocities for sure. I haven't bothered with it much, due to getting all the performance I need at conventional cast velocities.
 
Last edited:
dthunter thanks a lot for taking the time and effort to answer my question and share your first hand knowledge about hunting with cast ..... this is what i have asked all along , input from ( EXPERIENCED ) hunters in this matter , the matter of hunting with cast bullets.
This is pretty much what i always envisioned what a cast bullet in a 45-70 was capable of....care to share what alloy you are using?
And killing a Mule doe at 250 yards with a punny 308 cast it's impressive specially when the bullet passed clean through and created a 2" plus hole...... hmm, i think that makes my .366 an elephant gun.
I believe you have changed the opinions of quite a few people regarding what a cast bullet can do on game..........specially of late when there are people complaining about a certain renown manufacturer having their projectile exploding on impact shot from the moderate speeds of the 9.3X62.
Sir you have been most helpful, thank you very much.
Victor
 
freire said:
dthunter thanks a lot for taking the time and effort to answer my question and share your first hand knowledge about hunting with cast ..... this is what i have asked all along , input from ( EXPERIENCED ) hunters in this matter , the matter of hunting with cast bullets.
This is pretty much what i always envisioned what a cast bullet in a 45-70 was capable of....care to share what alloy you are using?
And killing a Mule doe at 250 yards with a punny 308 cast it's impressive specially when the bullet passed clean through and created a 2" plus hole...... hmm, i think that makes my .366 an elephant gun.
I believe you have changed the opinions of quite a few people regarding what a cast bullet can do on game..........specially of late when there are people complaining about a certain renown manufacturer having their projectile exploding on impact shot from the moderate speeds of the 9.3X62.
Sir you have been most helpful, thank you very much.
Victor
Click to expand...


Not a problem Victor! Glad to help where ever I can.

I added a small amount of lead free solder to some pure clean dead soft lead for the 550 grain postell bullet. Saeco hardness value of this bullet measures around 3.5, (6.5 brinell cross reference value) I believe I added about 4 feet of the solder in 18lbs of alloy in my pot. I added the small amount of tin to help in the mold fill. This combo seems to expand very well indeed! Shooting a "hard cast" version of this bullet penetrates ridiculously! I had trouble putting enough green poplar wood blocks to stop a bullet! LOL!

The 520 flat point was cast from a more pure soft lead alloy. The Saeco hardness alloy value was 1.5-2.0 (4.5-5.0 brinell cross reference value). {Saeco rates Pure lead as a "0" on their chart, for reference} They expand very well, but caused so much damage to the animals, that I feel that going with a little more tin will reduce/slow the rapid expansion rate, and reduce the residual hydrostatic damage. The bullet will penetrate more, and expand a little less, and that is probably a better balance at these velocities.

Just to be clear to you Victor, the 2" hole from the 308win I was referring to, was the estimated radial damage to the tissues inside the deers body cavity (along the wound channel). The exit wound was about 3/4" in diameter, and the entrance was maybe a little bigger than the bullet. That particular alloy is straight wheel weight alloy, plus 8 feet of 50-50 lead/tin solder. Air cooled.

I do not think the 200 grain, 311299 bullet expanded much (if at all), but it cause more than enough tissue damage to be effective at that distance.

I am glad to help where I can.

Good luck with your goal! It is very,... VERY satisfying to shoot game with your own cast bullets!
 
It is an amazing rifle, and I am so fortunate to find it when I did! I have 3 or 4 loads that group under an inch with regularity! I have shot a few groups under 1/2".

I am just starting to stretch it out further. I have had a few 3" groups at 400yards on my AR500 plates.



 
Awesome! In that case, with the proper lead hardness, I can't imagine not taking down a moose. The .375 should be fine, too.


freire said:
i have done that to.....actually i have shot a couple thousand of the powder coating boolits but in smaller calibers like .308s -- .284s and .264s never in the .458 yet.
And i don't think i will ever run out of powder, some time ago i was given 30 kilos of it.....so i will be OK.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom