50-70 gas check?

[Dekker]

Hi, I recently picked up a SSK encore rifle barrel in 50-70. I am new to casting and was looking at different moulds and have a question. Some molds have gas checks and some do not. Is there a velocity cut-off point where they are needed and are they of value on a cartridge like the 50-70. I plan on using this rig for black bears & hogs.
Thanks
David.

[Wayne Smith]

This was originally a plain based cast boolit PB round. A ggo fitting PB boolit should do all you need, but you will be able to push it a lot harder in that rifle. Think close to 500 S&W loads. If you want to do that you will need a gc.

[AZ Pete]

David, unless you expect muzzle velocities in excess of 1500 fps, a plain base bullet should serve you very well. Some folks push plain bullets 1700 fps with no issues. I am not aware of 500 S&W's having a mv of greater than 1250 fps, in a pistol...don't know what that might be in a longer barrel, but 1500 to 1700 would seem unlikely. That said, you will probably want to load some "lower than Maximum velocity" loads, for practice and fun, and gas checks would seem to be an unnecessary expense for that.