Maybe TIme TO Think ABout a Rifle

[dbarnhart]

I'm a very new caster. I think I've got things under control in regards to casting for my 1911, so now maybe it's time to think about rifle.

My two current rifles are HK91 and HK93 clones (.223 and .308) and probably are not well-suited to cast bullets. Therefore my thoughts are turning to acquiring a rifle suitable for cast boolits.

I've always had a hankering for a 45-70 but am curious what you guys might suggest.

[L Ross]

What purpose do you want the rifle to serve? Hunting, targets, competition, plinking, experimenting? All of the above? Do you need a scope to enjoy shooting? If you can use irons, is a receiver sight necessary or can you live with open sights? I frankly find the recoil of a 45-70 to be tolerable for a few shots, (10-25) but fatiguing in longer strings, (50 round buffalo matches). A pistol caliber carbine is a fun plinking gun but most useful at 100 yards and closer. Mil Surp rifles are limited by their sights with a few exceptions. A great bargain is to find a sporterized Springfield or Mauser that has been scoped or has receiver sights on it. Often available for 300 or less and once the copper fouling is cleaned from the barrel make very satifying cast boolit shooting rifles.
Take all my thoughts as just that, my thoughts.

Duke

[Reload3006]

L Ross is right on. The first thing you should consider is what do you want your rifle to do. How much do you want to spend. Once you have the answers to those 2 questions then you can begin to narrow your selection down to manageable. But get what you like and not what someone else likes. Its your money and if you spend it on something you dont want you wont shoot it and its a waste of time or money. Unless its purchased as an investment.

[largom]

You should fill your hankering for a 45-70! They are fun to shoot, very accurate, and will kill anything in North America. You can load them up or down to meet your needs. Now all you need to decide is whether you want a lever, bolt, or single shot. I have each and love them all.

Larry

[Ole]

Get a K31 while they are still (kind of) cheap.

[dbarnhart]

Good questions, L Ross.

I seldom hunt, so it would be mostly plinking and target shooting. The shooting range I use is limited to 250 yards. I'm decent out to about 100 yards with open sights. Anything more than that and my lousy old eyes need a scope. Therefore I'd probably want a scope on it.

I should probably add that I've shot my son's Mosin-Nagant and do not find it to be a fun gun to shoot.

[birdadly]

Not long ago I asked about casting in rifles and a lot of people said 308 was a good one to cast for. Unless it's your particular rifle that isn't good for cast, my understanding is that you could start with the 308 since you already have it! ...although I realize your desire for a new rifle... :) -Brad

[rockrat]

I would suggest also, the sporterized Springfield. With that said, I think Savage has new guns, with scopes on them, that you can find on sale, for around $350 or so. You could get you one in 308, that way you can use the dies you use to reload your 91 clone. Also, you could load cast for your 91 too.
The 91 should shoot well with cast, its just a bit hard on the brass. Maybe 2-3 loadings. You could use the same boolit with both. Probably the 311299 NOE mould just run, or the 311041 thats in the active buy section.

[dbarnhart]

My 91 has a 1:12 barrel twist which would limit bullet weight to about 170gr. A .308 Savage sounds interesting though.

[rsrocket1]

I was also thinking about getting into rifle casting. I think .223 would be a little tough so I'll be going for .308. I am fortunate enough to already have a good gun for that, it's a Remington 788 bolt action gun from the 80's. It has already proven itself as a good cast lead shooter when I was shooting by brother's cast boolits back then. I think they were about 200 grain Lee boolits.

I was looking at the Savage Axis/Edge and they are going for about $260 without a scope or $300 with one and that looks like a good gun to get in .308 for your shooting.

[Boondocker]

I got a 1895 GBL Marlin for christmas ( great wife) and ran a few boxs of factory thru it so far.not to awful kicking. I loaded up a few 405 cast( New lee mold) yesterday with 10 grns unique. Very mild recoil, I am going for 14 next. Nothing like the k thunk of authority on the back yard steel clanker, alot more so of the 3030. But 405 grns and 165 grns you shoot more lead. Yep I love this 45/70 and weze going for bear and speed beef.:cbpour:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c277/boondocker6/1-42011049-1.jpg http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c277/boondocker6/1-42011048.jpg

[Larry Gibson]

My 91 has a 1:12 barrel twist which would limit bullet weight to about 170gr. A .308 Savage sounds interesting though.

If you mean the Mosin Nagant M91 it has a 10" twist and will handle 220 gr cast bullets quite nicely. The 314299 is usually a very good choice for that rifle/cartridge if the bore is not way over size. A good cast bullet load in the 1700 - 1900 fps range is very comfortable to shoot with the old milsurp.

If looking for a new or used commercial look for a .308W with a 12" twist. The 12" twist will also shoot 200+ gr cast bullets very well with 311299 being an excellent choice.

Larry Gibson

[Wayne Smith]

I'm having a lot of fun with the 32-20 and the 25-20. Decent sized boolits (not .22) to cast and load with my fat fingers (not!), cheap to shoot once you have the brass, and not a lot of recoil.

Very different from the 45-70. Have a lot to say for that one, too, but small amounts of powder and lead and little recoil shure ain't part of it.

[popper]

30-30, 357, 45 LC. Inexpensive to load and shoot, do almost anything you want to do. You should be able to get 1" groups @100 without much trouble(scoped 30-30). I like levers, but bolt and singles are available. I'm not a fan of worn out mil-surp and $ is about the same as a good gun.

[pdawg_shooter]

If you want to get the most from cast in a rifle (not handgun caliber) try paper patching. Same performance as jacketed. Equal accuracy and velocity, sometimes better, no leading, no hunting for the perfect lube, just performance.

[Grandpas50AE]

I bought my Marlin 1895 .45/70 back in 1973 and have loaded all kinds of loads for it over the years. Target shooting and hunting. If shooting factory stuff the recoil is moderate, if loading up for hunting, it really needs a good recoil pad put on it and it will still thump the shooter a bit. If loading your own for target purposes it can easily be loaded to very enjoyable levels, and easily cast for. The older Marlins like mine don't do very well with boolits in the 550+ gr. category, but in 350 - 500 gr. will shoot well, while many of the Ruger No. 1's and others have reportedly done well with the heavier (450 gr. +) boolits.

Like others have said, get what you really want and have fun with it. Adjust your loads to your comfort level and you will have a great deal of fun with a great old caliber.

[runfiverun]

i have the browning 86 and really like it the cool thing about the 45-70 is you can go from 300 gr boolits at 1500 or less, up through holy cow what was that.
i stick more with 400gr or so and just alter the velocity.