Cast friendly rifle caliber for beginner?

[kawasakifreak77]

I would like help making a decision here.

I want to shoot cheap cast boolits in a rifle. I feed my hanguns (357mag & 45acp) almost nothing but cast & love it! I tried it in my rifle (300blk bolt gun) & it was a miserable failure. I tried two different boolits, four powders, super & subsonic loads. They don't feed, they don't hit anything half the time (if they do it's sideways) & leading is literally so bad I could not see most the rifling after 20 some odd shots. I'm not sure what I did wrong but I've given up & only feed my blackout the best Jwords money can buy. My coming suppressor is sealed so I don't want to waste my time developing loads I can't shoot.

The only other rifle I have is a 6.5 Swedish Mauser project my dad gave me & from what I've read, I'm not even letting cast boolits in the same room as her!

So, what caliber is cast friendly given these criteria:

Easily obtainable accuracy for a beginner. I can shoot from a bench at 100 meters sub 2 moa, using either of my rifles with iron sights. I want something close to that.

Bolt action most likely but would consider the right single shot or levergun.

Most the time with be used for paper punching. Possibly use it to dispatch pesky critters on the farm like skunks or coyotes.

Has to use commonly available (mail order & off the shelf) boolits until time allows me to pour my own.

Hit me!

[Goatwhiskers]

Short version is: spend hours reading here, expecially the stickies. Shooting cast is a learning process. The MAIN thing is boolit size, when you speak of horrible accuracy and terrible leading it's obvious that your boolits are the wrong size. FIT is king, they should be .001-.002" over groove size as a basic rule. To determine this you must slug your bore, carefully measure with a micrometer, not calipers, then order or size your castings appropriately. Many of us cast and shoot as cast. Do some more reading, your questions will be answered. GW

[Pilgrim]

30-30 / .35 Rem...1st choice and lowest cost options. If you get unbelievably lucky you'll find a Rem 788 in .30-30. Bolt rifles in .35 Rem are also out there but not common. Next choice up would be the .308, .358 cartridges. The .375 and .45-70 are also good. Bottom line is .30 or .35 cartridges in the smallest case capacity you can find in a rifle you can afford. In general, the bigger the bore and smaller case capacity go together for good beginner cb cartridges. For some reason the .375 H & H is an exception to the small case rule. Lots of opions will becoming forthwith, but FWIW...Pilgrim

[smokesahoy]

That 6.5 mauser is just begging to get some Cruise Missiles made for her.

[jimb16]

I have to agree with goatwiskers. There is nothing wrong with using cast in your rifle. Read, read and read some more. Once you have read enough, you will be able to avoid most problems right from the start. Your rifle should do quite well with the proper loads.

[RickinTN]

I agree with the above recommendations to read this site and then read some more. With that said I started with cast bullets in a few 30-30's, a 35 Remington and a 30-06 Remington bolt rifle. My accuracy and success came easiest with the Remington bolt 30-06. Part of this is probably due to the fact my eyes aren't as good as they used to be and I can't shoot iron sights as well as I used to. The 30-06 is scoped. The 35 Remington was almost as easy as the '06 for me as it is a Marlin 336 which is scoped.
I did find the alloys I use for 38 special and 45 ACP are too soft for best performance in rifles. For fastest good results start with a gas-check bullet and try to fill the throat and leade of your chamber as best you can. As many say "fit is king", but it takes a little study to understand exactly what a good static and dynamic fit really is.
Good Luck,
Rick

[Certaindeaf]

30-06.

[Certaindeaf]

But don't let me sway you from your chosen cause

[btroj]

30-30

[Silvercreek Farmer]

13 grains of Red Dot or 16 grains of 2400 will do what you require in most any 30+- caliber military rifle. Read more here:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?13425-Cast-Bullet-Loads-for-Military-Rifles-Article

[Certaindeaf]

tremendous slander lol

[uscra112]

Since you are already shooting .357 Magnum, pick up an H&R Handi Rifle in that caliber. Low cost, fairly accurate, and easy to manage. In a rifle you can load hot, you can load heavy, and have a barrel of fun.

A Marlin 336 in .35 Remington will let you share boolits with your .357, but not brass.

That said, my own favorite cast cartridge these days is the venerable Krag .30-40.

[kopperl]

308. We shoot from 110 gr to 150 cast from wheel weight. Don't have my book here but I believe we use 12 grains of 2400 on the 110 and 14.5 on the 150.
Works well on anything we have around here,
Bill

[462]

There are many reasons why your rifle's cast boolit experience has been a failure. However, rather than buy a new rifle, only to be subjected to the same failures, learn how to successfully go about getting the present one to shoot properly.

In addition to general rifle cast boolit information, the site has much about the 300 Blackout. It's there for the taking.

Don't be afraid of cast in the Swede.

[quilbilly]

I am still learning but this is my list of rifle cartridges that seem to love cast boolits so far : 22 hornet, 222, 6mm rem, 250/3000., 7mm TCU, 30/30, 30/06, 444, etc. etc.

[kawasakifreak77]

I'm past trying lead in the blackout & I had lurked around here looking for a solution. I have sent a portion of the remaining bullets to a more exprienced loader than myself to see if he can get them to shoot. Moving on.

The advantage of the Swede is being able to use those sleek high b.c. match bullets for 'reaching out there'. The Swede does what it does very, very well. Why would I hinder that?

From what I've read a cast rifle needs a slow twist rate.... Which neither of my rifles have.

I'm glad more than a few mentioned 35 Remington. It's always been a cartridge I've been interested in. I actually bought a box of them the other day just cause. Do the Marlins with microgroove barrels shoot cast well? I'm looking at one at the moment & this will be one of the determining factors.

I also have an 8mm FN 1930 mauser that's a project rifle. Cheesy fiberglass stock, broken rear sight, etc. But it's numbers matching with no importation markings. I've thought about finding an original stock, fixing the sight & using it for a dedicated boolit launcher as right now it has no purpose. I can't find any .325" mail order boolits that are heavier than about 170 grains though.

I've had a couple 1894 Winchesters in 30 WCF. Just kinda lost thier fizzle with me.

Thanks for all the quick replies!

[Nrut]

7.62X39 in bolt action: CZ, Ruger, or Mini-Mauser.. (easy to get to shoot cast and cheap to shot)

.32 Special, .357 mag. or .35 Remington in Lever Action..

In a Ruger #1, or High Wall just about any non-magnum 7mm or larger..

What model Kawi do you have?
Sherpa here..

[Bigslug]

.45-70. For accuracy with cast, with seemingly no effort, it's the easiest thing I've ever tinkered with. Find a single shot that floats your boat.

[Silverboolit]

45-70 There is nothing like the stares you get at the range when the mall ninjas have thier first experience gazing at naval artillery sized rounds!!

[kawasakifreak77]

I've thought about the 45-70 also but man that in a little single shot might have some harsh recoil. Of course I could load them down. My LGS has a handi in 45-70 but it has the most god aweful plastic thumbhole stock I've seen. And no iron sights. Like, really? A big ole black powder cartridge without irons?

Nrut: I have a resto modded '77 kz650b with a gpz750 engine, a '06 636 fighter on knobs whose frame is so bent the tank no longer fits & a '07 zx10r superbike with carbon fiber wheels. All of them highly modified & ungodly fast.

Then I have a few vintage Hondas I race, but those are just Hondas!

[warf73]

My first rifle I shot cast boolits with was an H&R 445SM, then got a M-44 Mosin carbine. The 7.62X54R is an easy gun to load cast boolits in and accuracy is min of soda can at 100 yard with the iron sights. I would bet any 30 cal rifle would be a great starting format.

[WilliamDahl]

Since you already load for .38/.357, go with that -- either in a Marlin leveraction or as a single shot.

The .45-70 does not have that harsh of a recoil unless you load it to Ruger #1 or "modern rifles" loads. If you keep it in the Trapdoor range, it's more of a "push" instead of a "kick". There also the 13.0 grains of Red Dot load that will give you 1157 fps with a 405 grain bullet.

http://www.gmdr.com/lever/4570g405_dat.htm

There's an H&R "Buffalo Classic" in .45-70 with a 32" barrel that looks like it might be a fun single shot. If I didn't already have a .45-70 barrel for my Thompson Encore, I would consider it.

[Certaindeaf]

Yea, those calibers/parameters are doable.

[Jack Stanley]

If I read that right you are buying commercial cast bullets for your 300bobbylutherking ? My first guess is bullets are to hard and the wrong size for a good fit for the rifle in question . You might be able to duplicate the same results with your .357 if you was to cast them real hard and size them to about .355" or so . If you are not getting results with the current rifle perhaps trying to cast for it now rather than add another firearm to the collection might work .

Fit , hardness , weight , seating depth ........... all of it makes a difference . Some of these guys here could shoot pure lead into one inch groups at a hundred yards using about any firearm . I think it's something they learned by trying through the years though .

Jack

[kawasakifreak77]

As I said, my Blackout has a sealed silencer coming so I'm not putting lead through it. The Swede's main advantage is using long sleek J words for flat shooting. I'm certain several people could successfully load lead in my rifles but that would defeat the purposes I have them for.

Moving on.

I found me a Handi rifle at the local fun store & snagged it up. SB2 frame, snebel fore end 30-30. Iron sights, micro groove barrel with an ejector. I've done a lot with 30-30s over the years & have become bored with the caliber, as great as it is. Then I read several sources saying the microgrooves are more picky about lead than standard rifling.

So I started pilfering around for a .35 Remington barrel & have recently snagged one up.

I'm excited now! My lgs has a few boxes of ammo along with dies so once I get some boolits I'll be on my way to simple cheap shooting. :)

[starmac]

If you are not going to cast your own for a while yet, slug your barrels and check with Bullshop. He used to sell about any boolit you could want to try, and he would size them to fit your gun, instead of using mass produced, one size fits nothing, off the shelf cast boolits.

[kawasakifreak77]

Thanks for the tip man!

I was formulating a similar plan in my head.

I've got lots of reloading & gun stuff collected up that's no longer of use to me. I'm hoping to trade into a few different handfuls of boolits since my main goal of a cast rifle is simple, cheap, fun.

[kawasakifreak77]

Thanks for the tip man!

I was formulating a similar plan in my head.

I've got lots of reloading & gun stuff collected up that's no longer of use to me. I'm hoping to trade into a few different handfuls of boolits since my main goal of a cast rifle is simple, cheap & fun.

[paul edward]

Think about a single shot with interchangeable barrels.

Good cast calibers that are also fun to shoot include .32/20, .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .38/40, .44/40, .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, .30/30, 7.62x39, .35 Remington and 38/55. If you could find one in .45 ACP, that would be lots of fun; probably have to be a special order or custom barrel.

Older military surplus bolt action rifles can be good with cast boolits. It is hard to go wrong with a SMLE in .303 British.

Also look at the small frame lever action rifles in .357, .44 Mag and .45 Colt.