A little help?

[7.62 NATO]

I'm new to cast bullets for rifles. I want to hunt whitetails in central Maine with a LEE .30 cal.170gr RN-GC at 2050-2150 FPS. I can get this velocity out of any one of five rifle cartidges. My mix is 7 lbs WW + 1/2lb linotype + 1/4lb 50/50 solder. Is this a good combination? I've used Rem. Coreloct and Nosler Balistic Tips and never had to look for one down. My secret spot is quite close. Last shot ten yards 15 points within 300 yards of the house. Can I expect them to drop in place or close to it with good bullet placement?

[wiljen]

I'd skip the 50/50 and use a bit more linotype if it were me.

Others will surely chime in too. You will need a gas check at those speeds.

[45nut]

7.62 Nato welcome to CB.
You should have no problem dropping a bambi with a 30 cal cb whatsoever.

[1Shirt]

Have had good luck with that blt. and Lars Red in 308W at those vol. As to dropping them on the spot, that is pretty much up to you and blt. placement . If that were my goal on deer, I would take only solid shoulder shots. Not necessarily immediate droppers, but definate putum on the ground shot. Good luck.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Bass Ackward]

7.62,

If Larry Gibson doesn't chime in here, send him a Private Message and see what he has to say. Lots of hunting experience at that velocity level in several 30 calibers with factory designs. But there are others too.

[Larry Gibson]

Thanks Bass, I'll chime in.

7.62 NATO

While the Lee RN cast bullet will do if you put the bullet where it needs to go (the heart regardless of angle of shot) a FP or better yet a FP with a shallow HP is even better. A cast bullet of 170+ gr at 2000-2100 fps is 30-30 medicine pure and simple. There are several moulds in that parameter available. I am partial to the Lyman 311041HP as it has worked so well for me but the currently available Lee, RCBS and Saeco 170-180 gr FP moulds work as well. A Forster hollow pointer for the Forster trimmer will make your Lee bullet quite useable also.

As to alloy I used to have some pretty exotic recipe's for .30 cal hunting bullets in the past. Over the last few years however I've found that currently available WWs with 2-3% tin added provide enough hardness for 2000-2100 fps velocity and yet are ductile enough to expand well out to 200 yards without shattering on close shots. My bullets are air cooled. I've been using Javelina lube with total success for many years but I have ordered some of Lars high speed lube to try. I mostly size (as cast so not much sizing) to .311 for my .308 barrels. I've shortened the HP stem for my 311041 to give a one caliber (.3) depth of HP. I've found this to be about right for good expansion without too much sloughing. Of course with the Forster 1/8" Hollow Pointer any good bullet of .30 to .375 can be hollow pointed. The "one caliber" depth works well on 8mm, 35 Rem and my 375 H&H cast bullets also. For those reading this that means the appropriate "one caliber" of the caliber of bullet being hollow pointed.

If you've a .30 cal rifle with a 12" twist barrel I'll suggest using it. With it you might even get good hunting accuracy up into the 2200+ fps range with these soft bullets for the first 5 shots out of a cold, clean barrel. If you'll advise the cartridge I can get a little more specific loading data and technique.

Larry Gibson

[waksupi]

I've killed a couple deer and an elk with .30 bores. they work just fine. Although, I don't know if the elk was a good test subject, as it was at about 15 feet, in the neck!

[JIMinPHX]

What Larry says makes perfect sense to me. I’ve been doing some experiments lately in the 2000-2600fps range with 13BNH gas checked boolits. I’ve been getting very good mushrooming from regular flat points in both .22 & .30 cal, but I’m just starting to work on improving accuracy at the higher end of that speed range. Right now it’s awful. Lyman Moly lube has kept my barrel lead free up to 3000fps, but my muzzle has been seeing some lead fouling. Some pictures of recovered .223 boolits that I mushroomed the other day can be found here –

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=27429

[rockrat]

Try the ww + lino first and see if you get any leading. If any, try the ww + 50/50solder. Either should work fine.

[jhalcott]

I hunt a good bit up near Patton Maine. NICE country. I use the 311291 and 31141 and some other 30 caliber molds from about 135 to 200 grain, The 311291 and 31141 (or is it 041?) any way it's a 170 grain flat point and the RCBS 180fn get MOST of the deer hunting duty. Those FN's do make a difference! I use a mix of 7 pounds WW and 3 pounds of Lino. This gives me a BHN of about 15+ and is harder than necessary. I have killed several problem deer with a WW only bullet, gas checked and lubed with Felix lube. Velocity was just over 2050 fps. My WW alloy is about 12 to 13 BHN.

[Leftoverdj]

If you want jacketed bullet performance from cast bullets, cast the nose of pure lead and the body of a harder alloy. The method I use to have a pot of each, cast the nose with a dipper made from a suitable pistol case, and fill the mould from the other pot. I usually waterquench when doing this.

It helps to work as hot as I dare, and my reject rate is high, but I don't need many since they are only for hunting. Expansion at .30-30 velocity is dramatic and the body holds together even if the nose wipes off on bone. It takes quite a bit of bone to do that. Properly cast, the bullet will not separate, but the mushroom can be wiped off passing through bone.