Best Design/Style/Weight CB for hunting?

[303Guy]

I am limited to 303 Brit and 303-25. The Brit will handle 160gr to 245gr cast or patched boolits.

But which boolit is best?

I have long blunt nose 245grainers, blunt nose 220grainers - both with or without hollow points, slightly more streamlined 210grainers and the ability to give any of them any shaped nose I want.

But what works best on game?

Heavy, moderate speed, hollow pointed topedo's or faster, lighter, solid tips, semi-point, RN or flat tipped?

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-247F.jpgVery Hollow Point 200gr
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/SwagedTwo-Diameter245gr.jpgHollow Point Torpedo 245gr
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-636F_edited.jpgThe one in the middle.
The one on the left can be sharpened into a 'spitzer'.

And then the 25's - 85gr to 125gr
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-205F.jpg

[JeffinNZ]

Peter, there is no shortage of ancedotal evidence in favo(u)r of big, medium paced, long, soft bullets. I would go for the 220-245gr every time for large deer. If you were hunting fallows or the great ghosts of Stewart Island I lighter bullet would probably be more suitable but for Wapiti or Reds I would go heavy. Awww hell. Go heavy on everything!

[303Guy]

Thanks Jeff. Ok, 225gr it is. Good lead economy and mild pressure. What style of point? Is hollow point beneficial at 2000fps Muzzle velocity? Or even necessary? (Shape for streamlining would be a bit of a moot point since those boolits are so long anyway).

I take it you would not recommend the 303-25 for Reds! (As fine a caliber as the 303-25 is).

[JeffinNZ]

Re the HP, it will depend on BHN but I take it you will PP these and shoot soft lead. Should work great.
Re the .25-303; at least as good as a .250-3000 or .257 Roberts so I would use it. Again, use a bullet with a good SD and soft as the pressures will allow. Do you have a .25 mould already?

[303Guy]

Do you have a .25 mould already? Yes. It's a base pour along the lines of longbow's. This one is a two-diameter. I have not done any range tests with it yet.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-210F.jpg

Such a sweet shooting rifle with it's suppressor - eliminates most of the muzzle lift so I can watch bullet strikes. (There never was any real recoil).

[mroliver77]

I have found that a cast boolit with a blunt nose, heck even a rounded blunt nose makes a deadly wound channel when traveling around 2000fps. With harder alloys I get shattering of boolits if something hard is hit(large bones) WW with 2-3% tin are very tough! Most any alloy with equal amounts of tin/antimony are very tough.
Jay

[303Guy]

Thanks, mroliver77.

I happen to have a mold with a very blunt round nose. I have also found a few sticks of presumably plumbers solder. That is as 'hard' as my cast boolit alloy, whatever it is - mostly lead pipe with some WW.

It does heat treat - this example shows how the faster cooling rear section has set differently to the slower nose section.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-226F.jpg

This is one of those 'graded hardness' castings. Velocity less than 1900fps.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-010F.jpg

When I swage these casting, the distinction remains visible. Not sure if it means much.

The 'hold together' of this alloy doesn't seem too bad to me. This one was a 200gr semi-point fired at about 2200fps. (Striking at muzzle velocity). This was fired into wet rags. The casting does not exhibit differential cooling effects.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-644F_edited.jpg

Would this fail on bone?

[mroliver77]

303guy
I would say you are good to go on any deer sized animal. I have never used wet rags as test medium so I dont know how it compares to wet newsprint or catalogs. How much weight retention? My nephew used a 30-40 with a Lyman 311284 cast hard and pushed at 2200fps. It blows a nice hole through deer at any angle. He got about an inch wound channel in a mid sized doe a couple years back and I was impressed with the hard boolits performance.
Jay

[Gelandangan]

303 mate, whats the thumb tack looking stuff at the right hand side of the last photo?

[303Guy]

You mean this pic?

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-636F_edited.jpg

It's the sprue. I was experimenting with casting hollow points and to do that I used a 'pouring funnel' device which leaves a little 'nipple' in the centre of the 'hollow' - and the tack shaped sprue.

[303Guy]

This the boolit I'm going to be using. It's a new development.

225gr swaged hollow point.
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-252F.jpg